Friday, March 15, 2019

A Warm Day In Late Winter

I couldn't believe how warm it was when I got up this morning! Warm and windy. Half the things on my living area table nearly got blown away when I opened the window across from it, but it was too warm to leave it closed. It must have been in the upper 60's by almost 11.

Watched the second Daniel Tiger set while I ate breakfast and got organized. This is the second set that revolves around Dan's school and classmates, and thankfully, none of the episodes were ones I'd seen before. The kids learn that "Sometimes, It's Good to Go Slow" when Teacher Harriett takes them on a nature hike. Miss Elania wants to rush, but she keeps missing all the wonderful things around her, like a caterpillar inching along and a squirrel climbing a tree.

"Field Day at School" revolves around fall activities, like kicking soccer balls into goals between two pumpkins and tossing hula hoops over pumpkins. Not all the of kids are good at every sport, but Teacher Harriett assures them that the important thing is they did their best.

Daniel becomes the teacher in "Daniel and Margaret Play School." He wants to show his baby sister everything that he usually does at school. Trouble is, Margaret is only about a year old, and her attention tends to wander. Mrs. Tiger encourages her son to figure out how he can play school with Margaret and keep her interest.

The kids are all excited when they have "Firefighters at School." They're surprised when Miss Elania says she wants to be a firefighter. She'd only shown interest in being an astronaut before. Teacher Harriett tells the kids that it's normal to want to be more than one thing. And we learn why Elaina's interested in firefighting when it turns out that the firefighters are volunteers - Doctor Anna and Elania's dad Music Man Stan.

"Daniel Needs Tigey at School" when his parents go on a trip and Grandpere takes care of him and Margaret. His favorite stuffed toy makes him feel better...which is why he's frantic when he loses him in Miss Elania's tub of stuffed animals. (I definitely know how Daniel feels here. Hugging a stuffed animal makes me feel better when I'm upset or sad, too.)

I can also relate to "Daniel Wants to Be Alone." He and the other kids are playing knights and dragons, but they're all getting a little too rowdy for him. Taking time out to draw a castle helps him refresh, recharge his batteries, and gives him a new perspective on his game. (That's part of why I have trouble with work. I need my alone time, too, and I can't always get it at the Acme when I need it.)

The "Class Trip to the Library" doesn't go nearly as well as the kids hoped. X the Owl, O's uncle, is repairing shelves, and it's too noisy and messy for the kids to hang out there. They return to school and create their own library instead, with O as resident librarian.

"Daniel Says I'm Sorry" when he runs into Katarina's cardboard trolley and accidentally rips a wheel when the kids are playing cars. Katarina's angry, until he not only apologizes, but finds a way to fix things. Dan gets a taste of his own medicine when he gets tired of Elania beeping in his ear and running into him and has to get her to find a better way of apologizing than a quick "sorry."

Headed out to run errands as soon as the cartoons were over. First stop for the day was the Oaklyn Library. They were very busy for them, despite the kind-of-cloudy and extremely warm and humid afternoon, with several people reading books, doing research on the computer, or chatting with the librarian. I worked on reorganizing all the adult DVDs, which had gotten out of order while they were relabeling the sci-fi/fantasy and romance sections. (Sci-fi/fantasy now has red labels; romance stays pink.) Took a quick look at the kids' section, which wasn't quite as bad. Renewed Widows and Man from Atlantis; otherwise, like I said yesterday, there's other stuff I want to focus on right now.

Next stop was Arby's for a quick lunch. My first thought was Sonic, but despite the spring-like day, it was too windy to eat outside. Their neighbor Chick Fil'A had a line going around the corner. Arby's was busy as well, but not so much that I didn't get my Fish Deluxe on a King's Hawaiian roll in less than 10 minutes. It was ok, crispy and with lots of tartar sauce. Had it with Curly Fries and Mello Yellow as I watched the traffic on the Black Horse Pike go by.

Went to the Acme after lunch to do my grocery shopping and pick up my schedule. I mostly needed vegetables this week...which proved to be perfect timing. They're having their occasional "Buck a Bag" produce sale. I bought grape tomatoes, a bag of broccoli and cauliflower florets, a bag of spinach, a bag of celery, and my favorite baked rice pea snacks. Decided to have beef Irish stew for St. Patrick's Day; picked up beef cubes, red potatoes, and cabbage. Grabbed pecan bits and dried cranberries to attempt to make my own granola bars next week and lime juice for the donuts I wanted to make for work tomorrow. Restocked cornstarch, skim milk, oranges, pears, yogurt, cake mix, powdered sugar, baking powder, and canned mandarin oranges.

My schedule for next week is, once again, pretty darn good (especially given how dead we've been lately). Mostly early-mid afternoon, only one very early day, same amount of hours. Monday, Tuesday, and next Friday off, Tuesday for counseling. I'll be able to get a lot done, including job research and trying to figure out what I need to do next.

Went straight home after that. Watched an episode of Man from Atlantis while I put everything away. "Crystal Water, Sudden Death" brings Schubert back, this time trying to steal crystals to power a satellite that will wreck havoc on the Earth's communication systems. The crystals are powering the force field that is protecting an underwater city, the home of strange all-white people. They don't believe Mark about Schubert at first, until the fat old rich man attacks them.

I wanted to do a few things on the computer before I started writing, but several sites were down or not working 100 percent right. Ended up just continuing my story instead. Rudy and Charlie aren't doing much better than Leia. Rudy's motorbike breaks down two blocks from the building where Vader attacked. They end up getting a ride on the back of a garbage truck run by trash collectors the Jawas instead.

Broke for a very quick yogurt-and-fruit dinner at quarter after 7. Finished "Crystal Water," then went into Widows while making Key Lime Mini Donuts for the Acme's spring employee luncheon tomorrow. Veronica Rawlings (Viola Davis), the wife of well-known thief Harry Rawlings (Liam Neeson), is shocked to learn that her husband owed millions of dollars to Jamal Manning (Brian Tyree Henry), a mob boss who is looking to move into politics. Harry and his partners died during a robbery that went wrong, but Harry left detailed notes of his next plot. Veronica recruits the widows of his partners, now-single mother Linda Perrelli (Michelle Rodriguez) and abuse victim Alice Gunner (Elizabeth Debicki) to pull off her late spouse's final heist. A fourth woman, Belle (Cynthia Ervio), is recruited to drive after Veronica's chauffeur is killed. While they do pull the heist off, Manning's not so willing to let that money go...and neither is his political rival Jack Mulligan (Colin Farrell), or someone who isn't as dead as the ladies thought...

Proof positive that yes, action movies can be done for adults. The ladies take top honors as the driven women who are determined to make better lives for themselves after the loss of their husbands; Farrell and Robert Duvall are also good as Mulligan and his father, who want to continue their political family dynasty. Violence, language, and adult themes makes this absolutely not for kids, but if you're an adult who loves heist movies or films with strong female leads, you'll want to take a look at this one.

And...after clouds and humidity had built and built all day, it finally rained around 9 PM. Once, very briefly, It hasn't done anything else since then besides be windy, as far as I can tell.

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