Autumn Blue and Gold

I was in a bit of a hurry this morning and wasn't up to much more than a Match Game episode from 1980. Feisty sitcom favorite Debralee Scott gets hot and bothered over a handsome young contestant, as Dolly Martin (British wife of comedian/host Dick Martin) points out. It comes to a head during the Audience Match, when Debralee gets a little too into her embrace with him! The others try to separate them, while a more modest Bill Daily attempts to hide them behind his coat.

It was past 11 when I finally headed out to run a few errands. First stop was the Collingswood Farm Market. This is especially important, since I won't get there next week. The Farm Market is on its last four weeks. Probably thanks to the sudden cold snap, there were far fewer produce booths around and more craft booths. Kids were delighted by a pair of hungry alpacas munching hay in a pen as you arrive from the Collings Avenue side. There was enough left for me to pick up small apples, cranberries, four little yellow squash, and mushrooms.

Went across the street to WaWa for a treat. I hadn't tried their Pumpkin Cheesecake Smoothie yet. Despite the line being pretty long, I got out of there in less than ten minutes. Yum! I definitely tasted the cheesecake in there, along with a hint of eggnog. Very nice.

Found a small yard sale on my way down Lakeview Avenue. They had a box of free records right out front. I dug out one of those Columbia seasonal albums, this one with a winter theme, an Andy Williams Christmas album, a Spirit of Christmas collection from JC Penney, a Fraggle Rock album, and Christmas albums featuring the Care Bears and Pac Man.

Took the long way back across Newton Lake Park. The weather continues to be amazing. Once again, the sky was brilliantly blue and the breeze was soft and fresh. Everything seemed golden, from the glowing leaves that remain on the trees to the sun glittering on the rippling lake.

The reason I went through the park was to hit Dollar General on the way back. I've been having mouse problems again. The last time I told Charles, he gave me non-violent traps that may have been kinder to the mice, but also didn't trap them. I found exactly what I was looking for (the last two on the shelf, actually) and was once again in and out in ten minutes.

Did two more Match Game episodes while having a quick lunch and putting everything away. Gene shows off a tie a fan sent that had all the names of the regular question characters like Dumb Dora, then swapped it with Charles for his usual bright-striped scarf. Later on, Charles wants to use it for an Indian gag, but it takes a lot of yelling and running at the operator on Gene's part to get the camera where he wants it to be!

In the very next show, Gene laments that he can't banter with the upper tier, as they all matched the contestant. Richard and the two ladies on the lower tier, sassy Jo Ann Pflug and southern belle writer Fannie Flagg, cheer him up when they each imitate the trio above them. And while Richard was pretty funny as Brett, the women absolutely outshown him. Jo Ann was an adorable Dick Gautier, and Fannie was just hysterical as Charles (complete with hat and pipe)!

Finally made it to the laundromat around quarter of 3. I really should have either gone earlier, or done what I originally planned and gone on Thursday, Halloween or no Halloween. They were once again packed, though I was able to get a washer and dryer pretty easily. I worked on story notes and ignored the chaos.

Worked on writing after putting the laundry away and dropping off the rent. The boys help Brett finally dissolve the chains on Gene's left limb, while the fairies help Bobby (Van) get the ones on his right. They're all thrown off when a black mist leaves the tree...revealing an older man with dark hair and high cheekbones in a tattered blue and orange cloak. He's understandably not in good shape, but Charles and Nipsey manage to get him to his feet.

Finished the night with leftover Italian casserole and roasted Brussels sprouts while watching An American Tail and An American Tail: Fivel Goes West. I go further into these tales of a little mouse immigrant and his family at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

An American Tail & An American Tail: Fivel Goes West

The Return of the Giant Aliens

I awoke to discover that not only had I slept later than planned, but I finally caught that mouse who'd been running around the kitchen for months. Of course, I noticed this right as I was about to eat. I didn't really have the time for a big breakfast, anyway. I ate yogurt, Cranberry Flummery, a breakfast cookie quickly, changed into my uniform, got the trap into a plastic bag, tossed it in the outside trash can, and rushed to work.

After all that fuss, work was off-and-on steady. Those good sales meant that it wasn't as quiet as last week, but it still wasn't as bad as it likely will be next month. No wonder. It was an absolutely gorgeous day, really too nice for shopping. The sun was out, the sky was blue, and while it was windy and chilly, it wasn't nearly as much of either as it was yesterday. While I did do a few returns, gathered baskets, and did the outside trash and recycling, I was mostly outside doing carts and content to be so.

As soon as I got home, I changed, took out the recycling, and worked on writing. Harry and Charel use their strength to turn the statues around, so the light will destroy the weapon. Leia and Luke use the swords. Palpatine finally decides that if the weapon has to go down, he's going to take the Skylark kids with him. He attacks Luke and Leia...which doesn't delight their father one bit. He throws his boss into the bubbling molten gold surrounding the weapon. The remaining light from the weapon and Palpatine makes it churn and smoke...and makes Leia realize that it's time to get out of there...

Broke for dinner at 6:30. Combined the leftover stove-top chicken casserole with leftover Brussels sprouts and Star Wars chicken soup for dinner. Watched a spooky episode of Fairie Tale Theatre while I ate. "The Boy Who Left Home to Learn About the Shivers" is a lesser-known Grimm's Fairy Tale and this show's pure horror entry. Young Martin (Peter MacNichol) is a simple lad who desperately wants to know what it's like to be afraid. He goes to an inn, where the king of the land (Christopher Lee) is advertising for a brave man to rid his haunted castle of a terrible curse. His daughter Amanda (Dana Hill) warns Martin against staying there, but he wants to get the shivers. Martin eventually learns that he's not afraid of bowling with ghouls or a sorcerer roasting him on an open pit...but even he has a fear that no one could ever expect.

Finished the night after a shower with Pacific Rim Uprising. It's ten years after the events of the original film. Jake Pentecost (John Boyega), the son of the original movie's hero Stacker Pentecost, is making a living selling old Jaeger parts on the black market. With no war going on, many of the Jaegers have been scrapped. Not everyone has given up on them, though. While looking for a Jaeger core, he discovers Amara (Cailee Spaeny), who loves Jagers and has made her own version. After getting into the trouble with the police, Jake's sister Mako (Rinko Kikuchi) recruits them as a teacher and pilot at a Shatterdome in China. It's also the home of Jake's old co-pilot Nate (Scott Eastwood). They're worried that a drone program may replace the Jaegers. After a rogue Jaeger kills Mako and destroys a Jaeger building facility where she'd worked, the council decides to approve of the drones.

It was the worst possible thing they could have done. The new kaiju aliens easily take over the drones and possess the mind of one of the scientists in the council, Dr. Geiszler (Charlie Day). Jake has to lead his team, including Amara, into battle against these new, larger, fiercer foes, especially when Geiszler has them form one Mega-Kaiju!

Ehh, more of the same. If you're a big fan of monster movies with a lot of stuff blowing up and you liked the first movie, you'll love this as well. Boyega and Spaeny were especially good as the veteran pilot running from his past and the Jaeger-loving mechanic who wants a chance to show what she can do. Once again, the special effects were amazing as well, especially in the huge fight scenes towards the end.

It pretty much has the same problems as the original - dull characters and a story that's way too complicated. To give it credit, this one did do a little bit better in the US than the original, becoming a minor hit in early March...but once again, it made most of it's money in big monster-loving Asia. If you're also a fan of huge monsters, Boyega, or the original film, you'll want to check this out. For everyone else, it's a rental at best.

Oh, and one of my managers had a good idea this morning. She said she didn't know anyone on her block who would buy my American Girl items, but she did suggest selling them on Facebook's Marketplace. I like that better than Craigslist...so that's what I did. If you're interested in buying an American Girl bed and bedding set and you live in the South Jersey or Oaklyn area, here's the listing:

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/367121224034054

The Cinder Girl and the Inventor

Began a golden fall morning with breakfast, then baking. I dove into that one-bowl cookie cookbook Lauren gave me for my birthday again and came up with Mint Chocolate Cookies. I didn't realize I was out of vanilla, so I didn't use any. Otherwise, they came out quite tasty, and very chocolaty! (I was supposed to roll them in powdered sugar, but that sounded too messy. I just left them plain.)

I was about to go up to the counter to start taking down baking powder and other items in the cabinets when I noticed something small and gray huddled against the sink. On closer inspection, I had to clamp my hand over my mouth to keep from screaming. It was a dead mouse, likely the one that plagued me for months. Even the good traps I bought weeks ago hadn't gotten rid of him.

At least, I thought he was dead. When I tried to scoop him up with a long-handled metal spoon, he flailed like a mad-mouse. I was finally able to use the spoon and a trap to corner him next to the sink and get him into a plastic bag. I darted into the back yard as quickly as I could and dumped him into a pile of leaves, still thrashing around. If Charlie and his men don't make short work of him, the feral cats will. The way he was acting, he may have been dying anyway.

Ran The Nutcracker while all this was going on. I have the 1977 performance featuring Mikhail Baryshnikov as the Nutcracker Prince. This is a fairly traditional version of this story, complete with the Mouse King battle in the first act and the dancing candy in the second act. Most of the Sugar Plum Fairy's dances late in the second act are given over to the Prince and Clara, though, likely to give them more to do. This is short and sweet, not a bad starter entry to the world of ballet and one of the great dancers of the later half of the 20th century.

Switched to an episode of The Backyardigans while the cookies were coming out of the oven. "The Secret of Snow," from the second season, is the first of two holiday episodes this show did. Uniqua is determined to find out how to make the snow fall. She travels north to the land of Ice Lady Tasha and her bored assistant Austin. Tasha has no time for the pink bug-girl's queries and sends her to the Wild West, then the jungle. She returns north each time, with Cowboy Pablo and Tyrone of the Jungle by her side. Tasha tries to put the kids to work in her ice factory, but gets upset when they seem to be enjoying their work a bit too much. They all finally learn that there's really no "secret of snow"...but that making friends is a lot more important.

Was off to the Acme for this week's grocery shopping as soon as the cookies were out of the oven. And I had a ton of it! Bought more butter, this time the Acme generic brand, with one online coupon; got free organic low-sodium chicken broth with another. Picked up taco seasoning and tortillas for dinner. Found a bag of cut-up dried cranberries on the clearance shelves that'll be great for the cranberry bread next week. Restocked white and brown sugar, chicken legs, ground turkey, peanut butter, clementines, vanilla, dark cocoa, eggs, skim milk, yogurt, blue corn chips, corn starch, and two bags of chocolate chips (mint and dark chocolate and three-chip).

My schedule this week is much better than the one I had last Thanksgiving week. I asked for Thanksgiving off this time to avoid the problems last year when they tried to get me to work that day and will be taking my first personal day on Black Friday. I'll probably be doing my laundry in the morning again, but on the other hand, I do have some late morning-early afternoon work, including next Saturday.

Headed home and got everything put away, then went right back out again. Had to dodge more road work heading down Manor, this time just inches from our house. Having a bike's been a huge help with this. I was able to ride right past them on the sidewalk.

I just missed the Oaklyn Library, which closes at 2. Ended up dumping my DVDs in the book/DVD return holder and moved on. Capitol Pizza is a few blocks down on the White Horse Pike, so that's where I ended up for a late lunch. Ate a slice of cheese and a slice of broccoli while drinking a can of Coke and watching Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? Super-smart kids are in the hot seat this week. The ones they had today were so funny. The little girl who did the Darth Vader imitation was (as the host said) the cutest Vader ever. The boy who came after her did even better, getting a few math questions I couldn't figure out and at least one geography question that involved Star Wars and Kylo Ren. (He said he loved Force Awakens - he is a smart kid.)

After a brief stop at Rite Aid to check for pads (none on a good sale), I moved on to the Haddon Township Library. Surprisingly for a late Friday afternoon, they were dead. Everyone must be starting to get ready for Thanksgiving. I shelved kids' DVDs and a cart laden with new books, both print and audio. Took out the holiday specials for My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic and How to Train Your Dragon, along with new sets for Strawberry Shortcake and Mickey and the Roadster Racers (the latter focuses on Minnie and Daisy).

Made a brief stop at WaWa on the way home for money, dodging rush hour traffic on the way. As soon as I got in, I went on the computer for some writing. Leia and Harold have been wondering what the kids have been up to all week, but they're in the dark until an evening a week later. Leia comes upstairs after packing to leave to find a beautiful "new" dress on her bed. The girls had made it over from one of the older dresses in the attic. They have antique jewelry and shoes for her, too, as well as clothing for them and the boys. They escort her downstairs, where Harold and the boys, as dolled up as toads and frogs can be, await them in the ballroom.

Made tacos and sauteed spinach and mushrooms for dinner around 6, with Cranberry Flummery for dessert. Watched Minnie and Daisy's Happy Helpers while I ate. For some reason, they only had the "Happy Helpers" shorts from Roadster Racers on this set. While I would have preferred full episodes, some of these are really sweet.

"Happy Hula Helpers" has the duo aiding a little Hawaiian girl who is trying to find the perfect gift for her grandpa, who seems to have everything. Minnie finally suggests a hula that can tell the story of their loving relationship. They get into a bit of "Tea Time Trouble" in London when they have to fix Big Ben and their boys need to learn how to act like gentlemen, or no one will be having tea with the queen. Clarabelle is "Bed, Breakfast, and Bungled" after she offers to help Minnie and Daisy run a local bed-and-breakfast inn. The anxious bovine tries too hard and ruins every job, but she is good at making tasty - and sticky - treats!

Took a shower, then finished the night online with Ever After. This is the late-90's version of the Cinderella tale, transferred to 16th-century France. Here, the cinder girl is Danielle (Drew Barrymore), the daughter of a nobleman who married a baroness (Anjelica Huston) with two daughters. She may have loved her once, but after he died, she became bitter towards her beautiful stepdaughter, making her more-or-less a servant. Danielle, however, is a feisty maid with some definate ideas on commoners and royalty. She almost thrashes a man she thinks is stealing his father's horse, until he turns out to be Prince Henry (Dougray Scott), who is trying to avoid an arranged marriage. She intends to use the gold he gives her to buy back one of her family's servants and dresses as a countess to make the sale. Henry thinks she's a real noblewoman and falls for her. Her stepmother and stepsisters lock her in the house on the day of a ball celebrating Leonardo DiVinci (Patrick Godfrey). He acts as a most unusual fairy godparent, giving her a pair of wings to wear with her good dress...but her stepmother exposes her and sells her. Now this Cinderella has to learn that glass slippers are all well and fine, but sometimes, a fairy-tale princess has to rescue herself.

I loved this when it came out, and while it's no masterpiece, I still think it's a lot of fun. Barrymore and Scott are all right as the lovers, and Huston's really enjoying herself as a slightly wicked stepmother. A lot of girls who grew up with this in the late 90's still love it to this day. If you have older girls who are fans of other fairy tale or fantasy retellings or love opposites-attract romances, try this one on them.

Wonder-Ful Balance

The morning did not begin pleasantly. I heard the mouse trap go off around 3AM, but I waited until quarter of 8 to take it out. When I leaned over to get the trap, I discovered the mouse was in the trap...but still moving! Ugh! I got it out of the house and into the outdoor trash can as quickly as possible. (Good thing I was taking the trash out and leaving it by the curb tonight anyway.)

Things mostly went uphill from there. Yoga class was full, but not as jammed as the Friday classes have been. (In fact, I intentionally avoided the Friday class this week after barely making it into the last two.) There were 12 people, including the teacher Jill. We worked on the shoulders, opening the hips, and on balance. I'm getting better at balancing, but focusing is just so hard, and I still can't do shoulder stands.

I rode home through Newton River Park, enjoying a gorgeous 85-degree day and the lovely breeze. Spent the rest of the afternoon taking advantage of the relatively (for this time of year) cooler temperatures to bake Peach Spice Muffins, getting rid of a very ripe peach and the last tiny bit of sweet potato left in my fridge.

I also enjoyed The Backyardigans and the first couple of episodes on the Wonder Woman: Season 2 set. "Literary Heroes" was the theme for this Backyardigans set. The titular episode, Robin Hood the Clean, was a bit odd. Mayor Stinkypants (Austin) won't allow the citizens of Filthingham to take a bath or even keep soap around! Tyrone finally goes to Purewood Forest to convince Robin Hood the Clean (Pablo) to come to Filthington to save the villagers from the Mayor's rigged Festival of Dirt. I found the emphasis on cleanliness in this episode to be well-meaning but a bit bizarre. Kids who are more into grossness will probably get a bigger kick out of it.

The rest of the episodes were better. Tyrone and Pablo are "The Two Musketeers"...but who's that masked hippo girl who wants to join them? I loved the emphasis on politeness, the balloon swords, and the lesson that you shouldn't judge a person (or hippo) before you've even met them. "To the Center of the Earth" took Professors Uniqua and Pablo to the title location to find Tyrone's missing lucky penny. The two inventors are eager to use their inventions, but Tyrone proves that sometimes the simplest way of doing something just might be the best way.

My favorite episode on this set by far was the Zorro spoof "The Masked Returner." Uniqua is a librarian in Veijo, California who becomes "The Masked Returner" when a book is overdue. When Don Austin (Austin's third villain in this set) refuses to return a library book that's due, it's The Masked Returner to the rescue...and to teach Don Austin a lesson in renewing library books and the importance of libraries.

The second season of Wonder Woman is a vast improvement over the first. As much as I love mid-20th-century history, moving the show to 1977 allowed for a better range of villains and more interesting characters. The Nazi-of-the-week formula in the first season got old fast. Something else I like is this show's fine line between camp and seriousness. It's neither as over-the-top as the (in)famous 60s Batman series nor as dark or brooding as something like Smallville. In fact, the only real cheesy elements, other than some odd plots, came from the updating - bad 70s fashion, dated computers and other technology, and obvious special effects.

Work was dead as a doornail. It got busy-ish during the usual 4-6 rush hour, but was otherwise quiet...except for my last customers. Some guy obviously didn't know a darn thing about doing WIC checks. He handed me a whole bunch and had relied on some stock guy who didn't know what he was talking about instead of reading the pamphlet and got half the stuff wrong. It took me forever to get rid of that guy.

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...

Sunshine Superwoman

Gorgeous day outside, just gorgeous, in the upper 70s and sunny as can be. It was so warm today, I still have the windows open at 12:30 in the morning. I rode up to Merchant Street in Audobon, a small town about ten minutes south from Oaklyn by bike. Merchant Street is a smaller version of Collingswood's restored downtown area. Most of the restored buildings house dance troupes, salons, or offices, but there's a few small restaraunts, a florist's shop, a deli, a bakery, a couple of gift shops...and Abbie Road, a wonderful CD store that was in Collingswood near Friends In Deed before they moved in mid-Feburary. The owner, Bob, is a very nice guy and a friend of my older friend Erica. I ended up buying "Louis Armstrong - The Definative Collection," Supertramp and Eagles greatest hits collections, and a collection of songs from various British Invasion groups, from the Beatles to Dusty Springfield.

The rest of the day was mostly as pleasant. Work was steady-to-dead; who wants to go grocery shopping on a gorgeous spring day? Besides, we're really between holidays right now. Things will pick up considerably later this week and next week as we get closer to Passover and Easter.

However, I made one nasty little discovery this afternoon that marred the day somewhat; for the first time since I moved out of Wildwood, I seem to have a mouse in the apartment. Unlike Wildwood, though, the mouse seems to be confined to the area under the sink. I removed everything from under the sink (and there was a lot!), washed anything that had mouse reminents in it, and put out traps. I think I heard one now; I'm going to check it, which won't be fun. I had a hard enough time doing this in Wildwood.