An Easter Under an Umbrella
It didn't start that way. When I awoke around 9, it was just cloudy. I dozed off for an hour...and when I finally shuffled out of bed for good, it was still merely cloudy and windy. I ran Brunch With the Beatles for a while (The White Album was in the spotlight today) before switching to Easter programming. I found a can of apricot slices in the pantry leftover from last fall (when I needed cheap sources of fruit and vegetables) and made Apricot Whole-Wheat Pancakes for my Easter breakfast.
I'm not terribly religious, so I mainly stuck to specials and a film on the secular side of Easter. The Easter Bunny Is Coming to Town is my favorite of the three Rankin-Bass Easter specials. While the music is no great shakes, the premise is interesting, the characters are fun (love the Hendrews Sisters), and it's the only Rankin-Bass spring special that is completely devoted to Easter, with no reference to other holidays. It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown is also my favorite Peanuts special, mainly due to the hilarious running gag with Peppermint Patty, Marcie, and their attempts to learn how to cook eggs, and Charles Schultz' cracks at holiday commercialism that are even more pointed than in the Christmas shows.
I called Mom during the cartoons. She was just about to hit the shower. She needed it; she'd spent the week spring cleaning while my stepfather was at work (he's a commercial fisherman). She was going to have a much quieter Easter than in previous years. It was just going to be her, Anny, and Skylar for dinner and an egg hunt. They normally go to the Wildwood Boardwalk for their opening weekend, but the weather didn't look like it was going to be conductive to strolls by the beach.
Switched to Easter Parade as I worked on my first doll and stuffed animal photo story since the fall. Easter Parade is one of the most famous of the Freed Unit 40s and 50s MGM musicals. Fred Astaire is a vaudeville dancer in 1912 whose partner (Ann Miller) leaves him to star in a show on her own. Depressed, he tells his best friend (Peter Lawford) that he could turn any girl into as good of a dancer as Miller. He finally chooses a singer in a bar show (Judy Garland). At first, he tries to turn her into an elegant ballroom showgirl, before finally understanding that she's really a down-to-Earth comedienne All four couples eventually wind up on Broadway and finally settle their differences in time for New York's famous tradition spelled out in the title song.
I've always liked this one. As with the composer biographies, a slight story is wrapped around some fabulous numbers, including Astaire and Miller's "It Only Happens When I Dance With You" and Miller's awesome "Shakin' the Blues Away." Garland gets a fun medley of songwriter Irving Berlin's hits from that era with Astaire, and later got Astaire into hobo costumes long enough for the hilarious "A Couple of Swells." While Peter Lawford was a reluctant musical performer at best, he does get my favorite of the numbers written entirely for the film, the sweet "A Fella With an Umbrella." Recommended for fans of the stars or MGM musicals, or for people looking for non-religious Easter programming.
Peter Lawford wasn't the only one who needed an umbrella. By 3:30, the clouds had burst, and it was pouring. Despite the weather, I walked to Dad's for the party. I should have called for a ride. I was only wearing my thin turquoise spring dress and brown open-toed flats (which got completely soaked). I didn't think anyone would have the time to do it.
The party wound up being pretty big. Everyone brought something to eat. In addition to my cupcakes, Dad and Jodie provided ham, turkey breast, macaroni salad, cole slaw, macaroni and cheese, Jodie's famous asparagus wrapped with bacon, rolls, and tartlets and an egg-shaped cake from Desserts By Design in Audubon. Mark, Vanessa, and Brittany brought mashed potatoes. Jodie's relatives brought egg salad. Dad made two kinds of deviled eggs - one plain, one topped with applewood bacon. The parents of Rose's boyfriend Craig brought bruschetta.
Between meals, I watched my two-year-old nephew Khai hunt for eggs, then chase after the bubbles I gave him. He was so cute. I also got to see my first Doctor Who episode - Jodie's sons Jesse and TJ were watching what I believe to be one of the relatively recent ones with David Tennant as the famous British time-traveler on Netflix. (The Oaklyn Library, of all places, has what I believe to be one of the Tennant seasons on DVD. I really need to check that out, if only because several good friends of mine are fans of the show.)
The boys, TJ's friend Riff, and Jesse's girlfriend Dana switched to Ferngully: The Last Rain Forest after they finished with Doctor Who. Crysta is a young fairy who lives happily in a rain forest, learning magic from a wise older fairy and chasing her guy friend Pips. She gets the shock of her life when she first meets a crazy fruit bat who has been experimented on by humans...then sees a human damaging a tree. She accidentally shrinks the human, Zak, down to her size. Though she and Zak fall for each other, their relationship is doomed. Zak is not only part of a project that will destroy the rain forest, he inadvertently unleashed a toxic substance that takes over the project and nearly poisons the forest. Only Crysta has the power to stop him...
Despite some incredibly lush visuals (and being well-remembered by kids who grew up in this era like Dana and Jesse), this is very, very much a movie of its time. The environmental message is delivered with all the subtlety of a two-ton brick, and some of the freakier images are just plain disturbing. It doesn't help that Robin Williams in Genie-random-voice mode is the bat who has been screwed with by humans and hates them with a passion, and Tim Curry is the villainous smog whose main song was so sexually charged, it had to be heavily trimmed before release. Not for younger kids; older kids who enjoy action and can handle the moralizing and young adults with fond memories are the main audience for this nowadays.
Once again, I got bored long before I finally made it home. There just weren't a lot of people around to talk to. I finally hitched a ride home with Rose and her boys, by which time the rain was down to a fine mist.
Oh, and here's the photo story I worked on this afternoon. My dolls and several stuffed animals are disappointed that the Easter Bunny seems to have left no eggs and go on a quest through the living room to find them.
The Riverside Rest Easter Egg Hunt
At any rate, I hope everyone had a wonderful (and much drier) Easter and Passover!
Life is a lazy river - no matter where you are. Movies, musicals, mysteries, pop culture, and lots of other great stuff.
Showing posts with label Photobucket. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Photobucket. Show all posts
Sunday, March 31, 2013
Saturday, October 20, 2012
Saturday Afternoon at the Riverside Rest
No rain this time! Started off a gorgeous, breezy, gold-and-blue fall Saturday with the American Top 40. 1986 brought pop, hard rock, soul, and singing TV stars into the limelight. Hits in late October of that year included "True Colors" by Cyndi Lauper, "Two of Hearts" by Stacey Q (which I fondly remember Mom using for many an aerobics class during my childhood), "Typical Male," by Tina Turner, "A Matter of Trust," by Billy Joel, "All Cried Out," by Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam, "Heartbeat" by Don Johnson (yes, that Don Johnson), and "Sweet Love" by Anita Baker.
Women seemed to dominate the charts that week, and one of the biggest names of the mid-80s was Michael Jackson's little sister who had been a child star in her own right since the late 70s. Janet Jackson had one of her biggest #1 songs with "When I Think of You."
I had such a nice time last week doing a photo story with my American Girl and Disney dolls last Saturday, I repeated it. This time, Samantha is showing people around while trying to keep some Riverside Rest residents from getting into trouble. Check it out here:
Saturday Afternoon at the Riverside Rest
I ran cartoons all morning as I worked on my photos. When I finished, I had leftovers for lunch and spent an hour reading Maiden Voyage. I bought that about a month ago from the Oaklyn Library Book Sale, but I've had other things I wanted to read first.
Spent the next few hours running animated films. This week, I went with three rare fantasies from the 80s and early 90s. Happily Ever After was the last production of He-Man creators Filmation. In this sequel to Snow White, the princess in question seeks the missing Prince with the help of the Dwarfelles - seven goofy female dwarves who posses elemental powers. Moon Madness is a dubbed version of a French retelling of the tale of Baron Munchhausen and his visit with the moon-dwelling Selenites. The Care Bears Movie tends to get written-off as a sugar fest, but it does have its scary moments as the Bears battle to save an unhappy orphan who is trying to use an evil spell book to force people to like him.
I made my first pie in years while the cartoons were running. Almost every pie I've ever made has ended up running over the pan and making a mess. Recently, I've seen one-crust fruit pies made by folding over the crust, instead of covering it with a second crust. I used a variation on a recipe in my low-sugar baking book to make CranApple Fold Over Pie. I added spices and cornstarch to a cup of fruit concentrate, then tossed a cup of cranberries and two big sliced apples and put them in a whole-wheat pie crust, which I folded all around the pie instead of topping with a second crust.
Since I had the pie baking, I tossed some Merlin's Magic Chicken (chicken pieces coated with flour, salt, and paprika and baked in the oven at a high temperature) and roasted Brussels sprouts in the oven and continued the 80s theme with Xanadu. This infamous 1980 musical has Olivia Newton-John as a muse who comes to earth to inspire a young artist (Michael Beck) and an older man who has given up his musical career (Gene Kelly) to open a roller disco in the abandoned Pan Pacific Auditorium in LA. Infamous for having a great soundtrack and a freakin' strange script. (So strange, it was apparently made up as they went along, which explains a lot.) I love it, but it's not for those who aren't a fan of the music and style from the late disco era, Newton-John, Kelly, or campy musicals in general.
Oh, and the pie came out great. I baked it in a pie pan despite the wrapping to avoid the mess. It's perfect, tasty and crusty and just sweet enough.
No rain this time! Started off a gorgeous, breezy, gold-and-blue fall Saturday with the American Top 40. 1986 brought pop, hard rock, soul, and singing TV stars into the limelight. Hits in late October of that year included "True Colors" by Cyndi Lauper, "Two of Hearts" by Stacey Q (which I fondly remember Mom using for many an aerobics class during my childhood), "Typical Male," by Tina Turner, "A Matter of Trust," by Billy Joel, "All Cried Out," by Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam, "Heartbeat" by Don Johnson (yes, that Don Johnson), and "Sweet Love" by Anita Baker.
Women seemed to dominate the charts that week, and one of the biggest names of the mid-80s was Michael Jackson's little sister who had been a child star in her own right since the late 70s. Janet Jackson had one of her biggest #1 songs with "When I Think of You."
I had such a nice time last week doing a photo story with my American Girl and Disney dolls last Saturday, I repeated it. This time, Samantha is showing people around while trying to keep some Riverside Rest residents from getting into trouble. Check it out here:
Saturday Afternoon at the Riverside Rest
I ran cartoons all morning as I worked on my photos. When I finished, I had leftovers for lunch and spent an hour reading Maiden Voyage. I bought that about a month ago from the Oaklyn Library Book Sale, but I've had other things I wanted to read first.
Spent the next few hours running animated films. This week, I went with three rare fantasies from the 80s and early 90s. Happily Ever After was the last production of He-Man creators Filmation. In this sequel to Snow White, the princess in question seeks the missing Prince with the help of the Dwarfelles - seven goofy female dwarves who posses elemental powers. Moon Madness is a dubbed version of a French retelling of the tale of Baron Munchhausen and his visit with the moon-dwelling Selenites. The Care Bears Movie tends to get written-off as a sugar fest, but it does have its scary moments as the Bears battle to save an unhappy orphan who is trying to use an evil spell book to force people to like him.
I made my first pie in years while the cartoons were running. Almost every pie I've ever made has ended up running over the pan and making a mess. Recently, I've seen one-crust fruit pies made by folding over the crust, instead of covering it with a second crust. I used a variation on a recipe in my low-sugar baking book to make CranApple Fold Over Pie. I added spices and cornstarch to a cup of fruit concentrate, then tossed a cup of cranberries and two big sliced apples and put them in a whole-wheat pie crust, which I folded all around the pie instead of topping with a second crust.
Since I had the pie baking, I tossed some Merlin's Magic Chicken (chicken pieces coated with flour, salt, and paprika and baked in the oven at a high temperature) and roasted Brussels sprouts in the oven and continued the 80s theme with Xanadu. This infamous 1980 musical has Olivia Newton-John as a muse who comes to earth to inspire a young artist (Michael Beck) and an older man who has given up his musical career (Gene Kelly) to open a roller disco in the abandoned Pan Pacific Auditorium in LA. Infamous for having a great soundtrack and a freakin' strange script. (So strange, it was apparently made up as they went along, which explains a lot.) I love it, but it's not for those who aren't a fan of the music and style from the late disco era, Newton-John, Kelly, or campy musicals in general.
Oh, and the pie came out great. I baked it in a pie pan despite the wrapping to avoid the mess. It's perfect, tasty and crusty and just sweet enough.
Saturday, October 13, 2012
Mad Monsters, Bizarre Cats, and Ducks South of the Border
Started off a sunny, chilly, blustery fall morning with the American Top 40. We went ahead into 1981 as country, New Wave, pop, and hard rock dominated the airwaves. Hits from mid-October of that year include "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" by Stevie Nicks with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, "I've Done Everything For You" by Rick Springfield, "Urgent" by Foreigner, "The Night Owls" by the Little River Band, "It's Hard To Say" by Dan Fogleburg, "Private Eyes" by Hall & Oates, and "Endless Love," by Diana Ross & Lionel Richie.
"Endless Love" had apparently been in the top spot for the past nine weeks. It took one of my favorite movie songs of the 80s to finally knock that slightly syrupy ballad to #2 - "The Best That You Can Do" by Christopher Cross, from the original Dudley Moore version of Arthur.
Comcast called an hour or so after the American Top 40 ended. They said to fiddle with the modem and see if I could get it going; if I couldn't, they'd send someone around on Monday. I didn't until later in the day...and am embarrassed to discover I didn't have the phone jack plugged in the right place. It goes in the Comcast modem, not the house phone jack! (Just as well. I only have one phone jack in the entire apartment.) I'll call them tomorrow and tell them to cancel.
After that, I spent the morning working on new photos of my American Girl and Disney Animator's Collection dolls to replace the ones I accidentally erased a few days ago, plus some more. I remembered I have Molly's Scenes and Settings in the back room and made use of them. For a few years in the late 90s, American Girl made huge books of heavy cardboard settings as backdrops for a child's play. For instance, Molly's has her family's kitchen, her bedroom, her classroom, a drug store, and her summer camp. The realistic-looking classroom made a great backdrop for dolls and stuffed animals to be home-schooled.
Spent the rest of the day baking Sugar n' Spice Bar Cookies and watching four rather surreal, unusual animated films. Donald Duck goes on a wild trip through Latin America in Saludos Amigos and the even stranger Three Caballeros. A typical nerd (Alan Swift) finds himself caught in the middle of a feud between moviedom's monsters and the curvaceous assistant (Gale Bennett) of Dr. Frankenstein (Boris Karloff) in the Rankin Bass matinee feature Mad Monster Party. And Felix the Cat stumbles into a bizarre kingdom in another dimension ruled by a Transformer-style tyrant who makes the Monster Party cast look normal by comparison in the hard-to-find Felix the Cat: The Movie.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
"Winter at the Riverside Rest" Posted
Photobucket wouldn't cooperate...but I did finally manage to get the whole American Girl doll photo story up. Actually, it's two stories put together; the first one ended when my camera ran out of batteries! Enjoy! :)
Winter at the Riverside Rest
Photobucket wouldn't cooperate...but I did finally manage to get the whole American Girl doll photo story up. Actually, it's two stories put together; the first one ended when my camera ran out of batteries! Enjoy! :)
Winter at the Riverside Rest
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Winter at the Riverside Rest and Other Stories
Started off the day at my place, with a spinach and cheese omelet and grapefruit for breakfast. After I finished eating, I worked on crocheting a scarf for Samantha while watching another Bowery Boys movie, Lucky Losers. Sach and Slip are working for a prestigious Wall Street broker when the man suddenly kills himself. When Slip finds dice in his desk, he might have the answer as to why. With the help of a street vendor who sells a book on gambling, TV reporter Gabe Moreno, and ever-nervous soda shop owner Louie Dumbrowski, they set out to infiltrate an illegitimate casino and ferret out the man responsible for allowing the casino to stay in business!
After The Bowery Boys ended, I decided to go for a walk and run some errands around Oaklyn. My first stop was the Oaklyn Library, since I hadn't been able to get in on Wednesday. The only person there was some college student who kept badgering the librarian about getting newer releases and more DVDs. I organized the DVDs; moved some adult DVDs that had somehow wound up in the kids' section to the other side. Organized the young adult series shelf (the Nancy Drew and Goosebumps series were especially disorganized today) and took a quick look at the kids' picture books.
After I headed out, I went to the bank really quick to use their ATM machine, then to CVS. I forgot batteries, nuts, and sugar at work, and they have better prices on dried fruits anyway. (And the sugar and dried fruit turned out to be on sale as well.) Went across the street for a walk in Newton River Park, but it turned out to be a short slog. Their paths aren't shoveled, and it was past 2:30 by that point and I wanted lunch.
Headed back to Oaklyn to try a pizza place around the corner from me, Philly's Phatties. It's next-door to the dance studio and a few doors down from Leo's Yum-Yums and Doria's Deli. It's always been there; I just never tried it before. I had a small panzerotti - a smaller pocket pizza pie. I had been craving strombolis, but I thought this would be smaller and less to eat. I was right. It was smaller, half the size of a full-sized stromboli, though still pretty large. I had it with a 12-ounce can of Diet Pepsi and some of the dried apricots I bought. I ate, listened to the teen boys behind the counter talk, and watched what I assume to be one of the 800 versions of Law & Order on USA.
When I got back to Manor, I quickly went to see if anyone was home at Uncle Ken's...but I saw a mostly-empty driveway. I decided I'd just have to make my own fun.
I went upstairs to the apartment, quickly put away the things I bought at CVS, and grabbed my modern American Girl doll Jessa. Jess is the only one of my dolls who has a winter coat, a white fur coat I believe came from the Springfield Collection. Her sneakers are also far more appropriate for the snow than Felicity's buckle shoes or the Mary Janes on Sam and Molly. I wrapped Jess in her coat and the scarf I made last spring, grabbed my (now re-charged) camera, climbed back into my boots and coat and scarf, and headed back out.
I walked around the park again, taking shots of Jessa doing snow things - standing against the piles of snow the plows left in front of the park to show how big they are compared to her, throwing tiny snowballs, "rolling" down a hill like I did yesterday, looking out onto the frozen whiteness of Newton River, posing by the snowman I found and the snow-bear I made on the porch the other day. I even posed her taking off her coat and with a cup of hot chocolate when we got in.
While Jessa and I warmed up, we watched the first two McBride movies together, the second while I made tilapia and roasted broccoli and cauliflower for dinner. McBride is actually a series of movies the Hallmark Channel made between 2005 and 2008. Linda sent me these DVDs a few weeks before Christmas, but I put them on the small green shelf with the Monkees and Bowery Boys/East Side Kids DVDs and completely forgot about them until last week. (Sorry, Linda!)
Murder After Midnight introduces "Mac" McBride (John Larroquette), a LA cop-turned-lawyer who specializes in taking on cases that others consider lost causes. Phil Newberry is the technology-savvy young lawyer who quits the public defender's office to work for McBride, who is his hero. Roberta Hansen is a police detective and Mac's on-again, off-again girlfriend. And then, there's Jesse, the large white dog who is Mac's closest companion. (The second show in a row with a dog character that's often smarter than the humans around them! ;) )
The most interesting "gimmick" with McBride is the use of flashbacks. Two or three times a movie, McBride will be seen in a flashback of one of the suspects or clients, either to find out what they saw or ferret out a possible lie. It definitely makes the endings that much more vivid to have seen things the way McBride sees them...literally!
Of the two, I preferred The Chamelon Murders for it's more imaginative plot involving a young intern who is accused of killing the wife of a rich real estate magnate...but the woman is not what she claims to be. Murder After Midnight's family squabbling wasn't quite as creative, but it did serve to nicely set up the series' premise.
Here's Linda Young's fan site on the McBride mysteries.
Oh, and look for a photo story about Jessa's adventures outside later tonight! (If the darn pictures will ever upload onto Photobucket...)
Started off the day at my place, with a spinach and cheese omelet and grapefruit for breakfast. After I finished eating, I worked on crocheting a scarf for Samantha while watching another Bowery Boys movie, Lucky Losers. Sach and Slip are working for a prestigious Wall Street broker when the man suddenly kills himself. When Slip finds dice in his desk, he might have the answer as to why. With the help of a street vendor who sells a book on gambling, TV reporter Gabe Moreno, and ever-nervous soda shop owner Louie Dumbrowski, they set out to infiltrate an illegitimate casino and ferret out the man responsible for allowing the casino to stay in business!
After The Bowery Boys ended, I decided to go for a walk and run some errands around Oaklyn. My first stop was the Oaklyn Library, since I hadn't been able to get in on Wednesday. The only person there was some college student who kept badgering the librarian about getting newer releases and more DVDs. I organized the DVDs; moved some adult DVDs that had somehow wound up in the kids' section to the other side. Organized the young adult series shelf (the Nancy Drew and Goosebumps series were especially disorganized today) and took a quick look at the kids' picture books.
After I headed out, I went to the bank really quick to use their ATM machine, then to CVS. I forgot batteries, nuts, and sugar at work, and they have better prices on dried fruits anyway. (And the sugar and dried fruit turned out to be on sale as well.) Went across the street for a walk in Newton River Park, but it turned out to be a short slog. Their paths aren't shoveled, and it was past 2:30 by that point and I wanted lunch.
Headed back to Oaklyn to try a pizza place around the corner from me, Philly's Phatties. It's next-door to the dance studio and a few doors down from Leo's Yum-Yums and Doria's Deli. It's always been there; I just never tried it before. I had a small panzerotti - a smaller pocket pizza pie. I had been craving strombolis, but I thought this would be smaller and less to eat. I was right. It was smaller, half the size of a full-sized stromboli, though still pretty large. I had it with a 12-ounce can of Diet Pepsi and some of the dried apricots I bought. I ate, listened to the teen boys behind the counter talk, and watched what I assume to be one of the 800 versions of Law & Order on USA.
When I got back to Manor, I quickly went to see if anyone was home at Uncle Ken's...but I saw a mostly-empty driveway. I decided I'd just have to make my own fun.
I went upstairs to the apartment, quickly put away the things I bought at CVS, and grabbed my modern American Girl doll Jessa. Jess is the only one of my dolls who has a winter coat, a white fur coat I believe came from the Springfield Collection. Her sneakers are also far more appropriate for the snow than Felicity's buckle shoes or the Mary Janes on Sam and Molly. I wrapped Jess in her coat and the scarf I made last spring, grabbed my (now re-charged) camera, climbed back into my boots and coat and scarf, and headed back out.
I walked around the park again, taking shots of Jessa doing snow things - standing against the piles of snow the plows left in front of the park to show how big they are compared to her, throwing tiny snowballs, "rolling" down a hill like I did yesterday, looking out onto the frozen whiteness of Newton River, posing by the snowman I found and the snow-bear I made on the porch the other day. I even posed her taking off her coat and with a cup of hot chocolate when we got in.
While Jessa and I warmed up, we watched the first two McBride movies together, the second while I made tilapia and roasted broccoli and cauliflower for dinner. McBride is actually a series of movies the Hallmark Channel made between 2005 and 2008. Linda sent me these DVDs a few weeks before Christmas, but I put them on the small green shelf with the Monkees and Bowery Boys/East Side Kids DVDs and completely forgot about them until last week. (Sorry, Linda!)
Murder After Midnight introduces "Mac" McBride (John Larroquette), a LA cop-turned-lawyer who specializes in taking on cases that others consider lost causes. Phil Newberry is the technology-savvy young lawyer who quits the public defender's office to work for McBride, who is his hero. Roberta Hansen is a police detective and Mac's on-again, off-again girlfriend. And then, there's Jesse, the large white dog who is Mac's closest companion. (The second show in a row with a dog character that's often smarter than the humans around them! ;) )
The most interesting "gimmick" with McBride is the use of flashbacks. Two or three times a movie, McBride will be seen in a flashback of one of the suspects or clients, either to find out what they saw or ferret out a possible lie. It definitely makes the endings that much more vivid to have seen things the way McBride sees them...literally!
Of the two, I preferred The Chamelon Murders for it's more imaginative plot involving a young intern who is accused of killing the wife of a rich real estate magnate...but the woman is not what she claims to be. Murder After Midnight's family squabbling wasn't quite as creative, but it did serve to nicely set up the series' premise.
Here's Linda Young's fan site on the McBride mysteries.
Oh, and look for a photo story about Jessa's adventures outside later tonight! (If the darn pictures will ever upload onto Photobucket...)
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Stew, Snow, and History
My rare Sundays off are usually pretty quiet, and this one was no exception. I lay around for a little while after waking up, just reading and writing in my journal. I made Chocolate-Chip Whole Wheat Pancakes with home-made Cranberry Syrup for breakfast when I finally did drag my rear out of bed.
Had a nice, long chat with Mom after eating. She'd apparently just gotten up herself. She'd had a decent week and was in a fairly good mood. Keefe had also gotten up and was just plain tired. He'd gone to Lower Cape May Regional High's Winter Wonderland Dance the night before and seemed to have had a good time.
We talked for an hour, mostly about my sister Rose's pregnancy and how much I like living here, even though I feel a little out of place. My neighbors are really nice people, and there's so much to do here. Everything I need is right outside my door or a bike or train ride away.
My sister Rose will be having her first child in May. Her baby shower is next month. We talked about her gaining weight, about what I intend to give her for the shower, and about how she and her boyfriend are having differences about how to raise the child. We were raised eating whole grain food and fruits and vegetables; Craig wasn't. We never really went to church and weren't really raised with religion; Craig's family wants the baby to be Christian and that's it.
We talked for so long, a whole hour of the Brunch with the Beatles show went by without me even realizing it. The theme was "The Beatles in 1970 and 71." I'm glad I got to hear at least John Lennon's three '70 solo hits ("Instant Karma" is a favorite of mine), "Let It Be," "The Long and Winding Road," and Paul McCartney's two. I don't think I really heard George Harrison's.
I let the I Love the 70s Sunday afternoon show run while I prepared my second crock-pot recipe. While the Mediterranean soup Tina posted yesterday sounds nice, I'm not a fan of beer or olives and had none in the apartment. I opted for a simple beef stew instead. I first browned some beef chunks. While they were in the pan, I chopped two stalks of celery (leaves and all), a carrot, a quarter of a small onion, and some of the leftover broccoli from the other night. When the beef was done, I tossed them and the veggies into the crock pot with low-salt beef broth, no-salt-added tomato paste, and pinches of oregano, parsley, and pepper.
I went for a walk while the stew simmered. I didn't feel like a train ride this time, so I just walked down to Newton River Park. (Passed by Uncle Ken's on the way and chatted briefly with him while he got some fresh air on the porch.)
The park showed the effects of the more spring-like weather we've had recently. There were still patches of snow left on the ground, but they weren't as heavy or icy as even a few days ago. All but a very few patches of icy snow were gone from the sidewalks. The shady paths on the side of the park that passes several houses were still muddy and snowy, though, and likely will remain that way for another couple of weeks, or until it gets warm enough for the sun to get through there.
I stopped at the little bridge over the river to watch some ducks and Canadian geese playing on the river. About half of the river is still frozen, to the point where some gulls were standing on it, but most of it was waving softly in the cool breeze. The ducks seemed to be having a marvelous time, and I enjoyed watching their antics.
Headed back for the White Horse Pike after leaving the park. I had no idea what to have for lunch. I'd debated Taco Bell, but I didn't feel like fast food, and most of the other restaraunts in Oaklyn aren't open on Sundays. I finally opted for a hot roast beef hoagie and fountain Coke Zero with Chocolate and Raspberry syrups from WaWa.
I was greeted by the most delicious smell when I walked in the door of my apartment. The beef stew was simmering nicely, the broth and beef and tomato sauce turning a nice rust-red color. I decided to let it go a little longer and did some pilates.
After I finished, I turned off the crock-pot and let it cool a little before dinner. Besides, I wasn't that hungry yet. I decided to take the opportunity to finally do something I've meant to do since I got this laptop from my best friend Lauren last summer. I downloaded the pictures I've taken on my digital camera between Christmas 2008 (when I first got it) and two weeks ago, after the second blizzard. The downloading took mere minutes, a far cry from the hours it took on my old upright computer. I organized the pictures into four CDs - one for pictures from Christmas 2008 and 2009, one for pictures from last year's vacation with Lauren and the trip to Philadelphia with Linda and James, one for other family events, and one for shots of my porch and the area around my apartment during several snowstorms, including the recent one.
It's those snow pictures that I've included in my first Photobucket album! I may post more personal pictures someday, but for now, I just have the shots I took on Christmas Eve before Rose picked me up, between the February blizzards, and on the day of the second blizzard.
My Photobucket Account
(Why didn't I take any pictures on the day of the first February blizzard? I worked that day and didn't have the time to be running around with my camera. I was going to take it to work with me that morning, but forgot.)
Not everything I did today came out so well. I tried baking a Banana-Cranberry-Chocolate Chip Bread before dinner, but it refused to bake and came out more like bread pudding. Oh well, no more using parchment paper for the breads. I think it's preventing them from cooking.
My rare Sundays off are usually pretty quiet, and this one was no exception. I lay around for a little while after waking up, just reading and writing in my journal. I made Chocolate-Chip Whole Wheat Pancakes with home-made Cranberry Syrup for breakfast when I finally did drag my rear out of bed.
Had a nice, long chat with Mom after eating. She'd apparently just gotten up herself. She'd had a decent week and was in a fairly good mood. Keefe had also gotten up and was just plain tired. He'd gone to Lower Cape May Regional High's Winter Wonderland Dance the night before and seemed to have had a good time.
We talked for an hour, mostly about my sister Rose's pregnancy and how much I like living here, even though I feel a little out of place. My neighbors are really nice people, and there's so much to do here. Everything I need is right outside my door or a bike or train ride away.
My sister Rose will be having her first child in May. Her baby shower is next month. We talked about her gaining weight, about what I intend to give her for the shower, and about how she and her boyfriend are having differences about how to raise the child. We were raised eating whole grain food and fruits and vegetables; Craig wasn't. We never really went to church and weren't really raised with religion; Craig's family wants the baby to be Christian and that's it.
We talked for so long, a whole hour of the Brunch with the Beatles show went by without me even realizing it. The theme was "The Beatles in 1970 and 71." I'm glad I got to hear at least John Lennon's three '70 solo hits ("Instant Karma" is a favorite of mine), "Let It Be," "The Long and Winding Road," and Paul McCartney's two. I don't think I really heard George Harrison's.
I let the I Love the 70s Sunday afternoon show run while I prepared my second crock-pot recipe. While the Mediterranean soup Tina posted yesterday sounds nice, I'm not a fan of beer or olives and had none in the apartment. I opted for a simple beef stew instead. I first browned some beef chunks. While they were in the pan, I chopped two stalks of celery (leaves and all), a carrot, a quarter of a small onion, and some of the leftover broccoli from the other night. When the beef was done, I tossed them and the veggies into the crock pot with low-salt beef broth, no-salt-added tomato paste, and pinches of oregano, parsley, and pepper.
I went for a walk while the stew simmered. I didn't feel like a train ride this time, so I just walked down to Newton River Park. (Passed by Uncle Ken's on the way and chatted briefly with him while he got some fresh air on the porch.)
The park showed the effects of the more spring-like weather we've had recently. There were still patches of snow left on the ground, but they weren't as heavy or icy as even a few days ago. All but a very few patches of icy snow were gone from the sidewalks. The shady paths on the side of the park that passes several houses were still muddy and snowy, though, and likely will remain that way for another couple of weeks, or until it gets warm enough for the sun to get through there.
I stopped at the little bridge over the river to watch some ducks and Canadian geese playing on the river. About half of the river is still frozen, to the point where some gulls were standing on it, but most of it was waving softly in the cool breeze. The ducks seemed to be having a marvelous time, and I enjoyed watching their antics.
Headed back for the White Horse Pike after leaving the park. I had no idea what to have for lunch. I'd debated Taco Bell, but I didn't feel like fast food, and most of the other restaraunts in Oaklyn aren't open on Sundays. I finally opted for a hot roast beef hoagie and fountain Coke Zero with Chocolate and Raspberry syrups from WaWa.
I was greeted by the most delicious smell when I walked in the door of my apartment. The beef stew was simmering nicely, the broth and beef and tomato sauce turning a nice rust-red color. I decided to let it go a little longer and did some pilates.
After I finished, I turned off the crock-pot and let it cool a little before dinner. Besides, I wasn't that hungry yet. I decided to take the opportunity to finally do something I've meant to do since I got this laptop from my best friend Lauren last summer. I downloaded the pictures I've taken on my digital camera between Christmas 2008 (when I first got it) and two weeks ago, after the second blizzard. The downloading took mere minutes, a far cry from the hours it took on my old upright computer. I organized the pictures into four CDs - one for pictures from Christmas 2008 and 2009, one for pictures from last year's vacation with Lauren and the trip to Philadelphia with Linda and James, one for other family events, and one for shots of my porch and the area around my apartment during several snowstorms, including the recent one.
It's those snow pictures that I've included in my first Photobucket album! I may post more personal pictures someday, but for now, I just have the shots I took on Christmas Eve before Rose picked me up, between the February blizzards, and on the day of the second blizzard.
My Photobucket Account
(Why didn't I take any pictures on the day of the first February blizzard? I worked that day and didn't have the time to be running around with my camera. I was going to take it to work with me that morning, but forgot.)
Not everything I did today came out so well. I tried baking a Banana-Cranberry-Chocolate Chip Bread before dinner, but it refused to bake and came out more like bread pudding. Oh well, no more using parchment paper for the breads. I think it's preventing them from cooking.
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