Tuesday, October 04, 2016

The Fall Switch

Began a cloudy day with breakfast and more horror-themed New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. "The Monster Frankenpooh" is a story the gang's telling on a dark, spooky night. Tigger wants it to be scary, but it gets sort of carried away and scares Piglet. "Things That Go Piglet In the Night" has everyone on edge when they hear noises in the woods. They think it's a ghost and go out hunting. When Pooh and Piglet are blasted out of a camping trip by Tigger's popcorn, they think they're on "Pooh Moon." The others think they're aliens and run from them.

I've been accumulating several big piles of donations in the back. I gathered the clothes and books/DVDs/videos/cassettes into bags. Stuffed half of my plastic bags into one bag to bring to the Acme's plastic bag recycling bin tomorrow. I'll bring the clothes, too. Grabbed the bag of media to take to the Haddon Township Library later.

But first, I wanted to get the laundry done. It needed to be done badly. Thanks to the towels from yesterday, I had a rather big pile. Thankfully, though it does get busy for a while, it's not bad when I come in and is dead when I leave. I mostly worked on story notes and ignored the news and Days of Our Lives on the TV.

Given that the weather has cooled off considerably lately, I figured it was time to pull out the winter clothes. I have a lot more winter clothes than summer ones (or maybe they're just heavier). It took me longer to swap out winter for summer than vice versa. I still need good winter clothes, including a good winter skirt and dress that actually fits me. I may also pick up a third pair of jeans. And I should probably replace the work pants that don't fit. (I have two other pairs that do fit, but I like to have a third pair, just in case.) Switched purses, too.

After I finally finished that, I headed off to lunch. Tried the lunch special at Viola's International Deli, hot roast beef hoagie with sharp provolone and sauteed spinach with a can of Diet Mountain Dew. It was surprisingly busy for quarter of 2, with several people in and out to pick up late lunches. That could be why the lady forgot my sauteed spinach. She finally gave me a bowl of it, and I spooned it onto the hoagie myself. Ahh, not bad. A little salty, and the spinach was a tad overcooked.

It remained cloudy and windy as I made my way across Newton River Park. The rain last week did its job. While brown patches do remain on the grass, the park mostly looks far greener than it did at this time last month. I was one of the few people enjoying it. I did see some folks pushing a stroller, and a couple of geese near the Cuthbert Road entrance.

There wasn't a whole lot going on when I initially arrived at the Haddon Township Library. I just shelved the kids' DVDs and the CD and audio book. Figured I'd leave the new releases and adult DVDs for the kid volunteers to do after school. I did dig out a bunch of items one of the librarians wanted for holds before I left. It got busier as the hour went on.

Along with two Force Awakens books for fanfiction inspiration, I grabbed some animation this week. They had a new set for Sofia the First, and a Halloween-themed Cat In the Hat Knows A Lot About That disc. Also just got Kung Fu Panda 3. I loved the first two movies and what little I've seen of Legends of Awesomeness.

Made a quick stop at Dollar Tree on the way home for cards for my friends Amanda and Lauren's birthdays, and to treat myself to a Blue Bunny Neapolitan Ice Cream Sandwich. (Yum. The strawberry and chocolate parts were especially good.) Dodged road work on Cuthbert and very light sprinkles going home.

Squeaked a little writing in after I came home. Rey spent her morning in Brooklyn, asking if they could use the old Skywalker Manor for their Halloween party. Some of the kids aren't too sure about that. It's said to be haunted. Hank tells them the story of how Andrew Weller and his wife Patricia died in the house shortly after World War I. He personally doesn't believe it, but it's said that they both still haunt the house, looking for retribution.

After I had leftovers for dinner, I thought I'd try something. I forget where the recipe for Honey Oatmeal Cake came from. It's so tasty and simple, I don't know why I don't make it more often. It's a one-bowl recipe you mix right in the pan where you melt the butter. I tossed in apples for an extra bit of fall sweetness. Oh yum. A little mushy, but tasty and just sweet enough.

Ran three episodes of Sofia the First as I baked. "The Princess Adventure Club" introduces new girl Zoe. She's traveled all over the world and has had amazing adventures, but this is her first time in a regular school, and she doesn't know how to make friends. She and Amber get off on the wrong foot when Amber interrupts her when she's talking to Sofia and the other girls. Zoe starts a Princess Adventure Club in order to make friends. When she won't let Amber join, Amber creates her own adventure club. Sofia now has to find a way to bring the two together and get them to mend their hurt feelings.

Sofia's amulet leads her to "The Secret Library." Seems she has an even more important job than being a magical princess. As the holder of the Amulet, it's her job to try to finish stories that have no ending. Her Aunt Tillie takes her to her first one. Minimus the Pegasus' brother wants to fly free, but he's been captured by a spoiled prince. Sofia is at a loss on how to help him, until Merida of Brave gives her advice about feeling confident.

Amber and Sofia may be delighted by "The Princess Ballet," but their friend Kiri has her doubts. Kiri's good at every sport there is, but ballet is new for her. It takes her a long time to learn all the steps. She wants to impress her mother and show that she can be a winner at this, too. Sofia and Amber try to show her that dancing is about having fun, not just impressing people.

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