Undercover Angels

My eyes flew open as my cell phone went off across the room. It was Rose, who was helping Jodie load boxes and bins into the garage. She reminded me I need to start calling apartment buildings as soon as Lauren leaves. There's no guarantee Jodie will be able to convince the new owner to keep me on. I never meant to stay here for longer than two to five years anyway, even if Dad lived. This was intended to be a stopgap measure to get me out of Manor. 

I also understand why Jodie can't keep the house. She's explained it a hundred times. I'm guessing some of the neighbors gave her a hard time about selling. I know it's too big and expensive for two people to keep up with. It wasn't meant for two people. It was meant for large families, like most of the others in this neighborhood.

Cheered myself up with reading and writing in my journal for an hour before joining Lauren for Body Language. This time, Jeff Cohen got the smart girl who got the last-minute tie-breaking puzzle. They just missed the bonus round by one word, though. 

We headed out shortly after that. Called for Uber again, since it worked out well going to Cherry Hill last week. This time, the lady drove a blue car and played this really neat gospel music with a tropical calypso beat. We enjoyed her songs all the way to the Market Place.

She let us off at Land's End. We both made good finds here. I finally picked up two long-sleeved t-shirts in turquoise and burgundy, with the turquoise one on sale. She got shirts for work.

Since we know how busy Chick Fil' A gets and there's apparently no branches near Lauren, we strolled down there next. They're still outdoor seating only. People line up at the counter, and they either take your order there, or a manager takes it with an iPad. Maybe it was just as well. The weather was too nice to eat inside, anyway. We both had frozen lemonades and waffle fries. She had a Spicy Chicken Cutlet; I settled for a simple Grilled Chicken. We enjoyed the sunny day and cool winds at the heavy black metal tables on their side patio.

We were in and out of stores for the next couple of hours. Saw nothing we needed in the Christmas Tree Shoppe or TJ Maxx. I picked up Voltron: The Complete Series from Best Buy and a card to say "hi" to Mom from Hallmark. She bought a few more work shirts and clothes for the pool that would dry fast from Nordstrom Rack. I might see if I can check out Barnes and Noble further later in the fall. Talbots and J.Jill were way too expensive for our budgets. 

Caught the bus in front of Hallmark on Route 70; it was only a few minutes late, not bad for the start of rush hour. No problems on the road here, either, no traffic anywhere. We pulled up at Mulligan's Bar on the White Horse Pike around 4; stopped at WaWa on the way home for a Pepsi Cherry Zero and a Double Mocha cappuccino drink. 

The moment we got home, we changed into bathing suits and outfits and hit the pool. It was chillier than yesterday, but not so much that we couldn't slide in and relax. I have to admit, the pool's been a godsend on this trip. Like I said to Lauren, it's infinitely better to relax in the pool than it was sitting in the Manor Avenue apartment listening to Charlie yell at the dogs. 

After the chilly wind finally blew us inside, we changed into dry clothes. I made my Italian Stove-Top Casserole while we watched Match Game '74. The first one had jokes about what Martians from a deli would invade in as little Jackie Joseph showed off her flowered outfit and headpiece. Ever-laughing Kaye Stevens, Bert Convy of Tattletales, and Cuban blonde Louisa Moritz joined in for the second.

Dinner was ready by the time of Match Game PM. Bernie Koppel, Betty White, and Lee Merriweather join in for the last nighttime episode with the original set. Despite his grumpy mood, Richard Dawson still helped the contestant with "__ Sitter" on the Head-to-Head.

Sale of the Century started off a bit closer than it had been, but a lady pool shark pulled ahead early-on. Her reluctance to purchase Instant Bargains paid off when she blew everyone away at the Speed Round. It netted her and her husband a gift certificate for a leather wardrobe on the Match the Prizes board.

Finished off the night online with hour dramas, beginning with The Love Boat. Gopher and a sci-fi-loving passenger (Tom Smothers) are convinced a seemingly quiet librarian (Helen Reddy) is an "Out of This World" alien, but Issac knows better. A model (Pamela Sue Anderson) who wants peace and quiet learns a lesson from a young man (Barry Van Dyke) when her claims that she's married "Boomerangs" back...and it turns out neither of them are what they claim. "The Captain's Triangle" has him trying to convince the bored wife (Sue Anne Langdon) of a retired captain friend of his (Monty Markham) to stay together, even when she throws herself at him. 

Charlie's Angels also encounter supposed extraterrestrials in the second season episode "Unidentified Flying Angels." A young woman turns up at their headquarters claiming her aunt went missing after attending a meeting where she saw a real UFO. Sabrina passes herself off as a reporter from New York, Bosley as a rich husband and Kris as his ditzy trophy wife, and Kelly as an alien to get to the bottom of this sci-fi mystery.