No Business Like Snow Business

We got lucky. The northern Camden County area only received about six inches of snow all together. A lot of that was already melting by the time I was up and about, thanks to the sunny skies and mid-30s temperatures. I put on the Brunch With the Beatles show (the US-only album "Hey Jude: The Beatles Again" was the theme today) and made French Toast with the last of the whole wheat baguette and half a grapefruit for breakfast.

I had time for a nice, long call with Mom after I ate. Cape May County got a LOT more snow than we did, at least 9 to 10 inches in some places. Dad was out shoveling snow when we were on the phone. Keefe, Anny, and Skylar had come up here to visit Rose and deliver baby things that Anny no longer needed. Mom was working on the computer. We talked about crocheting, and she recommended some yarn sites with good crochet patterns.

Called Rose after I finally finished with Mom. I was hoping I could join them at the Camden Aquarium today. Alas, I worked too early. I told her to tell everyone I said "hi." Sigh. Someday, I'll have a real job where I get to have weekends off and actually do fun things with people.

The pair of pants I bought from Fashion Bug for work proved to be as much of a pain in the rear as the other pair. They were still way too tight, and the flares on the cuffs were ridiculous. Didn't they retire bell bottoms after about 1971 or so? They were dangerous, too. I got my big toe caught in one of the cuffs and pulled it so hard, it's still sore. I think I may have strained it or sprained it.

And of course, the chain on my bike came off about half-way to work. I was very close to being late. This wasn't a good thing at all. It was even busier today than yesterday, with long lines snaking around the store. Thankfully, once again, there were no problems (other than standing on a sore toe), and my relief was on time. One of the teenage boy stock clerks was even nice enough to help me get the chain back on my bike so I wouldn't have to walk on my darn toe going home. My steps were a little icy when I finally got in, but not too bad.

My toe is now elevated on a pillow and a crate. I had it on ice a while ago, so it's a bit numb. I was able to walk on it, but it is still pretty sore.

Oh, and Lauren and I are starting our next Monkees role-play story, a quiet vacation tale. Look for it by Valentine's Day!

Winter Weather Surprise

It was merely cloudy when I rode to work at 9:30, but you'd never know it from how busy the Acme was. We were mobbed all day long, with half-way-across-the-store lines. Good thing everyone mostly behaved, and there were no real problems other than the lack of help. In fact, some of the employees were holding an "ugly sweater" contest. The winner was the customer service manager, who wore a black sweater with a pattern of what I believe were supposed to be koalas, though they may also have been fat goats. The second and third prize winners, a seafood worker and a cashier respectively. sported multi-colored Cliff Huxtable 80s sweaters. I forget what they won, other than their picture on the front bulletin board. The store even made a little party out of it and served popcorn, pretzels, and Entermann's donuts in the back room.

The crowds had begun to thin somewhat by the time my relief arrived at 3:30. I didn't realize why until I looked out the windows leading to the main entrance...and saw snow coming down. Hard. That was a shock. I'd heard that we really weren't supposed to get anything at all, and if we did, it would be a dusting. Someone needs to wipe the weather map radar lens.

I did get in little bit of shopping that I wasn't able to do yesterday, including peanut butter and I Can't Believe It's Not Butter baking spread, which were on a $2 for 2 with coupon in ad sale.

I also found the 5th season of the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles TV show in the cheap DVD bin. My memories of the show are more vague the further they got into the 90s, so it'll be nice to see these again. (And Lionsgate wins the award for creative packaging. The 5th season looks like a mini-pizza box, with the discs as the pies. Even the menus on the discs continue the theme - they look like typical pizza joint menus.)

I really got lucky. It must not have been snowing for very long when I looked out the window. The ground just barely had a dusting of snow when I finally headed home. I was able to ride my bike normally, except for on Goff Avenue. I wasn't taking the chance of another spill on the ice, especially when I couldn't see the road, so I walked up and down the hill there.

The snow was falling more thickly as I arrived home, and the ground was getting more and more covered. Not surprisingly, I spent my evening at home, doing pilates, watching Turtles episodes, and eating leftover Chinese food for dinner.

Miss Redmer Goes Shopping

It turned out to be a good thing I'd planned on that excursion to Bed, Bath, and Beyond with Rose today. The high in South Jersey was 20, too cold to be running anywhere on bikes. She also had to go to Wegman's (a fancy, high-end grocery store in Cherry Hill) and to her vet's, so we went to the Bed, Bath that was there instead of the one in Deptford after I quickly picked up my paycheck from work.

Bed, Bath, and Beyond was our first stop after the vet's. I did get a new 1-quart saucepan. I made sure it was a good non-stick brand this time, so there would be no repeats of the incident with the caked-on grits that lead to breaking the handle on my old one. Rose bought a new rug for her entryway so she, her boyfriend Craig, and their dogs don't track mud into their apartment.

We were in and out of Best Buy next. Rose had mentioned that three Disney animated movies, Sleeping Beauty, The Jungle Book, 101 Dalmatians, and the direct-to-video sequels for the latter two, are going out of print tomorrow. She wanted to get Jungle Book for her new baby before it goes "back in the vaults," but Best Buy didn't have it. I already have it myself; maybe I'll check FYE for her next time I'm there.

It took a while for us to get around in the shopping center. The shopping area where these stores are is one of those fancy new "lifestyle center" things that has lots of stores and condos in one place. While I can certainly understand wanting to live behind a Best Buy, the whole things seems A) a noisy place to live, and B) in the middle of nowhere. Yeah, while it's nice to have a grocery store and 800 restaurants literally at your front door...what about other services, like fire stations and libraries and police stations and city halls? It feels...cold. Not at all like a real community. Even the Lumberyard is more integrated into Collingswood.

(In fact, that's what I don't like about Cherry Hill. Most of it is on major highways. While I appreciate the historic significance of the Cherry Hill Mall, it's not only far from my favorite mall, but there doesn't seem to be much else in Cherry Hill besides malls and highways. It's not a pedestrian-oriented area.)

Wegman's is the local version of Lauren's Price Chopper in New England, the South Jersey area's premiere huge, fancy, has-everything grocery store. I wasn't surprised it was very busy today. Like Price Chopper, Wegman's has a huge deli-cafe area, a giant seasonal section, and a huge section dedicated to organic foods. Truth be told, while some of their prices were good and they carried some items that the Acme doesn't (like the Kashi Pumpkin Pie and Raspberry Chocolate granola bars - yum!), other prices (especially for meat) weren't that impressive. And they didn't have the Smart Balance 50/50 Stick Butter I like, a bit of a surprise since they seemed to have every other Smart Balance butter/spread product.

I was even less impressed with the cashier. The elderly woman took forever bagging and didn't load the bags the way Rose wanted them. (I bought cloth bags and bagged my own order.) Not to mention, I had to tell her some of the fruit codes, and she still got the codes for my apples wrong.

We went out to lunch at one of those 800 chain restaurants in the shopping center area after finally squeezing out of the busy Wegman's. Rose had a hankering for Chinese, so we ended up at Pei Wei's Chinese Cafe, a small, swanky chain Chinese eatery. It was busy, but the line moved fast and we ate faster. I had my favorite spring rolls and my go-to Oriental dish, Teriyaki (in this case, a shrimp Teriyaki brown rice bowl). Rose had a spicy chicken-broccoli dish with brown rice and lettuce wraps.

Rose had to go home and walk her puppies, so she drove me back to my place after lunch. I quickly put my groceries away, then went for a short walk to the bank to deposit what was left of my paycheck after today's shopping. It was windy and the cold was bracing, but the walk felt nice after stuffing myself at Pei Wei.

Spent the rest of the afternoon at the apartment, doing exactly what I did yesterday - crocheting, baking, and watching movies (after briefly looking up the weather online...and it doesn't look like we'll be getting any of that snow coming up from the south). I finished Lawrence of Arabia and watched Mr. Deeds Goes to Town and Yolanda and the Thief while my Whole Wheat-Oat-Molasses Bread was rising and baking.

Mr. Deeds is the charming tale of a simple but sensible man who inherits a fortune from his playboy uncle. He comes to New York to talk to his uncle's lawyers, but his plain-talking common sense makes him a target for every con-artist and scammer in town. The lawyers were scamming his uncle and would like to go on doing so. A newspaper picks up the story, too, sending its best female reporter out to find out about the crazy doings of this simple man. The reporter at first tries to make him sound foolish...until she not only falls hard for him, but begins to understand why he kicks an opera company out of his home and feeds donuts to street horses. When he decides to give his money to the homeless Depression masses, the lawyers try to have him declared insane. But who's really insane here, the man who is trying to do something good...or the people who can't understand that being different makes us special, not crazy?

This is a definitely a Frank Capra film of the 30s, from its sensible everyman hero to the theme of a common man who wants to help those in need, but is rebuffed by supposedly intelligent people who turn out to be just snobby. It also reminds me a great deal of Miracle On 34th Street, with it's discussions of the things that make us individuals vs. other people's conceptions of normal.

Counseling Balance

Began a sunny, windy day with this week's yoga class. There were 10 people in the class this week, including the teacher Karin. Yogawood did a special workshop in their branch at Riverton a few days ago to earn money for Haiti earthquake relief. Apparently, they did very well, making almost $850, half of it coming from a teacher who donated his month's salary. Karin wanted to continue the theme of giving and sacrifice with "heart-warmers" and back and leg stretches. Not bad, but I bobbled on some of the tougher leg-stretches. We worked with partners again, too. That was kind of fun; my partner this time around was a dainty-seeming college student who reminded me a lot of my delicate friend Amanda.

My next stop after class was the thrift shop to donate the big bag of stuffed animals. I actually made a pretty cool video find - the rare 1946 MGM musical Yolanda and the Thief, which isn't on DVD yet. It's the odd tale of a con-artist (Fred Astaire) who tries to bilk a naive heiress (Lucile Bremer) out of her wealth by pretending to be her guardian angel. Not great, but definitely unique, and features Bremer and Astaire's genuinely nifty dance number "Coffee Time." I also picked up two cute Valentine's Day cardboard hangings, one a teddy bear holding pink roses, the other depicting a Holly Hobbie-esque child holding a cat against a pink heart background.

The Collingswood Library was comparatively quiet. I shelved non-fiction books for an hour. I did see some cool books, including two of Norman Rockwell paintings. Mom was and is a big fan of Rockwell and bought calenders of his work for years. I remember one that wasn't featured in either book, of a couple squabbling over differing political opinions while their young son and his dog find themselves stuck in the middle. My sisters always found that one hilarious - the couple looked a great deal like our own parents arguing politics over dinner.

Another one we loved did make it into both books. Prom Dress, from 1949, depicts a hopeful teenage girl holding up her new gown to a mirror, probably dreaming of herself dancing in it. None of us could blame her. We all would have loved to go dancing in the ruffly white confection she showed off in the mirror, too.

Stopped for lunch at Texas Wieners after I finished at the Library. Texas Wieners is a branch of a hot-dog stand in South Philly that recently opened in the Lumberyard, the luxury condos in Collingswood a block from WaWa. (And it's an interesting irony that two of the three cheapest lunch options in town - Texas Wieners and Primo Hoagies - are housed in the same buildings as some of the most expensive real estate in town.) I had the same thing I had last time, the "Fish-N-Rob" (fish cake, provolone cheese, and broccoli rabe on a roll) and a cup of hot chocolate. All together, my lunch came to $3.96, which is hard to find even at diners. The brownie I bought across the street at GrooveGround alone cost $2.50.

Counseling went pretty well. I told Scott about my fun Christmas and how I've had a hard time getting things back in gear since then. We discussed my difficulty in job-hunting. One of my biggest problems is talking to people. When I'm on the spot, I freeze up and can't think of what to say. It happens at the Acme all the time when I try to tell customers something, get nervous, and forget or lose track of what I'm saying. I end up stammering and feeling foolish, or not saying anything at all.

He suggested informally "interviewing" the librarians at the three libraries where I volunteer. Ask them how they became interested in library work, where they went to school, things like that. See, the other thing I haven't been good at developing is a network, a chain of people I can talk to and ask for help and advice in my job hunt. Until recently, I never met anyone with the same job interests as me!

I had debated going for a long bike ride after counseling earlier in the day, but by the time I left Genesis, the wind and cold had gotten much worse. It was too windy to really try to do anything else on the bike. I stopped briefly for milk at WaWa and rode home.

Spent the rest of the day doing things around the apartment. I put up the Valentine's Day decorations, including the two cardboard figures, two tinsel garlands, and the piles of paper hearts I have. I baked Banana Chocolate Chip Bread from the Prevention cookbook. Alas, it came out a bit stickier and a bit overcooked, but still edible. While the bread baked, I crocheted and watched Lawrence of Arabia.

A classic Oscar-winning story of the real-life T.E Lawrence, Arabia is a sweeping, epic saga of the man who lead several Arabian tribes to help conquor the Turks during World War I, then tried to unite the squabbling clans. Peter O'Toole gives an amazing performance as Lawrence, especially given this was his on-screen debut. He's back by a fantastic cast, including Omar Sharif and Anthony Quinn as two of the Arabian chieftains, Claude Rains as a British politician, Alec Guiness as the Prince of the Arabian tribes, and Arthur Kennedy as an American photographer who immortalizes Lawrence as a hero. The cinematography almost steals the show from all of them, from the famous jump-cut from the match to the desert to the spectacular train derailment near the beginning of the first half.

And yes, I did finally figure out how to crochet. Good thing I took out two books on crocheting Tuesday; I just used the other one. It took me a while, but I got a foundation chain done that looked so nice, I left it alone and after tying it off, made it into a collar for my WebKinz Black Frisian King. I think I'll start off making simple things like that for me and my various collections - collars and ribbons for the stuffed animals, ribbons, headbands, scarves, shawls, and belts for the American Girls dolls, ribbons and headbands for the Sailor Moon dolls, and headbands for me. (I could use some new headbands - my old ones are really stretched.)

Not a Fashionata

Spent the morning at work. We were actually pretty busy between noon and about 2:30, enough to call stockers for help, but other than that, it was dead. The only thing I don't like about morning work is getting a lot of obnoxious older people who demand you do this, that, and the other thing, and can never seem to be satisfied. You'll bag one way, and they'll want it another. You keep the bags light...and they just fill them, because there's too many! Other than that, and my relief was called in early, there were no real problems.

I ran to Fashion Bug behind the Acme after work. I can't get through the week with only one pair of work pants. I wasn't crazy about most of the spring fashions there at all. On one hand, I'm glad to see the disappearance of too-big psychedelic prints and huge bell bottoms. This is not 1969. (As I told Mom last week, just because I listen to the Beatles and the Monkees doesn't mean I want to DRESS like them.) Some of the layered tops with normal v-necks were actually cute.

On the other hand, I'd also like to see the disappearance of gypsy blouses, ruffles anywhere but on skirts, waiters, and Carmen Miranda, empire waists, oversized buttons, and gathers on necklines. None of this looks particularly good; at lot of it looks dumb and wastes fabric. Not everyone has no bust and can go around sporting gathers and buttons the size of small dinner plates.

I did finally buy a simple pair of khaki work pants (with a good metal zipper), and a white bra like the tan front-clasp bra I bought in the fall. The white lace bra I picked up last month was itchy, tended to ride up in the front, and never really fit right. I wanted to pick up a white front-clasp bra last month, but they were out of them at the time. I made a very brief stop at FYE after Fashion Bug, but I didn't see anything I wanted, so I just went home.

When I got in, I did something I've been meaning to do for a long time. I finally went through my stuffed animal collection and cleared out some of the many WebKinz I've accumulated. I really don't need to keep 80 stuffed animals. I'm getting rid of about 20, which means I still have a lot, but not as many as before. Anything that I don't love or have doubles for is going to go. I have them all online, anyway. I also cleared out a few cassettes and books, but I'm generally better about thinning out stuff that I don't want than I used to be.

Dreaming

Started today with laundry. It was pretty quiet at Dad and Uncle Ken's. Dad had to go get a new Mac laptop. He'd accidentally spilled coffee on the laptop he uses every day and wrecked the battery, which he wasn't happy about. He's on that thing constantly. Uncle Ken and Dolores were in and out all morning, running errands.

I finished Crazy Little Thing Called Death, then ran to the Oaklyn Library after the laundry was in the dryer. It was quiet there, too. I mostly just organized the kids' books, but I stopped early to look for books of crochet patterns. I could only find one from the 70s, but it featured a very familiar afghan pattern. Mom made the Color Wheel afghan - squares featuring multi-colored circles on a black background - in the mid-80s, and it was on our living room couch for years. She always claimed she was going to add more squares to it someday, and I did see some additional squares in her work room, but I don't know if she ever did.

There wasn't nearly as much laundry today as there has been in previous weeks, and I got it started a bit earlier than usual. I was home by 12:30. I put the laundry away, had lunch, and went back out again, this time heading to Westmont and the Haddon Township Library.

Haddon Township was a bit busier than the Oaklyn Library had been. I mostly returned adult and kids' DVDs. Once again, I stopped a bit early to be able to take out a few items. I found two books with supposedly easy crocheting instructions, the next Blackbird Sisters novel Murder Melts In Your Mouth, and two more DVDs, Mr. Deeds Goes to Town and the 2008 Incredible Hulk.

Next stopped at JoAnn's to check out their crocheting section. I bought plastic hooks - I really couldn't afford the metal or bamboo ones - and two skeins of yarn that were on sale. I also bought a cute Wilton cookie cutter in the shape of a house that I thought was on sale, but turned out to not be. I still took it, since I thought it was different. Also made a very quick stop at Super Fresh for jam, but they were out of the sale item.

My cookie jar was empty, so I made that Prevention Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe after I got home. After the cookies finished baking, I thought I'd try crocheting...but it didn't go well at ALL. I couldn't understand anything in the directions. I couldn't even make a beginning loop right, and forget the foundation stitch. I couldn't figure out the under-over-twist thing. I'm just not coordinated enough for crafts. Those were supposed to be simple directions. I get all these big, huge, wonderful ideas on how oh, I'll be able to do so many things and make so many things...and it always comes crashing down when the reality reveals I can't do it after all. I'll try again Thursday after counseling.

At least dinner went well - roasted broccoli and cauliflower, romaine salad with Asian dressing, pan-fried cube steak in red wine and Worcestershire sauce, and brown rice with mushrooms.

Raging Storm

All of Camden County awoke to a massive storm this morning. Lashing rain and 50-mile-an-hour winds flooded low-lying areas and downed branches all over the area. My porch was already covered with small and large branches at quarter of 8. It was very, very warm and humid, too, probably in the 60s, too warm and too humid for this time of year.

I was originally going to do the laundry today, but I ended up staying inside and messing around online. I just didn't trust the weather. It remained bad through about noon. At one point, the lights flickered and the internet went down briefly. Twenty minutes later, a small but very thick and heavy branch hit the roof over my head and sounded like an atomic bomb, scaring me half to death!

I got some pilates in, but even after the actual rain stopped around 1, I still didn't trust the wind, the debris, or the rising tide. I called Dad for a ride to work.

Work was, at it turned out, dead for most of the night. It was steady around the usual 4-6 rush hour time, but that was it, and even that could have been worse.

I did a few things in the yard when I got home. I cleared out the larger branches that had fallen (and that I could see in the dark), righted my bike and pulled the sodden bike cover back on it, and chased after my trash cans.

I also remembered I needed to take out the recycling tonight. Miss Ellie was coming home just as I was heading for the curb with the blue recycling canister. I wonder what she was doing out late? She's usually home by now. Maybe she was visiting relatives, or she had late work.

How To Keep Life Simple

I read this article at Yahoo!Finance...and nearly fell over laughing. I've been doing some of these things for years, and I can't believe people are only figuring this out now:

Daily Commute - I ride my bike to work here and walked to work when I lived in Wildwood. Why take a car when you live less than 10 minutes from your job?

No Cable - When I moved out on my own in 2002, I knew I wasn't going to have the money to pay both the cable bills and the Internet bills. Guess which one gives you more options...and has a lot more fun and useful stuff to do?

Fancy Coffee - Yuck! I don't even like coffee, much less the huge ones from Starbucks. Yes, I sometimes treat myself to a large tea from a coffee shop, but not all the time, and certainly not one for $5. Got a coffee habit? Make your own or buy it from a much cheaper convenience store like WaWa.

Privacy - The only reason I live alone is I can't find anyone willing to move in with me, or I would have taken on a roommate years ago. My three closest girlfriends all live with their parents. Two of them are close to their families and very content with that arrangement; the third doesn't have the money to move on her own.

Prepared Food - The only prepared foods I buy for myself are granola bars and yogurt, and I've been seriously considering getting a yogurt maker. I do eat out from time to time, but it's usually at the cheapest local restaurant I can find, like Tu Se Bella's, and maybe once a week. Twice, if I'm out on a long errands and can't get home in time for a meal. It's not only cheaper, but better for you.

Cigarettes - Don't smoke. Never have. I got enough smoke from my own family growing up, and it didn't make sense to spend what amounted to anything from $5 to $8 per pack on something that could kill me.

Clutter - Ok, so I'm a bit of pack rat...but I've been better about it in the past few years. I still have more junk than I should, but I tend to weed things out more often than I used to.

Bells and Whistles - I am not a computer geek. I buy whatever's simple and works. I wouldn't even own a cell phone if Dad hadn't insist I keep it on me in case I needed a ride. I don't own a microwave, either. What's wrong with an ordinary stove?

Comfort - Miss Ellie asked me to turn the thermostat down to 68 this winter...and I actually turned it to 67. What's wrong with piling on a few extra blankets? I like the coziness.

Debt - I neither like nor trust credit cards. I don't own a credit card that isn't attached to a debit card. If you don't have the money for something and really don't need it, don't buy it. This is related to monthly payments. I hate doing them. I'm doing it with my dental care right now, but that's it. My monthly bills consist of Weight Watchers Online, college payments, phone/internet payments, and my rent.

Health Care - Ok, this probably isn't a good thing. In fact, holding off on eye and dental exams for seven years was likely stupid...but I just didn't have the money to cover them when I lived in Wildwood.

Extra Calories - While I still need to work on buying the right things, I know how to buy the cheap things. I rarely eat dinner out (in fact, the only time I do is after work when I'm too tired to cook, like tonight). And even better than skipping appetizers, you can make them your meal, which is especially useful at a place like Olive Garden that fills your plate. And I love restaurant food the day after. Olive Garden pasta can make a great breakfast.

New Cars - I don't own a car at all. Considering how close everything is here, I don't see the point. But if you must have a new car, what's wrong with used? My parents bought great used cars for years in the 80s and 90s.

Dates - I haven't gone on one of these in five years, but when I was dating, we mostly walked around malls or bookstores, the campus when we were both still in school, and on the boardwalk when I lived in Wildwood.

Window Shopping - Sure, I still do it...but I often don't walk out with anything, like the other day when I was at FYE. I'll sometimes just walk around a store and not end up buying anything. It's probably leftover from my childhood, when that 20 bucks I earned babysitting or clearing weeds would be the only money of my own I'd have for several weeks, and I'd need to spend it wisely.

While I'm not going to give up magazines and newspapers just because teenagers don't think they're cool, I do know cheaper ways to get them...like your local library.

Too Late Now

My morning did not begin well. I tried to squeeze myself into those Gloria Vanderbilt pants I bought for work on New Year's Even and just ended up breaking the zipper. I had to force them apart to get out of them! This means I'm down to one pair of work pants. Good thing I don't really have that many hours this week, anyway.

I tried calling Mom while the Beatles show was on, but no luck. It was nice to get to hear the whole Brunch With the Beatles show, for a change. Today's theme was "Beatles B-Sides." While most of the songs were throw-aways, some of the B-sides matched or were even better than the featured numbers, including "If I Fell," "Strawberry Fields Forever," "Revolution," and "Day Tripper."

Tried Mom again around 1, about twenty minutes before leaving work; got her this time. She said she was at home earlier, but had been busy working on things on her sewing machine. We had a very nice talk about my boredom and winter blues. She suggested taking up crocheting. We'll see. I get into things, but I always lose interest before I can finish them. I've never been very good at crafts, either.

She suggested that I need to work on my self-discipline, and she's very right. That's why I can't lose weight, either. I'm not good at making myself do things. I start stories and projects, but I'll get bored half-way through and never finish them. I get these huge ideas, but I never know how to get them on paper or onscreen.

It was cloudy and relatively warm, probably in the upper 40s-lower 50, when I headed to work. Work was the same as yesterday, very, very busy, and like yesterday, there were no major problems and my relief was on time.

I went to Tu Se Bella's behind the Acme after work for pizza. It was spitting a little when I left, but by the time I got out, the rain was gone again, and it was just back to being blah. I was going to go to Fashion Bug and look for work pants, but they close at 6 on Sundays, so I just rode home after dinner.

Hit the shower and listened to The Dress Circle when I got in. "Songs Nominated for an Oscar in the 50s But Lost" was the them tonight. I came in half-way to hear the lovely "Too Late Now" from the 1951 MGM musical Royal Wedding. We also got the title song of April Love, performed by it's stars Shirley Jones and Pat Boone, and the famous title song of Tammy sung by Debbie Reynolds.

I called my sister Rose this morning and asked her if she wanted to go to Bed, Bath, and Beyond. I really need to replace the saucepan with the broken handle with something nicer than you can get at Target or Wal-Mart. She finally called back this evening. She was, as usual, busy, in the middle of making a cheese ball for a birthday party she was having for her boyfriend Craig, studying for school, and trying to get her puppies Kelsey and Toby to behave. She's really excited about having a boy. She said she and Craig are already getting the baby's room together, and my mom and Craig's mom have given them a lot things for the baby already.

Winter Doldrums

I'm bored. I'm so bored. I can't get into anything - not work, not movies, not writing, not anything. Nothing's any fun. Nothing's going on. I'm gaining weight, no matter how hard I try. I don't know how to shake myself out of this funk. There has to be something wrong. I just don't know what yet.

Work was busy all day, not helped by a mix-up with two cashiers who had switched their times and left earlier than they were supposed to. I can't even figure out why we were so busy. I guess it was the sales. There's no major sports games this weekend, the next big holiday is in mid-February, and there's really nothing else going on.

After leaving work, I headed over to America's Best for my contacts. I ended up doing my follow-up exam to check the new prescription. Turns out that yes, my eyes have gotten slightly worse (despite my mother's claim that they should have stabilized by now). I'll go back at the end of next week for the rest of them if I like how the new prescription works.

Made a brief stop at FYE after America's Best, but I didn't see anything I wanted, so I just headed home. Thank goodness it was a lovely January day, sunny and in the lower 40s. My rides to and from work were quite pleasant.

Like I mentioned above, I've been gaining weight again. All the overeating I've done over the holidays and in the last few weeks hasn't helped. I thought I'd try stepping up my work-outs again. I did pilates for the first time in years this evening, using the DVD Rose gave me in 2007. I found out that I can't breathe right, have poor control over my body, and can't raise myself for stomach crunches of any kind. I'm just too fat.

After I finished my workout, I had dinner and put on Sweet Smell of Success. Like The Misfits and Asphalt Jungle, this isn't the kind of movie that I'd buy, but is said to be worth seeing at least once...and it is. Slick press agent Sidney Falco (Tony Curtis) moves through New York's seamy underbelly, trying to get under the skin of powerful, equally immoral newspaper columnist J.J Huntsinger (Burt Lancaster)...but their lies and deceitfulness eventually leads both to tragedy. Not the most fun movie to watch, but a suburb cast and Elmer Bernstein's jazz score make the most of a taught, tough script and Elmer Bernstein's nervous jazz score.

Tax Woman

Started out a partly cloudy, grayish morning with breakfast and The Mary Tyler Moore Show, then a run to the Acme and the Audubon Shopping Center. I picked up my paycheck and headed to Wal-Mart after a brief stop at Staples. On one hand, I didn't get one of the things I went in for, which was underwear. I didn't like the selection or the prices. On the other hand, I did get a spare inner tube. I like to keep one around for incidents like a few months ago where my tire blows out suddenly.

I also found that Mattel must have had a huge response to the series of decade-related Barbies they released last year. There were three more decade-related doll sets on the shelves. The 1964 Swirl Pony Tail Barbie looks like one my mom might have played with (she says she had the original 1959 doll as a child) and comes with the most adorable gingham dress with embroidered flower collar. I have very fond memories of the gorgeous 1985 Peaches and Cream Barbie. We never had her...but oh, did we wish we had! Her peach gown is still awesome. Not only that, but the front cover of her reproduction booklet helped me identify one of the vintage Barbie gowns I got from the thrift shop last year. My Princess Serena doll wears the 1985 Crystal Barbie gown (though not the ruffled stole that came with her). There was also a Black Barbie from 1980 that I don't remember, though she did have some pretty nifty outfits.

Ran back to the Acme after I bought the bike inner tube. Like last week, I didn't really need much. I was mostly stocking up on fruit and vegetables, thanks to this week's "buck a bag" sale. Bought apples, oranges, bananas, grapefruit, a bag of broccoli and cauliflower, celery, chuck beef steaks, ground chicken, Dannon yogurt that was on sale, and canola oil (also on sale).

I'd debated a train/bus trip to Deptford after finishing at the Acme, but I didn't really feel like doing a lot of running around. I decided to stick to the neighborhood and do some local chores instead. Some of them, like delivering bills to the post office and the dentist's office, were errands I've put off for longer than I should have. I also ran to CVS (got pot scrubbers) and the bank. Took a long, pleasant walk around Oaklyn after I finished at the bank, enjoying the relatively warm-ish 40 degree temperatures and the fact that it wasn't raining or sleeting, which was the original forecast for today.

After I got home, I spent the rest of the evening doing my taxes. I got my W-2s today and figured there was no beating around the bush. It's not like it takes me more than an hour to do them, anyway. I live alone, rent my apartment, have no dependents, only have one part-time job, and don't have to report on anything but the tax from my college payments. At any rate, I got them done and e-filed, and they were accepted by the IRS an hour ago. I should be getting my check by mid-February.