Started out a fine, sunny April Fool's Day with some baseball-themed laughs from the Peanuts gang. Everyone thinks that Lucy Must Be Traded, Charlie Brown, since she's by far the worst player on Chuck's notoriously loss-prone team. When Chuck does finally trade her to Peppermint Patty for Marcie, he discovers there are worse players out there - Marcie doesn't even like baseball and only plays because her best friend does.
I headed out as soon as I finished my Cheerios and grapefruit breakfast. It was an absolutely gorgeous day, probably into the upper 50s-lower 60s, with a nice breeze and warm sun. It's looking so much greener than it did even a week or two ago. New grass can be seen poking from the dry, yellow patches. The daffodils are finally starting to poke their heads above the ground.
I did the Oaklyn Library first, but I wasn't there for very long. For one thing, this is the day Oaklyn's seniors watch a movie there. I listened to Summer Stock as I organized the adult DVDs. Mainly, though, the kids' section is still in the midst of serious reorganization. I don't know why the director wants to organize everything by theme or genre rather than alphabetically or by the Dewey Decimal System like most libraries, but whatever. She may be trying to minimize space in the already small building. I was in and out after 20 minutes.
Another reason I didn't want to hang around was...it was just too nice of a day to spend messing around in a library. I went straight to Haddonfield, enjoying the increasingly warm afternoon. I had no problems getting there this time. I did have to dodge quite a few potholes, but even the largest piles of snow and ice are long gone. The snow we had last week didn't even last a day.
I came up Haddon Avenue and landed at the Bistro, which is where I ended up having lunch. It was 12:30 by this time, and both the outdoor and indoor dining areas were packed with college students, high schoolers and their parents, elderly couples, and executives and assistants from the local medical offices on their lunch break. I enjoyed that wonderful Pear Spinach Salad I had last spring on my Haddonfield counseling day trip, the one with the big pieces of bacon, sliced pears and cucumbers, blue cheese, caramelized walnuts, and chicken on a bed of spinach. It was just as delicious as it was last April. I wasn't the only one who loved it, either. The two medical executives next to me also ordered it (along with cups of soup).
Since I still had at least 40 minutes before counseling, I strolled down Haddon Avenue for a while. I ended up at the small book store. I didn't see any adult books I couldn't live without, but I do love their children's section. After reading over several of the kids' books for Easter, I finally found three for my nephew Khai's birthday on the 20th - a Thomas the Tank Engine counting book, a National Geographic for Kids easy reader on dinosaurs, and the classic Golden Book The Pokey Little Puppy.
Headed to counseling next. I told Mrs. Stahl about my busy month, the changes to my story, my frustrations with my customers and Rose, Mom's new job, starting the communications class, and my hopes and plans for the summer. In addition to Lauren's visit, I'd like to make some day or short overnight trips to easy-to-reach fun places in the area like Wildwood, Ocean City, the Shops at Marlton, and the Moorestown Mall (the only major area mall I've never taken a look at).
Another thing I want to look into is going to the theater. There's tons of local theater groups, starting with the Ritz Theater down the street from me on the White Horse Pike. (And they could use a new fan - I read in the Courier Post that they're having financial problems.) The trouble is, most shows are at night, when I work, and most matinees are on Sunday afternoons, which I rarely get off. It should be a bit easier to get to shows once we get into summer and the sun starts going down later. I may see if I can find at least one movie theater that's on a bus route as well. It'll be a lot easier to do the work for my communications class when the people I communicate with on a regular basis aren't so hostile.
Basically, she said "try to either look up or call the neurophysicists, get to the theater or a group whenever you can, and save for trips and your vacation." I have my birthday coming up in two weeks to look forward to as well. I haven't decided what I'll do for that yet. Maybe I'll go into Philly, or write Amanda and see if she wants to visit.
It was too nice of a day to go straight home after counseling was done. I browsed in a few stores in Haddonfield and on Haddon Avenue going to Westmont, including one cute little gift/antiques shop that had really funny cards based around vintage photos. Stopped at Primo's Water Ice on my way through Westmont and treated myself to a small cup of Chocolate Peanut Butter. It was the 4PM rush hour by the time I arrived. There were lots of parents and kids treating themselves to water ice and ice cream on their way home from work and school. A mom with two cute grade-school-age kids licked at soft ice cream cones as I worked my way through my water ice.
After a brief stop at Walgreens to look at their Easter section (they always have the best seasonal aisle), I headed straight home via Newton River Park. Given the beautiful weather and the time of day, the park was the busiest I'd ever seen it. I wound my way around joggers, dog walkers, parents with kids in strollers, and old people out for a ramble. The playground was so filled with little kids in colorful clothes, it more closely resembled a carnival.
When I got in, I got an idea. Miss Ellie planted violets in the side garden in 2010, about two years before she died. I really enjoyed raking up the leaves and seeing those lovely little green shoots reaching for the sunlight. I grabbed one of the rakes and went downstairs and around the back of the house to the side garden, which is situated between the house and the hill that goes up to the park.
I was delighted to see tiny green sprouts coming up out of the dirt as I raked. I don't know if they're violets, but something is still there. The sun, which had disappeared while I was in Haddonfield, came out as I finished raking. I think Miss Ellie somehow knew, too.
Spent the rest of the evening in my kitchen. I made Chocolate-Oatmeal Hermits from the Cooking Light Yearbook I bought from a yard sale a few years back, then had baked seasoned chicken thighs and honey-glazed carrots for dinner. I ran two favorite late 80s comedies as I worked.
Mannequin is one of the more bizarre comedies made during an era noted for strange concepts. Johnathan Switcher (Andrew McCarthy) is a Philadelphia sculptor who can't seem to find a good outlet for his creative impulses. He keeps getting fired from job after job...until he lands at Prince & Company, a fading downtown department store, after seeing the mannequin he built in their window. Turns out the mannequin is Emmy (Kim Catrall), a cursed Egyptian princess who has traveled through time looking for the right man. Emmy is just as creative and upbeat as Johnathan, and they proceed to make window displays that are the talk of downtown Philly. Johnathan's growing love for a window display dummy makes him look increasingly suspicious to everyone else, including the store security office (G.W Bailey) and flamboyant window dresser Hollywood (Mesach Taylor).
If you can get around the plain odd idea, this is a really cute romantic comedy-fantasy, and a nifty little taste of the mid-late 80s in Philly. Locals might still be able to figure out still where a lot of scenes were filmed, including the Wanamaker Building (now Macy's) standing in for Prince & Company. (I heard a Boscov's stood in for rival store Illustra, which isn't surprising given the 80s vibe of most Boscov's.) Not for heavy action enthusiasts or those who can't handle the 80s in general, but if you love the concept or the cast or the era, you may like this.
Moved to Troop Beverly Hills as I cleaned up from dinner. We skip ahead two years from 1987 to 1989 and cross the continent to the title city. Phyllis Neffler (Shelly Long) may be rich and a good shopper and have great taste in elegant wide-brimmed hats, but her life is a mess. She and her husband (Craig T. Nelson) are in the midst of a messy divorce. Determined to prove that she can do more than shop and bond with her daughter Hannah, she takes over Hannah's Wilderness Girls troop. These poor little rich girls aren't the type of kids who bake cookies and make hooked rugs, and they've scared off every other den mother they've had...until Phyllis takes over. Phyllis and the girls try to prove to militant, bullying head Wilderness Girl Velda Plundor and her overly competitive "Red Feathers" troop that there's more than one way to be a Wilderness Girl...and that the most important thing is a girl is in tune with her environment, whether she lives in the wilderness or the wilds of Beverly Hills.
This was one of my favorite movies when I was about the same age as Hannah and the troop. I still like it, but as with Mannequin, it's very much a time capsule of its era. I honestly don't think Phyllis, the girls, or Beverly Hills in general would be played nearly as positively today as they are here. Not to mention, the outrageous fashions, on the kids and the adults, are something else - check out all of Phyllis' variations on the Wilderness Girls uniform. I especially love Phyllis' amazing hats. This is also 100% a girl and woman's movie - guys don't need to apply. I suspect this would probably still go over well with pre-teen girls today who can get around the dated premise and enjoy the story and colorful costumes.
And speaking of comedies, I hope your April Fool's Day really tickled your funny bone, too!
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