Santa Claus Is Coming to Town

Started off the morning with breakfast and the second WKRP In Cincinnati Christmas episode from the third season. Station manager Arthur Carlson says "Bah Humbug" when he refuses to give out Christmas bonuses. Thanks to Johnny Fever's brownies, he dreams that the Ghost of Christmas Past (Jennifer), Present (Venus), and Future (Johnny) show him what will happen if he doesn't treat his employees better.

Worked on writing after that. The Mouse Queen (Jo Ann Worley) brags that she's already waylaid the Sugar Plum Fairy and her cavalier. Gene can't take her on by himself, but the Nutcracker jumps in to help...

While it wasn't raining like it did yesterday, it still came down this morning. Between that and it getting colder tonight, I called for Uber. Considering all the trouble I had getting Uber for work a while back, I had no trouble today. Took 7 this morning and and 4 tonight; was to and from work in 5 minutes.

My first of two 8 and 1/2 hour shifts in a row largely went pretty well. We were insanely busy almost the entire afternoon, with long lines down the aisles. It got even worse in the afternoon, when we had less help. It didn't slow down until nearly 6, and even then, they had to send one of the college kids in for me so I could get out on time. 

And no wonder we did die down. It was literally freezing when I got out of work. Biting winds blasted me as I waited for the Uber driver. (No snow, though. Looks like we managed to evade the white Christmas many other parts of the US, including Lauren in Pittsfield, got, but not the frigid temperatures.)

Soon as I got home, I grabbed dinner and put on Ernest Saves Christmas. Ernest P. Worrell (Jim Varney) is a cab driver in Orlando, Florida when he picks up a nice old man at the airport. Turns out the man is the real Santa Claus (Douglas Seale), who came to Orlando to seek a replacement. He's chosen former children's show host Joe Carruthers (Oliver Clark), but Joe's sleazy agent (Robert Lesser) wants him to do a B-grade Christmas horror film. Ernest also has to deal with Harmony Starr (Noelle Parker), a selfish runaway whose constant lies hide her pain over her parents' divorce. It'll take a pinch of teamwork and a wild ride on Santa's sleigh to finally convince Harmony and Joe that Santa...and the Christmas spirit...are the real deal.

Went straight into the original animated How the Grinch Stole Christmas next. The Grinch (Boris Karloff) is a green furry miser who hates all the noise his neighbors in the valley the Who make on Christmas Day. He dresses as Santa and purloins their goodies, but even his best-laid intentions can't stop the holiday magic. It takes the Whos continuing their traditions no matter what to convince him that "Christmas doesn't come from a store. Maybe Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more."

Finished the night on Disney Plus with the original 1947 Miracle on 34th Street, another movie about a Santa whom no one believes is the real thing. Doris Walker (Maureen O'Hara) finds Kris Kringle (Edmund Gwenn) scolding the Santa in the Macy's Parade for getting drunk. He's so successful as a substitute Santa in the parade, she gives him the job of being the store's Santa. Trouble is, Kris keeps insisting he actually is Santa. This troubles Doris, who has raised her daughter Susan (Natalie Wood) to only believe in what she can see and hear after a nasty divorce. When Kris is put on trial for lunacy, he's defended by kindly lawyer Fred Gailey (John Payne), who turns the hearing into the talk of the town...and teaches, Doris, Susan, and all of New York a lesson in faith, hope, and the true meaning of the holidays.

"The Cold Never Bothered Me Anyway..."

I slept in a bit this morning, until about 8:30, then spent an hour or so reading Wings of the Falcon and writing in my journal. When I finally made it out of bed, I had breakfast and finished Three Little Words. It was past 11:30 when I finally made it to the laundromat. Thankfully, there were only two older women there when I came in, and it never got remotely busy. The cold must have scared people off. I was able to wash my large load, read, and listen to The View and the noon news in peace.

When I got home, I quickly put everything away, then went right back out again. Cold or no cold, I wanted to get to the Haddon Township Library. Despite the 23 degrees temperature listed on the new digital sign at Oaklyn's City Hall, it was actually a rather pretty day. The sky was a rich blue, the sun was warm, and the wild winds from yesterday had gentled into a mild breeze.

Stopped at Friendly's first for lunch. I still have a bunch of 20% off coupons to use. I got there around 1:30, and it was really busy, mostly with older couples and families. I went simpler this time and settled for a tasty Swiss (Cheese) Burger and fries. No ice cream; I just had ice cream earlier this week, and it's really too cold for frozen treats.

Went right to the Haddon Township Library next. No adult DVDs to shelve, but there were plenty of kids' and foreign titles to do. This week's wild weather was reflected in empty shelves. I had no problems organizing and putting away all of the kids' movies, even the overflowing S titles. No trouble clearing foreign and kids' titles from the adult section, either. I ended up with two animated movies from last summer I've wanted to see for a while, Planes and Monsters University.

I went home through Newton River Park to avoid the rush hour traffic on Cuthbert. Given the freezing weather, you won't be surprised to hear that the park was empty. The only other living creatures I saw were a flock of ducks looking for a frozen fish snack. The park was beautiful in its own way, though. The thick ice on the river sparkled in the late afternoon sunlight. The dry reeds bent in the breeze.

When I got in, I went online briefly to check the weather reports. Action News fussed about the possibility of a foot of snow or more on Monday...for Philadelphia. It looks like Southern New Jersey will be getting maybe 4 to 6 inches, a lot for early March, but nothing like a foot. It also appears that it'll be cold for a day or two next week, then go back to being in the 30s and 40s. More than likely, any snow we get next week will be gone within a week or two.

I jumped into the bath around 5:30. I needed that bath. I wasn't in there for too long, but it felt really nice. I just read Women Who Run With the Wolves and a book of fairy tales and listened to one of my big band CDs.

When I got out, I made breaded chicken breasts and roasted Brussels sprouts for dinner while watching the first half of Planes. A lot of critics complained about poor animation and a lack of originality; maybe they were upset that it was originally intended to be a direct-to-DVD release, but was switched to theaters at the last minute. At any rate, I've enjoyed what I've seen so far.

Jack Frost Nipping at Your Nose

I overslept this morning, something I haven't done in a long time. Consequently, I was late getting out the door to run errands. Maybe it was just as well. Today was not the right time to be lingering outdoors. It was bitterly cold when I finally made it out the door. I knew I had a lot of errands I couldn't skip, so I dressed warmly, layering my thick black knit pants over stockings, socks over the stockings, sheepskin-lined boots over the socks, and my heavy red tunic sweater over my red turtleneck. I wore the stocking cap Mom knitted me a couple of years ago, but I might have been better off in my earmuffs. The hat didn't cover my ears very well.

While I was able to ride on the road, there were still problems getting around. Not only was it still quite blustery, but ice had coated some sidewalks and curbs where snow melted and ran off the hillsides, then froze again. I did my best to dodge the ice and the traffic on Cuthbert as I made my way to Haddon Township Library for my first volunteering session there in over two weeks.

Actually, I was mainly there to return those DVDs I took out the last time I was there. I mostly did what I could with the still-overflowing children's DVDs shelves. Many older DVDs had been replaced by new copies, but the librarians won't or can't take the old copies out of circulation. An elderly volunteer who was shelving children's books had a good idea. Why not pull the older copy and put them on the cart used for DVDs that need to be shelved? That way, they'll be off the shelf, but people can still take them out, and the librarians will see just how bad the overflow is. Even with her suggestions and reorganizing all of the various series, I still had Spongebob Square Pants sets that didn't fit. The other thing they really need to do but seem reluctant to try is weeding out the older titles of certain series. Do they really need 60 sets each of Scooby Doo, Bob the Builder, Dora the Explorer, Thomas the Tank Engine, SpongeBob Square Pants, Pokemon, and Sesame Street?

It took me so long to do the kids' DVDs, I barely had enough time to shelve the adult titles and take out a few of my own. Haddon Township had gotten the newest Barbie As/Is title in, this one another adventure with her sisters, A Pony Tale. Speaking of horses, I've heard so much about My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, I had to grab the new set they'd just gotten in. (They've had Equestria Girls for a couple of months, but wanted to see the characters as ponies first.) The Max & Ruby set Everybunny Loves Winter features stories about New Year's and how the bunny siblings handle the end of the holidays. Also found the just re-released Winnie the Pooh: A Very Pooh New Year.

My counseling appointment was at 1. I dashed out of the Library at almost 12:40. Not the brightest thing I ever did. The ice was especially bad on the sidewalk going past Haddon Township's junior high - I had to walk it on the street in a lot of places because the ice was too thick to ride on! Thankfully, it was mostly better in Haddonfield, but I was still ten minutes late.

Mrs. Stahl said she was more worried than angry. When I did finally get in and shed my winter gear, we discussed my eventful holidays, the past two weeks, and how I deal with the winter weather. I told her what Mom told me about my being "emotional special needs." Story of my life - I'm always in the middle, neither average enough for "regular" school or special enough for "special ed" school. It's why I have such a hard time fitting in. I never feel like I'm quite right - not enough of one thing to belong to that group, not enough of another to belong to this group. When everyone around you is this or that, what do you do when you're the "or?"

I have got to get out of the Acme. I don't belong there. It's the wrong job for me. It doesn't suit my personality at all. Which leads me back to square one. I'm totally out of ideas. I'm not keen on taking any kind of classes, but then what? What jobs would suit me? Should I start my own business? Should I do what I used to do and go from office to office, hand them a resume, and beg them for a job? What am I good at? What do I want to do? I just don't know. All I know is it isn't working retail.

Mrs. Stahl basically said "get a hold of Stockton when they get back into session and consider substitute teaching." On one hand, Amanda does it, it might earn some extra money, and I do like working with younger kids. On the other hand, it would require messing with the Acme schedule, and that's not always possible. I don't know what days I'll have off from week to week.

I'm pretty fed up with Stockton right now. I wasn't happy with them when they didn't help me much when I was going there. I am going to call them when they start up again and see if I can set up another appointment. Their career center site is useless. Lots of companies listed...with no jobs, and very little that actually interests me. And I'm not really good at the traditional "send out your resume and schmooze everyone you know for a job" approach anyway. I don't know how to sell myself well enough to pull that off. I would prefer some ideas that are more outside the box.

I went to the Bistro at Haddonfield for lunch after I left Shelly Stahl. They were surprisingly busy for 2PM, with a varied crowd of college students, professionals from the offices on King's Highway, and old people avoiding the biting chill. Despite the crowd, my wrap, fries, and hot chocolate came within 10 minutes of ordering them. I had a delicious Jerk Chicken Wrap, baked with melted provolone cheese, red and green peppers, and lightly spiced chicken chunks. The fries were incredible, thin and perfectly fried, just as good as McDonald's (without the greasy container). The hot chocolate was a little disappointing, probably just Swiss Miss, but given the weather, it was something I rather badly needed.

Went straight home after that. Thanks to all that ice and the traffic on Haddon Avenue, Cuthbert Road, and the White Horse Pike, I left at quarter of 3 and didn't get in until past 4. I wasn't originally going to cut through Newton River Park, but I did anyway to avoid the traffic on Cuthbert. The mostly-frozen river had an austere beauty that sparkled against the waning sunlight. Needless to say, the only other people I passed on my way home were another bike rider and a flock of Canadian geese who'd probably experienced worse temperatures in their native north.

(Oh, and Mrs. Stahl checked the weather app on her smartphone while I was there - it reported the temperature was 9 degrees. The marquee outside the Westmont Fire Department said 13, which is what most other reports here said.)

I had a package waiting for me in the mailbox when I got home. The final items of my Christmas Amazon.com order had arrived! I picked up the last two Rankin/Bass specials avalible on regular DVD that I don't have, Jack Frost and The First Christmas: The Story of the First Christmas Snow. I ran the former as I got organized after my ride and made herbal tea to warm up my insides.

Jack Frost is basically Santa Claus Is Coming To Town crossed with a winter-oriented The Little Mermaid. This Jack is the head of the Winter Creatures, who snip snowflakes and send them down to Earth. He falls for a beautiful human girl after he saves her from going over the falls and implores Father Winter, who is in charge of all the Winter Creatures, to make him human. He agrees to make Jack and his friends Snip and Holly human until spring. Jack will only stay human if he can get a bag of gold, a horse, a home, and a loving wife. Winning the pretty girl becomes more complicated when she falls for a handsome knight, and their poor Russian village is threatened by the evil Cossack King, who wants the girl for his bride.

The third-to-last Rankin/Bass holiday special is an oddity in their canon in several respects. First of all, while there is a rather sweet Christmas sequence and song, the majority of the show is set on and around Groundhog's Day (hence the narrator, Buddy Hackett as Pardon Me Pete the Groundhog). Second, this is one of the very few Rankin/Bass specials with a bittersweet, rather sad ending. For older kids and their parents, this is one of my favorite 70s Rankin/Bass specials and really deserves to be better-known.

Moved to The Story of the First Christmas Snow as I gave the bathroom a desperately-needed scrubbing. This is a shorter, simpler tale from the mid-70s. A little orphan shepherd boy named Lucas is struck by lightening that blinds him. He's rescued and nursed back to health by kindly Sister Teresa (Angela Landsbury, who also narrates). While the priest in her parish (Cyril Ritchard) tries to figure out what to do with Lucas, Sister Teresa, their dog, and the other kids in the town help Lucas cope. All Lucas wants is to feel a white Christmas, just like the ones Sister Teresa describes in her Christmas cards. Little does he know that he and Sister Teresa may get their wish...

I'm  not a big fan of this one, but I bought it anyway to finish out my Rankin/Bass collection. While I do like Lucas' touching relationship with Sister Teresa and the dog, it's a little too melodramatic for my taste, especially the ending. It doesn't work nearly as well as the other Rankin/Bass religious specials, the two Little Drummer Boy tales and Nestor, the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey. For Rankin/Bass fans only; those looking for religious Christmas programming will want to go to the earlier stories first.

Ran Barbie and Her Sisters In a Pony Tale as I finished the bathroom and started a broccoli, mushroom, and cheese omelet for dinner. Barbie, Stacie, Skipper, and Chelsie are now in Switzerland, visiting their aunt's riding academy. The trip doesn't go well at first. Stacie thinks she can master riding as well as every other sport, but discovers handling a living horse is much different than handling a skateboard. Chelsie is upset that she can't ride the big horses, like her sisters. Skipper spends most of the trip online and on her tablet, avoiding anything but blogging. Barbie just can't find a horse she's able to bond with...until she encounters a mysterious white stallion with a pink streak in its mane in the Alps. While the nasty riding teacher at the next school over insists it's just a myth, Barbie eventually befriends it. Horse and rider eventually ends up saving the school and teaching everyone a lesson in friendship in the process.

While it's not bad, I didn't like it as much as the first story of Barbie and her sisters. I really would have liked to have seen more of her sisters and less of the horses, and the whole "magical" aspect seemed a tad tacked-on. I have the feeling horse-crazy little girls will be more into this one than me.

City In the Snow

Between my long week and the messy weather, I just slept in again this morning. When I finally opened my eyes around 8:30 - quarter of 9, the sun was shining, and my landlord Andrew was shoveling my porch steps. I measured the snow left on the porch after he went downstairs and discovered that storm dropped 8 inches on us! Well, snow or no snow, I had things I wanted to do today.

I needed a good breakfast before I headed out. Ran two cartoons involving snow as I ate. The Backyardigans are on the trail of what they think is a monster living in the frozen north (but is really Pablo being cute) in the first season episode "The Yeti." Though everyone's favorite snowman is happy to be back from the North Pole in Frosty's Winter Wonderland, he's also lonely. His friends the kids make him a sweet "snow wife" named Crystal, but they can't figure out how to make her "all livin'." Meanwhile, Jack Frost is jealous that Frosty is getting all the winter attention instead of him and will do anything to keep from being second best!

Went online briefly to check my e-mail and my checking account after breakfast. Much to my disappointment, the Camden County Library System was now closed all day, rather than opening at noon as previously announced. Oh well. Those DVDs would just have to wait to go back again. I'd just spend all day in Philly.

I realized why the libraries were closed when I went downstairs. My porch and path were practically the only things that were plowed. The streets must not have been salted, because they were packed snow. It was so cold, any snow anyone shoveled just froze. I was going to ride my bike, but I ended up walking it instead. It just wasn't possible to ride anywhere. The streets were all covered with snow. I was far from the only one ignoring the literally freezing temperatures, though (it didn't get above the 20s here today). There were many people shoveling walkways or using snow blowers. I saw a group of kids and their parents happily riding down a hill on inner tubes on Bettlewood Avenue. Men were salting the sidewalks even as I arrived at the PATCO station in Collingswood.

Since the trains were running (and only slightly behind time), I figured I'd get my shopping done anyway, cold or no cold. Much to my surprise, there were quite a few other people with me on the train, especially going to 8th and Market. I got off at 16th and Locust, same as I did last month.

Much to my annoyance, most of the streets in Philly hadn't been plowed, either. They were even messier with slushy, dirty snow. The sidewalks were generally in better shape, though, making for easier walking than in New Jersey.

I once again began my trip at Barnes & Noble. It was past 1:30 by then. I started with lunch at their Starbucks. I wanted soup and a sandwich, but they said they'd opened late and hadn't gotten the soup going. I ended up with two Turkey wraps, Peppermint Hot Chocolate, and a too-crumbly blueberry muffin I didn't finish.

There were several things I wouldn't have minded buying at Barnes and Noble, but I didn't feel like hauling them around. I finally ended up with a book of crochet patterns for 18 inch doll clothes and the first book for American Girl's Girl of the Year for 2014, Isabelle. (I may see if I can pick up Tomorrow-Land on the 1964-1965 World's Fair with tax return money or for my birthday.)

My next stop was the big FYE on Broad Street. I didn't get any DVDs for Christmas beyond what I bought myself, so I had some catching up to do. I took advantage of their buy 1, get 1 for a dollar used sale to grab the third season of Laverne & Shirley, the fourth season of Moonlighting (the last season I needed for that show), and the soundtracks for A Hard Day's Night and Tangled. (Tangled and Moonlighting were the dollar items.) Made use of a massive 50% off sale to grab the more recent media I wanted, Man of Steel and the Frozen soundtrack.

I had more problems at Macy's. On one hand, they were having a buy 1 bra, get the second 75% off sale. The gift card from Lauren knocked two good bras down to 22 dollars. On the other hand, it took me over an hour to find the plus size women's section, which was shoved into a corner on the second floor. Their selection was lousy, and I just ended up grabbing a pair of JM khakis for that weren't as rugged as I would have liked - I hope they'll get me through the winter.

I was much later leaving than I'd planned. I hurried down 13th Street as well as I could to the 13th and Locust PATCO station. The 4:30 train going to Collingswood (when it finally showed up after being 10 minutes late) was surprisingly jammed full. People who would have normally taken cars or buses to work may have found themselves seeking alternate transportation when the roads proved impassible and their cars were snowed in.

Alas, the roads were still a mess when I got back in, and the sidewalks were now icy, too. I just ended up walking home, trying to stick to the main roads this time. At least the wind, which had been blasting for most of the day, wasn't as bad when I was walking home, and there was a lovely, orange-y sunset.

When I got in, I ran a couple of Laverne & Shirley episodes as I made scrambled eggs with zucchini, cheddar cheese, and ham for a quick dinner. Figured "New Year's Eve - 1960" on the second disc was an appropriate place to start. Neither woman has a New Year's for the record books when Shirley catches a cold on the big night and Laverne is heartbroken after her date ditches her. They find themselves dealing with FBI agents in their apartment who think Shirley's guy friend Carmine is a counterfeiter in "The Stakeout." And both women get the shock of their lives when they have to fly an airplane after the pilot passes out in the season opener "Airport '59."

I've spent the rest of the night online, running my many Disney soundtracks. In addition to Frozen and Tangled, I've gone chronologically and have heard The Princess & the Frog and Brother Bear. I decided to stick to Phil Collins and moved onto his Oscar-winning work for Tarzan.

The Eagles Swash the Buccaneers

I wasn't feeling great when I went to bed last night. My temperature had risen, my head was hot but my legs were cold, and I kept drinking and drinking water. I awoke late this morning sweaty but with less of a fever. My head was still congested and I was still a bit tired, but my throat wasn't as sore, and I wasn't hot.

Pre-empted the Beatles show in favor of the remaining two Backyardigans episodes as I made Pear-Spice Pancakes for breakfast. Uniqua is a librarian in Veja, California who becomes "The Masked Returner" when a book is overdue in a Zorro spoof. When Don Austin, the most important guy in Veja, won't return a book he's borrowed, it's the Masked Returner who makes sure he renews that library book! Tyrone, Uniqua, and Pablo go "To the Center of the Earth" when Tyrone loses his lucky penny and the other two take him into the Earth's core to track it down.

I had work a little earlier than usual for a Sunday, at noon. Given the Eagles played at 1 today, you probably won't be surprised to hear that it was busy when I came in and steady for the rest of the afternoon. I took cold medicine to keep my stuffed-up nose at bay, but otherwise, there were no problems, and I was in and out.

When I got home, I had leftover chicken and tomatoes and Brussels sprouts with spinach, then called Mom...who was eating dinner and said she'd call back. When she did, we had a nice little chat. My sister Rose and her son Khai came down to Cape May County to visit yesterday. Rose wanted to take Khai to the popular (and free) Cape May County Zoo and thought he'd like to see his nana. 

Oh, and as you can guess from the title, the Eagles did finally push past the woebegone Tampa Bay Buccaneers (another team that hasn't won a game this season) to beat them 31-20, thanks to some great throws from emergency quarterback Nick Foles. 

Sunny Day Surprise

It was still cloudy out when I awoke this morning. However, the porch was mostly dry. It looked like it hadn't rained in a long time, probably since I got home last night. It was still very windy, though. I read Anne of the Island (the fourth Anne of Green Gables book) while listening to this week's American Top 40 re-run.

We danced back five years to mid-October 1977, as R&B, country, and pop sneaked in amid the disco. Hits from that fall included "I Just Want to Be Your Everything" by Andy Gibb, "That's Rock n' Roll" by Sean Cassidy, "It Was Almost Like a Song" by Ronnie Milsap, "I Feel Love" by Donna Summer, "Break Out!" by The Commodores, "Nobody Does It Better" by Carly Simon, "Slow Dancin' (Swayin' to the Music)" by Johnny Rivers, and a disco rendition of "The Star Wars Theme/Cantina Band" by Meco, from that year's biggest blockbuster movie.

Though Star Wars ruled the movie theaters that year, one of the year's biggest songs, from a much quieter film, began it's very long stay at #1 that week. "You Light Up My Life" by Debby Boone was such a sensational smash, it would remain in the top spot through the rest of the year and the first few weeks of 1978 and ultimately win the Oscar for Best Song.

It was still a bit cloudy and very windy as I headed out for this week's farm market/yard sale run. The clouds started to break up as I crossed the White Horse Pike in Oaklyn. By the time I was checking out a yard sale in Collingswood, the clouds were slowly disappearing. They never quite left entirely, but they weren't anywhere near as threatening as they have been for the past few days.

The surprisingly nice weather was reflected in a very busy Farm Market. The fall harvest continues to make its debut, as Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, Bartlett pears, and all kinds of greens replace corn and cucumbers. I also got my first indications that the Farm Market only has about a month and a half left before it ends for the year. One booth was missing entirely (though that one may have been scared off by the weather), and the farm that specializes in corn mentioned that this was their final day. I ended up with tiny Gala apples, carrots, a tomato, cranberries, and the aforementioned Brussels sprouts and Bartlett pears.

My next stop was an estate sale in Haddon Township, in the neighborhood behind the woods on Cuthbert Boulevard. The gray 60s-era split-level house looked small from the outside, but the inside was lovely, with some beautiful wood walls and lots of levels. Alas, I saw nothing interesting. Most of it was glassware and appliances I couldn't carry on a bike, jewelry I couldn't afford, or Jewish music and memorabilia.

It took me a bit longer to get to Haddon Heights. They're the next town after Audubon, and they require crossing often traffic-laden King's Highway. I was hoping they were still having their fall Town-Wide Yard Sale. They're the only other town in the area besides Audubon that holds a town-wide yard sale in the spring and the fall.

As soon as I arrived, I saw a street filled with yard sales. Yes, it was on. And it was even busier than the farm market! I lost count of how many cars I dodged. Ironically, it wasn't quite as big as in the spring, once again likely due to the weather. Still, enough people put out tables that I was able to make a nice little haul:

Three more Backyardigans DVDs: Robin Hood the Clean, Escape From Fairy Tale Village, and The Tale of the Mighty Knights

One record, a Disney Christmas album - it comes with a book that has the lyrics and some really cute illustrations

Two books: a cookbook based around chocolate baked goods appropriately called Hershey's Best Loved Recipes, and The Adventures of Robin Hood, by Roger Lancelyn Green

Oh, the reason they were so busy only partially had to do with the yard sales. I discovered while buying a Diet Cherry Dr. Pepper at a local convenience-style store on Station Avenue that there was a Revolutionary War re-enactment going on in Haddon Lake Park. I saw the re-enactors as I was roaming around, looking for yard sales. They were just chatting with each other in the park at that point. At least now I know what those huge, noisy booms were around 11:30 - it was cannon fire! I thought King Kong was attacking the park or something.

I considered eating out, but I finally decided that I'd done enough riding over hills for one day and just went home. I put everything away after I got in. Had the last of the chicken casserole instead while watching Backyardigans episodes.

I managed to get some chores in between shows. I originally wanted to wash the trash and recycling canisters on Wednesday. Being called in derailed that...and then it rained for the next two days. I took advantage of Mother Nature's continuing and unexpected good mood to finally get it all done. Gave the bike a quick scrub and hose-down, too.

After I finished the scrubbing and the cans were drying on the porch, I decided to try a simple low-fat chocolate cupcake recipe from the Hershey's cookbook. I lowered the fat content even more by replacing some of the sugar with the agave nectar, the water with applesauce, and part of the white flour with whole wheat flour. Also added some of those huge Nestle's Dark Chocolate Chips. They're so big, you get lots of chocolate flavor without having to dump in the whole bag. Yuuuumm. They came out perfectly, moist and very chocolate-y!

My head had been stuffed-up all day, and by that point, I had a headache and a sore throat, too. I thought a bath might help. I slipped into a warm tub with soothing English Garden bath salts while reading Women Who Run With the Wolves. I was in for a little under an hour, and while it did seem to loosen my nose and certainly helped my sore joints and feet, it didn't do much for my headache. I discovered when I got out and stuck the thermometer in my mouth that I had a slight temperature, nothing outrageous but still slightly above normal.

I did make a simple but decent dinner. Had chicken breasts with diced tomatoes marinated in the last of the raspberry vinaigrette, whole-wheat elbow macaroni, and roasted Brussels sprouts. That was delicious, too. The chicken recipe is from Eat Up and Slim Down, a hard-back Prevention cookbook that's one of the best things Mom ever gave me.

I had continued running The Backyardigans all day. Some of my favorite episodes can be found on these three sets. By the time these discs came out in Season 3, the show was mainly doing some hilarious and frequently bizarre pop culture spoofs. Uniqua has fun with western/Lone Ranger cliches when she teaches Bandit Pablo that ping pong is no fun to play alone in "Blazing Paddles." "The Tale of the Mighty Knights" takes on rock opera and fantasy as Knights Uniqua and Tyrone, Grabbin' Goblin Austin, and Flighty Fairy Tasha chase after a very "runny" egg. Austin, Uniqua, and Tasha take on the final frontier and dodge Klingon trash thieves Tyrone and Pablo in "Garbage Trek." Tasha is a super-fast superhero with a secret identity as a photographer in "Front Page News." Pablo White wants her to get a story big enough to be on the front page, but she's too busy rescuing fellow heroes Uniqua and Tyrone to snap the shot. Austin plays Inspector Poirot in "Le Master of Disguise" as he follows mysterious criminal Pablo onto the Orient Express. With suspects like Circus Woman Tasha and Cowboy Tyrone around, it won't be easy for Austin to catch the quick-thinking penguin!

The Secret of Snowy Rides

I spent most of today running errands. I finally delivered a big bag of donations to the Friends in Deed thrift shop in Collingswood, including my old winter coats. I bought a cute Cheer Bear that can talk when you hug her. I bought a hot chocolate at WaWa, then went to counseling. I told Scott about everything happening in my family and the culinary school idea, but he mainly wants me to concentrate on trying not to get upset when things go wrong at work. I wrote down some of the things he suggested I try to think about when I get anxious - I hope it helps.

I had a quick small ham and swiss sandwich at Primo Hoagies, then rode over to the Haddon Township Library. I made a brief stop at Walgreens to see if they had any good Lil'Kinz. Nope - they still just had Tigers and Yorkies. I have a Lil'Kinz Tiger, and I don't want a silly fluffy Yorkie. I just went on ahead to the Haddon Township Library. I did the children's DVDs, removing the PG-rated animated films Iron Giant and Over the Hedge. (And for those of you who work at libraries or video rental stores, please remember that a movie being animated doesn't automatically mean it's G-rated or for little kids. Please check the ratings on the box!) I took out three DVDs and two cookbooks before heading out.

I made a very brief stop at Super Fresh. I didn't find what I was looking for and forgot something else I wanted, milk, so I also stopped by WaWa on the way back to Oaklyn. I'm glad I did - a half-gallon of skim milk at WaWa has dropped to $2.19. (A half gallon of skim milk costs $2.69 at the Acme!)

Since I was in the area, I rode over to the park behind the Oaklyn Public School on my way home. It was a nice day, bitterly cold (the high was 25) and very windy, but sunny. The snow is still very pretty, and there's still quite a bit on the ground. (Thank goodness it's not nearly as icy or as much of a problem to move as last week's snowfall, though.) I just had to take ten minutes to run through it, kick it around, make snow angels, throw a snowball to the air. We didn't often get snow in Cape May County, and the rare times we did was usually a treat. I love snow. As long as it doesn't get too messy, it's a lot of fun. (Of course, I also don't have some of the problems other people do with large snowfalls. I don't have kids who will be out of school, I live less than ten minutes from work and can commute in anything short of a major blizzard, and my neighbors or my landlady's nephew shovel my steps and porch.)

I enjoyed some more snow-related animated shorts and specials this morning and during dinner. In addition to their Christmas and Easter specials, Rankin-Bass made two specials in the 70s that were really more salutes to winter than to winter holidays. I have Frosty's Winter Wonderland, which was RB's 1976 follow-up to Frosty the Snowman. Unlike the original, this one doesn't try to needlessly tie Christmas in. Frosty comes from the North Pole, but he's lonely when the kids aren't around, so they make him a wife. Meanwhile, Jack Frost (not the same character in the 1979 stop-motion special) feels jealous of the attention Frosty gets from the kids and tries to steal his hat. It's slight but charming, with one of Rankin-Bass' better casts. The original Frosty, Jackie Vernon, is joined by Shelley Winters as his "snow wife" Crystal, Paul Frees as Jack Frost, Dennis Day as Parson Brown, and Andy Griffith as the narrator. Day and Griffith get to duet (rather nicely, too) on the title song.

Although Frosty Returns sounds like a second sequal to the Rankin-Bass Frosty specials, and it does share some elements (snow setting, kids, song, goofy villain who turns good in the end, comedian narrator), it's was actually made by Bill Melendez, who did the Peanuts specials. In fact, Returns, which was made in 1992, has more of a Peanuts vibe than a Rankin-Bass vibe. The kids seem a bit more real than they did in the Rankin-Bass specials, and there's a somewhat cynical 90s feel, from elderly teachers complaining about shoveling sidewalks and breaking hips to Frosty making wisecracks about his polka-dot bow-tie. Not for Rankin-Bass purists, but different and cute in it's own way. I'm especially fond of the only song, "Let There Be Snow." Not a bad cast here, either - Andrea Martin as the fussy teacher, John Goodman as Frosty, and Jonathan Winters as the narrator.

The Backyardigans had their own adventures in the snow. I took out the last Backyardigans DVD the library had that I hadn't seen this afternoon. I have seen the title special episode (a James Bond spoof, complete with Henry Mancini-esque jazz music), but not the other two episodes. Uniqua desperately wants to find "The Secret of Snow," but ever-busy Ice Lady Tasha has no time for her questions. She tries to send the pink bug girl first to the desert, then the jungle, but compassionate Austin, Cowboy Pablo, and Tyrone of the Jungle help her out. All four kids end up learning that there is no real secret to snow...but the secret of friendship is to help others out and have fun doing it, to the tune of Dixieland versions of Christmas songs. (In fact, this would appear to be the closest thing The Backyardigans has to a Christmas episode. It ends with the kids saying "Happy Holidays," the only time they don't go home for a snack in the end.)

My personal favorite on the disc was "A Giant Problem." Queen Uniqua sends her wizards Tyrone and Pablo to get rid of Tasha the Giant, who keeps waking the Queen from her nap. Problem is, Tyrone and Pablo are hardly Harry Potter-quality wizards - none of their spells work right. Big, goofy Tasha doesn't really want to hurt them, anyway. All she wants is to play tag. The 80s synthesizer music brought back a lot of childhood memories.

Beautifully Cold Mornin'

While it was still cold this morning when I got up, it wasn't quite as cold as yesterday, and there was no wind whatsoever. With today off, I lingered in bed for a happy hour, reading old journal entries and Indiana Jones, before finally getting up, getting dressed, and heading to to do this week's grocery shopping at the Acme. I was there around noon, which may not have been the best idea. The Acme was very busy, with long lines - people preparing for the big playoff games tomorrow, I suppose. In addition to the usual things - yogurt, grapefruit, bananas, greens, a green pepper, onion, and ground turkey to make meatloaf tonight - I found a bin with low-priced CDs. I finally came up with two $1.49 CDs of big band and swing music, some of which I hadn't seen before.

There was a package for me in the mail when I got back home. The second book in my Barnes and Noble Gift Card order, Beautiful Mornin' - The Broadway Musical in the 40s had arrived. This is the second in Ethan Mordden's series of books on the history of the Broadway musical in different time periods, from the 20s, when the musical as we know it first began to take shape, to the 70s, when many considered it a dying form (including, from his fussing, Mordden). I don't really agree with some of what Mordden says (especially on most musicals made after about 1979, which is why I tend to disregard his book on 80s and 90s musicals, The Happiest Corpse In the World), but the book is well-written and researched and snappy even when Mordden's at his most snobbish.

I read the book and ate a quick lunch of home-made Honey-Wheat Bread with Peanut Butter and celery, then went for a quick walk down to the White Horse Pike to deposit my paycheck in the ATM machine and finally deliver at least a little bit of my $700 dentist bill to Dr. Hyder (her office being a block down from the White Horse Pike PNC Bank branch). I had briefly considered a longer walk, but by this point, the earlier sunshine had been replaced by soft, gray clouds, and it was considerably colder. I just headed home instead.

I spent the rest of a quiet evening reading Beautiful Mornin' and vacuuming the apartment, which badly needed it. Even after quickly doing the spot around the Christmas tree two weeks ago, there were still a good amount of fake tree "needles" all over the music room. This was coupled with more fake needles and glistening cellophane from the garlands. I know I didn't get it all - I'll be finding fake greenery "needles" until NEXT Christmas.

Inspired by Beautiful Mornin', I ran CDs of four Broadway shows of the 40s while I read and made dinner. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and Kiss Me, Kate are the original casts. Oklahoma! is the 1979 Broadway revival cast. On the Town is a studio album from 1960 with some of the original Broadway cast members, including Nancy Walker and Betty Comden and Adolph Green (who also wrote the book and the lyrics). The last two are particular favorites of mine. The exuberant Oklahoma! has been my favorite Rogers and Hammerstein show since I saw the movie as a child, and there's some lovely music in On the Town, including the touching "Some Other Time."

Baby, Heck YEAH It's Cold Outside!

It's cold today. It's really, really cold. The high here today was 15. That may be small frozen potatoes for those of you facing subzero temperatures in the Midwest, Northwest, New England, and Canada, but here in South Jersey, it almost never drops below the 30s. It was windy, too. With all that, you can understand why I spent the morning inside, working on editing this month's Monkees role-play. (It'll go up tonight.) The Acme called me in a little early, at 2 instead of 4. I was hoping to get a ride, but Uncle Ken was the only person home, and he can't drive because of his medication. Dolores was running errands, Jessa was at school, and Dad and Jodie had gone to a winery. (Yeah, I know, in temperatures in the teens. What, were they eating wine-cicles?) I rode my bike to work. At least it was sunny and the wind was facing my back most of the way.

Work was steady-to-dead most of the night, and given the weather, busier than I thought it would be. I figured everyone would be hiding from the cold. I got lucky, too. I ran into Dolores about a half-hour before work ended. Uncle Ken had gotten a hankering for tuna salad, but they were out of tomatoes and mayonnaise, so Dolores ran to the store to fetch some. She was able to drive me and my bike home.

Kitchen Kabaret

Finally got to cleaning the kitchen this morning, after putting it off for almost a week. There was a really terrible rust-brown ring around the sink under the dish pan, and I was tired of staring at it every time I did the dishes. I also dusted, and THAT was a mess. I have no idea where the dust is coming from. Maybe the drafts in the windows are worse than I thought.

I ran Broadway cast album LPs while I cleaned. I opted for a theme - a musical for each decade of the 20th century from the 50s onwards. Did The King and I for the 50s (the studio cast recording with Barbara Cook I found at the thrift shop a month ago). I hadn't listened to the copy of Camelot I bought at Russkoff's yet, so I made that my 60s selection. The original 1973 Grease was my 70s selection, and the 1983 Twiggy/Tommy Tune vehicle My One and Only was the 80s album.

Work was pretty much the same as yesterday - steady when I arrived, dying when I left. There were no major problems, and my relief was on time.

Far from being too cold to ride, I had one of my best rides to and from work in a long time! Yes, it was cold for this area, in the mid-20s, but the air was crisp and clear, and there was no wind, snow, rain, or anything. It felt good to breath in that clear, dry air! I might have overbundled myself - I was sweating when I arrived at work!

Battling the Cold

I went to CVS this morning for more daytime cold medicine. (I still have plenty of the nighttime capsules left.) It was cloudy, damp, and muggy, but relatively cool. They've been threatening isolated, scattered thunderstorms for the past two or three days now, but all we've had are the occasional cloud. As long as it doesn't rain while I'm on the bike, I wish we WOULD get those storms. We need them. It's getting really dry out there.

I stopped really quick at Uncle Ken's house to say "hi" to Dad, who was cleaning the pool. Whatever I have seems to be going around, and not just at the Acme, either. Jessa's sick now, too. No wonder she was so out of it when we watched Hannah Montana together last Thursday. (I hope I didn't give it to her...)

I spent the rest of the morning puttering around on the computer and reading Cheaper By The Dozen. My head is still stuffy and I'm still coughing and sneezing, but my sore throat and any lingering remains of last week's fever are gone. Once again, I spent a busy work day sucking on cough drops. (Good thing they had plenty of help and no need for me beyond my scheduled four hours.) I stopped at the Rite Aid next-door to the Acme to pick up my film. The film turned out to be almost $13 (they're mostly Christmas pictures - I got doubles for Dad and Uncle Ken), and I only had $10 on me. I'll get it tomorrow evening.

Running Hot and Colds

The cold continues. I coughed all through work today. I sucked on a LOT of cough drops. Jean called me around 9AM and asked me if I wanted to come in at 10:30 instead of 11:30. I said no. I'd just gotten up, and it was bad enough I had to cough around people for five hours, much less six. Work was busy, too, with long lines all through the day. There was plenty of help, so I'm not sure what the early call was for.

Rose called me while I was at work. She had some time off, and she wondered if I wanted to go visit the family on Tuesday? Sorry, I have work that day. She said she and her boyfriend Craig would go to the Poconos instead. She said she has a week off after the Fourth of July weekend, and we're usually dead then and I won't be going on vacation until September, so we might try again then.

Oh, and I finally finished The Greatest American Hero: Season 2 today. Started with some fairly goofy episodes, but ended strong, with two episodes in a row about being careful whom you date - Ralph's mother falls for a con artist in Who's Woo In America, and FBI agent Bill Maxwell becomes enamored with a woman who turns out to be an enemy agent in Lilacs, Mr. Maxwell. One of the first episodes was my very favorite. We learn more about the history of Ralph's infamous red super suit and question the nature of death in Don't Mess Around With Jim, when Ralph and Bill are the target of an aging multi-millionaire who knows an awful lot about Ralph's big secret. Other good episodes include the touching Train of Thought, the spooky ghost tale The Beast In Black, and the surprisingly sweet Captain Bellybuster and the Speed Factory.

Hot Summer Cold

The flu I've had all week has downgraded to a summer cold, but it's still not fun. At the very least, my headache and neck ache are gone and I don't feel (abnormally) hot, but I've been sneezing and coughing all day, and now my throat is sore again from coughing so much!

Other than my cold, today went somewhat well. I did my usual farm-market/yard sale/bank run this morning. I'll be making the Farm Market errands run every morning that I work early enough until late November, when the Farm Market closes for the year. I picked up cherries, celery, blueberry butter, a block of cheddar cheese, mushrooms, string beans, and the first New Jersey blueberries of the season from the Farm Market.

I bought two WebKinz, the just-released Siamese Cat and the Pet-of-the-Month Elephant, from the Collingswood Variety Store after leaving the Farm Market. (I was lucky to find the Elephant. One of the stock people had to go in the back and look for it, and it was apparently one of the last they had left.) I stopped in the thrift shop to say "hi" to Erica. She thanked me profusely for the card and pumpkin butter I gave her last week.

I made a few yard sale finds today, though I didn't do quite as good as last week. I bought a Beanie Baby Turkey and a Wolf with odd ruby-red eyes for fall decorations (Thanksgiving and Halloween respectively - that wolf looks more like the were variety). I found a Sailor Moon Trapper-Keeper at one sale and a stack of records at another. Picked up Bruce Springsteen's Born To Run, the original 1972 Broadway cast of Grease, more George Benson (Breezin'), Madonna's True Blue, the soundtrack for the 1969 movie version of Oliver, and Alternatives, a collection of non-hit B-sides of popular folk and rock performers of the late 60s and early 70s, including Jimi Hendrix, the Grateful Dead, Joni Mitchell, and the Mothers Of Invention.

I got in around noon and had lunch and hung out until it was time to go to work. Despite leaving on time, I was almost late. The chain on my bike came loose about half-way to the Acme. I ended up having to walk part-way. I wasn't happy, but I was (just barely) on time and no one was angry but me...and even I calmed down when I realized everyone was in a fairly good mood, customers and employees alike, and there were no problems. (And one of the teen boys was able to fix my bike, so I did ride home.)

Oh, and meet Louis, my WebKinz Elephant! Louis is a jazz-playing, joke-loving pachyderm who lives in a loft above the KinzBeach and Boardwalk. Louis' Pet-of-the-Month gift, the Sparkle-Making Machine, inspired me to finally set up a room I've wanted to make for a long time - the KinzBeach Boardwalk! I made my WebKinz their own Wildwood Boardwalk, complete with two "rides" (I finally figured out what to do with my flying saucer and two airplanes, and Louis' Big Top Cart fit in nicely, too), a food booth, and two "games" (knock-the-baseball-off-the-can and balloon darts). I'd gotten a lot of random toys lately that made for perfect game prizes. Finally found a spot for a lot of the balloons that I've gathered, too.

Summertime's Here!

And it was a perfect day to kick off summer with, sunny, bright, breezy, and in the mid-upper 70s. I slept in again and spent most of the morning doing laundry, which I put off yesterday because I wasn't feeling well. I'm still not. I'm still sniffling, but I'm coughing now, too, which may be a good indication that whatever is clogging my head is loosening. The sore throat is gone, too. Whatever I had Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday seems to have downgraded to a nasty summer cold. I still have a headache, stuffy head, and sore neck, but everything else is gone.

I spent the morning watching Hannah Montana episodes with Jessa. Most of the reports I've gotten on this show from adults have said that it's almost annoyingly bland. I don't know about that. I think it's adorable. It reminds me of a lot of goofy fantasy-oriented sitcoms from the mid-late 80s that involved teenagers or young adults in outlandish situations. Is the idea of a 14-year-old girl with a double life as a rock star and a high schooler any different than a teenager who is half-human, half alien and has strange powers (Out of this World), a male nanny and his charges (Charles In Charge), a wisecracking, cat-eating alien living with a normal Earth family (Alf), a literal storybook family ending up in the real world (The Charmings), a rich, child-like dad bonding with his very adult son (Silver Spoons), or man building a girl-like robot for his family (Small Wonder)?

Actually, I was surprisingly impressed with Hannah Montana. Yes, it's contrived and silly and very standard sitcom fare, with everyone overacting through the roof, but it's also colorful, slickly produced, and a great deal of fun. In fact, the music was my biggest complaint. It sounds a little too much like every other kiddie act on the market for my taste. The show, however, is sweet. In one episode, Miley sleepwalks after spending several sleepless nights trying to figure out how to tell her dad that she thinks his new song is horrible and get around her brother's desperate attempt to have a party. In another, Miley (in her Hannah guise) manages to get into a celebrity tennis tournament with a hot doubles player and is given one ticket, which sets off an argument between her male and female best friend as to who should go. (Personally, I think she should have left both of her friends behind and just brought her dad, no matter how embarrassing that would be for a 14-year-old.) You get the picture. The humor is broad and obvious, and the writing is typical sitcom shenanigans, but Miley Cyrus and Emily Osmet have nice comic timing and handle the gag-filled script well.

I was less fond of the male characters. Hannah's brother Jackson, her best guy friend Ryan, and Rico, the little brat who owns the ice cream stand where Jackson works, were all annoying dorks. Billy Ray Cyrus just seemed to be out of place (no matter that he is Miley's dad in real life). Other than that, like High School Musical, I can understand why Hannah's become such a sensation. The show and the music are harmless, fluffy fun.

I went to work shortly after getting in. Work was steady to busy, and will likely remain so on the weekends until after the Fourth of July. Most people will be occupied with barbecues, birthday parties, and graduation parties for the rest of the month.

Frozen

What an annoying day. I woke up late and didn't get much done, I had to get a ride to and from work due to the 20-degree temperatures and lingering high winds, and work was a pain in the rear. We had long lines for most of the day, and we weren't even short-handed. We just didn't have enough help assigned. I got two of the WIC Checks wrong twice! The WIC Checks are are part of the state program used by mothers with babies and young toddlers to buy milk, cereal, juice, formula, and a few other essentials. The details of those "few other essentials," however, are constantly changing, far more than I or anyone can keep up with. I was told for over a year that mothers were only supposed to buy one 16-ounce block of cheese, not two 8-ounce blocks, and that they couldn't be the individually-wrapped processes stuff. A woman threw a fit when I pointed that out, then the manager let her take out the individually-wrapped ones anyway! Later, a woman bought two 8 ounce packages. I tried to tell her otherwise, but the (different) manager said she could have them. At least she was far more amiable about the whole thing.

(However, they haven't allowed Kellogg's Rice Krispies on the WIC Checks for years. Some generic brands, but not Kellogg's. I don't know why people keep insisting on bringing it to the counter.)

I called Mom and Dad this morning to wish the latter a Happy 52nd birthday. Dad was on his way out to work, but I did get to wish him well. I chatted a bit more with Mom. She wants me to seek out more financial aid, and says the only way I'll be able to pay for college is to be a college librarian because they make more money.

But I don't WANT to work for college libraries! I don't CARE about the money! I'll figure something out. I want to work with kids! I'll get a job in a college media center if possible because I have precious little experience doing anything else, but isn't there a way to do what I enjoy and pay to learn how to do it, too?

It Feels Like Christmas

It's just a week before Christmas Day, and cookie baking is in full swing. I did the peanut butter cookies this morning, using peanut spread instead of full-fat peanut butter, and you can't tell the difference at all. They came out beautiful and quite tasty.

I ran The Muppets Christmas Carol as I did the peanut butter cookies. Christmas Carol was the first Muppet film made after the death of Jim Henson, but the tumult hardly shows - it's one of the very best Muppet films, a fine and funny version of one of literature's most famous holiday tales. I'm going to say Gonzo as "a blue furry Charles Dickens who talks to a rat" and Rizzo are my favorites here, but everyone's good, including Michael Caine as Scrooge.

Work was a bit of a pain today. It got busier as people got out of work, but two late-shift baggers called out and we were, once again, short on help. I went out with two of the teenage cashiers in the last twenty minutes of my shift and helped them with carts. They fussed so much about the cold! It's cold, but it's not freezing, probably about 35 tonight, normal for this time of year. You'd think it was 30 bellow, the way they carried on.

Summer Cold

Ugh. I think I'm getting a cold. It was probably inevitable, given all the time I spend walking in and out of full-blast air conditioning. My nose is runny, my eyes are itchy, my throat is sore (though it's better than it was yesterday), and I have a headache.

Other than that, nothing thrilling today. I still haven't made it to the library, but I did send Mom the pictures from Skylar's birthday party. I think I may have accidentally sent her my copies too, though. Oops. I'll have to see if I can get her to send them back. I did a little bit of work on The Monkee Knight this morning.

Work was steady, with no major problems other than a few missing coupons. I'm off tomorrow, which is good, because tomorrow is going to be busy - I need to get those papers to the library, I have volunteering and counseling, and I'm hoping to get into Philadelphia if the weather holds out.