Friday, August 24, 2018

Summertime, and the Livin' Is Easy

Started off another beautiful day with breakfast and a couple of classic Woody Woodpecker shorts. He's a "Buccaneer Woodpecker" who tries to capture pirate Buzz Buzzard in order to get a bag of gold. "Wrestling Wrecks" has him taking part in a pro wrestling championship when his favorite wrestler is knocked around by a pugnacious challenger. Woody and Buzz are "Belle Boys," bell hops who compete for the favors (and tips) of gorgeous hotel customer Ga Ga Gazoo. "Hypnotic Hick" lets Woody mess with Buzz's mind when he hypnotizes him into coming along to be served a summons, and they both end up nearly falling off a skyscraper in the midst of construction.

Switched to music while doing a few chores around the house. I mainly needed to take photos of the AG bed and my red prom dress to eventually sell. I'm hoping to put out the dress on Craigslist later in the fall, when the high school and college formal season starts, and am currently casting around to neighbors with little girls who might be willing to buy the AG items.

Charlie had arrived to work on the porch by 9. I headed out around 11 to avoid the noise and his constant cursing. First stop on the list was the Oaklyn Library. They were far less busy than the Haddon Township Library was yesterday. The head librarian and I were the only ones there the entire time. I organized DVDs, looked the kids' section over, and went on my way.

I pulled in at Avenue to take a peek around their clearance sections. I've lost 25 pounds since at least June, and it's starting to show in my clothes. All of my shorts but one jean pair are way too big for me! Alas, I didn't see anything at Avenue I liked, and the urban-based clothing at Rainbow was too ruffly and bold for my taste. (I'm not really big on ripped jeans and huge prints, and big ruffles are a bit too much for my bust.)

Hit Sonic next for lunch. It was too nice to eat inside! I ordered a grilled chicken sandwich with tater tots and a cherry slush. The sandwich was ok, a little on the messy side. The slush was cold as heck! Gave me major brain freeze, and didn't really taste all that much like cherry. From now on, I stick to cherry limeades at Sonic. Given the breezy, warmer day, I wasn't surprised to see a group and another guy eating on the patio as well.

Went to the Acme after I ate to pick up groceries. Found a crusted tilapia filet at a good price in with the seafood. Grabbed deodorant (mine just ran out) and more of those colored folders while they're still on the 4 for a dollar sale. Restocked skim milk, honey, yogurt, breakfast bars, whole wheat flour, chocolate chips, butter, canned pineapple, mandarin oranges, and canned chicken.

My schedule for next week is pretty much the same as this week, with one more hour and Tuesday off for counseling instead of Friday. Fine by me. I'm usually at the Acme on Fridays anyway to do my shopping. Things should start picking up a little once we're closer to Labor Day weekend, the kids going back to school, and the beginning of the month.

Headed straight home to put my groceries away. Did a few more Woody shorts while I got organized. "Hot Noon (or 12 O'Clock for Sure)" has fun with High Noon, which had been released the year before. Newly anointed sheriff Woody is encouraged to face down gunslinger Buzz Buzzard and his brothers by a lovely senorita. Woody's "Socko In Morocco" when he has to rescue a desert princess from the Sheik (Buzz) who wants her for his harem. An "Under the Counter Spy" accidentally leaves behind a liquid that Woody mistakes for his cure-all tonic. It's really a strength formula, and the spy will do anything to get it back. Woody goes into "A Fine Feathered Frenzy" when the lady who flirted with him on the phone turned out to be a huge older bird who wants nothing more than to drag him kicking and screaming to the alter.

As soon as I finished, I used three of the folders to re-organize another accordion folder. The one that holds all the paper paraphernalia from various obsessions - the Monkees, the Bowery Boys, Perfect Strangers, Star Wars - was cleared out. I'm going to leave the other two accordion folders alone. They mainly hold stories and essays leftover from high school and college. There's too much in those for regular folders.

Worked on writing for a while. Leia calls Luke after reading his front-page story in The Daily Star. He warns her against going to Yasmin Hutt's home in the Hollywood Hills, saying that this is a job for the police. When she still insists on going, he says he'll join her later, as soon as he can get away from the office. She adds that she has Artie with her and is perfectly capable of taking care of herself.

Broke around 5 to head to Dad and Jodie's for a swim. Khai was already there when I arrived. His mother and baby sister joined in about twenty minutes later. I laughed as Khai squeezed a shark that squirted water at his mother, and she retaliated by tossing him behind her. Finley was first determined to eat a smaller rubber shark, then jump face-first and join the rest of us. (Her mother had to help her with that one.)

After a while, Khai started to get cranky and disobey his mother, who really didn't want him to be squirting his sister. He was sent out of the pool twice for not listening before we all decided it was getting late and got out with him. He'd been out with his grandparents at an Amish market and farm for most of the day and was probably tired. He had spaghetti with olive oil while his sister ate baby food from a sippy container. Jodie gave me bratwurst and an apple cider donut from the Amish market, along with hot dog rolls to take home.

I sauteed gray squash with garden-fresh tomato and green beans and boiled an ear of corn to go with my bratwurst for dinner. Watched Captain Ron while I ate, and later after my shower. Chicago ad exec Martin Harvey (Martin Short) inherits a yacht and sees this as the perfect opportunity to plan the adventure of a lifetime in the Caribbean with his wife Katherine (Mary Kay Place) and children. Not only does the boat turn out to be a dilapidated wreck, but it's driven by Captain Ron (Kurt Russell), the most laid-back, oblivious skipper ever. He ogles Katherine openly, keeps getting lost, and even gets them mixed up with freedom fighters at one point. Martin's about ready to toss him overboard, until they go up against the infamous Pirates of the Caribbean and both have to be heroes.

Another old family favorite from the early 90's. Short and Russell play off each other nicely as the uptight dad who wants to show his family a good time and the oddball sailor who has no idea how much havoc he's raising in his boss' life. This is fun if you're a fan of either leading man or Vacation-style comedies.

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