Cinnamon Sweet

Began the morning with oatmeal for breakfast and The Pirates of Dark Water. Niddler is frustrated with too many orders from the humans on the Wraith and too few melons. He's thrilled to be declared "King Niddler" on an island inhabited by non-flying colorful monkeys. What he doesn't know is they expect him to kill the monster that has been terrifying them for decades. Niddler learns just how important his friends are to him when they and one of the female monkeys end up helping him beat the monster and get the treasure he was guarding. 

Went online after the cartoon ended and made an appointment with PNC Bank. I need to talk to them about a loan and what I can reasonably afford in a condo. They told me to wait two years last year, but...I can't do that. I need a home of my own. I can't stay in an attic forever. I tried calling Alyssa again, but I still didn't get her. If I don't hear from her by next week, I'm going to assume she's not interested and will start looking for other ways to get loans.

Went downstairs next to make Cinnamon Strusel Muffins. Krusteaz mixes are on a really good sale at the Acme this week. I thought muffins would be easier to store than a coffee cake or loaf and make a nice lunch or snack. I also wanted to use up ingredients leftover from the baking on St. Patrick's Day and Easter. The last of the buttermilk replaced the water the box called for, and I added the last of the white chocolate chips from the Easter lemon cookies. Oh yuuuummm! They came out perfectly. The buttermilk made them super moist, and the little morsels of white chocolate added a sweet, creamy note. Smelled great baking in the oven, too.

Had a quick lunch while watching Sailor Moon. I felt like something goofy, so I went to the second half of the first season for "Love and Chased: Luna's Worst Day Ever." Usagi's cat Luna is having a rough time when she's twice chased by local alley cats. She's rescued both times by a plump cat named Rhett Butler who is sweet on her. The Sailor Guardians think his little girl owner holds the Rainbow Crystal they're looking for, but Mamoru - and nasty Zoycite - know it's much closer than they think.

Headed out to the Thomas Sharp School with plenty of time to park my bike before my shift began. I found the kids and the other teachers in the hall, with the kids and their backpacks leaning against the wall. They couldn't use the cafeteria because the music class was finishing, and they couldn't use the library because of the book fair. The kids weren't complaining too much. Most of them were happily reading, coloring, or playing with their purchases from the Book Fair.

We had quite a crowd today. There were 24 kids all together, 10 in my group. Honestly, they all could have been a lot worse. Mine were mostly fine in the bathrooms. They did get a little noisy in the cafeteria, but the head teacher headed off any attempts at beating each other up by cutting off their play time early and reading to them instead. I did have to pull one of the boys away from another when he tried to grab his toy cars. The kid was so grateful, he sat next to me until we went outside.

Things went much better once we got out to the playground. For one thing, there were far fewer of them by that point. Most of them went home between 4 and 4:30. By 4:30, we figured there was few enough for them to go on the swings. They were so funny! One little boy pretended he was an airplane. A little girl asked to go higher and higher! I did have to tell one of the older boys not to throw mulch while he swung, but I think he liked it when I grabbed a swing and joined him. We listened to "You've Got a Friend In Me" from Toy Story, "Zoo" from Zootopia 2, and songs from KPop Demon Hunters before the battery on the speaker finally died. By the time I left at 5:15, they took the remaining two little boys inside to play with the remaining six older kids.

When I got home, I took out the trash, grabbed leftovers for dinner, and finished cleaning up the baking mess. Watched Match Game '91 while I ate. Most of the episodes finished the week with three queens of supreme sarcasm, Marcia Wallace, Pam Stone, and Vicki Lawrence. Deadpan Stone with her dry Southern wit is honestly one of my favorite panelists who is exclusive to Match Game '90. Brad Garrett and Sally Struthers returned to join Charles Nelson Reilly in the last episode.

Switched to The Persuaders! after dinner. Brett's saying "That's Me Over There" when a friend of his is murdered after gathering evidence on a crooked businessman, who then has Brett himself kidnapped. Danny has to play his friend and partner at a big auction in order to get evidence from a pretty female informant (Suzan Farmer).

Finished the night with some Good Eats. Not only was "Top Banana" the last episode from the DVDs I found on vacation last fall I hadn't watched, but I did just have a banana with lunch. Alton shows how sweet, nutrition-packed bananas can replace eggs in ice cream, make terrific Bananas Foster, and how the plaintain differs from your typical Cavendish banana. It kicks off with a hilarious spoof of Raiders of the Lost Ark that makes use of the fact that someone apparently fibbed and told Alton he had a banana plantation, when it was really just a lot of banana trees in his backyard.