Rainy Holidays

Slept in this morning. I didn't mean to. I just opened my eyes at 10:30. Had breakfast while watching one of the two Christmas episodes of Laverne & Shirley. "Oh Hear the Angel Voices" from the second season has the cast putting on a show for the patients at a mental hospital. Shirley's terrified. She's heard a few too many stories about family members who ended up in mental hospitals. Laverne's too busy flirting with a wealthy patient to worry much.

Rain or no rain, I really didn't feel like sitting inside all day. Besides, I work the rest of the week. I wanted to get to the Oaklyn Library while I had the time. The weather must have scared everyone off. It was just the librarians, the Weather Channel bleating about snow in the Midwest, and me the entire half-hour I was there. I organized the DVDs on both sides, took a look at the picture and board books, and shelved young adult novels.

Since it's only a few blocks from the Library and the rain had slowed somewhat, I strolled over to WaWa for a holiday treat. Decided to try their Eggnog Cream Smoothie. It's not bad. It does taste like eggnog, but it's also a bit watery. I still enjoyed it as I strolled home in the rapidly increasing rain under my umbrella.

Had a quick lunch when I got home, then made my first batch of Christmas cookies of the year. Lauren requested Peanut Butter Cookies instead of chocolate chip in her Christmas box. That's fine by me. I used the same New Fashioned Peanut Butter Cookies recipe I have since 2012. I'd just come off breaking my ankle earlier in the fall and had even less money than usual. The cake mix-based peanut butter cookie recipe I found on the Betty Crocker website was my way of cutting a few corners. The resulting cookie was so delicious, it's been my go-to peanut butter cookie recipe ever since.

Unfortunately, these didn't work out quite as well. They were wonderfully chewy and soft, but the first batch burned on the bottom. At least the second batch turned out all right. I kept the worst ones for myself and will send the rest to Lauren and her parents later this week.

Ran Christmas Eve On Sesame Street while I ate and started the cookies in honor of Caroll Spinney, the long-time voice and puppeteer for Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch, who passed away yesterday. Big Bird is upset when Oscar asks him how Santa's able to get down all those skinny New York chimneys in one night and enlists Kermit, Snuffleupagus, and one of the kids to help him figure it out. Meanwhile, Ernie and Bert give up the things that mean the most of them to buy presents for each other, but it's Mr. Hooper who has the biggest surprise of all. Cookie Monster would love to tell Santa what he wants for Christmas, but he keeps eating the writing utensils.

Moved on to another PBS staple, The Cat In the Hat Knows a Lot About Christmas, as I pulled out the cookies and started writing my Christmas cards. Nick and Sally are having fun at the Cat's big Christmas Eve party, but when it's time to go home, Ralph the Reindeer accidentally mistakes Sally's backyard for Freeze-Your-Knees Snowland and gets off at the wrong stop. The Cat, the fish, and the kids try to bring him home, but the Thing-a-Ma-Jigger keeps breaking down. As they make their way across the globe, they learn about the migration patterns of elephants, dolphins, red crabs, and reindeer, and how each group gets together with their families during the winter.

I was still finishing up the cards as The Cat ended and did a quick Rankin Bass special while I rounded up the last of them. The First Christmas Snow is the slightly melodramatic tale of a little shepherd named Lucas who is blinded in a lightning accident. He, his dog, and his sheep are taken in by the kindly nuns of a local parish, including Sister Theresa (Angela Landsbury). The fussy priest (Cyril Ritchard) wants to send him to an orphanage, but the nuns and the kids of the parish have become attached to him. His fondest wish is to at least feel snow on Christmas...and it isn't until the night of the parish Christmas play that he not only gets his wish, but the rest of the parish realize just how important he's become to them.

Worked on writing for several hours after I finished the cards. An old woman emerges from the gingerbread house, offering the trio of weary travelers dinner and a place to sleep for the night. The guys are all for it, but Brett can see that her house is made of black magic and doesn't trust her for an instant. She turns out to be right. She's really her evil stepmother, who locks up the two men in cages, then binds Brett with iron chains and forces her to work as a slave. She wants to fatten Charles for her trolls and marry Richard, but Brett has a plan...

Broke for dinner at quarter after 7. Ran two episodes of Good Eats on fruit often consumed during the Christmas season as I ate roasted broccoli and the last of the hot dogs and leftover Chinese rice for dinner. Cranberries were just beginning to be considered a nutritional powerhouse when these episodes came out in the mid-2000's. Alton shows how they can be turned into home-made cranberry sauce, granita, and Cosmopolitans. Oranges are a lot more than juice when he makes them into Orange Juilius drinks, marmalade, and sherbet.

Finished the night after a shower with X-Men: Dark Phoenix. It's the early 90's, and the X-Men are still riding high after having saved the world from Apocalypse. Jean Gray (Sophie Turner) accidentally absorbs the power from a sun flare while helping the others save astronauts from a stricken space shuttle. The blast amplifies her psychic powers, but it also makes them go out of control. Professor Xavier (James McAvoy) had put blocks on her powers to help her forget the trauma from a childhood accident, but they're released after her power is amplified, and it all comes roaring back.

After accidentally killing Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence), she flees to the island of Genosha and seeks out Xavier's old partner Magneto (Michael Fassbinder), but he won't help her, either. She finally gets that help from the head of a race of aliens who reveals that she was possessed by a cosmic force...but that force intends to use her to snare both Magneto and Xavier's mutants and take over the Earth. Jean, however, has no desire to allow this to happen...even if she has to sacrifice herself to save those who have become her family.

This wasn't really bad, but it wasn't great either. McAvoy and Fassbinder are still excellent as the two heads of the different Mutant factions, but there wasn't enough of Lawrence's tough Mystique or Nicholas Holt as the intelligent Beast, and the bland Tucker wasn't really up to the task of portraying the possessed Gray. This is the second time 20th Century Fox struck out with this story on the big screen after the even-worse X-Men: The Last Stand. Maybe it's better off on the printed page, where you can imagine all of this happening in your mind with your own voices and special effects. At least those special effects are quite lovely, and it has a moving score by Hans Zimmer.

For the most part, yeah, I can understand why this was a major flop last summer. Ok if you're a fan of the second run of X-Man films or are a major superhero nut; not really necessary for anyone else.

And I'm glad I got in when I did. It's continued raining, sometimes heavily, for the rest of the day and into the evening.

Spring, Spring, Spring

Though the porch was wet when I awoke this morning and it was cloudy and cold, the rain was long gone. Did two episodes of Good Eats while making Molasses Spice Pancakes and a half of a grapefruit for breakfast. (I was going to make Banana-Spice, but I forgot to add the banana. Oh well. They still tasted pretty good.) Alton explores the properties of popular nuts in "Sometimes You Feel Like a..." and shows how versatile lentils are in "Pantry Raid IV: Lentils." (I can vouch for the latter. I ate quite a bit of them when I was out with a broken ankle in 2012. I made an amazing stew with them.)

Headed out to the Oaklyn Library around 10:30. I haven't been there for two weeks, and it showed. The DVDs were a mess, especially the kids' DVDs. I was there for an hour, caught up between the organizing and the book of vintage articles and photos from the local newspaper The Retrospect I found on a shelf. I'd called Mom earlier to wish her a happy birthday (it was yesterday). She tried calling me while I was there, but my phone died. I'd get back to her later. The Oaklyn Library was fairly busy for them, first with a father and his son, then with several older people. I never did get to looking at the kids' section before I headed out.

Browsed around the House of Fun on the White Horse Pike next, but saw nothing I couldn't live without. Thought I'd go hike down to Dad and Jodie's to find out what's going on with this doctor business without the rest of the family around. Neither they nor their cars were there when I arrived. Oh well. I'll try again tomorrow.

There was a letter for me waiting in the mail box when I got in. It was from Willa about the things I mentioned needed to be repaired. They did fix the sagging heaters in the living room (and supposedly will do the bathroom ones later in the week). It sounds like the cracked window's only going to be covered, not replaced, the wood around the toilet is going to be covered with carpet, not tile (carpet in the bathroom?) and the faucet is going to be coated with more epoxy. While she did say the aging cheap furniture in the bedroom that came with the house was not their problem (I didn't think they'd do anything about it - just thought I'd mention it), she did have a good idea about covering the pantry shelves with paper to make them more even.

Unfortunately, Charlie must have fussed to his mother about the "noise" at night. She mentioned that, too. I'm sorry, but unless you can figure out how to tear off the carpet and fix the squeaks, the floors are going to make noise, including at night. This is an old house. I try not to make too many sounds, but you know, I'm human. I cough, sneeze, and turn in bed.

(I'm starting to think Lauren's right. I have got to find a new place. It's not going to happen now, or probably within the next year, but it will as soon as I can save or earn enough money. This was a nice place when there was just a feisty old lady downstairs. While I appreciate what Willa and Richard have done for me over the years, I'm tired of dealing with their son and their hedging on repairing the porch and roof. It's no longer worth the cheap rent and nice view.)

When I got home, I finally got a hold of Mom. She was fine. Had a nice, quiet birthday yesterday with her family. We did argue a bit over my having let the Camden County food stamps lapse. I got fed up with trying to call them, and Jodie and Dad wanted me to wait until I saw the doctor and could test for SSI. I'm starting to agree with Mom. Maybe it's time I forgot the darn SSI and just focused on getting food stamps, which I should be able to pass now. It's just a matter of actually getting through to them.

Did my first Easter special of the season as I made scrambled eggs with Gouda cheese and stir-fry vegetables for lunch. The Easter Bunny Is Coming to Town is my favorite of the three Rankin-Bass springtime shows. Sunny the Bunny has been adopted by the orphaned children of Kidsville, who want to sell their eggs over the Big Rock Mountain. Bunny takes it upon himself to figure out how to get the eggs past Gadzooks the grouchy bear, and then staid Lady Longtooth. He continuously creates new traditions to sneak everything under the Dowager's watchful eye, to the delight of her henpecked nephew King Bruce.

Did writing and messing around online for a couple of hours. Just as Leia is starting to realize that flirting with the guards isn't getting her anywhere, a frantic Cedric spies smoke. As they make their way down the smoky hall, they first run into Rusty, then see the young woman who cheered on Leia at the fencing exhibition earlier. She leads them up to the off-limits captain's cabin and main cabin, where she reveals that she's Jyn Erso, the daughter of the late Galen Erso, and is Leia's contact.

Broke around 6 to eat leftovers for dinner, then make Pineapple Muffins. Watched X-Men: Apocalypse while I ate and baked. It's now 1983, and Professor Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) is doing quite well with his new school for mutants. Among his recruits and teachers are brothers Alex (Lucas Till) and Scott (Tye Sheridan) Summers, psychic Jean Gray (Sophie Turner), shape-shifting Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence), and blue Eastern European demon Nightcrawler (Kodi Smit-McPhee). While he's teaching mutants how to handle their powers, the original mutant, an Egyptian named En Sabah Nur (Oscar Issac) has been revived. Calling himself Apocalypse, he's disgusted with how humans have apparently taken over the Earth. He wants to take it back, destroying everything in the process. He gathers several disenchanted mutants to aid him, including Erik Lensher (Michael Fassbinder), who just lost his family in Poland, and African orphan Ororo Munroe (Alexandra Shipp). When he kidnaps the Professor to help him with his plot, the newly reformed X-Men have to learn how to work as a team...and that when we unleash our true potential, we can be a force to be reckoned with.

I heard some pretty bad reviews of this one last summer, but I ended up liking it. I didn't love it, but it wasn't horrible, either. Some of the kids were kind of stiff as the new X-Men (particularly Sophie Tucker as Jean Gray). Issac was unrecognizable as one of the more unusual villains in Marvel history. My favorite character remains the wonderfully wisecracking Peter Maximoff, aka Quicksilver (Evan Peters), who gets most of the best lines.

Heavy violence, adult subject matter, and some brief but nasty language make this for older teen comic book fans on up. If you're into the X-Men, you've probably already seen this. If you haven't seen the other movies (at least Days of Future Past and X-Man 3: The Last Stand), please do so before coming here.

Adventures In Mutantland

Began a cold, sort-of-cloudy morning with shredded wheat, half a grapefruit, and It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown. Linus keeps insisting that the Easter Beagle will come down and give presents to all the good little children. Sally's more skeptical. She's dealt with his pet theories before. Snoopy wants to buy Woodstock a birdhouse to keep the spring weather off of him. Peppermint Patty spends her spring holidays trying to teach Marcie to color eggs, with little success. Lucy tries to get presents off of Schroeder and makes sure that she'll win the Easter egg hunt. And Charles Schultz makes a few jabs at very early Christmas sales.

Work was on-and-off busy, especially in the morning. It wasn't quite as bad as the other day, and it did thin out a little as the afternoon went on. It picked up enough by 2 that I needed a manager to come in for me. My relief, one of the college boys, was late.

I went straight home. When I got in, I changed and spent the next few hours working on my final project for class. The question is, "if it wasn't impossible, what would you do?" You have to brainstorm ideas, then let them sit for a while. I did some stuff online, then did my brainstorming. I'll start the essay - it has to be at least 10 pages - Monday or Tuesday.

When I finished, I made leftovers for dinner, then baked a pineapple-coconut cake while watching X Men: Days of Future Past. In the far future, Sentinels, robots with mutant-like powers, are killing off human and mutant alike. Logan "Wolverine" Howlett (Hugh Jackman) jumps back in the past to 1973 to stop blue-skinned assassin Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) from killing the inventor of the Sentinels, Boliver Trask (Peter Dinklage). He'll need help from Professor Xavier (James McAvoy), who's become a drunk since the last movie, and Erik "Magneto" Lensher (Micheal Fassbinder) who is in a top-secret security prison in the Pentagon. Logan has to bring the two together, or there may not be a future for any mutant.

I'm not normally the biggest sci-fi fan, but this one was rather interesting. I suspect it might help if you know the comics a little better. Tighter focus helps, although there's still a few characters (like some of the mutants seen in the opening, Storm, and the hilarious sprinter Quicksilver) I would like to have seen more of. If you're a fan of this series, jump in. Newcomers and casual fans may want to check out at least the first two movies before coming here to get a better idea of the characters.

Moved to Little Nemo: Adventures In Slumberland while I frosted my cake with Coconut Cool Whip Icing. The title character is also from a comic book, in this case one of the earliest hit comics, going all the way back to the early 1900's. Little Nemo dreams that he's in a fantastic world where dirigibles are practically flying palaces, pixies control the weather, and jolly King Morpheus rides a toy train and wants to make him his heir. Nemo's not entirely sure about this, despite making friends with his daughter. When he and the mischievous hobo Flip accidentally open the door to Nightmareland, the evil Nightmare King kidnaps King Morpheus. Now Nemo and his friends have to get into Slumberland to free the king and show that in dreams, anything really is possible.

This was another troubled production that goes back even further than Felix the Cat and Happily Ever After. Originally a Japanese-American co-production, animation began in the early 80's. There was so much infighting and fussing over what tone to take (the Americans wanted darkness; the Japanese, whimsy) that the movie wasn't completed until 1989, and wasn't released in the US until the early 90's. They never entirely solved that problem. The movie goes back and forth from goofy fantasy to frightening dark sequences. Some of the animation is really awesome, though, especially in the second half in Nightmareland.

This was released on Blu-Ray a few years ago with the original Japanese soundtrack and some of the footage cut from the US release restored. It's worth a look if you love fantasy or unusual animated films.

Cold Spring Rain

It was just cloudy when I got up this morning. In fact, I ended up riding to work. Work was on-and-off busy all day, depending on what Mother Nature was doing, though it wasn't as bad as last week. I did run into some trouble getting out. The woman who was supposed to come in for me showed up sick. A manager came in for me so I could get home.

The rain was coming down so hard by 5PM, Rose ended up driving me and my bike home. It's continued to come down hard for the rest of the night. It's also supposed to get really cold, down just to freezing. (Rose mentioned snow as well, but it sounds from the National Weather Service like we might just avoid that.)

I spent the rest of the evening eating leftovers for dinner and watching The Wolverine. Logan "Wolverine" Howlett (Hugh Jackman) went into hiding after the events of X-Man: The Last Stand left him traumatized. A young Japanese woman rescues him from a bar brawl in Canada and tells him that an old friend from World War II wants to say good-bye. She finally gets him to come to Japan and give his dying friend his last respects. It seems his granddaughter Mariko has inherited his company...and everyone, from her former boyfriend to her own father to the Japanese mob, wants a piece of it and her. Logan has his own problems. A nasty mutant with a lethal poison tongue has stripped him of his healing power. Now he has to figure out how to save Mariko without the healing that's kept him alive for two centuries.

The darkest entry in the X-Man franchise to date has some plot problems, but is definitely an improvement over the so-so X-Man Origins: Wolverine. As with Man of Steel, don't come here expecting a superhero romp; this is more like a crime drama set in Japan. There's a lot of blood, really too much for a PG-13 movie. Interesting movie for teen and adult X-Man fans; younger fans will want to go to cartoons like Wolverine and the X-Men or X-Men: Evolution first.

The Beast Is a Beauty

I didn't sleep well last night at all. My allergies, which haven't been bad for the last couple of weeks, came back with a vengeance yesterday evening. It was quarter of 3 before I finally settled down long enough for some shut-eye. I didn't drag myself out of bed until 10:30AM.

May have been just as well. It was once again cloudy, cool, damp, and gloomy. Not exactly the kind of day that cries out for adventure. I lay in bed for while and wrote in my journal and just daydreamed, then had a quick cereal breakfast and watched cartoons.

My cookie jar was empty again. I've been craving chocolate, so I made those Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies from the March issue of Prevention. They came out a little dry, and I burned the bottoms of the second batch a little, but not bad. I made them a bit bigger than the last batch I made back in the spring.

I'm so glad to be baking again. I miss it during the summer, when it's too hot to turn on the oven.

I went online for a little while when the cookie dough was chilling, but by the time the cookies were in the oven, I was bored. I needed shampoo anyway, so I took my bike over to Wal-Mart. I'm really not fond of our local Wal-Mart, which is unorganized and under-stocked, but it was almost 3PM by that point, and I didn't have the time to take the train and the bus to Target. Wal-Mart was having a sale on underwear, so I bought a bag of Fruit-of-the-Looms, along with the shampoo I needed and a spare bike inner tube (just in case).

Made a few quick stops after that. Went to Staples to see if they had any 1 or 2GB Flash Memory Drives. They didn't, so I rode across the parking lot to FYE. I browsed a little there, but being low on money, I just bought what I came in for, X-Men Origins: Wolverine. I avoided the traffic on both Pikes and Nicholson Road and took the long way home down Market Street in Audubon and over the train bridge into Oaklyn.

There were men doing work around the house when I came home. They're the same guys who clean the gutters every spring and fall. I hope they cleaned off the roof, too. Maybe that'll finally get rid of the ants. I've only seen a few in the bathroom since the rotten branch came down, so that seems to have solved that problem, but they're still in the kitchen.

Made a dinner of spiced beets, small beef eye round steaks, and leftover vegetables and oven-fried eggplant while watching Wolverine. As with the third X-Men film, I don't see what a lot of the fanboys were complaining about. Granted, once again, I'm not a comics fan, so I don't know the full back story here, but what I saw was mostly well-written, acted, and executed. And no wonder a lot of the female reviewers were overwhelmed back in May - there's a lot of handsome testosterone on display, from Ryan Reynolds' chatty swordsman Wade Wilson (Reynolds is so wasted in fluff like The Proposal) to Liev Schriber's nasty assassin Victor Creed.

And of course, there's Wolverine himself, Hugh Jackman, the hottest triple threat on two continents. It's worth it just for the scene where he's running around naked in a waterfall. Not that you see much, but still... ;)

Taking Care of Business

Today had more ups and downs than a roller coaster! It didn't start well. I was putting my contacts in when I dropped one. I ran my hands over the sink, all around the sink, under the sink. Nothing. It either went down the drain or fell into the basket with all the books, magazines, and random catalogs I read in the bathroom. That was my last pair. I wasn't happy, but it wasn't a total loss. I have my glasses. I just added a trip to America's Best to my morning errands.

My bike tire wasn't all the way flat, only about half-way there. I pulled out my hand-pump and did it well enough to be able to take the cruiser bike on my errands. I still went to Wal-Mart for an inner tube. Even if it was fine, it wouldn't hurt to have it...and it was a slow leak, more the better. (I also picked up a Transformers-themed birthday card for my nephew Skylar, whose big day is July 31st.) The line at Wal-Mart was long, but it moved fast. I made a quick stop at America's Best to order my new contacts (and my last set before I have to get my eyes examined again), then headed home.

The mail box was full when I arrived. Lauren mentioned a couple of days ago that she was posting an order to Amazon.com. Did I want anything, too? I opted for Wonder Woman: Season 2 and an X-Men paperback, The Return. There was also a surprise in the second box with The Return, a self-help book called Too Nice For Your Own Good: How to Stop Making 9 Self-Sabotaging Mistakes. When I asked Lauren about it later, she said she bought one for herself and thought it might help me, too.

She might have something there. I'm pretty good about not taking on too much...but I suppress anger or blame myself of express it negatively, and everyone in the universe has scolded me about being hard on myself. I'm afraid of anger. When I think of anger, I think of the physical results - hitting, slapping, pulling hair. My mother and my stepfather beat each other black and blue in the mid and late 80s, in full view of their three young daughters. They never touched us...but there's other kinds of trauma besides being physically hurt yourself. I spent a lot of my childhood swallowing anger at the other children who could seem to do everything perfectly and and made fun of me and the teachers who didn't even try to stop them (or tried and were put down for it). I'm afraid of hurting anyone. I don't know how to be aggressive without being a pain. I have to swallow my anger at my obnoxious customers every day and then I blame myself for their behavior.

And I ran right into one of those problems. Jessa and Taylere weren't at home when I went to fetch them for our trip into Philadelphia. Jessa's car wasn't there. Uncle Ken and Dolores were inside watching TV; Dad was outside mowing the lawn. I'd discovered too late that I didn't have Jessa's phone number on my cell phone. She either forgot or thought I did, though I could have sworn I'd told her we'd leave between one or two, and it was about 1:30 by that point. I left in tears.

After I calmed myself down, I decided to return to my original plan for today, which was going to the library. I'm really glad I did. The DVDs were overflowing to the point where they were two rows deep on the DVD return cart and there were STILL more coming in. I organized them as best I could (took me over an hour), then took out some items of my own - two American Girls summer stories (Addy Saves the Day and Samantha Saves the Day), a stack of Disney Vacation and Uncle Scrooge comic books (I prefer funny animals and/or kids to superheroes), and a book on taking the GRE. I want to see what I'm up against if I do decide to go back to school. They finally had the newest Backyardigans DVD, Robin Hood the Clean, and I snapped up the Irish indie musical Once, which I've wanted to see.

It was almost quarter of 6 by the time I finally got out of the library. It was too late for me to make dinner, and I'd forgotten to get something out of the fridge anyway. Inspired by a book on New Jersey Diners I saw at the library, I headed down the hill to the Crystal Lake Diner. Though the parking lot was full, it actually wasn't that busy inside. A young man who was the host recognized me, and the waiter was very sweet about waiting for me to choose. I finally opted for a chicken cheese steak platter with fries, fried onions, a pickle, and cole slaw. It was delicious...and huge. So big, I ended up taking half of it home.

Jessa called while I was chatting with Lauren. She apologized for the mix-up earlier. We'll try something next week or the week after, when I get my paycheck.

And I just saw a huge gray mouse go flying across my bedroom floor! I have no idea where he went. I set up a trap in the space between my wall, the children's book case, and the American Girl dolls' bed. I hope that's right. I didn't see any mouse holes, but it may be behind the case and the closets next to it.

And I think the trap just went off...

I'm a Wanderer

Had a big Red Onion, Mushroom, and Cheddar Cheese Omlet for breakfast, then finished watching Nashville. It was a beautiful day, slightly more humid than yesterday but still sunny, breezy, and warm. I had DVDs and books due at the library, so that was my first stop after I finally headed out around quarter of noon.

Despite the beautiful day, the library was packed. The children's DVDs were a mess, so I started there. I shelved and organized the DVDs and helped the kids find things they wanted. One little boy was interested in Pokemon; he ended up with the Pokemon Ranger movie. A mother and her two toddler daughters requested Mickey Mouse. There were, once again, stacks of adult DVDs to shelve as well. It took me a long time to get all of them done. I didn't take anything out this week. I'm not sure I'll have the time for DVDs and extra books this week.

I kinda just wandered around after leaving the Library. It was well past lunch time, but I wasn't really hungry. (I guess I'm not the only one who eats lunch late. There was an amazingly long line at the McDonald's drive-in on Cuthbert Road.) I rode down to the Dollar General and bought a new shower curtain (the old one was disgusting), then stopped at the 7-11 next-door to the Westmont Acme. I just got a soft pretzel and a Slurpee in an X-Men Origins: Wolverine Wolverine cup. (It was the last Wolverine cup they had, too. They had tons of Transformers, Terminator, Sabertooth, a little of Gambit, and even some Iron Man and Incredible Hulk leftover from last year...but I only found one with Hugh Jackman on it.)

Kept riding down Cuthbert and into Westmont proper after lunch. I stopped briefly at the mom-and-pop video store there, but didn't walk out with anything. Bored, I went in the opposite direction down Haddon Avenue into Collingswood to see if the Variety Store had any of the July WebKinz yet. Nope. Nothing of interest. (And the packs of Series 2 cards cost $3.99! No way.)

By this point, dark clouds were beginning to gather, and the wind was picking up, though it remained hot and mildly humid. I was out of things to do with the money I had, so I just rode home. I spent the rest of the afternoon watching X-Men: The Last Stand and doing more cleaning - swept the porch and scrubbed the kitchen.

(And it's beyond me why most people are so hard on Last Stand. I enjoyed it. In fact, my only real complaint is my only complaint about all three movies - I love these characters so much, I really want to see more of them, especially Kelsey Grammer's awesome Beast.)

Sunshine On a Rainy Day

I slept in and spent the morning doing my laundry and reading. It was really rather quiet. Dad had gone to Cape May with his old friends. Jessa was visiting friends of her own. Uncle Ken and Dolores were around for a while, but they eventually went out to run errands.

It was such a lovely day, breezy and bright and warm, that I went for a walk while the clothes were in the dryer. It was just a quick one up to the Oaklyn Library and around the neighborhood. It felt so nice and summery, a little humid but not too bad.

After I got in from doing the laundry, I put my clothes away, changed into sneakers, grabbed my purse, and headed out for my other errand of the day. It was fairly late - around 2:30 - by the time I finally made it to the Haddon Township Library for this week's volunteering session. I did exactly what I did last week - shelved stacks and stacks of DVDs. Walked out with two interesting DVDs I wanted to see (the fantasy film Stardust and the classic crime caper The Asphalt Jungle), a cookbook on cupcakes, and the novelization of the first X-Men movie.

As I was poking around the science fiction/fantasy section around quarter of 4, I heard an ominous rumble. Turning to look out the fire escape door, I saw dark clouds rushing over the Library and the mall across the street. It rained pretty good...but not for very long. I finally made it out around 4:30. The streets were still wet, but the sun was peeking out of the heavy clouds. Unfortunately, it was also hotter and more humid than it had been earlier.

I made quick stops at Super Fresh (checking tea prices) and Dollar Tree (needed sponges), then just rode home across the park. I spent what remained of the day at home, watching black and white Mickey Mouse cartoons and eating leftovers for dinner.

Day Among Books

It was a cloudy, cold, dreary day when I finally got up this morning, a far cry from the hot weather we had over the weekend. It was nice to finally be able to turn off the air conditioner and the fan, and I was able to bake chocolate chip muffins this evening. On the other hand, the weather was dismal. By the time I finally made it out to the library, it was showering. I wasn't dripping when I got in to Westmont, but I was fairly wet.

The Haddon Township Library was hopping today, not a surprise given the weather. There were stacks and stacks of books and DVDs to be put away, and the librarians were just adding more and more to the pile as they signed in more stacks of just-returned items. I finally brought back the X-Man book. Yes, it was on hold. No, I couldn't renew it, despite having not even read it. I settled on a Wolverine novel and decided I'd try the big book again later in the summer. I mostly shelved the piles and piles of DVDs before heading out.

Made some quick stops across the street at the Westmont Plaza. I looked at JoAnn's to see if they had a gift for Jessa for her graduation. Nope. Went next-door to Super Fresh for a box of Hodgeson Mill Wheat Germ, which Acme no longer carries. I've been out of wheat germ forever. (They only have the expensive wheat germ in the glass jars.) Stopped at the WaWa on the White Horse Pike for milk and a toasted custom-made turkey Ciabatta melt sandwich.

By the time I got home, the showers had gentled down to sprinkles. Even so, I spent the rest of the day inside, reading and listening to jazz and Disney soundtracks. Rose did drop by later, but only briefly. She said she was tired after her summer classes. (She also showed me the huge bruise she got when she fell down the narrow, steep steps to hers and her boyfriend Craig's apartment. Ouch! It was big, purple, and nasty.)

Oh, and I called Mom after getting in from the library. She was fine. She spent most of the weekend outside working on the yard, which is why she never heard my calls on Sunday.

The Day Is Just Packed

Woke up late and had a quick cereal-and-grapefruit breakfast before heading out for this week's library volunteering. I'd planned on spending a lot of time there today to make up for skimping last week and skipping the week before. The children's DVDs were looking pretty good, so I shelved children's books and DVDs for adults and kids.

I did a little exploring on my own later. It always takes me forever to decide on books! I've read a lot of mysteries lately, so I kept it down to one of the newest Amanda Pepper stories, A Hole In Juan, by Gillian Roberts. Amanda Pepper is a teacher at a fictional school in Philadelphia who often sniffs out clues among Delware Valley's high-society. I also found a trio of X-Men novels (not of the graphic variety - I prefer to imagine the characters myself when I read) and a really cool-looking novel about what might have happened if two real-life pulp fiction novelists examined the mysterious death of a third, The Chinatown Death Cloud Peril, by Paul Malmont. I also took out a Calvin and Hobbes comic book, The Days are Just Packed, and a cookbook on making light desserts with real butter and sugar.

It was still cloudy and cool when I left for the library around 11, but by the time I finally got out at around quarter after 2, it was mostly sunny and into the lower 60s, a perfect spring day if there ever was one. I ran to Dollar Tree for cleaner, sponges, and soap, then stopped at the Westmont Bagel Cafe next to Friendly's for a very late lunch. I had "nova" (which looked like uncooked salmon) very thin on a toasted salt bagel with lettuce, tomato, onion, and a Diet Pepsi. I took the long way home across Newton River Park, since the weather had gotten so nice, passing many kids on the way home from the five or six schools in the area.

Spent the rest of the afternoon at home, baking cookies, making dinner, and finishing up the Tiny Toons set. It's worth buying just for two classic pieces of Toons lunacy, Tiny Toons Music Television and The Return of the Acme Acres Zone. The spoofs of early 90s Madonna and "Downtown" Julie Brown on the former are dated, but it includes the inspired videos for a pair of hits by real-life rock group They Might Be Giants, "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)" and "Particle Man."

Acme Acres Zone may be the single weirdest episode the Tiny Toons ever did. How many kids' shows include takes on Blade Runner, old haunted house movies, and end-of-the-universe sci-fi? (The last named is the only episode of the entire series to reference "Duck Dodgers" and feature Marvin the Martian and his protege Marsha.)

I also watched three more Good Eats episodes, all on maligned veggies - broccoli, celery, and Brussels sprouts. I've never tried the last named, not because it's bad, but because it ain't cheap, either. The other two are long-time favorites of mine. I eat a lot of celery in particular, especially in the winter, when it's often one of the few affordable fresh vegetables one can find in the supermarket. Alton's braised celery dish came out quite nicely and made for a great dinner with a turkey burger and Roasted Apples and Honey.

Hotter than a Mutant In April

Yes, it's still hot. Actually, I think it might have been slightly cooler today, into the upper 80s...but that's still too hot for this time of year. Once again, I'm glad I spent most of the day at work. Work was steady all day, with no major problems. My relief was on time, and I was able to get to and from work with no problems.

I went for a short walk to the Oaklyn Library after I got home and changed into shorts and a tank top to return X-Men: The Last Stand and Wall-E. I'm glad I did. Turns out, first of all, that the Oaklyn Library is one of the few non-residential buildings to have it's air conditioning on at this time of year. It felt GREAT in there! Second, I found a real collectible, a Whitman hard-back copy of the children's book Five Little Peppers...and How they Grew. My older friend Linda Young, who loves classic kids' literature, can tell you more about these stories at her site about them. I bought the Peppers and rented Mamma Mia! and Iron Man and headed home.

I finished X-2: Mutants United while making turkey burgers and carrots for dinner and eating my last slice of chocolate birthday cake. I have to say, I'm quite impressed with all three X-Men films. They're unusually mature and well-written for what's supposed to be shoot-em-up superhero sci-fi, even the third one that everyone fussed about. My only complaint is that, for once, there may be TOO much going on. Some characters get so little screen time. I would loved to have seen more of Alan Cummings' odd-but-sweet devil-thing Nightcrawler, or Kelsey Grammer's mutant diplomat Hank McCoy, or little Anna Paquin's troubled Rogue.

By the way, another nice touch - it's great to see a summer blockbuster series with such a diverse cast, ranging from older acting favorites Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen to teenager Paquin.

Too Darn HOT!

This is ridiculous. It is NOT supposed to be 90 degrees in April in New Jersey. (Yells up to the heavens) When I said I wanted it to get warmer, this isn't what I had in mind!

Yes, it was almost 90 degrees, sunny, and breezy here in Southern New Jersey. It was probably just as well that I spent the warmest part of the day working. Work was generally a lot easier than the last few days, steady but not too busy, with plenty of help. There were a few annoying customers towards the end. One couple fussed when they thought a two-pack of Raid was $4.49...but the sign under where they'd supposedly found them was for the single cans. Someone must have put the pack in the wrong place. Another man obsessively asked me about every price and couldn't tell that 128 oz equals one gallon.

Did my weekly grocery shopping after I got off. Acme's having a sale where you can get certain small items for $.25 each if you buy four of them and your order is over $25. I got toilet paper, kiwi, and cans of no-salt tomato sauce as part of the sale. I also grabbed grapefruit, apples, tomatoes, bananas, celery, yogurt (Acme Light Pina Colada Yogurt - yum!), the 18-pack of eggs (another good sale this week), and a box of granola bars that were on sale and I had a coupon for.

After I got in and put everything away, I changed into shorts, one of my new t-shirts, and sandals, and went for a quick walk to the bank to deposit this week's paycheck in the ATM machine. Despite the heat, it was a nice walk. There were a surprising amount of people outside, enjoying walks now that the worst of the heat had passed. I even heard kids splashing in a pool! The scenery was gorgeous, too. The lilacs are blooming, the tulips are stunning, the dogwood is so pretty, and the pale green leaves on the trees are coming in nicely.

Watched X-Men this morning before Strawberry Shortcake (which turned out to be a repeat, anyway, the one about Sea Berry telling a story about mermaids who get greedy over a treasure). I was really impressed. I'm not normally fond of the Marvel comics heroes, but these guys were a lot of fun to watch...and made you think. I especially loved the completely adorable teacher-student relationship between lone-wolf X-Man Wolverine and frightened newcomer Rogue. That was one of the sweetest and most touching things I've ever seen in an action movie.

Watched Tiny Toon Adventures this evening. For all the dated references (Sweetie Bird mentions the Evander Holyfield-Robin Gibbons fight of the early 90s at one point), this show is still a lot of fun if you're old enough to get the gags about dating and finding jobs...and are better-written than some of the original Looney Tunes in some ways.

Spring Fling with a Wolverine and a Koala

It was an absolutely perfect day weather-wise, sunny, breezy, and warm but not too much like it's supposed to be over the weekend. Shame I didn't get to spend much time in it. I worked for most of the day. It was a real pain in the rear in the late morning and early afternoon. Seems half the store called out for one reason or another, leaving just about every department short-handed. Poor Jackie, the only person at customer service, was going crazy. The lines were ridiculously long until the college and high school kids started arriving later in the afternoon, when it cooled down to merely steady.

It was too nice to just go home after work. I decided to go for a ride over to FYE instead. I wanted to see if they had the first two X-Men movies. Neither of the libraries do, rather surprising given this series' popularity. I really ended up liking the third movie, despite the complaints from friends that it was the worst of the series. I'm not a big comic book fan and have no idea what's the back story here (and I'm generally more of a DC superhero girl), but the characters and premise (mutants as metaphors for all kinds of things people want to suppress) were intriguing enough for me to want more. Well, that and James Marsden and Hugh Jackman in tight leather.

Not only did I get both movies for cheaper than they were at Target, thanks to my Membership Card and that 20% off used items sale, but I also found another great sale. For some reason, FYE was selling Lil'Kinz Koalas for $5 with any purchase. Well, why not?

So...say "g'day, mate!" to Olivia, my baby koala! Named for Australian singer Olivia Newton-John, I may move her into the space in Miles the Black Bear's room recently vacated by Marza Panda until I can find her something else.