Finding a Place of My Very Own

Since my Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Muffins worked out so well the other day, I began the morning with equally tasty Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Pancakes. Put on Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood while I ate. "Daniel Wants to Be Alone" when his friends play a noisy game and bump him too much. He finds it works to just do something on his own and recharge his batteries. "Daniel's Alone Space" is a little section between furniture where he can be by himself at home. He goes there to avoid Margaret trying to get his new Tigey book and his mother noisily working on fixing furniture in his room.

Switched to Mickey Mouse Clubhouse as I did the dishes. "Doctor Daisy, MD" treats her friends to get her pretend doctor sticker. Most of them have fictional aliments that are fairly easy to treat...but who's the big "mystery patient" under that green sheet?

Went online for the next couple of hours after breakfast and looked up apartments. I just am not having much luck. There isn't much out there in winter and with everything going on, and I'm desperately running out of time. Though I no longer saw the apartment in Collingswood I viewed last month listed as available, I called back the realtor anyway to find out what was going on there. Posted at my own feed on Facebook and on a Facebook group for people looking for apartments in South Jersey.

Called Anthony Pezzelle, who owns the apartment buildings a block down the street and said last month that one may be available. It is...now. He also had a hard time evicting a tenant. Like Charlie before I moved out of Manor, he couldn't do much updating to the apartment because they were still there, and he's apparently in the midst of other projects, too. He says to call him back in mid-February and he'll have a more definite answer. At any rate, it won't even be ready until March 31st. 

Broke for lunch at 2 PM. Watched Doc McStuffins while I made a non-alcoholic pina colada smoothie for lunch. Gablooey the goo-filled starfish returns in "Snowy Gablooey." Doc's brother Donnie accidentally leaves him outside in the snow, and his goo freezes. Doc gives him a warm bath and shows how to warm up when you're frostbitten. Sir Kirby's excited to keep Doc's team from scoring a "Gooooal!" in their ice hockey match. He initially doesn't want to tell Doc when he gets hurt for fear of letting the team down, but finally coaches solar hula bobble doll Lelaini as his replacement.

Headed out to the laundromat next. They must have been much busier earlier. Every washer was full, despite there being no one there. I ended up using one of the top-loading washers that take longer. Treated myself to a hot chocolate and toasted coconut donut across the street at Dunkin' Donuts, then came back and managed to get the last dryer. Worked on story notes while my clothes dried. 

Got in around quarter after 4. Made oatmeal-dried cranberry cookies while watching Buzzr. Saw a young woman stay champ and avoid the Whammies long enough to pick up over $10,000 in cash on Press Your Luck. The champ didn't have nearly that much luck on Whew! The eager pre-med student kept decimating all comers on the main board, only to falter when dealing with the cardboard bad guys and the bloopers on the Gauntlet run. The furthest he got on the episode I saw was to the third villain.

Unfortunately, by the time I pulled the cookies out of the oven, Jodie's voice in the den picked up to shrill and unavoidable levels. She's really upset about not being able to sell the house right away and having to pay for heating it. It doesn't help that neither heat nor air flow well in the main house, often leaving it freezing cold when the mother-in-law suite is boiling hot and vice-versa. She's also still ranting about how nothing is her fault, it's never her fault, it's all her terrible, horrible daughters' faults, she did nothing wrong, and she wishes I'd just move in with Rose and let Rose do everything and oh why am I being so mean by not automatically leaving right away?

I had enough. I've had enough of her. I've had enough of Rose. I've had enough of everything. I grabbed my new winter coat and stormed out for a walk to clear my head. I didn't care that it was literally freezing cold. To paraphrase Elsa, the cold never bothered me anyway. I just needed to get away from her drunken rambling. At least it was a nice night for it. It was brisk and frigid, but also clear, with a perfect inky-black sky.

Ended up at the Oaklyn Library. Thank heavens they're open in the late afternoon and early evenings on Mondays! I took out three books from a hat-shop based mystery series I never heard of and talked to the librarian. I'm going crazy. I've had it up to here with Rose and Jodie. I appreciate everything they've done for me...everything except actually helping me find a home. They automatically assumed the other would take the responsibility of helping me, then complained when no one helped me and I couldn't find a place to live. At least Rose and Craig turned me in Anthony Pezzelle's direction. Jodie just said "don't care, not my problem" and did nothing. 

I understand Rose is busy with raising children and finding a job. I understand Jodie has to pay for heating a large house for longer than she planned and wants to get away from the memories and a house that was never truly hers. I wish they understood my point of view. Jodie has a large family, two sons and a daughter-in-law, and tons of friends. Rose has a family of her own and is the only person in the entire family who actually owns her home. I have no one I can turn to. I don't know my co-workers well enough to live with them, and most of them aren't in much better shape than I am. My three best friends don't live in the area and reside with their parents in small houses or apartments.

The librarian finally looked up apartments online herself...and even she admitted there wasn't much out there. Everything is overpriced or in a dicey apartment building. Some of it has to do with living near two major cities and within driving and train distance of at least four others. Some of it has to do with the pandemic and the current housing shortage. And some of it is New Jersey is an expensive state even when everyone is 95 percent well. At least she listened to my complaints. I don't have too many other places I can let everything out.

When I got home, I ate roasted broccoli and cauliflower, sweet potato fries, and a leftover chicken burger while watching Match Game PM. No idea who young comic Tom Dreesen was, but he seemed to play well enough. Brett and Charles had a great time here, especially with a question asking what Q hid in James Bond's shorts. Richard had more trouble with "__ of Fools" on the Head to Head.

Since I missed the 6:30 Match Game episode and there were no marathons on tonight, I switched to a 1974 episode on YouTube while I had ice cream and cleaned up from dinner. Richard and Gene tease Fannie Flagg about her t-shirt with an American flag made of matches and her name over it. Meanwhile, Charles is more interested in teasing Brett about flirting with a young and sweet Anson Williams, and Gene is hoping we don't see how much a tall contestant towers over him. 

Finished the night with the fifth season of Charlie's Angels at The Roku Channel. "Angels Go Truckin'" when an expensive shipment of pharmaceuticals is stolen under the nose of an all-women trucking company. Kelly takes a job as a waitress in a truck stop and Tiffany and Kris take over driving the shipment to find out who the thieves are and how they did it.