Sunshine and Happy Endings

I slept in on a gorgeous, perfectly breezy mid-May morning and didn't get out to the Acme for this week's grocery run until past noon. Much to my surprise, it really wasn't that busy. I'm guessing a lot of people hurried off to the Shore for the weekend the moment they figured out it was going to be nice until tomorrow night. There were more people in line at customer service for that 600 million dollar jackpot than there were buying food! Thankfully, that allowed me to get the things I needed that much quicker. The Oteker mousse mixes and Acme's generic "Essential Everyday" whipped topping were on sale. I bought crust and decided to make a Strawberries n' Cream Mousse Pie. I needed to restock whole wheat flour, crushed pineapple, tea, pads, blood oranges, and bananas. They were having a really good sale on the Smart Balance sticks, and I had a coupon, so despite having bought one last week, I grabbed two more.

When I got home, I put everything away, then went online to get some ideas for my vacation and Lauren's visit next month. It doesn't sound like we're going to do a whole lot this time besides our annual trip into Philly and my treating Lauren to Anthony's for her graduation...and I'm kind of glad. We've both had a very busy winter and spring. As much as I enjoyed seeing ball games together, I think we could probably use the rest.

(And speaking of, congratulations to my best friend Lauren and my stepsister Jessa, members of the 2013 college graduating class! While Lauren's finishing some graduate courses in math and accounting, Jessa's graduating the University of the Arts in Philadelphia.)

I ran The Pirate Movie while having leftover chicken breast with black bean sauce and asparagus for lunch. Mabel (Kristy MacNichol) is a rather nerdy girl in Australia in the early 80s who chases the boy of her dreams...and ends up dreaming herself into the Gilbert and Sullivan musical The Pirates of Penzance. The object of her affection is Fredrick (Christopher Atikins), the boy obsessed with duty. The lusty Pirate King is determined to invade her father the Major General's palace and steal his daughters and his wealth. It's up to Mabel to step in and save the day...and remind us that, even in our dreams, we can take control of our lives  when we stand up for ourselves.

This is another movie that used to run frequently on cable back in the 80s. My sisters and I fell in love with it then, and I still adore it today. Ok, so it's cheesy, it's goofy, the new music doesn't really work with the original Penzance songs, Atkins is stiff as a board (though that kind of goes with the character), and some of the humor is pretty weird for a swashbuckler riff. That's what I like about it - think Airplane meets Pirates of Penzance by way of Pirates of the Caribbean, and you're not far off. Kristy MacNichol has an awful lot of fun as sensible, strong-willed Mabel. The gorgeous Australian location shooting is almost worth the ride alone.

It's not for Gilbert and Sullivan purists or straight action lovers, but if you like your swashbucklers on the goofy side, want to see a rare swashbuckler with a female hero, or enjoyed other campy 80s guilty pleasure musicals like Xanadu or Grease 2, give this one a look.

I was in a good mood when I went to work, and for once, my good mood didn't abate. For one thing, the Acme was steady for most of the night, never really dead or overwhelmingly busy. For another, most people were in equally good moods. There were a few tussles over prices, but nothing like last night. It quieted down so much, by the end of the night, the manager was showing us adorable movies on her phone of her new baby daughter.

Even my schedule didn't dampen my mood for once. I have the best hours I've gotten since at least last year. I'll be working 1 to 6 or 1 to 7 for most of the week except for next Saturday, when it's 2:30 to 7:30. Nothing later than 7:30, and Wednesday and Thursday off. Good. If the weather doesn't get as bad as it's supposed to next week, I'll see if I can get some outdoor cleaning done.

Hello Goodbye, Keefe

Rose shocked me this morning. She actually called and said she would be picking me up earlier than planned, around 12:30...then really did it. That put me in a bit of a bind. I slept in because I didn't think we were leaving until 1-1:30. I rushed the banana muffins I made for an early Father's Day present and got everything I needed for the trip down to Cape May County together for our brother Keefe's high school graduation. The muffins had just come out of the oven when Rose called and said she was downstairs and ready to go!

The trip going down there was fairly uneventful. It was just Rose, her 1-year-old son Khai, and me. Rose's boyfriend Craig had to work at the last minute. Khai slept the whole way down while we talked about our families and my decision to concentrate on writing and starting my own business this summer.

Mom had cold cuts, sandwich fixings, rolls, wraps, and flat bread out for us when we arrived. Anny appeared with her son Skylar and her new boyfriend Patrick shortly after. The little boys played with the toys their grandparents had out for them and Sky's new Build-a-Bear monkey Mr. Monkey.

I chatted with Dad while the kids had fun and their mothers kept an eye on them. Dad was in a good mood, but his health wasn't. He was walking on a cane. Apparently, he finally went to Burdette Tomlin Memorial Hospital in Cape May Court House a few days ago to have his heart checked out. They had to run a camera up arteries in his leg. On one hand, the camera found that his heart was fine. It's his blood pressure (and having a high-stress commercial fishing job for 40 years) that's causing all his pain. On the other hand, the procedure means he can't lean on the leg or carry anything heavy for five days.

We all finally headed out to Lower Cape May Regional High School around quarter of 4...and hit a long line of traffic. While Lower has grown over the years, their graduation, alas, remains as unorganized as ever. No matter how big they've gotten, they've never had enough parking for school events, or even for kids who drive there. This is a major problem. They're on Route 9 in Erma, literally in the middle of nowhere. We all ended up parking in the junior high school's soccer/field hockey field!

It was a nice day when we headed for Lower's Football field. The rain we had briefly coming down held off. It was windy and cool for this time of the year, probably in the mid-upper 70s. (Felt much nicer than my graduation, when it was hot and humid all day, and there were brief showers.) We met Keefe's girlfriend Vicki, her mother Missy, and Anny and her boys in front of the bleachers. That was the only place we could fit. Keefe is a part of the largest graduating class in Lower's history, over 1,000 kids. Not to mention, this is Lower's 50th anniversary and 50th graduating class. The huge metal bleachers were elbow-to-elbow packed!

(Thank goodness it didn't rain while we were down there. If it had rained, they would have had to move the ceremony to the auditorium. Lower has a larger auditorium than it did when I went there, but it's still not big enough for all those people. Rose and I probably wouldn't have gone.)

As it was, Rose ended up leaving early. Khai just did not like the crowds. His father took him to a Phillies game last night, and he was tired and fussy. The rest of us stayed for the surprisingly short one-and-a-half hour ceremony. I expected the speeches to be much longer and for more people to talk. Maybe they were worried about the threatened storms. Four kids (the class president, vice president, valedictorian, and salutatorian) and two administrators (head administrator and principal) gave short speeches, then the kids got their diplomas. (I liked the Class Vice President's farewell speech that made references to The Beatles' "Hello Goodbye.") Between Dad's bad leg and Skylar, we didn't stay for the newly graduated students throwing their hats in the air.

We got home fairly quickly. Dad texted Keefe as we left Lower to tell him that he'd "have a cold one" waiting for him when he got in. He then joked that, with a promise like that, Keefe would beat us home! Ironically, Keefe, Missy, and Vicki arrived with Dad's truck at exactly the same time we pulled in. Rose and Khai were already there; Anny and her boys showed up a few minutes later.

We spent another hour or two having cake and watching Keefe and Dad open cards. Keefe is impossible to shop for. Like I said, what do you buy an 18-year-old boy who has everything and is joining the military? Everyone else besides me gave him money. He loved my iTunes card. "I'll get some use outta this," he said to me with a grin.

Rose and I had a harder time riding home. For one thing, it rained off-and-on, though not too hard. Mostly, though, Khai just wouldn't settle down. Every time we thought he'd gone to sleep, he'd start crying again. Rose had to pull over three times to calm him. She ultimately took him home first (meeting Craig right as he arrived home from work), then dropped me off.

Oh, and Rose finally gave me my birthday present from her - the DVD/Blu-Ray copy of Tangled, the newest Disney movie. I've been dying to see that. It sounds like fun. I gave her the Usual Suspects book-format screenplay I found at a yard sale last week.

And...congradulations to Keefe Jackman and Lower Cape May Regional's 50th anniversary Class of 2011! I'm proud of you, Buddy.

At the Laundromat

Today was laundry day. I didn't get out to the laundromat until around 11:30. Thankfully, it was quiet when I came in, with only a few washers being used. I timed it right. I was just putting my clothes in the dryer when two women came in with bags and bags filled with laundry. When I got in, I put everything away, had fresh farm market salad and a leftover chicken leg for lunch, and watched cartoons.

Rose called right before I went to work. Sounds like we're going to leave for Erma around 1-1:30 on Thursday, meet the family for a hoagie lunch, then head to Lower Cape May Regional for Keefe's graduation. Mom wants to leave early. I don't blame her. Even with more lots than there were when Rose and I went there, parking at Lower is still a nightmare.

It was absolutely gorgeous today, too. Sunny and far cooler than last week, barely in the 80s. Even with the nice weather, we were crazy-busy all day at work. There were call-outs. I had actually been asked to stay later for the boy who is training to be a firefighter on Monday nights and can't work. It was only an extra hour-and-a-half, so I didn't really mind, but it was tiring.

I did have a nice ride home. It was so cool, I wished I brought a sweater. There was a beautiful pink and purple sunset on the horizon as I headed back to Oaklyn. I saw fireflies for the first time this year, too, blinking to one another as I passed them.

Moments to Remember

The Strawberry Shortcake episode was another repeat (Strawberry visits Crepe Suzette), so I listened to Casey Kasem re-runs from the 70s on WOGL while I had a quick Kashi Autumn Harvest cereal breakfast and threw together a Cookies and Cream Pudding Pie, then headed for the usual Saturday outing. I stopped at a quiet bank and deposited my paycheck and passed by men selling soft pretzels on the White Horse Pike, I guess for the Lutheran Church across from the bank.

There were a couple of yard sales on my way to the Farm Market. I bought three Beanie Babies from one, but I didn't see anything of interest at the others. The Farm Market was jam-packed when I came in. They were so packed, they were already out of some things by 10:30. I wasn't able to get radishes or bananas, but I did get cheddar cheese, celery, strawberries, and leeks.

I rode around Collingswood for a little while longer to do some more yard-sale exploring, but I only found one with nothing of interest. I made a quick stop at WaWa for skim milk, then went home. I spent a little time enjoying some rare Saturday quiet after I got in, eating lunch, wrapping Jessa's graduation present, and listening to one of my Goodwill record finds, Billy Joel's The Nylon Curtain.

Headed over to Uncle Ken and Dad's around 1:30 to help get ready. I had to climb over a huge pile of wood chips and trees that had been moved to the path, due to a party behind the VFW. I'm just glad it didn't upset my pie.

The party ended up being pretty big. In addition to the usual family members - Samantha and her family, Karen, Jim, CJ, and Taylere, Mark, Vanessa, and Brittany, Erica and Miss Helen, Jodie and her sons, Dolores and her children and grandchildren, Dad, Uncle Ken - we also had many of Jessa's friends from school and Dad's old friends from Florida and Cape May. There were tables set up under small tents on the driveway between the house and the pool. Most of the teenagers stayed inside by the TV and the food. The adults sat and chatted at the tables. Kids swam in the pool while their parents watched them.

I had a nice time. I mostly just walked around and chatted with various groups. I had nice talks with my elderly next-door neighbor Nancy (who's a long-time friend of Uncle Ken and of my landlady Miss Ellie), with Erica, and with Mercedes, Dolores' 9-year-old granddaughter. I greeted Joyce and Brian and Diane, long-time friends of Dad's from Florida and Cape May I hadn't seen since I was a kid. It was kind of weird.

And there was tons and tons of food. Jodie cooked like crazy, and people brought their own food as well. I had baked ziti, macaroni salad, Caesar Salad, lots of pretzels, water, Diet Coke, Uncle Ken's divine Brown Sugar Ham, sausage (it was kinda spicy for me), cake, and slices of my Cookies and Cream Pie and a Strawberry Mousse Pie.

(Incidentally, for the second time this week, my pie was a big hit. Everyone complimented me on it, and there was only one slice left when I went home.)

I'm glad the weather cooperated, too. It was a gorgeous day for an outdoor party, sunny and breezy but not too cold or too hot. The water's still chilly, though. I didn't even attempt swimming this time. The kids all claimed it wasn't bad once you got used to it...but they were all shivering, even while in the pool.

Oh, and Jessa loved the dry-erase board I gave her. I used to use them in college to keep track of my classes, and I still have one to this day. I write my schedule and my weekly to-do list on a dry-erase board on my refrigerator and cross things off as they get done.

Life Is a Highway

I slept in this morning and got a late start out to the Audubon Commons Shopping Center behind the Acme. Wal Mart was my first stop. I finally got Jessa her graduation present and a card. Stopped at Fashion Bug next to see if they had anything that could qualify as work pants on sale; nope.

I didn't feel like going home. I felt like doing something. I didn't know what. It was cloudy and humid, but warm, and I didn't want to hang around the apartment all day. I just rode down the Black Horse Pike. I've never really explored the other Pike on my own before. I rode, and just kept riding. I went by the PNC Bank, went by Walgreens. (No good WebKinz there, BTW.) By this point, the traffic on the Black Horse Pike had picked up somewhat.

I stopped at a Subway in Mt. Ephram for lunch, and just kept on going. I rode out of Mt. Ephram and into Bellmawr, passing crumbling 70s-era shopping centers, gleaming new drug stores, old houses with dented brick, and that cool 50s-style McDonald's. I finally stopped at a huge Goodwill store. I cannot resist the call of anything resembling a thrift shop.

The Goodwill was mostly clothes. Some of them weren't in bad shape, either, but there were very few my size. (I guess 16/Large is more common than I thought.) I had more luck with other items. I bought a video copy of the Disney Christmas half-hour special The Small One, a lovely hardback picture book of Beauty and the Beast, and six records. Turns out the records were on sale, making my purchase a grand total of approximately $6.50 for a video, a book, and six records.

And Mom wonders why I love thrift shops?

I could have continued on the Black Horse Pike, but it was about quarter after 3 by this point and traffic, which had been heavy to begin with, was increasing. I turned on West Browning and just kept following the road, riding past mostly houses dotted with the occasional church, tavern, or school. After about 20 minutes, I finally passed by something interesting...the back of a wall that said "Sears Essentials."

Turns out that wall lead to a whole shopping center I'd only seen once or twice while on car trips down the White Horse Pike. The Lawndale Heritage Shopping Center isn't much of a heritage. There was a Wendy's, a Church's Chicken (new one to me), a massive Home Depot, the Sears, and a Fashion Bug, Pathmark, dollar store, and Chinese place that looked like they belonged to buildings that were far older than the new-ish Home Depot.

I checked out Sears, mostly because I've never seen one that wasn't in a two-level mall or didn't specialize in hardware, but it was a disappointment. It was really the same deal as Wal Mart, and even in a larger store, there was a lot less selection. The place looked like it had been remodeled recently, but it would appear no one cared. The store was stone-cold dead when I was in there, except for the employees and one older couple.

A peek at Fashion Bug wasn't much more productive. It was larger and better-organized than the one in Audubon, but I still didn't see anything I needed. At this point, the traffic on the White Horse Pike was ungodly, and I thought it best if I found a WaWa to get a drink and some money (I was also broke) and headed home.

I thought I could just ride down the White Horse Pike, but not only was it rush hour, but Lawndale's part of the Pike leads into several major highways. The streets were teaming with cars, and the sidewalks were a cracked mess. As I rode over one particularly large crack, the black nylon bag with my Goodwill purchases went flying onto the concrete...and I couldn't stop myself from riding right over it! Thank goodness I at least slowed myself. I turned around and retrieved the remains of the bag (walking my bike over my foot as I did so; ow). The video and the records were fine. The book had protected them. It's cover now had a massive hole and the cover under it was scraped, but it was still readable.

The bag wasn't as lucky. There was a huge hole in the front where it hit the sidewalk. Well, I'm miffed. That was the bag I keep in a pouch in my purse. Mom gave it to me for my birthday about two or three years ago, and I've used it constantly ever since. Granted, it's gotten rather shabby recently, but it was still very useful.

I tried riding down the White Horse Pike, but it diverged to several highways at the edge of Lawndale. I just turned around the way I came. I saw train tracks along a service road behind the mall, so I just followed them. Turns out that they're the same tracks that run through all the local towns. I rode past the big antique store in Barrington, coming out in Haddon Heights...conveniently right next to the big PNC Bank there. I took out $10 for yoga tomorrow, then went across the street for a bottle of water from a tiny pharmacy.

I was so dead by then, I just followed the tracks and rode home to Oaklyn, stopping only for cars and the few traffic lights on that road. I read put chicken breasts in a bag to marinate in light Italian dressing for an hour, then read The Chinatown Death Cloud Peril and made a lovely dinner of Italian Chicken and Tomato Skillet, mashed sweet potatoes, and sauteed asparagus and mushrooms.

Oh My Papas

First of all, Happy Father's Day to all dads, including my own!

Second, while we're celebrating events, congratulations to all Class of 2008 high school and college graduates, including my cousin Taylere and all of the Audubon Acme employees who graduate this year.

I spent most of the day at work. I listened to the WOGL "Brunch With the Beatles" show (Paul McCartney was in the spotlight today - it would appear his birthday is this week) and tried calling my stepdad. Got Mom - apparently, he'd gone out with my brother, and she was on her way into a shower. I'll try again tomorrow.

Work was long and busy. I ended up staying an extra hour, since we had two night call-outs. As I mentioned, not only are many of the teenagers who work at the Acme graduating this year, but there are parents who have graduating kids, too. A lot of people are going to be very busy this week.

Oh, and I'm not going to eat dinner on the porch from now on. I don't have problems with breakfast, but I had my late dinner of leftover burgers and broccoli, cherries, and bread outside and the bugs almost ate ME.

Pride and Embarrassment

As you can probably tell from the entry below, I'm completely disgusted with myself right now. I went over on Weight Watchers for the third time in four days. I've NEVER done this badly in the almost two months I've been doing it! I'm eating way too much junk food and not enough of the right foods, like fruit and vegetables.

I just can't help it. I like muffins, cakes, and breads, but people aren't supposed to eat them. They're supposed to eat fruits and vegetables. I think I'm making the right foods and that they'll be low-fat, but of course, the recipes never are.

I'm proud of my 14-year-old brother Keefe. He won his middle school's Outstanding Achievement In Band Award and got a $200 saving's bond! He was the lead drummer in the school's marching band, and Mom and Rose both said he and the whole band were fantastic. They won several awards, including first place in the New York's marching band-heavy St. Patrick's Day Parade.

He looked very handsome in his suit and tie. I'm glad he's the kind of guy who doesn't mind getting dressed up. ;)

I don't know how my brother puts up with my mom and stepdad, though. All they do is bicker! They bickered the whole five minutes to Teitleman Middle School, then bickered all the way home, and kept fussing at each other even while Mom served the rest of us cake! Mom blamed my stepdad's immaturity, but she's at fault, too. She's bossy and, as I know too well, she can be a nag.

Maybe it's just as well Rose had to work and we only stayed a few hours. I don't know how long I could have taken the two of them going at it. :p

I did something stupid after getting home. I locked myself out while leaving to go out to dinner, and of course, my landlady is out of town. I was lucky she has reletives in the neighborhood (who happen to be friends of my uncle), but I really need to be more careful. I can't go into hysterics every time there's trouble, either. Everyone took it really well, but it's immature of me to cry and get upset every time something bad happens. It's just a habit. I get scared and worried and I don't know what to do.

And of course, the salad I ordered at the Italian restaraunt I went to when I finally did get my keys turned out to be a hell of a lot of points, thanks to the ham, turkey, and cheese used.

I wish I were a lot smarter.