The Holiday Rush
Started this morning with Pear Pancakes and Brunch With the Beatles. The spotlight was on the album Rubber Soul today as the boys began to experiment more in the studio. Songs from this album include "Michelle," "Nowhere Man," "If I Needed Someone," "Girl," "In My Life," "Drive My Car," and "Think For Yourself." "We Can Work It Out" and "Paperback Writer" were written around this time but ultimately released as non-album singles. I tried calling Mom during the show, but I first got a busy signal, then got her while my sister Anny and her son Skylar were visiting. I'd call later.
I dawdled too long over reading this morning and didn't get out to raking the side path until a half-hour before I left. I thought Miss Ellie's nephew was going to do it, but I guess not. It's still covered in piles and piles of leaves past my ankles. I couldn't put it off any longer. The piles were so high, I didn't finish it before had to leave for work!
Work was a total pain in the rear. Everyone must have decided to put off their shopping until today. We had very long lines all afternoon and not enough help. At one point, someone spilled a bottle of juice while I was trying to deal with a woman who didn't speak English well. It was just crazy. Thank goodness a manager came in for me, because the girl who was originally my relief couldn't come in.
When I got home, I finished the raking in the dark. After that was done, I went upstairs, worked on a batch of cookies for my friends Linda and James, made salad, roasted broccoli, and cubed steak for dinner, and ran McCabe and Mrs. Miller. Robert Altman, who also did Nashville, made this classic western tale, and it's full of his special touches, from overlapping dialogue to emphasis on a group of characters. The title people are McCabe, a cowardly gambler (Warren Beatty) and Mr. Miller, a tough madam (Julie Christie), who start a bordello and saloon in a small mining town in the Pacific Northwest. When it becomes wildly successful, it attracts the attention of local landowners who want to buy it. After a drunk McCabe turns them down, they send hit men after him, leading to a final gunfight around the bordello while the local church burns.
I was surprised at how much I loved it. Actually, it makes a nice compliment to Johnny Guitar, another non-traditional western with strong female characters. This isn't the west you see in B-pics and John Wayne's earlier films. McCabe's northwest is gritty, dark, and filled with people who want to either make money or get laid. Beatty and Christie are wonderful as the gambler who just wants to make a living and the smart madam who wants to turn the bordello into something special. This isn't for people who prefer traditional good guys in white-bad guys in black stories, but if you enjoy unusual westerns, Altman's style, or Beatty or Christie, this is absolutely worth looking into.
Called Mom after I finished the cookies. She spent the day with her daughter and grandson, then watching the Eagles-Dolphins game. For once, there was plenty to cheer about - the Eagles slaughtered the Dolphins 26-10.
She had a great suggestion for a way to make the holidays easier for my sisters and brother and me next year. Instead of buying each other and Anny and Rose's sons and our parents and their significant others presents, we should have a Secret Santa. We'd set a limit as to how much we should all spend, then pick names out of a hat or something similar. I think it's a brilliant idea. None of us have much money, and two of us have kids and three of us have sweethearts to shop for, too.
Apparently, Rose and Keefe are all for it. Neither of them are really crazy about shopping. Anny's the one who needs to be convinced. She not only loves shopping, but enjoys doing it for as many people as she can.
Life is a lazy river - no matter where you are. Movies, musicals, mysteries, pop culture, and lots of other great stuff.
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Around the Town and Home Again
Started this morning with the American Top 40's ongoing Christmas Countdown special and Christmas Eve on Sesame Street. The latter has become a favorite of mine in recent years. In this tale from 1978, Big Bird is worried when Oscar reminds him of how skinny most chimneys in New York are and how big Santa Claus is. How will Santa get down the chimneys to deliver those presents? While Big Bird ponders that question, Ernie and Bert want to give each other a special gift. They sell the things that mean the most of them to kindly store owner Mr. Hooper, but Hooper has a surprise that will make both happy. And Cookie Monster wants to tell Santa how much he wants cookies...if he can stop eating the writing utensils!
I don't know how much kids today would enjoy this. It was made well before the debut of recent Sesame Street Muppets like Elmo, Zoe, or Abby Caddaba. For adults who remember the show in the late 70s and early 80s, it's a sweet, charming special with some wonderful music, including "True Blue Miracle" and Oscar's "I Hate Christmas."
I had some errands to run in the area today. My first stop was PNC Bank to deposit my paycheck. While I was there, I saw some customers help an older woman who had fallen down in the parking lot. It looked like she'd scraped her hands and face - her face had red lines on her forehead and nose. The cops and parametics eventually arrived, but she claimed she was fine.
After I left, I next headed for the Oaklyn Library for this week's volunteering session there. Once again, it was just a quick one. I wanted to have lunch and get some other things done at the apartment.
A few days ago, I used the Vermont Country Store card Lauren sent me for an early Christmas present to order something I've been wanting for a while - a pair of two-tiered wooden shoe racks. The plastic shoe rack I bought a few years ago was pulling my shoes out of shape, and I was tired of using the tippy shelves in my closet. I removed the shelf that wasn't stable and left the heavier one that was. Instead of pushing the four shelves together, I put one set of shelves on top of the heavier one. That way, I now had five shelves instead of four. I love it! Other than the racks are unfinished and I'll probably need to watch out for splinters, they take up less room in my closet than the old shelves and look much better. Plus, I don't have to worry about them falling over now, and very real wood smells quite nice.
I made scrambled eggs with broccoli, onion, mushroom, and Cheddar cheese for lunch while running Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader. This time, Lucy and Edmund Penvensie are joined by their bratty cousin Eustace as they reunite with the now-King Caspian and Reepcheep the Mouse on the titular vessel. Caspian is searching the ends of Narnia for the seven lords of Telmar who were once his father's advisors. Lucy, Edmund, and a very reluctant and unhappy Eustace join him. Instead of fighting witches or warlords, though, this time they find themselves on a quest to battle their own inner demons...and outer ones when a spell turns Eustace into a creature he didn't even know existed.
Not bad. Not as good as the first one, but a hearty improvement over the rather dull Prince Caspian. I like the emphasis on battling fears instead of traditional bad guys - it's something different in a fantasy story. Not that there aren't plenty of those, too, from trolls that hop around on one foot to a rather nasty slave market. It's a shame I don't think the reception of this one was good enough to warrant a continuation into the next book of the series, The Silver Chair. That was my favorite of the original series along with the first novel.
I worked on the budget for an hour before work. Most of what I spent last month was food or early Christmas present shopping. December is always thrown out of whack by the holidays - the "other" section will be huge.
Thankfully after the beginning of the week, work was steady to very dead for most of the night. It was so quiet, and we had so much help for once (including new cashiers who were being trained), I managed to shelve an entire cart of candy in an hour and a half. I've never done that before. I think most people are now at the malls or getting ready for parties or baking. It'll pick up more when we get closer to Christmas and Hanukkah.
Started this morning with the American Top 40's ongoing Christmas Countdown special and Christmas Eve on Sesame Street. The latter has become a favorite of mine in recent years. In this tale from 1978, Big Bird is worried when Oscar reminds him of how skinny most chimneys in New York are and how big Santa Claus is. How will Santa get down the chimneys to deliver those presents? While Big Bird ponders that question, Ernie and Bert want to give each other a special gift. They sell the things that mean the most of them to kindly store owner Mr. Hooper, but Hooper has a surprise that will make both happy. And Cookie Monster wants to tell Santa how much he wants cookies...if he can stop eating the writing utensils!
I don't know how much kids today would enjoy this. It was made well before the debut of recent Sesame Street Muppets like Elmo, Zoe, or Abby Caddaba. For adults who remember the show in the late 70s and early 80s, it's a sweet, charming special with some wonderful music, including "True Blue Miracle" and Oscar's "I Hate Christmas."
I had some errands to run in the area today. My first stop was PNC Bank to deposit my paycheck. While I was there, I saw some customers help an older woman who had fallen down in the parking lot. It looked like she'd scraped her hands and face - her face had red lines on her forehead and nose. The cops and parametics eventually arrived, but she claimed she was fine.
After I left, I next headed for the Oaklyn Library for this week's volunteering session there. Once again, it was just a quick one. I wanted to have lunch and get some other things done at the apartment.
A few days ago, I used the Vermont Country Store card Lauren sent me for an early Christmas present to order something I've been wanting for a while - a pair of two-tiered wooden shoe racks. The plastic shoe rack I bought a few years ago was pulling my shoes out of shape, and I was tired of using the tippy shelves in my closet. I removed the shelf that wasn't stable and left the heavier one that was. Instead of pushing the four shelves together, I put one set of shelves on top of the heavier one. That way, I now had five shelves instead of four. I love it! Other than the racks are unfinished and I'll probably need to watch out for splinters, they take up less room in my closet than the old shelves and look much better. Plus, I don't have to worry about them falling over now, and very real wood smells quite nice.
I made scrambled eggs with broccoli, onion, mushroom, and Cheddar cheese for lunch while running Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader. This time, Lucy and Edmund Penvensie are joined by their bratty cousin Eustace as they reunite with the now-King Caspian and Reepcheep the Mouse on the titular vessel. Caspian is searching the ends of Narnia for the seven lords of Telmar who were once his father's advisors. Lucy, Edmund, and a very reluctant and unhappy Eustace join him. Instead of fighting witches or warlords, though, this time they find themselves on a quest to battle their own inner demons...and outer ones when a spell turns Eustace into a creature he didn't even know existed.
Not bad. Not as good as the first one, but a hearty improvement over the rather dull Prince Caspian. I like the emphasis on battling fears instead of traditional bad guys - it's something different in a fantasy story. Not that there aren't plenty of those, too, from trolls that hop around on one foot to a rather nasty slave market. It's a shame I don't think the reception of this one was good enough to warrant a continuation into the next book of the series, The Silver Chair. That was my favorite of the original series along with the first novel.
I worked on the budget for an hour before work. Most of what I spent last month was food or early Christmas present shopping. December is always thrown out of whack by the holidays - the "other" section will be huge.
Thankfully after the beginning of the week, work was steady to very dead for most of the night. It was so quiet, and we had so much help for once (including new cashiers who were being trained), I managed to shelve an entire cart of candy in an hour and a half. I've never done that before. I think most people are now at the malls or getting ready for parties or baking. It'll pick up more when we get closer to Christmas and Hanukkah.
Friday, December 09, 2011
Wrapping Up the Holidays
Spent the morning wrapping the remaining presents. There were only four left - Jessa's, Dad's, Collyn's, and one for Lauren. All of the presents but Lauren's went in the back room. I usually leave them under the tree, but there's too many stuffed animals under there this year. All of the presents but Lauren's went in the back room. Lauren's will be sent out on Monday with everything else I'm sending in the mail for Christmas this year.
Ran 'Twas the Night Before Christmas while having a very quick lunch of canned chicken soup. This is yet another Rankin-Bass special, this time done in regular 2D animation. The children of Junctionville are upset when Santa Claus returns their letters, and their parents are even less happy. Seems that he's offended by a letter someone wrote calling him a "fraudulent lie." Turns out the author of the letter was a brainy little mouse who thinks he's too smart to believe in magic. That little mouse gets a lesson in thinking with your heart when he helps the clockmaker who owns his home fix his Santa-calling clock on Christmas Eve.
Not the best Rankin-Bass ever did, but still really cute. There's some nice music, too, including "Give Your Heart a Try" and "Even a Miracle Needs a Hand."
I left for work early to hit the post office and send my nephew Collyn's birthday present and find a PSP game for my brother Keefe for Christmas. Alas, even at 1:30, the line at the Audubon Post Office was way too long to stand in. I had to work at 2. I had no luck at the Game Stop in the Audubon Crossings Shopping Center, either. They didn't have a very good selection of PSP games, and none looked terribly interesting. I just went straight to work after that.
Work, at the very least, went better than Wednesday. It was on-and-off busy, and there were no major problems. Good thing, too. I had a lot of shopping to do, especially since I plan on devoting a lot of next week to cookie baking. I had to restock white sugar and flour and pick up peanut butter, coconut, maraschino cherries, and chocolate chips for the cookies. There was a good sale on Pam Cooking Spray and Blue Diamond Almonds, too.
The Acme is selling bags of boxes for cookie exchanges this year. Perfect. They'll be much easier to carry around than the awkward tins and plastic containers. I bought three and will pick up more if necessary.
My schedule next week is pretty good. 8:30 is the latest I work, and this is the first time in months I've had two days off in a row, Monday and Tuesday.
Spent the morning wrapping the remaining presents. There were only four left - Jessa's, Dad's, Collyn's, and one for Lauren. All of the presents but Lauren's went in the back room. I usually leave them under the tree, but there's too many stuffed animals under there this year. All of the presents but Lauren's went in the back room. Lauren's will be sent out on Monday with everything else I'm sending in the mail for Christmas this year.
Ran 'Twas the Night Before Christmas while having a very quick lunch of canned chicken soup. This is yet another Rankin-Bass special, this time done in regular 2D animation. The children of Junctionville are upset when Santa Claus returns their letters, and their parents are even less happy. Seems that he's offended by a letter someone wrote calling him a "fraudulent lie." Turns out the author of the letter was a brainy little mouse who thinks he's too smart to believe in magic. That little mouse gets a lesson in thinking with your heart when he helps the clockmaker who owns his home fix his Santa-calling clock on Christmas Eve.
Not the best Rankin-Bass ever did, but still really cute. There's some nice music, too, including "Give Your Heart a Try" and "Even a Miracle Needs a Hand."
I left for work early to hit the post office and send my nephew Collyn's birthday present and find a PSP game for my brother Keefe for Christmas. Alas, even at 1:30, the line at the Audubon Post Office was way too long to stand in. I had to work at 2. I had no luck at the Game Stop in the Audubon Crossings Shopping Center, either. They didn't have a very good selection of PSP games, and none looked terribly interesting. I just went straight to work after that.
Work, at the very least, went better than Wednesday. It was on-and-off busy, and there were no major problems. Good thing, too. I had a lot of shopping to do, especially since I plan on devoting a lot of next week to cookie baking. I had to restock white sugar and flour and pick up peanut butter, coconut, maraschino cherries, and chocolate chips for the cookies. There was a good sale on Pam Cooking Spray and Blue Diamond Almonds, too.
The Acme is selling bags of boxes for cookie exchanges this year. Perfect. They'll be much easier to carry around than the awkward tins and plastic containers. I bought three and will pick up more if necessary.
My schedule next week is pretty good. 8:30 is the latest I work, and this is the first time in months I've had two days off in a row, Monday and Tuesday.
Thursday, December 08, 2011
Balance and a Philadelphia Christmas
It was still cloudy when I rushed out the door this morning for yoga class. I barely made it on time, but it was worth it. I needed it after all the trouble yesterday! Class went fairly well. We concentrated on inversions and working our shoulders and stomachs. Not my best moves, but I did get a nice stretch in my hamstrings.
There wasn't much to do at the Collingswood Library when I arrived after class, which was probably just as well. I had other things I wanted to get done today. I shelved a few DVDs and did a quick organizing job. I also donated records I didn't want or had accidentally bought extras of from yard sales, which I've been meaning to do for months now.
After I left the library, I rode right over to the PATCO train station. By this time, the clouds had vanished, and it was a brisk, sunny day (though not quite as cold as I thought it would be, probably in the mid to upper 40s). It was the perfect day for Christmas shopping in the city. I hopped a half-full train into Philadelphia around 11:30.
After running into huge crowds at Macy's and on Market Street during the lunch hour last year at Christmas, I learned my lesson. This time, I got off at 12th Street and started with lunch at Mama Angelina's, a basic pizza parlor about a block from the train entrance. I had a slice of cheese, a slice of vegetable, and a very small Diet Pepsi.
Mama Angelina's is a block from the Avenue of the Arts. I was at the FYE near City Hall in no time. It took me a while, but I did find the things I wanted to here. I picked up my sister Rose's present, and something Mom told me my stepdad wanted. I couldn't find anything I thought he'd like for almost an hour and a half...until I happened to look at a display in front of the upstairs DVD section and see the perfect thing.
I spent the next half-hour wandering around Philadelphia. I wanted to go to the Shops at Liberty Place, but I got lost. When I finally did find the building, the Toys R Us and book store that were there last year were gone. The only stores Liberty Place had were clothing stores. There was absolutely nothing of interest anymore, so I moved on in annoyance.
Headed down to City Hall and made a right turn onto Market Street. This time, Macy's was busy, but nothing out of the ordinary. I was able to buy my presents for Jessa with no wait in line. There was a short line for the Dickens Village, but it wasn't going half-way across the building. This year, they had people in Victorian costumes greeting guests as they passed through the lines. I thought it was a nice touch.
The "Dickens Village" is an Audio-Animatronic-style display that shows scenes and snippets from A Christmas Carol. It's really cool to see all the little details they add, like references to other Charles Dickens novels (such as the Pickwick Club or Mr. Micawber being the seller of the prize goose). Kids love the black-light room you walk through right before the end, after Scrooge has been shown his future.
Got downstairs just in time to catch most of the Macy's Light Show. I always enjoyed seeing footage of this Philadelphia holiday tradition on Channel 6 as a child. I'm so thrilled to really be able to see it in person! Everyone in the enormous main floor oohed and ahhed as sugar plum fairies danced, snowmen waved their arms, clocks ticked in time to the music, and the fabulous tree glowed with hundreds of glittering LED lights. Julie Andrews does the narration.
Here's an older version of the show sans the tree.
Left Macy's as soon as the show ended. I made my way back to Market Street, then down to the Gallery Mall. I still had to shop for most of the kids on my list, including my two older nephews. I got incredibly lucky. One of the first things I saw after entering the Gallery Mall was a huge Toys R Us Express. It's the only one I've seen so far this year. They didn't rent a store in Audubon again. Despite the crowds, I was easily able to find presents for my nephew Collyn, my younger cousin CJ, and my two pre-teen and young teen cousins Ethan and Matt.
I had one kid left on my list. I stopped at Books-a-Million to find a book on space for my nephew Skylar, who apparently loves space and space exploration. It took me a while, but I finally found a short book that was simple enough for a 7-year-old.
The Books-a-Million in the Gallery Mall is actually pretty close to the entrance to the 8th Street PATCO. It was around 4PM when I hopped on a standing-room-only train back to Collingswood. I'm surprised at how little time it took to shop this year. I don't think it was even four hours. I'll remember to start at 12th Street instead of 8th Street next year, too, especially if I take the train later in the day.
When I got in, I spent a couple of hours wrapping presents. I had a late dinner of leftovers and honey-glazed carrots while running one of my favorite Rankin-Bass specials, The Year Without a Santa Claus, and baked banana bread as it finished. A tired Santa opts to take a year off when it seems like no one cares about Christmas. His wife, two elves, and a little boy from a town in the American Deep South are determined to prove otherwise, come heck or interference from the Miser Brothers, who control heat and cold and are constantly at war with each other and anyone who seems to support one brother over the other!
I get a kick out of this one. It's a tad campy, with the Miser Brothers' numbers looking like something out of an early TV variety show, but not as bizarre as some later Rankin-Bass specials. I especially like Shirley Booth as Mrs. Claus.
It was still cloudy when I rushed out the door this morning for yoga class. I barely made it on time, but it was worth it. I needed it after all the trouble yesterday! Class went fairly well. We concentrated on inversions and working our shoulders and stomachs. Not my best moves, but I did get a nice stretch in my hamstrings.
There wasn't much to do at the Collingswood Library when I arrived after class, which was probably just as well. I had other things I wanted to get done today. I shelved a few DVDs and did a quick organizing job. I also donated records I didn't want or had accidentally bought extras of from yard sales, which I've been meaning to do for months now.
After I left the library, I rode right over to the PATCO train station. By this time, the clouds had vanished, and it was a brisk, sunny day (though not quite as cold as I thought it would be, probably in the mid to upper 40s). It was the perfect day for Christmas shopping in the city. I hopped a half-full train into Philadelphia around 11:30.
After running into huge crowds at Macy's and on Market Street during the lunch hour last year at Christmas, I learned my lesson. This time, I got off at 12th Street and started with lunch at Mama Angelina's, a basic pizza parlor about a block from the train entrance. I had a slice of cheese, a slice of vegetable, and a very small Diet Pepsi.
Mama Angelina's is a block from the Avenue of the Arts. I was at the FYE near City Hall in no time. It took me a while, but I did find the things I wanted to here. I picked up my sister Rose's present, and something Mom told me my stepdad wanted. I couldn't find anything I thought he'd like for almost an hour and a half...until I happened to look at a display in front of the upstairs DVD section and see the perfect thing.
I spent the next half-hour wandering around Philadelphia. I wanted to go to the Shops at Liberty Place, but I got lost. When I finally did find the building, the Toys R Us and book store that were there last year were gone. The only stores Liberty Place had were clothing stores. There was absolutely nothing of interest anymore, so I moved on in annoyance.
Headed down to City Hall and made a right turn onto Market Street. This time, Macy's was busy, but nothing out of the ordinary. I was able to buy my presents for Jessa with no wait in line. There was a short line for the Dickens Village, but it wasn't going half-way across the building. This year, they had people in Victorian costumes greeting guests as they passed through the lines. I thought it was a nice touch.
The "Dickens Village" is an Audio-Animatronic-style display that shows scenes and snippets from A Christmas Carol. It's really cool to see all the little details they add, like references to other Charles Dickens novels (such as the Pickwick Club or Mr. Micawber being the seller of the prize goose). Kids love the black-light room you walk through right before the end, after Scrooge has been shown his future.
Got downstairs just in time to catch most of the Macy's Light Show. I always enjoyed seeing footage of this Philadelphia holiday tradition on Channel 6 as a child. I'm so thrilled to really be able to see it in person! Everyone in the enormous main floor oohed and ahhed as sugar plum fairies danced, snowmen waved their arms, clocks ticked in time to the music, and the fabulous tree glowed with hundreds of glittering LED lights. Julie Andrews does the narration.
Here's an older version of the show sans the tree.
Left Macy's as soon as the show ended. I made my way back to Market Street, then down to the Gallery Mall. I still had to shop for most of the kids on my list, including my two older nephews. I got incredibly lucky. One of the first things I saw after entering the Gallery Mall was a huge Toys R Us Express. It's the only one I've seen so far this year. They didn't rent a store in Audubon again. Despite the crowds, I was easily able to find presents for my nephew Collyn, my younger cousin CJ, and my two pre-teen and young teen cousins Ethan and Matt.
I had one kid left on my list. I stopped at Books-a-Million to find a book on space for my nephew Skylar, who apparently loves space and space exploration. It took me a while, but I finally found a short book that was simple enough for a 7-year-old.
The Books-a-Million in the Gallery Mall is actually pretty close to the entrance to the 8th Street PATCO. It was around 4PM when I hopped on a standing-room-only train back to Collingswood. I'm surprised at how little time it took to shop this year. I don't think it was even four hours. I'll remember to start at 12th Street instead of 8th Street next year, too, especially if I take the train later in the day.
When I got in, I spent a couple of hours wrapping presents. I had a late dinner of leftovers and honey-glazed carrots while running one of my favorite Rankin-Bass specials, The Year Without a Santa Claus, and baked banana bread as it finished. A tired Santa opts to take a year off when it seems like no one cares about Christmas. His wife, two elves, and a little boy from a town in the American Deep South are determined to prove otherwise, come heck or interference from the Miser Brothers, who control heat and cold and are constantly at war with each other and anyone who seems to support one brother over the other!
I get a kick out of this one. It's a tad campy, with the Miser Brothers' numbers looking like something out of an early TV variety show, but not as bizarre as some later Rankin-Bass specials. I especially like Shirley Booth as Mrs. Claus.
Wednesday, December 07, 2011
The Christmas Blues
Generally, this was not a good day. First of all, I overslept. That barely gave enough time to do what I planned this morning, which is call Stockton again for information about their online programs. The woman I talked to at Stockton said that Continuing Learning doesn't handle the online courses and gave me the number for the company that does. They weren't in, of course. I left a message on their answering machine and have yet to hear from them. I couldn't even find the number for the company that shares Camden County College and Temple University's online courses on the site. I may just call CCC's Continuing Learning office on Friday and see what they say.
I had an even less welcome surprise awaiting me at Yahoo!Mail. Someone had left a less-than-flattering remark about me being selfish and not knowing how to put others first at my blog. I moderate comments and deleted it, but it still irked me. Why do people do that? Yes, I know, everyone says to ignore them. Why do that in the first place? How can you know someone just by reading their blog? I just don't understand it.
On top of that, I couldn't get a ride to work. Dad's still on a job, and it was too late to get anyone else. I rode to work in the rain. I did get wet, but it could have been worse. The rain was still hard when I left, but by the time I arrived at work, it had stopped.
Customers were nasty today, too, especially early in the afternoon. I don't know if it's the weather, or just beginning-of-the-month people. I had several of those annoying folks who give five hundred orders on how to bag but won't help themselves in a row. Managers kept telling me not to call for the card or the key to unlock my register on the intercom...then another one would say to use the intercom, because people didn't like it when I called for them without it. Make up your darn minds and get the rules STRAIGHT!
The last straw came shortly before my break. I asked the woman if she had anything under the cart. I don't do this to be mean. Customers sometimes forget that they have things there. The woman snapped at me that I was being nasty and accusing! I wasn't accusing her of anything. It's just a simple question. I couldn't help my tears as I helped her with her bags.
Another woman who was behind me talked to her. Apparently, the woman was once her boss and had been very ill-tempered with her as well, until she gave her a piece of her own mind. She didn't throw a fit after that, but I still felt bad. Thank goodness I went on break about twenty minutes later.
After I came back, I asked to do returns for a while until another cashier had to leave. I just wasn't up to handling anyone else in a foul mood. By the time the other cashier went home, it was steady, but not as busy as earlier, and there were no more problems.
Work wasn't all bad. We had several classes of kindergarteners pass through today. One actually sang the cutest fight song to thank both Acme and Janice, the manager who usually works with the elementary school classes, that was utterly adorable.
Once again, I just rode home in the rain. I discovered something in the mail that really cheered me up when I got home. In the early 2000s, American Girl created several outfits that were exclusive to their American Girl Place stores that corresponded with the theater shows they were putting on at the time. When the shows ended in 2008, so did the costumes. I scored two from the AG Circle of Friends show that were perfect for Molly. One was a purple pleated one-piece outfit that was originally the show's jitterbug costume. The other is a white 40s-style dress trimmed with red and blue sequins that screams "Molly" all over it. It even comes with shiny red tap shoes with real metal taps on them.
I made sauteed spinach and mashed sweet potatoes to go with my leftover chicken leg for dinner. As I ate, I dubbed A Walt Disney Christmas for Lauren (the last dubbing of any kind I want to do for a long time - I think I kind of burned myself out there), then switched to two sweet specials about the possible story behind the donkey who carried Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem.
The Small One is a touching Disney featurette from the late 70s-early 80s in which the donkey is an older, kind creature who was once owned by a little boy. The boy had to sell him because of his age, but he couldn't find anyone who would take the scrawny animal...until he looked up and saw a pair of gentle eyes that belonged to Joseph. Nestor the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey is one of my favorite Rankin-Bass specials. Nestor is taunted by other barnyard critters because of his unusually long ears, but they end up coming to good use when he uses them to lead Mary and Joseph to their fabled destination.
Generally, this was not a good day. First of all, I overslept. That barely gave enough time to do what I planned this morning, which is call Stockton again for information about their online programs. The woman I talked to at Stockton said that Continuing Learning doesn't handle the online courses and gave me the number for the company that does. They weren't in, of course. I left a message on their answering machine and have yet to hear from them. I couldn't even find the number for the company that shares Camden County College and Temple University's online courses on the site. I may just call CCC's Continuing Learning office on Friday and see what they say.
I had an even less welcome surprise awaiting me at Yahoo!Mail. Someone had left a less-than-flattering remark about me being selfish and not knowing how to put others first at my blog. I moderate comments and deleted it, but it still irked me. Why do people do that? Yes, I know, everyone says to ignore them. Why do that in the first place? How can you know someone just by reading their blog? I just don't understand it.
On top of that, I couldn't get a ride to work. Dad's still on a job, and it was too late to get anyone else. I rode to work in the rain. I did get wet, but it could have been worse. The rain was still hard when I left, but by the time I arrived at work, it had stopped.
Customers were nasty today, too, especially early in the afternoon. I don't know if it's the weather, or just beginning-of-the-month people. I had several of those annoying folks who give five hundred orders on how to bag but won't help themselves in a row. Managers kept telling me not to call for the card or the key to unlock my register on the intercom...then another one would say to use the intercom, because people didn't like it when I called for them without it. Make up your darn minds and get the rules STRAIGHT!
The last straw came shortly before my break. I asked the woman if she had anything under the cart. I don't do this to be mean. Customers sometimes forget that they have things there. The woman snapped at me that I was being nasty and accusing! I wasn't accusing her of anything. It's just a simple question. I couldn't help my tears as I helped her with her bags.
Another woman who was behind me talked to her. Apparently, the woman was once her boss and had been very ill-tempered with her as well, until she gave her a piece of her own mind. She didn't throw a fit after that, but I still felt bad. Thank goodness I went on break about twenty minutes later.
After I came back, I asked to do returns for a while until another cashier had to leave. I just wasn't up to handling anyone else in a foul mood. By the time the other cashier went home, it was steady, but not as busy as earlier, and there were no more problems.
Work wasn't all bad. We had several classes of kindergarteners pass through today. One actually sang the cutest fight song to thank both Acme and Janice, the manager who usually works with the elementary school classes, that was utterly adorable.
Once again, I just rode home in the rain. I discovered something in the mail that really cheered me up when I got home. In the early 2000s, American Girl created several outfits that were exclusive to their American Girl Place stores that corresponded with the theater shows they were putting on at the time. When the shows ended in 2008, so did the costumes. I scored two from the AG Circle of Friends show that were perfect for Molly. One was a purple pleated one-piece outfit that was originally the show's jitterbug costume. The other is a white 40s-style dress trimmed with red and blue sequins that screams "Molly" all over it. It even comes with shiny red tap shoes with real metal taps on them.
I made sauteed spinach and mashed sweet potatoes to go with my leftover chicken leg for dinner. As I ate, I dubbed A Walt Disney Christmas for Lauren (the last dubbing of any kind I want to do for a long time - I think I kind of burned myself out there), then switched to two sweet specials about the possible story behind the donkey who carried Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem.
The Small One is a touching Disney featurette from the late 70s-early 80s in which the donkey is an older, kind creature who was once owned by a little boy. The boy had to sell him because of his age, but he couldn't find anyone who would take the scrawny animal...until he looked up and saw a pair of gentle eyes that belonged to Joseph. Nestor the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey is one of my favorite Rankin-Bass specials. Nestor is taunted by other barnyard critters because of his unusually long ears, but they end up coming to good use when he uses them to lead Mary and Joseph to their fabled destination.
Tuesday, December 06, 2011
The Belles, the Nephews, and the Mouse
Started off today with oatmeal and a pear for breakfast and Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas. As with the first film, this is an anthology of several short cartoons revolving around the Disney gang. Unlike the first movie, the animation is done by computer, the cartoons are much shorter, and there's five instead of three.
The theme here is dealing with the stress of the holidays. In "Belles On Ice," Daisy and Minnie (and the dancing hippos and crocodiles from the original Fantasia) compete with each other in a huge skating show, but when the competition gets too fierce, they learn a lesson in friendship and cooperation. Huey, Dewey, and Louie are afraid that they're on Santa's naughty list, but when they go on a "Christmas: Impossible" quest to the North Pole to change Santa's mind, they learn that sometimes, it feels good to put others first. Goofy tries to impress college-age Max's new sweetheart in the musical short "Christmas Maximus." Donald just wants to escape the holiday furor in "Donald's Gift," but he discovers that the holidays are even more fun when you share them. Even Mickey can get upset; he blows up at Pluto when his beloved dog accidentally destroys his party decorations in "Mickey's Dog-Gone Christmas." Pluto runs away and finds a home with Santa's flying reindeer...but the only present either wants under the tree is their renewed friendship.
While I admit that I liked the original better, these are fun, too. There were a lot of complaints at Amazon.com and elsewhere about how nasty the characters were to each other...but let's face it, the holidays can be overwhelming. Who hasn't competed with a friend, embarrassed an older child who brought friends or significant others home for the holidays, yelled at friends or pets over petty things, or just tried to escape when it all seems unbearable? It may be too much for the very youngest, but slightly older kids may enjoy these surprisingly and refreshingly realistic takes on one of the craziest times of the year.
I might have to start doing the laundry on Tuesdays more often. When I arrived around 11, there was not a single soul in the laundromat. Not even the little old lady who manages the place. It was just me and the news on Channel 10. A few men arrived later, but it never got anywhere near as busy as it usually is on Monday.
The weather may have scared people off. It was cloudy and too warm, in the 60s, all day. It rained on and off, too, though never as heavily as in the past few months. It wasn't even doing that when I rode back to the apartment.
When I got home, I put the laundry away, then had the rest of that chicken wrap from yesterday for lunch. I did this year's Christmas cards as I dubbed the 1986 Babes In Toyland with Drew Barrymore for my friend Lauren.
It was showering lightly when I headed out to work, but it wasn't hard enough to call for a ride. I just got slightly wet. Work was a pain again. We're still getting beginning-of-the-month customers, and people are starting to shop for Christmas, too. One couple bought piles of books and activity sets from the discount bin, then almost put them back because they wanted to use a store coupon that isn't good for another two weeks! I don't know why they couldn't have just bought the darn things without it. They ended up letting them use the coupon anyway. It was busy right up until an hour before I left. Thankfully, it slowed down enough that I was able to leave with no relief (though I was late getting out, thanks to one of the cashiers being late coming back from break - she always is).
Started off today with oatmeal and a pear for breakfast and Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas. As with the first film, this is an anthology of several short cartoons revolving around the Disney gang. Unlike the first movie, the animation is done by computer, the cartoons are much shorter, and there's five instead of three.
The theme here is dealing with the stress of the holidays. In "Belles On Ice," Daisy and Minnie (and the dancing hippos and crocodiles from the original Fantasia) compete with each other in a huge skating show, but when the competition gets too fierce, they learn a lesson in friendship and cooperation. Huey, Dewey, and Louie are afraid that they're on Santa's naughty list, but when they go on a "Christmas: Impossible" quest to the North Pole to change Santa's mind, they learn that sometimes, it feels good to put others first. Goofy tries to impress college-age Max's new sweetheart in the musical short "Christmas Maximus." Donald just wants to escape the holiday furor in "Donald's Gift," but he discovers that the holidays are even more fun when you share them. Even Mickey can get upset; he blows up at Pluto when his beloved dog accidentally destroys his party decorations in "Mickey's Dog-Gone Christmas." Pluto runs away and finds a home with Santa's flying reindeer...but the only present either wants under the tree is their renewed friendship.
While I admit that I liked the original better, these are fun, too. There were a lot of complaints at Amazon.com and elsewhere about how nasty the characters were to each other...but let's face it, the holidays can be overwhelming. Who hasn't competed with a friend, embarrassed an older child who brought friends or significant others home for the holidays, yelled at friends or pets over petty things, or just tried to escape when it all seems unbearable? It may be too much for the very youngest, but slightly older kids may enjoy these surprisingly and refreshingly realistic takes on one of the craziest times of the year.
I might have to start doing the laundry on Tuesdays more often. When I arrived around 11, there was not a single soul in the laundromat. Not even the little old lady who manages the place. It was just me and the news on Channel 10. A few men arrived later, but it never got anywhere near as busy as it usually is on Monday.
The weather may have scared people off. It was cloudy and too warm, in the 60s, all day. It rained on and off, too, though never as heavily as in the past few months. It wasn't even doing that when I rode back to the apartment.
When I got home, I put the laundry away, then had the rest of that chicken wrap from yesterday for lunch. I did this year's Christmas cards as I dubbed the 1986 Babes In Toyland with Drew Barrymore for my friend Lauren.
It was showering lightly when I headed out to work, but it wasn't hard enough to call for a ride. I just got slightly wet. Work was a pain again. We're still getting beginning-of-the-month customers, and people are starting to shop for Christmas, too. One couple bought piles of books and activity sets from the discount bin, then almost put them back because they wanted to use a store coupon that isn't good for another two weeks! I don't know why they couldn't have just bought the darn things without it. They ended up letting them use the coupon anyway. It was busy right up until an hour before I left. Thankfully, it slowed down enough that I was able to leave with no relief (though I was late getting out, thanks to one of the cashiers being late coming back from break - she always is).
Monday, December 05, 2011
Sharing the Joy of Christmas
Started out a cloudy, windy, fairly warm day with a flurry of chores. I had a lot that I wanted to get done before my friend Amanda from Vineland arrived for her annual Christmas season visit. I put some things away that had been left out. I made the bed. I vacuumed. Vacuuming took me longer than I thought it would, so I was late getting out the door!
Amanda and I were going to meet at 11 at the PNC Bank on the White Horse Pike. She hit traffic and was about 20 minutes late, but that was ok. We weren't going far, anyway. We did what we did last year and had lunch at Tortilla Press, the Mexican restaurant in Collingswood. It was a little after 11:30 when we got there. We thought they were closed at first - it was dark and quiet inside. The door did open and there was a sign outside with the day's specials, so we went in.
Turns out they'd almost literally just opened. We were their very first customers of the day! We both had huge Chicken and Avocado Wraps with lettuce and tomato, Cilantro Cole Slaw, and shared a plate of sweet potato fries and a basket of home-made chips and salsa. We did eat our cole slaw and the small plate of fries, but the chips and half of each of our sandwiches ended up going home with us. Amanda also had a huge cup of strong Mexican coffee that she said was much better than the brew served at the Bob Evans where she works in Vineland.
Amanda originally requested going to a coffee shop after lunch, but since she had her java at Tortilla Press, we went in the opposite direction and had ice cream at the Pop Shop instead. I went tropical and had two scoops of Vanilla with pineapple "goop" (crushed pineapple) and toasted coconut. Amanda opted for a Christmas sundae - two scoops of Peppermint with chocolate syrup and peppermint patties. Despite our large lunch, we both ate all of our sundaes and enjoyed every bit of them.
We were way too full to do anything else in Collingswood (and most stores are closed on Monday anyway), so we just went back to my place. When we got in, I got the mail, and we exchanged gifts. Interestingly, we both gave each other Peanuts-related items. I gave Amanda a cute set of Peanuts ornaments I found at CVS a few weeks ago. She gave me Charlie Brown and Snoopy stuffed toys. Snoopy is dressed in a chef's outfit and holds a felt "cookie"; his apron says "Happiness is a warm cookie." (How true!) Charlie Brown talks when you press his foot. He holds a felt Christmas shopping list and says "If picking the right present wasn't so hard, I'd be better at it."
We continued the Peanuts theme with the two Peanuts specials I hadn't watched yet. Little Re-Run Van Pelt, Linus and Lucy's younger brother, really wants a dog of his own in I Want a Dog For Christmas, Charlie Brown. His mother and siblings remind him that it's a big responsibility to own a dog. He doesn't listen at first and just keeps asking Snoopy to play with him. When Snoopy's lanky brother Spike visits from the desert, he finally shows Re-Run just how hard it can be to take care of a pet.
Charlie Brown was the one having the trouble in Happy New Year, Charlie Brown. He somehow has to write a book report on War and Peace over Christmas Vacation, but Peppermint Patty, her big New Year's Eve party, and a host of unrequited romances keep distracting him from his work.
We went for a stroll in Veteran's Park next-door between specials. I told Amanda about wanting to take classes and start a business. She talked about her health troubles and her jobs at Bob Evans and as a substitute teacher in Vineland and Millville (and how much she doesn't like school cafeteria food).
Amanda left around 3:30, shortly after Happy New Year, Charlie Brown ended. She was having dinner with her father and grandmother and wanted plenty of time to get home. I saw her off, then grabbed my DVDs and made a quick run to the Haddon Township Library for this week's volunteer session there.
It was still pretty light out when I headed past Newton River Park. It had been muddy and spongy in Veteran's Park, so I avoided the ground all together and rode on the street. The library wasn't too busy. I did have some DVDs to put away, and I did some organizing. I ended up taking out more Max & Ruby Christmas episodes (A Very Bunny Christmas), Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas (Disney's computer-animated follow up to Once Upon a Christmas), McCabe and Mrs. Miller, and the most recent Chronicles of Narnia movie, Voyage of the Dawn Treader.
It was dark when I left the library. I made a very quick stop at Dollar Tree for a card for my nephew Collyn for his birthday on Friday and for my mom and stepdad's anniversary next week, then rode home. Watched Max & Ruby while having leftovers. After dinner, I took cute Christmas shots of the AG girls around the living room. Here's the link to the Photobucket album:
AG Christmas 2011
Started out a cloudy, windy, fairly warm day with a flurry of chores. I had a lot that I wanted to get done before my friend Amanda from Vineland arrived for her annual Christmas season visit. I put some things away that had been left out. I made the bed. I vacuumed. Vacuuming took me longer than I thought it would, so I was late getting out the door!
Amanda and I were going to meet at 11 at the PNC Bank on the White Horse Pike. She hit traffic and was about 20 minutes late, but that was ok. We weren't going far, anyway. We did what we did last year and had lunch at Tortilla Press, the Mexican restaurant in Collingswood. It was a little after 11:30 when we got there. We thought they were closed at first - it was dark and quiet inside. The door did open and there was a sign outside with the day's specials, so we went in.
Turns out they'd almost literally just opened. We were their very first customers of the day! We both had huge Chicken and Avocado Wraps with lettuce and tomato, Cilantro Cole Slaw, and shared a plate of sweet potato fries and a basket of home-made chips and salsa. We did eat our cole slaw and the small plate of fries, but the chips and half of each of our sandwiches ended up going home with us. Amanda also had a huge cup of strong Mexican coffee that she said was much better than the brew served at the Bob Evans where she works in Vineland.
Amanda originally requested going to a coffee shop after lunch, but since she had her java at Tortilla Press, we went in the opposite direction and had ice cream at the Pop Shop instead. I went tropical and had two scoops of Vanilla with pineapple "goop" (crushed pineapple) and toasted coconut. Amanda opted for a Christmas sundae - two scoops of Peppermint with chocolate syrup and peppermint patties. Despite our large lunch, we both ate all of our sundaes and enjoyed every bit of them.
We were way too full to do anything else in Collingswood (and most stores are closed on Monday anyway), so we just went back to my place. When we got in, I got the mail, and we exchanged gifts. Interestingly, we both gave each other Peanuts-related items. I gave Amanda a cute set of Peanuts ornaments I found at CVS a few weeks ago. She gave me Charlie Brown and Snoopy stuffed toys. Snoopy is dressed in a chef's outfit and holds a felt "cookie"; his apron says "Happiness is a warm cookie." (How true!) Charlie Brown talks when you press his foot. He holds a felt Christmas shopping list and says "If picking the right present wasn't so hard, I'd be better at it."
We continued the Peanuts theme with the two Peanuts specials I hadn't watched yet. Little Re-Run Van Pelt, Linus and Lucy's younger brother, really wants a dog of his own in I Want a Dog For Christmas, Charlie Brown. His mother and siblings remind him that it's a big responsibility to own a dog. He doesn't listen at first and just keeps asking Snoopy to play with him. When Snoopy's lanky brother Spike visits from the desert, he finally shows Re-Run just how hard it can be to take care of a pet.
Charlie Brown was the one having the trouble in Happy New Year, Charlie Brown. He somehow has to write a book report on War and Peace over Christmas Vacation, but Peppermint Patty, her big New Year's Eve party, and a host of unrequited romances keep distracting him from his work.
We went for a stroll in Veteran's Park next-door between specials. I told Amanda about wanting to take classes and start a business. She talked about her health troubles and her jobs at Bob Evans and as a substitute teacher in Vineland and Millville (and how much she doesn't like school cafeteria food).
Amanda left around 3:30, shortly after Happy New Year, Charlie Brown ended. She was having dinner with her father and grandmother and wanted plenty of time to get home. I saw her off, then grabbed my DVDs and made a quick run to the Haddon Township Library for this week's volunteer session there.
It was still pretty light out when I headed past Newton River Park. It had been muddy and spongy in Veteran's Park, so I avoided the ground all together and rode on the street. The library wasn't too busy. I did have some DVDs to put away, and I did some organizing. I ended up taking out more Max & Ruby Christmas episodes (A Very Bunny Christmas), Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas (Disney's computer-animated follow up to Once Upon a Christmas), McCabe and Mrs. Miller, and the most recent Chronicles of Narnia movie, Voyage of the Dawn Treader.
It was dark when I left the library. I made a very quick stop at Dollar Tree for a card for my nephew Collyn for his birthday on Friday and for my mom and stepdad's anniversary next week, then rode home. Watched Max & Ruby while having leftovers. After dinner, I took cute Christmas shots of the AG girls around the living room. Here's the link to the Photobucket album:
AG Christmas 2011
Sunday, December 04, 2011
A Different Breed of Superhero
Started the morning with Brunch With the Beatles and Lemon-Rosemary Pancakes. Their annual early December salute to John Lennon was mixed with the solo holiday music and that strange "Fab Four" tribute Christmas album. (For some reason, I've heard cuts from these CDs on the Acme's intercom, too.) John's genius was represented by "No Reply," "Power to the People," "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away," "Come Together," "Revolution," "Just Like Starting Over," "Woman," and "Nowhere Man," among others.
I tried to call Mom this morning, but I got her answering machine. Oh well. I'd call her later. I spent an hour mucking around online before grabbing a bag of trail mix and an apple for lunch and heading out to work.
Work was a madhouse until a half-hour before I left. We had lines going around corners and not nearly enough help. It's the beginning of a month that most people will spend shopping for just about everything else but food. People want to buy their huge orders before they start buying Christmas presents. It wasn't even football. The Eagles played (badly, from what I've heard) on Thursday night.
When I got home, I put on The Green Hornet as I made steamed Brussels sprouts, spinach salad, Cranberry Flummery, and a leftover chicken leg for dinner. For all the comedy, it's actually pretty close to the original radio show premise. Britt Reid (Seth Rogan) is a wild-living playboy who inherits the newspaper The Daily Sentinel on his father's death. Goofy Britt has always admired superheroes, so when he discovers that his dad's houseboy Kato (martial arts star Jay Chou) has added many gadgets to his dad's car to insure his safety, he comes up with the idea of the two of them becoming superheroes who claim to be bad guys while doing good. Britt and Kato end up compete for Britt's lovely secretary Lenore Case (Cameron Diaz) while flushing a group of big-time LA gangsters who have been paying off a district attorney.
I thought this was the cutest superhero movie I'd seen in a while, and not just because the teddy bear-esque Rogan isn't your average superhero material. A lot of people have been really harsh on it, either because the tone is totally different from the 60s TV show, or they were just expecting more of the material. I really think they need to lighten up a bit. Do not come to this one expecting to take it seriously, as in Captain America, Thor, or the Batman or Superman series. Chou and Rogan are surprisingly funny together. Diaz doesn't have enough to do (but Lenore Case didn't on the TV show, either).
I did finally get a hold of Mom while the movie was on. She was fine. Gave me some suggestions for what to get for Dad and Keefe for Christmas. She was happily watching football alone - both her son and her husband were at work. (Much to Mom's delight, the Packers' just barely beat the Giants, and the Cardinals barely pushed past the Cowboys in overtime.)
Started the morning with Brunch With the Beatles and Lemon-Rosemary Pancakes. Their annual early December salute to John Lennon was mixed with the solo holiday music and that strange "Fab Four" tribute Christmas album. (For some reason, I've heard cuts from these CDs on the Acme's intercom, too.) John's genius was represented by "No Reply," "Power to the People," "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away," "Come Together," "Revolution," "Just Like Starting Over," "Woman," and "Nowhere Man," among others.
I tried to call Mom this morning, but I got her answering machine. Oh well. I'd call her later. I spent an hour mucking around online before grabbing a bag of trail mix and an apple for lunch and heading out to work.
Work was a madhouse until a half-hour before I left. We had lines going around corners and not nearly enough help. It's the beginning of a month that most people will spend shopping for just about everything else but food. People want to buy their huge orders before they start buying Christmas presents. It wasn't even football. The Eagles played (badly, from what I've heard) on Thursday night.
When I got home, I put on The Green Hornet as I made steamed Brussels sprouts, spinach salad, Cranberry Flummery, and a leftover chicken leg for dinner. For all the comedy, it's actually pretty close to the original radio show premise. Britt Reid (Seth Rogan) is a wild-living playboy who inherits the newspaper The Daily Sentinel on his father's death. Goofy Britt has always admired superheroes, so when he discovers that his dad's houseboy Kato (martial arts star Jay Chou) has added many gadgets to his dad's car to insure his safety, he comes up with the idea of the two of them becoming superheroes who claim to be bad guys while doing good. Britt and Kato end up compete for Britt's lovely secretary Lenore Case (Cameron Diaz) while flushing a group of big-time LA gangsters who have been paying off a district attorney.
I thought this was the cutest superhero movie I'd seen in a while, and not just because the teddy bear-esque Rogan isn't your average superhero material. A lot of people have been really harsh on it, either because the tone is totally different from the 60s TV show, or they were just expecting more of the material. I really think they need to lighten up a bit. Do not come to this one expecting to take it seriously, as in Captain America, Thor, or the Batman or Superman series. Chou and Rogan are surprisingly funny together. Diaz doesn't have enough to do (but Lenore Case didn't on the TV show, either).
I did finally get a hold of Mom while the movie was on. She was fine. Gave me some suggestions for what to get for Dad and Keefe for Christmas. She was happily watching football alone - both her son and her husband were at work. (Much to Mom's delight, the Packers' just barely beat the Giants, and the Cardinals barely pushed past the Cowboys in overtime.)
Saturday, December 03, 2011
Thrift Shop Adventures and Other Stories
I awoke to another American Top 40 holiday special...but this time, I didn't head out right away. Instead, I went in the back room to pack up my donations for the Logan Presbyterian Church Thrift Shop in Audubon. I had a big cloth tote bag filled with knick-knacks I've wanted to clear out for months. I also wanted to get rid of two porcelain dolls my grandmother gave me years ago that I'd never really liked. It took me a while to dig the dolls' boxes out from the containers that held storage for various collectible dolls and bears. I hadn't seen either box since I moved in.
When I did finally find both boxes, I loaded one into my backpack and one on top of the bag in my bike basket and sped off to Audubon. It wasn't easy riding there with a full basket, plus a doll box balanced on top! It even fell off at one point, and when I went to retrieve it, my whole bike fell over! Thank goodness nothing was hurt, and I managed to get it all out of the way before a car pulled out of a driveway.
Thankfully, there were no other mishaps. I was able to get to Audubon around 11, an hour before the thrift shop closes, with everything intact. The place was hopping when I dropped my donations with the women volunteers behind the front table. You could barely move around in the first room with the clothes, it was so busy! The main room with the records, CDs, books, videos, and knick-knacks was almost stripped bare. I did manage to pick up a few good records, though:
John Denver - Back Home Again
Richard Marx - Richard Marx
Bread - On the Waters (This one was a near miss when I was at the thrift shop a month ago.)
Al Hirt - Al Hirt at the Mardi Gras - Live In New Orleans (An unusual addition to my holiday music collection.)
Went straight home after leaving the thrift shop. When I got in, I had just barely enough time to bake Chocolate-Chip-Oatmeal-Cranberry Cookies and watch more Peanuts holiday specials and Nowhere Boy. It's Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown is, unlike it's more renown predecessor, basically a series of interconnected holiday-themed Peanuts shorts. My favorite moments involve Peppermint Patty and Marcie, who missed the first special. Marcie takes Peppermint Patty to a concert of "The Hallelujah Chorus," but standing up for the Chorus itself doesn't work out well. Peppermint Patty is disappointed when Marcie gets to be Mary in their Christmas pageant and she's only a sheep...but this turns out to be just as well, as she somehow forgets her lines anyway. Speaking of lines, I also got a kick out of Sally trying to memorize her one line...and what she actually does say when she's onstage.
Nowhere Boy concerns the early life of the Beatles' John Lennon. Lennon was raised by his strict Aunt Mimi in 50s Liverpool. She's not happy when he discovers rock and roll, to the detriment of his schoolwork...and even less so when he becomes closer to his mother Julia, who gave him up to Mimi when he was a child. As John grows toward adulthood, he finds himself being drawn to both rock and Julia and her less-conventional lifestyle. Mimi tries to reign him in, but when he forms a skiffle (country-rock-style) band with his friends from school (including Paul McCartney and George Harrison), even she discovers that there are some things beyond her control, and her nephew is increasingly becoming one of them...
Pretty interesting if you're a fan of the Beatles. I already knew a lot of this, and even I was drawn into the drama as the two women more-or-less battled for the increasingly confused and rebellious John's soul. I seem to remember another early-Beatles movie, Backbeat, about the Beatles' years in Germany, pretty much picking up from where this one leaves off and being really rather good.
The cookies were only just out of the oven when I went flying out the door to work! Work was busy through rush hour, fairly quiet thereafter. It's still the beginning of the month, and there's still quite a few frustrating people coming in, though some of this was lessened by my being in the express lane all night. I also saw a ton of people buying cakes from the bakery. I guess early December is a popular time for birthdays.
After I got off, I had more shopping to do. I needed more grapefruit and to restock yogurt, cereal (Wheat Chex Mix is on sale) and mouthwash.
I awoke to another American Top 40 holiday special...but this time, I didn't head out right away. Instead, I went in the back room to pack up my donations for the Logan Presbyterian Church Thrift Shop in Audubon. I had a big cloth tote bag filled with knick-knacks I've wanted to clear out for months. I also wanted to get rid of two porcelain dolls my grandmother gave me years ago that I'd never really liked. It took me a while to dig the dolls' boxes out from the containers that held storage for various collectible dolls and bears. I hadn't seen either box since I moved in.
When I did finally find both boxes, I loaded one into my backpack and one on top of the bag in my bike basket and sped off to Audubon. It wasn't easy riding there with a full basket, plus a doll box balanced on top! It even fell off at one point, and when I went to retrieve it, my whole bike fell over! Thank goodness nothing was hurt, and I managed to get it all out of the way before a car pulled out of a driveway.
Thankfully, there were no other mishaps. I was able to get to Audubon around 11, an hour before the thrift shop closes, with everything intact. The place was hopping when I dropped my donations with the women volunteers behind the front table. You could barely move around in the first room with the clothes, it was so busy! The main room with the records, CDs, books, videos, and knick-knacks was almost stripped bare. I did manage to pick up a few good records, though:
John Denver - Back Home Again
Richard Marx - Richard Marx
Bread - On the Waters (This one was a near miss when I was at the thrift shop a month ago.)
Al Hirt - Al Hirt at the Mardi Gras - Live In New Orleans (An unusual addition to my holiday music collection.)
Went straight home after leaving the thrift shop. When I got in, I had just barely enough time to bake Chocolate-Chip-Oatmeal-Cranberry Cookies and watch more Peanuts holiday specials and Nowhere Boy. It's Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown is, unlike it's more renown predecessor, basically a series of interconnected holiday-themed Peanuts shorts. My favorite moments involve Peppermint Patty and Marcie, who missed the first special. Marcie takes Peppermint Patty to a concert of "The Hallelujah Chorus," but standing up for the Chorus itself doesn't work out well. Peppermint Patty is disappointed when Marcie gets to be Mary in their Christmas pageant and she's only a sheep...but this turns out to be just as well, as she somehow forgets her lines anyway. Speaking of lines, I also got a kick out of Sally trying to memorize her one line...and what she actually does say when she's onstage.
Nowhere Boy concerns the early life of the Beatles' John Lennon. Lennon was raised by his strict Aunt Mimi in 50s Liverpool. She's not happy when he discovers rock and roll, to the detriment of his schoolwork...and even less so when he becomes closer to his mother Julia, who gave him up to Mimi when he was a child. As John grows toward adulthood, he finds himself being drawn to both rock and Julia and her less-conventional lifestyle. Mimi tries to reign him in, but when he forms a skiffle (country-rock-style) band with his friends from school (including Paul McCartney and George Harrison), even she discovers that there are some things beyond her control, and her nephew is increasingly becoming one of them...
Pretty interesting if you're a fan of the Beatles. I already knew a lot of this, and even I was drawn into the drama as the two women more-or-less battled for the increasingly confused and rebellious John's soul. I seem to remember another early-Beatles movie, Backbeat, about the Beatles' years in Germany, pretty much picking up from where this one leaves off and being really rather good.
The cookies were only just out of the oven when I went flying out the door to work! Work was busy through rush hour, fairly quiet thereafter. It's still the beginning of the month, and there's still quite a few frustrating people coming in, though some of this was lessened by my being in the express lane all night. I also saw a ton of people buying cakes from the bakery. I guess early December is a popular time for birthdays.
After I got off, I had more shopping to do. I needed more grapefruit and to restock yogurt, cereal (Wheat Chex Mix is on sale) and mouthwash.
Friday, December 02, 2011
Christmas Time Is Here
I spent most of today putting up the remaining Christmas decorations. I started with the bears first. When my sisters and I were kids, Mom would dress our teddy bears and a few other stuffed animals in old baby clothes, scarves, and hats. She'd long stopped doing this by the time I moved on my own in 2002 and turned the remaining holiday-only bears and their things to me. I love dressing the bears. I have the perfect place for them, too - under the tree.
After the bears were done, it was time to pull out the display items. I have all kinds of great stuff for holiday displays I've gotten from here, there, and everywhere. The Sailor Soldiers' tiny tree and its balls were presents in college, when we couldn't have any kind of live greenery in the dorms. The gorgeous Winter Dreams Cinderella, Jessica the December Birthstone Doll, the two porcelain teddy bears with the big smiles in the Santa outfits, and the little porcelain bears in winter clothes came from the Friends In Deed Thrift Shop before they shut down last year. The big resin Santa statue, the copper Christmas bell with the candy cane cut-outs, and the American Girl tin (not to mention the tree and wreath) were Christmas presents.
It took me a while to get everything together. I had to find new places for some things, thanks to the re-organizing I did in the early fall. The new TV being much smaller than the old one helped. I put the Ferro Rocher bell, the rope of fake garland greener, and some of Mom's home-made calico Gingerbread people dolls around the TV and DVD player, and it looks very nice. Max and Ruby hold the little basket with the greenery and the "candy cane" and little wooden penguin. (I hope Max doesn't try to eat that candy cane. It's a wooden mini-cut-out!)
I finished with just enough time to have a quick leftovers lunch and hurry off to work. I wish I'd stayed at home. Work was a pain in the rear. There were lots of huge orders, fussy customers, and people who give you six hundred directions on how to bag without lifting a finger to help themselves. Plus, we were down that suspended cashier and short on help.
Thankfully, I was able to get off of work on time and do my own grocery shopping. I mainly had to restock fruit and vegetables for the first time since the Farm Market ended. Picked up apples, pears, broccoli, bananas, and cranberries. I also needed chocolate chips, canned pumpkin, tape (I ran out this morning putting up the snowflakes on the windows), and brown sugar. There was a sale on almonds, so I got some of those, too.
Also got another good schedule next week. Pretty much the same as this week, only I have Monday off instead of Tuesday. Monday was a request - my friend Amanda is visiting that day. I'm looking forward to it. We get together every Christmas and exchange presents and hang out.
I spent most of today putting up the remaining Christmas decorations. I started with the bears first. When my sisters and I were kids, Mom would dress our teddy bears and a few other stuffed animals in old baby clothes, scarves, and hats. She'd long stopped doing this by the time I moved on my own in 2002 and turned the remaining holiday-only bears and their things to me. I love dressing the bears. I have the perfect place for them, too - under the tree.
After the bears were done, it was time to pull out the display items. I have all kinds of great stuff for holiday displays I've gotten from here, there, and everywhere. The Sailor Soldiers' tiny tree and its balls were presents in college, when we couldn't have any kind of live greenery in the dorms. The gorgeous Winter Dreams Cinderella, Jessica the December Birthstone Doll, the two porcelain teddy bears with the big smiles in the Santa outfits, and the little porcelain bears in winter clothes came from the Friends In Deed Thrift Shop before they shut down last year. The big resin Santa statue, the copper Christmas bell with the candy cane cut-outs, and the American Girl tin (not to mention the tree and wreath) were Christmas presents.
It took me a while to get everything together. I had to find new places for some things, thanks to the re-organizing I did in the early fall. The new TV being much smaller than the old one helped. I put the Ferro Rocher bell, the rope of fake garland greener, and some of Mom's home-made calico Gingerbread people dolls around the TV and DVD player, and it looks very nice. Max and Ruby hold the little basket with the greenery and the "candy cane" and little wooden penguin. (I hope Max doesn't try to eat that candy cane. It's a wooden mini-cut-out!)
I finished with just enough time to have a quick leftovers lunch and hurry off to work. I wish I'd stayed at home. Work was a pain in the rear. There were lots of huge orders, fussy customers, and people who give you six hundred directions on how to bag without lifting a finger to help themselves. Plus, we were down that suspended cashier and short on help.
Thankfully, I was able to get off of work on time and do my own grocery shopping. I mainly had to restock fruit and vegetables for the first time since the Farm Market ended. Picked up apples, pears, broccoli, bananas, and cranberries. I also needed chocolate chips, canned pumpkin, tape (I ran out this morning putting up the snowflakes on the windows), and brown sugar. There was a sale on almonds, so I got some of those, too.
Also got another good schedule next week. Pretty much the same as this week, only I have Monday off instead of Tuesday. Monday was a request - my friend Amanda is visiting that day. I'm looking forward to it. We get together every Christmas and exchange presents and hang out.
Thursday, December 01, 2011
Balance and the Christmas Tree
Started out an absolutely gorgeous day with yoga. I didn't get to it last week because of Thanksgiving, but I had no such distractions this morning. We worked on "inner spiral," which meant balance poses that involve twisting. I can walk up the wall now without breaking as sweat, but I still have a hard time standing on one leg or other balance-on-one-foot poses. My trying hard must have impressed some of my classmates. After class, two college students came up to me and kindly told me how impressed they were. They seemed really sweet, and I was glad to have met them.
Went right to the Collingswood Library after leaving Yogawood. In addition to shelving and organizing DVDs, the head of the library had a fun job for me. He asked me to pull Christmas or holiday-themed books from the fiction section for the displays on the front of each fiction shelf. I came up with everything from a book of Charles Dickens' Christmas stories (including A Christmas Carol and Cricket on the Hearth) to John Grisham's Skipping Christmas to Joanna Fluke's two holiday Hannah Swenson books.
It took me longer to do the display than I thought it would. It was quarter of 1 before I finally made it out of the library. It was even nicer by that point, chillier than earlier in the week but not too bad, probably in the upper 50s. I had a pricy but tasty Turkey Ranch Foccacia sandwich at a very busy Saladworks, then went across the street to run some errands. I needed contact lens solution at Rite Aid and finally got around to getting their store savings card. Desperately needed milk at WaWa - the milk I got from Rite Aid had finally gone sour a few days ago.
Rode straight home after leaving WaWa and found quite a surprise when I arrived. My first Christmas present of the year was sitting in the mail box - my annual Vermont Country Store gift card from my best friend Lauren Miller. She always gives me a couple of gift cards, including that one. I'll have to take a look at their sales.
When I got upstairs, I made Cranberry-Pear Dark Chocolate Chip Bread to get rid of the last of the cranberries from Thanksgiving and the final Farm Market pear that was getting mushy. When the bread was in the oven, I began my favorite part of holiday decorating - the Christmas Tree.
The tree takes me a while to do on my own. I did manage to get the lights right, not too much or too loose, but I somehow popped one of the lights off and had to chase after it. (I found it right inside the closet across from the tree, next to the dining area.) I use three gold garlands to get the right fullness, but the effect is so pretty. I also use bead garlands (one silver bead garland I've had since college and two bead necklaces in holiday colors, plus a pretty swirl-bead necklace my grandma gave me that has a broken clasp) and a small ribbon garland (also from Grandma - it came on a package she gave me and was too festive to throw away). The deep red cloth wound around the base of the tree is an old tablecloth of Mom's. It was too big for my table in Wildwood, so I threw it around the tree...and it looked so nice, I've used it for the tree ever since.
I went for a short walk between doing the garland and doing the ornaments. I'm glad I did. It was too nice to spend the whole day indoors! It was so nice, I was perfectly fine in my black coat, no earmuffs or scarf needed. A lot of people already have their Christmas lights out. Last week's unusually warm weather must have encouraged people to pull them out early.
It took two hours just to put up all of the ornaments I've collected over the years. Some of the fancier ones, like the glitter-covered movie clapper, the beautiful Victorian-style glass heart, and the elegant magenta teardrop one that looks like a 50s ornament were Christmas presents from Mom, who picks up elaborate ornaments at gift shops in Cape May. Most of the character ones - the Winnie the Pooh angel and his honey, Scooby and Shaggy on a sled, Yogi Bear with a pic-a-nic basket full of candy canes, the WebKinz Google and Zangoz, Rudolph and the Misfit Toys, the Disney Cinderella - were given to me by friends or bought from thrift shops or after-Christmas sales.
It took me so long to do the tree, I didn't get to dinner until past 7:30...and I began at 4! I made a quick dinner of salmon with sauteed broccoli and mushrooms while I watched the documentaries Christmas Past, on English holiday customs, and part of Christmas Unwrapped, a similar History Channel show on the origins of Christmas in general and of customs in the US.
Started out an absolutely gorgeous day with yoga. I didn't get to it last week because of Thanksgiving, but I had no such distractions this morning. We worked on "inner spiral," which meant balance poses that involve twisting. I can walk up the wall now without breaking as sweat, but I still have a hard time standing on one leg or other balance-on-one-foot poses. My trying hard must have impressed some of my classmates. After class, two college students came up to me and kindly told me how impressed they were. They seemed really sweet, and I was glad to have met them.
Went right to the Collingswood Library after leaving Yogawood. In addition to shelving and organizing DVDs, the head of the library had a fun job for me. He asked me to pull Christmas or holiday-themed books from the fiction section for the displays on the front of each fiction shelf. I came up with everything from a book of Charles Dickens' Christmas stories (including A Christmas Carol and Cricket on the Hearth) to John Grisham's Skipping Christmas to Joanna Fluke's two holiday Hannah Swenson books.
It took me longer to do the display than I thought it would. It was quarter of 1 before I finally made it out of the library. It was even nicer by that point, chillier than earlier in the week but not too bad, probably in the upper 50s. I had a pricy but tasty Turkey Ranch Foccacia sandwich at a very busy Saladworks, then went across the street to run some errands. I needed contact lens solution at Rite Aid and finally got around to getting their store savings card. Desperately needed milk at WaWa - the milk I got from Rite Aid had finally gone sour a few days ago.
Rode straight home after leaving WaWa and found quite a surprise when I arrived. My first Christmas present of the year was sitting in the mail box - my annual Vermont Country Store gift card from my best friend Lauren Miller. She always gives me a couple of gift cards, including that one. I'll have to take a look at their sales.
When I got upstairs, I made Cranberry-Pear Dark Chocolate Chip Bread to get rid of the last of the cranberries from Thanksgiving and the final Farm Market pear that was getting mushy. When the bread was in the oven, I began my favorite part of holiday decorating - the Christmas Tree.
The tree takes me a while to do on my own. I did manage to get the lights right, not too much or too loose, but I somehow popped one of the lights off and had to chase after it. (I found it right inside the closet across from the tree, next to the dining area.) I use three gold garlands to get the right fullness, but the effect is so pretty. I also use bead garlands (one silver bead garland I've had since college and two bead necklaces in holiday colors, plus a pretty swirl-bead necklace my grandma gave me that has a broken clasp) and a small ribbon garland (also from Grandma - it came on a package she gave me and was too festive to throw away). The deep red cloth wound around the base of the tree is an old tablecloth of Mom's. It was too big for my table in Wildwood, so I threw it around the tree...and it looked so nice, I've used it for the tree ever since.
I went for a short walk between doing the garland and doing the ornaments. I'm glad I did. It was too nice to spend the whole day indoors! It was so nice, I was perfectly fine in my black coat, no earmuffs or scarf needed. A lot of people already have their Christmas lights out. Last week's unusually warm weather must have encouraged people to pull them out early.
It took two hours just to put up all of the ornaments I've collected over the years. Some of the fancier ones, like the glitter-covered movie clapper, the beautiful Victorian-style glass heart, and the elegant magenta teardrop one that looks like a 50s ornament were Christmas presents from Mom, who picks up elaborate ornaments at gift shops in Cape May. Most of the character ones - the Winnie the Pooh angel and his honey, Scooby and Shaggy on a sled, Yogi Bear with a pic-a-nic basket full of candy canes, the WebKinz Google and Zangoz, Rudolph and the Misfit Toys, the Disney Cinderella - were given to me by friends or bought from thrift shops or after-Christmas sales.
It took me so long to do the tree, I didn't get to dinner until past 7:30...and I began at 4! I made a quick dinner of salmon with sauteed broccoli and mushrooms while I watched the documentaries Christmas Past, on English holiday customs, and part of Christmas Unwrapped, a similar History Channel show on the origins of Christmas in general and of customs in the US.
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