Friday, August 11, 2017

Cloudy Day Dolls

Began a hazy late morning with more Laverne & Shirley. In "Shirley's Operation," the girls and their friends are rehearsing for a performance of Alice In Wonderland when Shirley faints. The others get her to the hospital, where they discover that her appendix is about to burst and she needs an operation. Shirley is having none of this and tries to run away.

After the show ended, I finally got around to changing the American Girl dolls into bathing suits and summer frocks. Molly's in her peach suit with the thick green towel. Whitney wears a navy blue and white polka-dot suit with a tiny red towel and white Swiss lace espadrilles, all from the Springfield Collection. Jessa's in the early 2000's American Girl modern line tropical-themed Island Luau suit, the adorable pineapple-shaped ukulele that came with it, and the purple jelly sandals from the 90's Birthday Outfit. Samantha's more covered in her dark blue 1904 Bathing Costume, black tights, and her ruffled cap with the polka-dot bow.

Felicity and Josefina represent time periods where swimming and bathing weren't considered ladylike. I put Felicity in her lavender-striped Traveling Gown (and her later meet outfit) and the hat with the pink and celery-green trim from (Elizabeth's) Summer Gown. Josefina sports her pretty floral Party Dress and the beige moccasins she came in with her rebozo.

Headed out as soon as I finished with the girls. I didn't have as much grocery shopping to do this week as I have the last couple of weeks, but I did need a few things. Ground turkey was on such a good sale, I bought two containers. The Acme had a good sale on Ben & Jerry's and an online coupon; thought I'd try their Strawberry Shortcake. Restocked skim milk, yogurt (had online coupons for the Oiko's and the Yoplait Custard), peaches, mandarin oranges, diced tomatoes, cereal (Quaker was on sale again and I had another online coupon - went with Cinnamon Life), and two cans of tuna.

My schedule is quite a bit different than it has been the past few weeks. The head bagger went on vacation (along with at least 8 or 9 other people), which means I have earlier and slightly more hours. Tuesday and Wednesday are the off days this time, Tuesday for counseling.

Ran more Laverne & Shirley as I got organized at home. Shirley sets them up in the plant selling business after they lose their jobs at Shotz Brewery. While they are somewhat better plant saleswomen than Fonzie was an encyclopedia salesman, they're still saying "Take My Plants, Please" when they can't make a sale at a big apartment building.

Went out again just as the episode was finishing. Had a slice of bacon-corn quiche, my favorite Deb's Spicy-Sweet Iced Tea, and a carrot cake pop for lunch at Common Grounds Coffee House down the street. Listened to the owner and some locals discuss the wars between the local food trucks at the Final Friday Festival and the Philadelphia vendors.

After a quick peek at Rite Aid to see if they had something I wanted (they didn't), headed over to Westmont for this week's volunteering session at the Haddon Township Library. Even the librarians were complaining about how quiet they were. There wasn't a lot for me to do, especially since they were saving the DVDs for other people. I organized the shelved DVDs and put away audio books, CDs, and new releases. Looked for new Star Wars books, but I guess the new items for The Last Jedi aren't ready for ordering yet.

As soon as I got home and went on the computer, I called my sister Rose. She called last night, but it was dinner time by the time I got in. Thought I'd wait until she was out of work to get back to her. Turns out she was taking the kids over to Dad and Jodie's house for dinner and a swim. Did I want to join them? Sure, why not? I worked on writing and rested for an hour before heading over.

Khai and Mary, one of the neighborhood kids, were swimming when I arrived. Not only was it too late for me to want to swim, it was a bit too chilly. The clouds and the wind had picked up by then, dropping it back into the 70's. I went inside and held tiny Finley Rose while Jodie put my stuffed pepper in a bowl. My new niece is such a little cutie, but I was nervous holding her. I really don't know much about babies. I did what her grandma told me to and rocked her a bit when she got fussy. When she fussed too much, I turned her back over to Jodie and ate my (delicious) dinner.

Sat outside at the pool with Rose, Dana, Jodie, and Emily's mom Sandy while Dana held Finley and Jesse swam with the kids. Rose and Dana were both talking about possible vacations. Dana and Jesse are leaving for a cabin in the Adirondack Mountains tomorrow. Dad and Jodie will be visiting friends down south next month. Rose mentioned wanting to go skiing in the winter with her family again.

When I got home, I finished out the writing I started before I left for Dad's. Hank gets Bodhi to show him and Leia out the back way. They dodge Bobby Fett in the parking lot, then take Hank's fishing boat the Millennium Falcon out for a cruise around the harbor and wetlands near Ord Mantell. Fett manages to catch up with them again, this time in his boat the Slave I. Hank loses him in the wetlands....but now he thinks it really is time for him to go, before Leia or someone else gets hurt because of him.

Finished off the night chatting with Lauren online while watching Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightly), the daughter of a Caribbean governor, finds herself up to her perfectly primped hair in pirates when she's captured by a reckless band of buccaneers. Turns out these rogues are actually cursed ghosts who need to return the treasure they stole to its final resting place...and she has the last piece. Meanwhile, her childhood sweetheart Will (Orlando Bloom) enlists wily (and perpetually drunk) Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) to help rescue her and get Jack his ship the Black Pearl back.

I love pirate tales, and this one is no exception. No wonder Sparrow proved so popular, most of the rest of the series was built around him. He's still the best part of this funny and action-packed adventure.

If you're also a fan of rousing sea tales, this will probably prove to be your mug of rum, too. (Watch out for some of the scarier sequences with the undead pirates and some of the darker action sequences, though. This is definitely for older elementary school pirates on up.)

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