Peace and Quiet

I had a very quiet, simple day. I made Sweet Potato Spice Pancakes this morning, listened to the Beatles show on WOGL, and called Mom. Mom was getting ready to try to work outside. She's not terribly happy with the weather. Cape May County's gotten more rain than even we have. She said they had a storm pass through this morning, though if it came by here, I didn't see it. She complained that nothing ever has a chance to dry before the next storm.

We sure didn't have that problem. The weather today was sunny, windy, warm, and clear - about as gorgeous as you can get on the last day of May. This was reflected at work, too. The Acme was unusually quiet for a Sunday afternoon, steady-to-dead for most of the night, with no major problems. It was just starting to pick up when I left.

Rebecca at the Movies

Thanks to Linda Young for this information!

Seems Linda and I both guessed right about the newest American Girl. Rebecca Rubin is a Jewish tenement dweller in 1914 who wants to be an actress in the movies. Her stories sound fascinating (admittedly far more so than the last historical American Girl, 70s-era Julie) and I can't wait to find the books. The doll's gorgeous, too - I love her beautiful hair.

Meet Rebecca!

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.

Working Balance

Yoga class was the smallest I'd ever attended this morning. There were just three people there, me, the very flexible fellow who seems to work as a handyman there as well, and a new teacher, Melissa, who was in for Micki. Melissa was bright, plump, sweet, and willing to put us through our paces. I worked very hard, and both Melissa and Eric had kind words for me after class.

I was a little surprised it was so dead. The weather was cloudy but warm and humid. By the time I'd gotten home, the sun was even coming out. There was a call from Sue, the head front end manager at the Acme, waiting for me when I got in. Could I come in at 11:30 instead of 2:30? There was a call-out. No, I couldn't come in at 11:30. I'd only arrived around quarter of 11! It ended up being 12:45, enough time for me to make a small batch of Chocolate Chip Bar Cookies, eat lunch, change, and get dinner together.

Work was mostly steady, but there were some problems. First of all, the Acme is in the midst of rearranging many aisles. Even we don't know where some items are, much less our customers. Second, some of the older women were getting on my nerves. One got angry when I forgot to double-bag her items and she thought I made them too heavy. There was confusion when I finished, too. A manager told me to stay until one more cashier came back from break, and then she opened a register anyway.

I wasn't feeling too happy at that point, and I only felt worse later when I finished my own grocery shopping and had to go back for the buttermilk I'd left with the yogurt. I forgot to give the bagger and cashier my cloth bags, and they bagged them all in plastic and we had to re-bag them. I hate holding up lines, on either end. It makes me feel guilty, no matter how much people claim they're not in a hurry. I did finally walk out with yogurt, apples, the buttermilk, granola bars that were on a really good this-weekend-only sale (and that I had a coupon for), and things to make another pudding pie for Jessa's graduation party tomorrow.

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.

Travels With My Sister

Today was laundry day. I went for a short walk with Jessa while it was in the dryer. She's off of school for good now, or at least until she starts the art college in Philadelphia she'll be attending in the fall. She just has her graduation ceremony tomorrow, and that's it for high school for her. I can't believe she's already graduating high school. I'm gonna cry if I think about it too much. (Don't even get me started on Keefe just finishing his sophomore year...) We just went to the library and to Doria's Deli for soda, enjoying the breezy, cloudy-but-warmer-than-yesterday weather.

The house was busy when we got in. Two old friends of Dad's from Florida, Joyce and Brian, had arrived. I said "hello" to them, then headed out. I put everything away, had a quick lunch of chicken soup, celery, and a chocolate chip muffin, and went to work.

Work was really boring, especially after the weekend. It was dead as a doornail, and other than some confusion over the Snapple sale coupon (the 12 pk of plastic Snapple bottles are the free ones, not the 12 pk of glass bottles), there were no problems.

Strawberry Sweet

Oh, and Tina requested my recipe for the Strawberries N' Creme Pudding Pie I made yesterday. Here you go!

1 6-oz package of Vanilla or French Vanilla pudding pie (Use your favorite brand and vanilla variation)
1 tub Cool Whip or your favorite whipped topping (I used Cool Whip French Vanilla, which was on sale, but you can use whatever you'd like)
1 graham cracker crust (pre-prepared like I did or your favorite recipe; shortbread or Nilla wafers might work well, too)
1 cup fresh or frozen strawberries (Make sure the berries are well-drained and defrosted if you use frozen - you don't want a watery pie!)

Prepare the pudding as directed for pie filling on the package. Chop the strawberries into small pieces and fold them in. (Make sure you don't mix too hard - do this part with a regular spoon, not a whisk. You don't want strawberry pudding mush!) Pour the filling in the prepared crust and top with whipped topping. Put in refrigerator and chill for at least 30 minutes.

Day Among Books

It was a cloudy, cold, dreary day when I finally got up this morning, a far cry from the hot weather we had over the weekend. It was nice to finally be able to turn off the air conditioner and the fan, and I was able to bake chocolate chip muffins this evening. On the other hand, the weather was dismal. By the time I finally made it out to the library, it was showering. I wasn't dripping when I got in to Westmont, but I was fairly wet.

The Haddon Township Library was hopping today, not a surprise given the weather. There were stacks and stacks of books and DVDs to be put away, and the librarians were just adding more and more to the pile as they signed in more stacks of just-returned items. I finally brought back the X-Man book. Yes, it was on hold. No, I couldn't renew it, despite having not even read it. I settled on a Wolverine novel and decided I'd try the big book again later in the summer. I mostly shelved the piles and piles of DVDs before heading out.

Made some quick stops across the street at the Westmont Plaza. I looked at JoAnn's to see if they had a gift for Jessa for her graduation. Nope. Went next-door to Super Fresh for a box of Hodgeson Mill Wheat Germ, which Acme no longer carries. I've been out of wheat germ forever. (They only have the expensive wheat germ in the glass jars.) Stopped at the WaWa on the White Horse Pike for milk and a toasted custom-made turkey Ciabatta melt sandwich.

By the time I got home, the showers had gentled down to sprinkles. Even so, I spent the rest of the day inside, reading and listening to jazz and Disney soundtracks. Rose did drop by later, but only briefly. She said she was tired after her summer classes. (She also showed me the huge bruise she got when she fell down the narrow, steep steps to hers and her boyfriend Craig's apartment. Ouch! It was big, purple, and nasty.)

Oh, and I called Mom after getting in from the library. She was fine. She spent most of the weekend outside working on the yard, which is why she never heard my calls on Sunday.

Saluting Those Who Served Our Country

I salute veterans of all wars...including the current one...on this Memorial Day. I started off a hot, sunny morning with the Donald Duck Army-themed shorts on the second Chronological Donald Walt Disney Treasures DVD set. Donald appeared in a series of cartoons on life in the World War II army, as well as the famous Oscar-winning propaganda short Der Fuherer's Face, between 1942 and 1944. I watch them every Memorial Day and Veteran's Day - they're pretty much the only war-related items I own.

I worked early today, around 9:45. Don't ask me why it was 9:45 to 3:15 instead of 10 to 4 or something normal like that. I have no idea. Apparently, neither did the Acme. I ended up staying until 4. It wasn't too bad when I came in at quarter of 10, but by quarter after 3, the lines were half-way across the store. We had a couple of call-outs, too.

Jodie came through my line around noon to tell me she and Dad were having a barbecue tonight. Great. I was going to call them and ask them if they were doing anything tonight anyway. When I got home, there was message on my phone for me. Rose had finally called back. She can't do Yogawood this week - something about hurting her leg - but she is willing to get together and chat tomorrow. That's fine. We'll talk over cups of tea.

I changed into a bathing suit and my red-and-white polka-dot sundress, grabbed my pool towel, and headed over to Dad's. He and Jodie had a bunch of their friends over, and they were chatting. I felt a little awkward. I don't know them very well. I was hoping we'd go to Mark and Vanessa's again, like we did last year. I waded around in the pool for a little while, but it was still too cold for me to really go swimming.

At least the food was good. Jodie and Dad made steak, broccoli, sauteed asparagus and mushrooms, Caesar Salad, and ribs so succulent, they literally fell off the bone. I chatted with Uncle Ken, Dolores, Jessa, and Erica, then watched a couple of pre-teen boys goof off in the pool.

The Strawberries and Cream Pudding Pie I brought over was a big success, too. There was only a small wedge remaining in the pan when I left. One of the boys said it was the best thing he'd ever tasted, words that meant more to me than any medal of honor.

Let It Be...Hot

After a long chat session with Lauren last night, I slept in good and long this morning. I made peanut butter pancakes and tried to call Mom. No one picked up at her house, so I left a message and tried calling Rose. Didn't get her, either. Once again, left a message. It might be just as well. I had just finished sweeping the porch and listening to this week's Beatles show on WOGL (the album "Let It Be" was in the spotlight today) when I got a call from work. They were busy and there was a call-out. They needed me to come in early.

Unlike Thursday, this was not a problem. I hadn't had any real plans for today, anyway, besides just hanging out. Work was, indeed, busy when I came in, but by the time I finished, it was nearly dead. I guess everyone went down to the shore after all.

Or maybe they were avoiding the heat. It was cloudy and windy when I got up this morning, and while not as hot as yesterday, it was still pretty warm. I turned the air conditioner on last night and turned it back on this evening (after taking a stab at letting the nice wind blow in).

Off to the May Fair

Sorry I'm late again. I keep getting caught up reading other things. It was probably just as well that today's Strawberry Shortcake was a repeat, the one about Peppermint Fizz refusing to accept Rainbow Sherbet because she's so different. I was able to get an early start on the usual Saturday errands...a good thing, because today's errands were anything but usual!

After a quick stop at the bank, I headed for Collingswood. Yesterday was their annual May Fair. The May Fair is the big craft show and midway on Haddon Avenue held every year on the Saturday before Memorial Day. There were booths selling hand-maid jewelry, clothes, knit-wear, toys, and furniture. There were tons of food booths - lemonade, soft pretzels, pizza, hot dogs, and "deep fried Oreos" were popular items. One end of the Fair focuses on a classic car show. The other extreme end near Cuthbert Road had small midway-style rides, games, craft booths, and face and hair painting booths themed exclusively towards children. (Unlike Wildwood or Great Adventure, all the rides were kids-sized - no adults unless they rode with kids.) There was even an artist working on a picture of the historic buildings on Haddon Avenue as people passed by.

The Farm Market was on Leeds Road for the day, and that's where I headed. Unlike last year, I'd wanted to get a good early start and beat the crowds...but the booths were still packed as I shopped. I broke down and bought the $5 strawberries. The Acme has them for cheaper, but they aren't nearly as good. I bought mushrooms and dandelion greens...and then went back after I left and bought celery and beets, which I needed and had forgotten.

(Unlike last year, I didn't buy anything at the fair. Most of the crafts were priced way over my budget. I did see a table selling WebKinz, but they didn't have anything this year I hadn't seen elsewhere. I will admit, it's a shame I already have a white poodle, because the Lil'Kinz version is way too cute.)

I rode around a little while longer. Got lemonade at one yard sale. Bought two 80s childrens' books (a hardback Care Bears Parker Brothers picture book and a Muppet Babies book sold by McDonald's in the mid-80s as a promotion) and a Care Bear, Do Your Best Bear (a newer bear with a kite on his tummy). Poor DYB Bear had spots of dirt on him and ended up being tossed in the laundry basket. Looks like he saw some hard play.

It was hot and getting hotter, almost into the 90s, and my shoulders and back were starting to feel the effects of being out in the sun for too long...not to mention, it was quarter of 12 by this point and I had work at 1. I headed home, put my fruits and vegetables away, and had lunch before changing and heading to work.

Work was busy, not exactly big news given the holiday weekend. Thankfully, other than a few bobbles with the big soda coupon sales, there weren't nearly as many problems today as there were earlier this week. I was in and out with little trouble.

Did my own grocery shopping afterwards. Picked up the low-cholesterol eggs on sale and with a coupon. Grabbed apples too, also on sale, and Kashi's Autumn Harvest Shredded Wheat cereal. (The Kashi Shredded Wheat cereals rock.)

And yes...I got rather bad sunburn on my shoulders, face, and back. That's what I get for forgetting my sunscreen. :P