Cats and Kids and Festivals

It was showering heavily when I went to bed last night, but by the time I was reading and writing in my journal this morning, only clouds remained. I cheered up the gloomy day with breakfast and more Cat In the Hat Knows a Lot About That. It's a "Wrapper's Delight" when the Cat takes the kids to see how Gina the Giraffe Weevil wraps up her eggs, so they can learn how to wrap a statue for their moms. They learn how Penny the Pelican can "Dive! Swim! Scoop!" so they can do the same and rescue a frog stuck in their wading pool. The Cat takes the kids on a "Paper Chase" to Dr. Twiggles to see how paper is made from tree pulp and how it can be recycled.

"A Polar Adventure" was my favorite from this round. I love bears, including polar bears! Sally, Nick, and the Cat learn more about one of my favorite animals when they venture to Freeze-Your-Knees Snowland to figure out how Polly the Polar Bear stays warm.

Worked on writing for a while. Five of Vader's men appear on motorcycles while they're setting up camp. Harry tries attacking them, but they hear him and catch wind. Leia and Luke go after them. They manage to head them off, but they get separated. Leia jumps off her bike and passes out before she sees the patter of little feet...

Broke at 12:30 for a quick yogurt-and-grapes lunch. Did some more Cat while I ate. The kids want to play circus, but they're having a hard time on their balancing beam board. Zappa the Snow Leopard teaches them how he handles his own "Balancing Act" on frozen mountainsides. Glass-making is a big deal down here in Southern New Jersey, thanks to our sandy soil. Nick and Sally find out from their pirate friend how sand and older glass can be melted down to make new glass pieces in "Marvelous Marbles." The Cat introduces them to Os and Olivia, a pair of ostriches who prove that, while their fast running abilities and being the "Biggest Bird" on the planet are cool, being good parents is what they do best.

Started my errand run around 1:30. I parked my bike at the Acme and walked down to the Wal Mart. I'm not a big fan of the small one in the Audubon Crossings Shopping Center. They're disorganized and messy and never have what I want, and today was no exception. They had the Solo: A Star Wars Story DVD online for $16.75...but while they had the 4K and Blu-Ray discs, they were out of the DVD. Of course. (They did have a nice selection of wrestling figures in their toy section, though, including many of the current stars I saw on that show with Lauren and her parents. I might have to ask her if there's any she doesn't have.)

While Five Below isn't supposed to open until next Friday, the Goodwill opened today. It was a LOT bigger than it looked from the outside! While not quite as large as the stand-alone stores in Cherry Hill and Bellmawr, they were still big enough to have a fair-sized furniture selection, two long shelves of DVDs and CDs, and three very long shelves of books. I'll probably explore it more thoroughly when I have more money, but for now, I'm just excited that it's there.

The Acme was pretty busy when I arrived, with long lines. (Mostly because it looked like they were short on help again.) I had a ton of my own groceries to buy. Took advantage of a 40% off chicken sale to pick up two packs of breasts and legs, along with a small container of shrimp for dinner tomorrow. Since I won't make it to the farm market this week, I bought apples, mushrooms, bananas, a bag of broccoli and cauliflower, and the first fresh cranberries of the season. Found a large container of oatmeal on the clearance shelves that was half-price due to the dent in its side. Restocked yogurt, canned diced tomatoes and tomato sauce, skim milk, cheese, molasses, brown sugar, and condensed milk.

My schedule for next week is pretty par for the course for this time of year. My hours are a little later (except for on Sunday, which works out - the Eagles have another 1 PM game this week) and a little shorter, which will allow me to start cleaning and winterizing the apartment. I work late enough next Saturday that I'll be able to take a quick look at the Farm Market and Collingswood's Book Festival. I wish I had more hours, but that probably won't happen until we get closer to the holidays.

By the time I made it home, the sun was struggling to come out, and it was pushing into the lower 70's. It was too nice to stay inside all day, as I'd originally planned. I decided to ride around and see if I could find Solo: A Star Wars Story at Target.

I couldn't find it ANYWHERE! It wasn't at Rite Aid. (Which, incidentally, is where I found The Force Awakens.) Target was out of every version of it. CVS doesn't carry home media besides magazines and books anymore. (Although I did pick up dish washing liquid at the CVS in Oaklyn.) It never made it to either Acme. I am so disappointed. I'll try Target again on Tuesday, but if it's not there by then, I'll just bite the bullet and hope it's gotten cheaper on Amazon. I didn't think anyone but me would be in a hurry to buy it after it flopped in May.

I was beyond tired and nearly in tears by the time I made it back to Oaklyn. The last Final Friday Festival of the season was in full-swing when I arrived. Their "Final Friday Festivals" mainly consist of music, food trucks, craft booths, and a booth for Studio LuLoo with crafts for kids. (Today, there were kid musical instruments for them to play with and rocks to paint.) The trucks are way too expensive. After spending 20 minutes trying to choose, I ended up buying a can of Coke and a slice of bacon and corn quiche away from the crowds at Common Grounds Coffee House.

Watched the remaining Cat In the Hat episodes after I got home. The group goes on another "fantastic voyage," this time into Thing 1's ears to learn how sound moves, in "Drum Di Drum." Nick and Sally are pretending to be super heroes, but the Cat knows a part of us with some great superpowers - our skin. Dr. Giggles shows the kids how "The Skin I'm In" can be pretty darn super. They head under the sea to learn how to clean up from Rufus the Cleaning Fish and his "Fishy Washy" Station.

Finished the night in the bath. I desperately needed one after my disappointments earlier. I played with the brown and blue rubber duck I won from a crane game at the Holyoke Mall last week and read over a couple of self-help books.