A Misty Moisty Afternoon

Began a gloomy morning with breakfast and Charlie and Lola. Lola finds a stuffed bunny just outside of her school. She says "I Would Really Like to Keep It," but Charlie insists on putting up posters and reminds her of how she'd feel if someone kept one of her toys. It's still really hard for her to let go, especially when the owner is found...

It was misting lightly outside when Jessa picked me up around 11 AM. We ended up at Barrington Antique Center first. Spent an hour searching through the jumble of everything from vintage children's books to relatively recent DVDs, from old colored glassware to modern Barbie dolls. I saw at least two boxes with vintage metal New Year's noisemakers. Jessa bought a clapper-style one with two squares taping against a paddle. I found a darling little red and green plaid teddy bear. I think he's supposed to be an ornament, but I'll put him with the collectible bears during the holidays instead.

Jessa ignored the mist that continued to fall and drove us to a similar store in Woodbury. This one was in a large old shopping center. It was only one story and not quite as big, but there was still a lot to see. At least this time, unlike when she took Lauren and me there in May, we had more than 15 minutes to take everything. Jessa didn't buy anything, but I found a vintage stuffed Yogi Bear for only $4. (The plaid bear was $4 too.) 

We had lunch at the Deptford Mall Red Robin. Thankfully, unlike when I went there for lunch during my Christmas week off last year, it only took us 10 minutes to be seated. Jessa had an iced tea and a burger with fries. I had a very sweet Caramel Apple Lemonade (which tasted more of caramel and lemonade than of apples), the teriyaki chicken sandwich, and fries. We shared a smaller tower of onion rings. The sandwich wasn't bad, but despite Red Robin claiming they changed the recipe, it's still very messy, and I still ended up eating a lot of it on the plate. 

Since it's next door to Red Robin, we checked out Boscov's next. The problem is, I'm mainly looking for work pants. Every pair of work pants I've bought from a department store hasn't even lasted a year, and I really don't need shirts of any type right now. I ended up with a pair of cotton boot socks on sale. The socks I have keep slipping down in my Bearclaws and end up waddled around my toes, which is uncomfortable and annoying.

Jessa and I had to split up around 3. Seems she forgot to tell me that she had to take a nap before work. We exchanged gifts at her car. She gave me a cute pair of slipper socks and a mug with hot cocoa mix. I also gave her a pair of slipper socks, but much larger and thicker ones. 

Next up after Jessa left was Round 1 Arcade on the other side of the mall. I spent the next 40 minutes or so running from Nerf Arcade to ring toss to Bust a Move to Hot Wheels Slot Cars. The place was far busier than usual for when I'm there. Some games, like Mario Kart and the skee ball machines, were too busy for me to get to. I still managed to amass over 3,000 points. Got a unique blue denim teddy bear with a blue and white striped scarf around its neck and a zipper in back. 

Had no luck in the rest of the mall. Didn't see any records that interested me at FYE, and the DVDs are down to one random rack hidden way in the back. A vintage clothes store mainly sold old pop culture T-shirts and jeans that cost the same as new ones. Miniso and BoxLunch had cute stuff, but nothing I absolutely needed. Couldn't find any pants that fit at The Loft. 

It was past 4:30 when I called Uber for a ride home. Despite the ongoing rain and gloom and it being rush hour, it took less than a minute for the driver to arrive. There was a little traffic on the highway and in West Collingswood, but he still got me home within 20 minutes.

Put on Tom and Jerry: Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory when I got home. I went further into this really strange attempt to cross cat and mouse antics with Roald Dahl's whimsical story of a strange candy manufacturer at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

Animation Celebration Extra - Tom and Jerry: Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

Worked a little bit on writing after that. Joyce is worried that they might meet something a lot worse in the woods than a cowardly lion. Richard assures her that he'll take care of it, but Charles is more worried that they'll run into something the Warlock of the West sent.

Broke for dinner and Match Game Syndicated at 7 PM. The episode began with a comedy panel show crossover as Hollywood Squares host Peter Marshall briefly takes over hosting while Gene sits in his seat. The two joked about how much they looked alike, with Brett tossing in a few quips about their ages. (Personally, I don't see it.) 

Finished the night after a shower with The Love Boat on Paramount Plus. There were many changes afoot in the 8th season opener. The special Alaska cruise is supposed to be for women who are hoping to win a date with Engelbert Humperdink (himself). Julie got married suddenly and is replaced by rude and grouchy Bernice (Diane Ladd) as "The Crew's Cruise Director," but her recently-divorced sister Judy (Pat Klous) proves to be better at the job. 

Harry (Bert Convy) and Ralph (Arte Johnson) say "What a Drag" when they stuff themselves into dresses in order to get onboard. Harry is hoping to follow his wife, cruise organizer Jane (Patty Duke), and tell her how inadequate he feels around her. Her flirting with Captain Stebing to make him jealous doesn't improve his mood. Meanwhile, Gopher and new ship's photographer Ace (Ted McGinty)  pursue two gorgeous passengers (Lydia Cornell and Rebecca Holden), while Doc tries get over "Doc's Slump" and reconcile with another (Michelle Phillips).