Ain't No Cure For the Springtime Blues

I awoke to a hot, sunny late-spring day, the first we've had in ages. Unfortunately, it didn't begin well. I tried to wear my new shorts that I bought on Tuesday, but the zipper wouldn't work at all! Only one side was on the track, and it wouldn't slide onto the other side, no matter how much I tried to fix it. I was good and mad. I just bought those! Hadn't even worn them yet! Now I'm going to have to either take a ride to the Cherry Hill Mall or beg someone to take me back over there.

My errands for today, on the other hand, went without a hitch. I made it to the Acme around 10:30 to pick up my paycheck. It wasn't busy at all. WalMart wasn't busy when I bought a basket a new seat for the mountain bike, either. I had no problems grocery shopping, except for a box of Lipton Citrus Green Tea ringing up the wrong price. I went to the desk to explain the problem and got it for free.

After a quick, simple lunch of apple slices, peanut butter, and a granola bar, I headed back out to run more errands and do the last of this week's library volunteering. That's where I encountered another hitch. There was only $229 in my bank account. There should have been at least $800! I asked the teller about it, but she said nothing was amiss. I figured there wasn't anything I could do there, and left.

My next stop was the Haddon Township Library. I rode across Newton Creek Park. It was hot, really hot, and the sun was beating down on my shoulders. I really regretted wearing a tank top. My shoulders must have been burning. (I later discovered that I did indeed have some sunburn on my nose, chest, and shoulders.)

The Library wasn't really busy when I arrived. I just shelved DVDs. I also returned non-fiction books and took out four more mysteries. I picked the next Beatrix Potter novel The Tale of Cuckoo Brow Wood, a new paperback mystery, How to Wash Your Cat, and two American Girl mysteries, Peril at King's Creek (Felicity) and Missing Grace (the newest Kit story).

I rode across the street to the Westmont Plaza next. A brief stop at Super Fresh yielded nothing I needed. I grabbed sponges and cheap Windex (mine has gone missing, for some strange reason) at Dollar Tree. I rode past what used to be the Halloween Adventure/Swing Set store on my way out to Cuthbert Road. Alas, it's now a pile of rubble. They tore it down to the foundation. I'd still like to know what they plan on building there...

I was hot and getting hotter by the minute. There was a new ice cream shop on Cuthbert Road I wanted to try that would be the perfect way to cool off. It replaces the floral shop on the corner of Cuthbert and the White Horse Pike. Tables and a TV set tuned to Cartoon Network (they were running the new Garfield show when I was there) sit on the patio where there used to be floral displays and booths selling local sports merchandise. Flower pots rest between huge rocking wood booths and statues of cows. (One statue on the patio talks.) I had a chocolate water ice. I didn't like it as much as Leo's Yum Yums down the street, but it wasn't bad...and it felt really good going down. I was so parched!

(And I got my water ice just in time. What looked like a high school or Little League baseball team showed up for a treat about ten minutes after I got my kids' cup. I would have never been able to wade through a bunch of thirsty teenage boys!)

As soon as I got home, I went online and checked out my bank status. Turns out the problem was with my college payment. Someone at Nelnet.Inc, who handles my college payments, though I wrote $724.61 on the check I sent them, instead of $124.61, thanks to a tiny little line next to the 1 that probably came from the pen smudging. The words clearly say the lower number. I was mad as heck! I tried calling Nelnet at least five or six times, but I kept getting their automated phone system. I'm going to go back to the bank tomorrow morning to see if they can correct the problem.

Spent the rest of the afternoon baking and cleaning the windows in my apartment. This has been such a bad week in general. It seems like the harder I try to get things right, the more they go wrong...and I have visitors coming a week from Sunday! I feel like I'll never get everything done.