I'm A Believer

We once again made a trip through the Massachusetts wilderness this morning, this time on our way to the Eastern State Exposition in West Springfield to see former Monkee singer/drummer Micky Dolenz. I got quite a surprise when we ended up parking in the back yard of an enterprising local family. That would NEVER happen in Wildwood or Ocean City. (For one thing, most of the remaining residents of those towns don't HAVE back yards.)

We got our second surprise of the day when we got our tickets and went into the fair. The very first thing we saw beyond the gates was the stage where Micky was to perform, and there were not one, but two times listed for his appearances. Lauren said the fair's site only listed an 8PM, but it would seem there was also one at 3PM. We decided that since we had all day, we would stay for both shows.

We had some time to kill before the 3PM show, so we walked around a bit and got to know the lay of the land. While most of the fair was your basic fairgrounds with rides, games, souvenir stands, and food booths of every description, the fair did have many unusual attractions. Because it was an Exhibition like the World's Fair, there were lots of animal rides. There were pony rides and a ride on an elephant. Lauren and I took pictures of the goats, camel, and sleeping kangaroo in a petting zoo. We later took pictures of sheep and dairy goats in the Farm-A-Rama building. One of the sheep actually bleated when I pet him! "You win," Lauren said after that.

One of the big animal attractions was the Budwiser Clydesdales. Lauren and I snapped pictures of the famous team of Clydesdale horses who pull the Budwiser beer carts. Lauren even bought a WebKinz Clydesdale from a toy dealer just outside the Better Life Building.

The Better Life Building was huge and busy, filled with people and stands selling leather goods, hot tubs, furniture, food, and small appliances. I didn't buy anything there, but Lauren bought three leather belts for $10. (She says they were the woven-like kind that she can't find anymore.) It was really too busy to hang around in, so after Lauren got her belts, we hit the bathroom and head out. (That bathroom attendant was awfully friendly - a little too much, in my opinion.)

We walked around and explored until it was time to sit down for the concert. Lauren insisted on getting there early in order to beat the crowds. We sat down an hour and a half before the show. In addition to the (uncovered) benches in the main arena area, there were picnic tables on the grass on either side of the stage. These afforded us equally good views with lots more legroom.

After the show, we stood in line and got Micky's autograph. Lauren bought a photo of him from around the first season of the Monkees show. I just had him autograph the notebook I usually keep in my purse for random lists of things I need. (That autograph will stay in my purse as a good luck charm.)

It started to rain lightly towards the end of the show. To escape the rain, we headed over to one of the few indoor restaurants at the Exhibition, the Firehouse Restaurant. It was, indeed, a sit-down, counter-service eatery. We had Grilled Chicken Sandwiches (which were tasty but a bit slippery - Lauren took hers off the bun) while looking at the footage Lauren shot of Micky's concert with her digital camera and trying to decide what to do next.

After we ate, we decided to just walk around for a while until the next concert. By that time, the showers were in full force. We did walk around and take in more attractions...but we also got quite wet doing so. We walked over to the Midway area. We weren't going to buy the extra tickets for the rides, but we did play a few games. I won a cute little orange bear on the balloon dart game.

We eventually made our way back to the Avenue of the States. Each of the New England states had an exhibition house here based after their state capital building, toting the well-known wares of the state. New Hampshire boasted Stonybrook Farms Yogurt and Milk. Lauren bought flannel nightshirts for her dad from a Vermont booth, and I bought maple sugar candy and saw a booth for Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream. Rhode Island had a Del's Lemonade stand and a poster about legendary local radio and TV personality Salty Brine (both often mentioned by my friend Linda Young, a Rhode Island native). People were lined up half-way out the door for Maine baked potatoes, even in the pouring rain. Kids built with Legos and crowded around the Pez Dispenser booth in Connecticut.

I was surprised how crowded it still was, even with the weather. This probably had partially to do with many of the major attractions being indoors. However, as Lauren pointed out, New England weather is notoriously fickle and most natives are used to it. In Wildwood, people flee the boardwalk (and in many cases, the island) the moment a raindrop is seen. Unless you plan on spending the rest of the afternoon in the arcade or grocery shopping, there just isn't much to do on a rainy day in Wildwood.

By 6:30, we were cold and wet and ready to pack it in. We debated it on and off as we made our way back to the Center Stage and the gate we came in. We saw musicians tuning up on the stage and electricians fiddling with lights...and we finally decided that if Micky Dolenz could say "what the heck" and perform, so could we.

It was more than worth getting soaked to stay for the second show. The rain let up long enough for Micky and his sister Coco to perform "without being electrocuted" (as Micky said at one point), Lauren got more footage for YouTube, and we got to talk to a fellow Monkees fan who had come up for the late show from Boston. He was a middle-aged man who had actually worked on the Monkees show when they got their star on the Walk of Fame in LA and had recorded some footage of it. (He also mentioned that this wasn't the first time the Monkees had appeared at the Eastern State Exhibition. He said Mike, Micky, and Davy appeared at the Exhibition in 1969 when it was just the three of them, which makes sense. From what I've read, the three played a lot of similar fairs and carnivals during that time period.)

And yes, I even got my autographed photo. I opted for one of all four Monkees. (I did tell Micky he could sign over Davy, if he wanted.) Lauren topped me - she didn't want to spend more money on another autograph, so she had him sign a dollar bill!

Micky himself was in fine form tonight. In addition to well-known Monkees hit, he sang "Johnny B. Goode" (which he says was his audition piece for The Monkees show) and kicked rear on a great "Gimmie Some Lovin'" in the second show. Coco Dolenz did nicely with her solo pieces, one of my favorite Linda Rondstat songs "Different Drum." (Which, coincidentally, was written by one of the Monkees, Mike Nesmith.)

Not surprisingly, we went straight home after that, this time heading down the MassPike and other well-lit, straight highways. It was a fun ride despite the lack of a view. Lauren cranked up the heat and the Monkees music, and we sang our way across the Berkshires.

(Lauren also discovered the Massachusetts E-ZPass tolls have switched to a card system instead of tolls - you take a card in one toll booth and give the card to the person in the booth in the next toll. Simple...and cheaper.)

It turns out Lauren's parents weren't idle today despite the weather, either. They put up some lovely curtains over the French doors that look out to their deck and large back yard.

Here's Micky's website:

Micky Dolenz

And the site for the Eastern State Exhibition ("The Big E"):

Eastern States Exhibition

Just A Couple of Country Girls

We drove into the wilds of the Berkshire Mountains today. After an enjoyable game of mini-golf in a lovely course called The Range (lovely view, too - I won by 1 point), we went into North Adams and up to...the hairpin turn. Apparently, the turn is infamous both for stunning views...and the amount of cars that go over it a year. Lauren, having lived here all her life, had no problems with it all. We did, however, had problems with her choice for lunch. The Golden Hawk Restaurant sat on a ledge by the hairpin turn, which allowed you to see for miles. However, it turned out it was only open for dinner. We turned around and went back to North Adams for lunch in a small local 50s-themed diner called the Moonlight Bar and Grille instead. I had a short stack of pancakes and a bowl of melons and grapes. Lauren had a massive eggplant quesadilla. (There's still some left in the fridge.)

We did finally take our drive into the Massachusetts countryside after that. (And after being stuck behind two slow, unwieldy trucks carrying logs to local saw mills.) We took in the breathtaking sights (and breathtaking turns) of the mountains. We saw rushing rivers and tall, fat green spruces, large dairy farms with grazing cows (some of them so close to the road, we could see them chewing their lunch), and thick groves of golden and purple wildflowers. We went around more turns (though not quite as crazy as the hairpin turn) and zig-zag roads. I'm not really a mountain person, but I have to admit, Lauren lives in a really beautiful area.

We went right around the mountains and back down to Pittsfield, but neither of us were up for a long trip or a big dinner after that. We browsed in a music store and a Big Lots and had a very quick dinner at Taco Bell before coming home in time for Wheel of Fortune and a game of Mario Party 8. (Yes, Lauren has it, too. We have good times playing that.)

Tomorrow, a long trip south to Conneticut for the fair and Micky Dolenz concert!

Into the Green Mountain State

We made our trip into Vermont today. There couldn't have been a more lovely day to do it, either. sunny and in the upper 60s-lower 70s. We started out in the late morning and arrived at the Manchester Outlets around 11:30. Turns out the outlets weren't really either of our speeds. Lauren got a full set of lotions and shampoo from Crabtree & Evelyn and I bought a travel-sized shampoo (the one I brought with me is almost empty). Most of the other stores were factory stores for major upscale clothing brands like Brooks Brothers that were way beyond our price ranges, even at outlet prices. We didn't get anything else there.

Our next stop was far more interesting. On our way to the outlets, we passed a bookstore. We decided to give it a go, and I'm very glad we did! The Northshire Book Store turned out to be a massive, 2-story independent book-and-media shop not unlike Barnes & Noble. It was a really gorgeous store, housed in a former inn. Lauren bought a Gene Autry CD for her dad. I got the original cast of the 1971 Broadway musical Follies. We had lunch in the book store's restaurant, appropriately named the Spiral Press Cafe. She had a ham pannini called the Anthem. Mine was called the Johnny Appleseed and had turkey, apples, cheddar cheese, and cranberry mayo (which was actually quite good). Our sandwiches came with chips and gigantic pickle quarters! Lauren doesn't like pickles and traded hers to me for my chips, since I'm not a big chips fan. I like pickles, but those babies were so big, I ate the first and one bite of the second and couldn't finish!

Here's the Northshire's website:

Northshire Book Store

While browsing around in the Outlets, we found a rack of pamphlets for other local attractions in the lobby area. In addition to fliers for the Northshire Book Store and Vermont Country Store, we found one for another intriguing store in the area. We both love stuffed animals, and The Big Black Bear Shop, a store for Lauren's favorite stuffed animal company Mary Meyer, was right up both our alleys. As it turned out, it was on our way to the Vermont Country Store, so we made it our next stop.

The Big Black Bear Shop is a toy store that, yes, mostly sells Mary Meyer stuffed toys. It also sells other playthings and a few kids' books. There's even a small museum devoted to the Mary Meyer company and making stuffed animals. The bright, colorful store was filled with so many wonderful animals, it was hard to choose! I finally found an adorable tan puppy, Buster, on sale for $3.00. Buster was the name of the Pound Puppy I had as a child, and I miss him. Lauren picked up a sea-green octopus named Ollie, a floppy cheetah named Speedy, and a fluffy white Christmas bear in a red and yellow striped stocking cap and scarf.

Here's the Big Black Bear Shop's site:

The Big Black Bear Shop

After a few wrong turns, we finally made it to the Vermont Country store an hour before closing. We took pictures of each other in front of the store, then browsed. The huge, rambling old farmhouse is filled from top to bottom with unusual, often old-fashioned items, ranging from flannel shirts to milled soap to local Vermont maple syrup, old-time candy brands that can only be found in catalogs, fancy cake and pancake mixes, tin toys, and some Vermont merchandise like sweaters and pewter keychains. We only had so much money and so much time by then. I just bought a tin container of real Vermont maple syrup. I switched to using real maple syrup on pancakes instead of cheap "pancake syrup"; it tastes so much better.

Lauren made better finds. She bought a box of little tablets that add flavored fizz to regular water (she's a big soda fan), orange marmalade for her mother, and wart remover for a small one on her foot. She discovered her best find, of all places, in the bathroom. She told me she smelled something citrusy in the women's bathroom and wondered what it was. It turned out to be the orange soap used at the sinks. She looked around the store and finally found a bottle for her dad, who apparently loves oranges.

Here's the Vermont Country Store's (apparently well-known, as my mother and friend Linda Young both order from them) site and online catalog:

Vermont Country Store

We stopped at a Friendly's in Barrington, Vermont for a small dinner. We shared their Munchies Mania plate (Lauren wanted the mozzarella sticks; I had the quesadilas), and we both had ice cream. Lauren had her favorite, Black Raspberry with Peanut Butter topping (which she says isn't as bad as it sounds); I had the Hunka Chunka PB Fudge.

It was worth the trip just for the gorgeous scenery. Now I know why they call Vermont "The Green Mountain State"; it's a well-earned moniker. The emerald mountains seemed to touch the fat, white clouds and dwarfed the almost-turning-colors trees and lovely old rustic farmhouses, hotels, inns, and restaurants. We passed over rushing rivers as clear as glass and passed by massive mountainsides of pure marble. We saw cows and horses (including one cute golden foal) grazing by big barns and fields filled with soy beans, hay, and corn. We passed by orchards laden with apples and farm markets overflowing with pumpkins and squash. I haven't seen such lovely farms since I left Cape May County (and there aren't too many like these left there).

Raindrops On the Mountains

Someone at the Weather Channel needs glasses. They said it was supposed to rain in the evening and be cloudy in the morning, but we awoke to a huge thunderstorm. I let Lauren sleep in and just lay around in bed and read her Monkees books.

The rain did subside long enough to take in another shopping center near Lauren. This one had a larger FYE that had just gotten in the September WebKinz. I got the Eagle. (Of course I got the Eagle. I'm a Philadelphia Eagles fan! ;) ) Lauren got the Sheep and the Bat. (I almost got the Bat but decided to hold off for Halloween.) I also found Singin' In the Rain on sale for $12.99. It costs as much as $27 reguarly; $12 with the Membership Card is a steal. Lauren also picked up the third season of The Fresh Prince Of Bel Air and a couple of wrestling DVDs and posters. We walked through Wal-Mart and Michael's, but neither of us got anything else. Wal-Mart was just putting out their Halloween items. I liked looking at the new cookie cutters (though I usually end up too busy in October to do any kind of baking).

We had lunch at Price Chopper, the huge supermarket in the same mall. Like the Wegmans' in Cherry Hill, this Price Chopper has a small restaurant section on one side of the room. Unlike the Acme's tiny "cafe" area between the bakery and deli, with it's selection of fried chicken, salad bar, and deli sandwiches, this "cafe" had not only sandwiches and a salad bar, but a nice hot foods bar. (Acme sells some hot foods, but only at the deli.) I had mashed sweet potatoes, chicken Marsala, and baby carrots. Lauren had the chicken, chicken and gravy, cheesy baked pasta, and white rice. It was all quite tasty for a supermarket salad bar, and only $4.50 each, at least two times cheaper than the Old Country Buffet across the way (with some of the same food).

Since we were out anyway, Lauren stopped by a local pizzeria to pick up the pepperoni pizzas we were going to have for dinner. While the pizzas cooked, we looked at a small used book store in the same mall. They had a nice selection of paperback mysteries. I ended up with Death at Bishop's Keep (which I've been wanting to read - my grandmother gave me the second one, and the libraries only have the newer ones) and a small cake/cookies/pie cookbook. By that point, it was raining again, and had rained on and off all day. The rain didn't stop until we got home and were eating pizza over Wheel of Fortune (of course).

Tomorrow, we're going up to Vermont to the Vermont Country Store and the Manchester Outlets. It's supposed to be really nice, so we hopefully won't have the weather problem again. (It's now saying no more rain until Saturday, which we plan on spending relaxing at home after the Micky Dolenz concert.)

Oh, and meet my three new WebKinz, Swamp Fred the Bullfrog, Mochaberry the Cocoa Dinosaur, and Westbrook the Eagle! Swamp Fred and Mochaberry live in Fred's muddy swamp home, where Mochaberry has a hearthside bread business. Westbrook will have his own Red, White, and Blue Football room and will be in charge of the KinzBee's Sports Bar and Grill. (Westbrook is, of course, named for Philadelphia Eagle Brian Westbrook.)

Mall Rats

We slept in and spent the morning just hanging out, since Mrs. Miller had to borrow Lauren's car for a doctor's appointment. We were mostly hangin' out online. We didn't get going until around noon. Today was our mall day. We first checked out a shopping center near the bank where Lauren works. We stopped at a large KB Toys and checked that out first. It was the first free-standing KB Toys I'd ever seen. (And a drive through Pittsfield revealed why. It would seem KB's main headquarters is in downtown Pittsfield.) Lauren found four Fraggle Rock dolls. I walked out with two modern-style Care Bears, Harmony Bear and the new Heartsong Bear. There was a nice little Hallmark in the same shopping center. I picked up the WebKinz Bullfrog; Lauren got an adorable floppy panda.

We went to Lauren's favorite Subway for lunch (we both had Chicken Breast), then headed to an allergy doctor for Lauren's quick appointment. (He had a very nice waiting room with lots of reading material and very hard chairs.)

We spent the rest of the afternoon at the Berkshire Mall. The Berkshire Mall sits on a moutain, overlooking Mount Greylock. The Deptford Mall and Hamilton Mall can't claim views like that. We mostly walked around. I picked up The Classic Caballeros Collection from Best Buy (I've been wanting that - I love The Three Caballeros), the Cocoa Dinosaur, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, and the 4th Pink Panther cartoon collection from FYE, and finally found the Doc Hudson Cars car at Target. Lauren got a wrestling DVD, Evan Allmighty, and her own Cocoa Dinosaur from FYE, plastic hangers from Target, and two Garfield movies, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Volume 6, the 1999 Get Smart series from Best Buy.

Mrs. Miller had tilapia, swiss chard, and salad ready for us when we got home, which we ate while watching Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune together. Tomorrow, Downtown Pittsfield.

Rocky Mountain High in a New York Minute

Yesterday was a very long day. Tropical Storm Hanna held off long enough for me to go for a short ride and make a quick trip to the Collingswood Farm Market. I bought a little pastry for my trip and a jar of apple butter for Lauren's parents as a thank-you present. The morning was cloudy, warm, and amazingly humid, but I wanted to get a ride in before I spent the rest of the day on the bus. Actually, it was a rather pleasant morning. I spent the rest of it watching Care Bears and Strawberry Shortcake on CBS, baking the last of the Cinnamon Refrigerator Cookies, and getting my food for the trip together.

It just started raining after Dad and Jodie picked me up and dropped me off at the Greyhound Bus Terminal in Mt. Laurel, about 20 minutes from Oaklyn. Good thing I was there early, because just as it did last year, the bus to New York appeared more than 20 minutes ahead of schedule. I had no problems getting to New York. The bus was fairly full, but I did find open seats in the back.

I HATE Port Authority Bus Terminal. It's a good thing I had an almost three-hour layover there, because I got lost. Again. For the third damn year in a row. How do New Yorkers DO it? Even the employees couldn't figure it out. I spent over an hour in the wrong side of the building because the employees I asked directions from couldn't tell SPRINGFIELD from PITTSFIELD! And the place is dirty, dingy, dilapidated, and populated with some rather nasty-looking characters. (Never mind a few little construction projects - what that place needs is a total top-to-bottom, rip-it-out-and-start-over overhaul.)

The trip to Pittsfield wasn't much better. It's a good thing the bus wasn't anywhere near full, because I ended up spending over five hours on it. By the time we finally pulled out of Port Authority at 5PM, New York Rush Hour was in full force. Traffic was pure hell, especially going through the Bronx. The rain, which had abated shortly after leaving Mt. Laurel, had returned in full force by then, too. And of course, the Bronx seems to be about three-fourths bridges. We were supposed to have been at Danbury, Connecticut within an hour. We didn't get there until over a hour and a half later, by which time it was fully dark and the water was rushing across the sidewalks of Danbury in miniature rivers.

Even skipping two drop-offs that no one wanted to get off at, we were more than an hour late in Pittsfield. Thank god Lauren is one of the most patient and understanding best friends on the planet. She was there ten minutes after I called her and told her I'd finally arrived. It was still pouring, too. Good thing Lauren's parents new home has an attached garage. We spent the rest of that night playing Mario Kart on Lauren's Wii.

When we both finally dragged our rears out of bed around 9-ish, the sun was shining, the wind had diminished, and the trees on the majestic Greylock mountain range behind Pittsfield were as green as emeralds. Lauren and I slept in, then headed for Jiminy Peak, a ski resort/mini family amusement park a few miles outside of Pittsfield. We went there the first time I visited in 2006, but my knee injury prevented us from riding three of Jiminy's biggest attractions. With my knee in perfect working order, we were free to ride the Roller Coaster and the Slide as much as we pleased.

The "roller coaster" and slide rides aren't your ordinary coaster and slides. Both are self-propelled - YOU control how fast or slow you go, especially on the slide. The slide is on a bobsled-style course; the roller coaster looks like a scaled-down version of an ordinary small coaster. I liked the slide better. The ride's longer, you have more control of your vehicle, and there's more under you when you're on your way down.

(The slide has it's disadvantages, though. My third trip down was marred by a mother and her very young daughter who went suuuuppperr slloooowww. The little girl was so scared, she and Mommy just wouldn't move. The kid shouldn't really have been on the ride at all if she was that freaked. In fact, I'm surprised the ride's attendant let her go down - she couldn't have been more than 3.)

Jiminy Peak was fairly busy when we arrived. There was a line after us when we played the short mini-golf course. After the third run on the slides, we decided it was really getting too busy. We drove a few minutes away to Bob's Country Kitchen, a small, cozy diner-style restaurant. I love places like this. I had three big blueberry pancakes and hash browns. Lauren had baked sole, summer squash, and mashed potatoes with gravy.

We spent the rest of a quiet afternoon playing Mario Party 8 on Lauren's Wii, making a quick stop for take-home Taco Bell around 7. We're planning on spending tomorrow afternoon at the mall before Lauren watches wrestling with her parents.

Here's more on Jiminy Peak:

Jiminy Peak Mountain Adventure Park

(And in other news, the Philadelphia Eagles slaughtered the St. Louis Rams in their season opening game and first home game. It was truly a great day. ;) )

Gettin' Ready

I didn't sleep very well last night. My mind was on everything I wanted to do this morning. I eventually got up earlier than planned...and finished all my chores earlier. I went to the Acme and picked my paycheck (paychecks, actually - we get two when we go on vacation) and a few odds and ends for snacks for the bus. I also got to say goodbye to a few co-workers I didn't see yesterday. After I left the Acme, I went to Wal-Mart and bought cameras, a new pair of shorts that were only 3 dollars, wet wipes and a small pack of tissues for the trip, and a new computer mouse. The Acme hadn't been hugely busy, but Wal-Mart was, with a fairly long but fast-moving line. I then went up to the PNC Bank on the Black Horse Pike to deposit most of my paychecks, then to the Walgreens a few blocks down to get Lauren her thank-you gifts. I got her the WCares WebKinz Lil'Kinz Cow and another item.

It was sunny and windy when I got out this morning. By the time I got out of Walgreens, it was noon, and getting hotter by the minute. I could see large, fat white clouds in the sky, too, but they were hardly threatening...yet. I headed home for lunch. I'd wanted to take a nice walk that afternoon and give Uncle Ken and Dad some of my Blueberry White Cake and return Mark's computer mice, but it was just too hot. Actually, it was in the upper 80s - not as bad as it could be (it was supposed to get up to 93 today), but far worse than it has been recently. We just aren't used to the heat anymore. It was a bit humid, too. Uncle Ken was the only person home at his house. I gave everything to him and wished him a happy trip (he and Dolores are going away next week and will be gone when I come back), then just went home and spent the rest of the day finishing the pirate historical novel The Golden Hawk, watching the Beatles movie Help!, and packing.

(Incidentally, Lauren told me she has a laptop in addition to her regular computer that I can use to go online with when I'm there, so I'll be able to update this blog regularly while I'm on vacation this year.)

Tell Everybody I'm On My Way

Thank goodness today was the last day of actual work before vacation! (I am going to go to the Acme tomorrow, but just to get my paycheck and buy a few things to eat on the bus ride up there.) It was steady-to-busy, no real major problems other than some obnoxious beginning-of-the-month customers. While few regular customers noticed my contacts, a lot of my co-workers did, and their praise was so sweet. Everyone says I look really good with them.

My relief showed up on time, allowing me to run home, take my contacts out (I'm only allowed to wear them for a few hours each day - I'm supposed to gradually build my eyes' tolerance for them), grab my laundry basket, and run over to Uncle Ken's to do my last laundry load before I leave. Rose and Dad were chatting on the porch when I arrived. I was glad to see Rose. She was very much awake and fairly happy and full of stories of Costa Rica and how different it is there. Dad was dead tired. He, Mark, and Uncle Ken had apparently spent the day trying to keep one of the side porch step railings from wobbling. Dad tried everything from a pick axe to a pole to dent the rotted concrete and, according to him, only found more rotted concrete.

After Rose left to help a classmate with a school project, I spent the rest of the evening playing Super Smash Bros Brawl with Jessa. For those of you who aren't big video game fans, the Super Smash Bros series is basically a massive crossover of just about every important character Nintendo owns, from Mario to Link to a couple of Pokemon, and even some never seen in America, like little Ness and Lucas. Each character "battles" with their own unique moves, against a backdrop representing one of the main characters (i.e, castles from Legend of Zelda, cartoony platforms from Mario Bros, jungles from Donkey Kong Country, spaceships from StarFox, etc). Jess and I particuarly enjoyed playing Princess Peach (me) and Zelda (Jess) against Link and Mario!

New Woman

I went to pick up my soft-lens contacts after a steady-to-busy, generally problem-free work day. It was a bit of a pain to get them in (my eyes just wanted to blink blink blink), but the lady in charge of contacts was really helpful and nice. In any event, since my contacts are trial lenses and disposables, I'm going to have to go back after my vacation for a follow-up exam. It looks so good, though. So...different. I've NEVER had contacts. I always assumed I was too clumsy and impatient for them, and that my eyes were too bad.

I was so happy after I got my contacts. They don't mask my lazy eye, but I looked so...different. I haven't really seen myself without glasses during my waking hours since I was in third grade.

Since getting the contacts went well, I decided I had enough time (and money) to finally get my hair done, too. I rode up to West King's Highway in Haddon Heights (between Pine Street and Station Avenue) and stopped at Hair Event. Rose went there to get her hair done before she went to Costa Rica. She said they did a great job, and Rose has very long, thick hair that's a lot like mine, but less curly...and manageable. I had my hair layered, trimmed, and thinned, all of which I badly needed. I love my curly hair, but it gets so thick and frizzy, especially in this weather! It looked terrific when I got out, layered with spiral curls. I even left it down, something I seldom do in hot weather.

I received the ultimate compliment when I stopped by Desserts By Design, a bakery in Audubon, for a treat. The owner and head baker didn't recognize me...and not only do I visit her store fairly often, but she's a regular Acme customer!

For once in my life, I'm very happy right now.

The Return of Summer

Summer was back with a vengeance today as the temperatures climbed into the upper 80s-lower 90s for the first time in weeks. Even so, I had things to do and errands to run, since I didn't work until 4PM. I did my library volunteering early this afternoon, likely my last for a few weeks. I just did the children's DVDs. I must have either just missed Storybook Hour, or it ended after the summer. There were fewer kids around this time, and the librarians were still working on signing in the many DVDs that had been returned in the past few days.

I made a very quick trip to the Walgreens in Westmont after leaving the library in search of WebKinz. None of the WCares WebKinz of the Month - the Black Bear, the Monkey, and the Panda - interest me this time around, but Lauren said she'd like to have the Monkey. Unfortunately, the Lil'Kinz Monkey (and the Lil'Kinz Panda) are both retired and very rare. All I saw were Black Bears and Cows and St. Bernards leftover from previous months. I went home empty-handed and spent the rest of the afternoon working on editing some of the role-play stories Lauren and I have worked on over the past few days.

Speaking of Lauren, I found out something rather annoying when I read the Courier Post newspaper today. Apparently, we're supposed to get rain and wind all day Saturday...the day I leave for New England, of course. As long as there's no thunder traveling shouldn't be effected, but it may mean I won't be able to get to the Farm Market as I'd originally planned. Yahoo!Weather confirmed this later in the evening when I got home from work.

(And speaking of work, that was steady when I came in at 4, steady-but-dying when I left at 8. I suspect it'll be like that for the rest of the week. While it is right after a major holiday, it's also the beginning of the month, and most kids just went back to school or are getting ready to do so.)

Balancing Labor and Fun

I began this Labor Day with a Yoga class. Fortunately, the Monday morning class I usually take was the only one still running today...and it was full to capacity, for once with an equal amount of men and women. As Jill said, holidays seem to bring a lot of people out of the woodwork. Could have been the gorgeous, 80 degree day, too, or the fact that many people have off today.

I wasn't one of those people. Actually, I volunteered to work today. I knew darn well the store was going to be busy today. I'm going to have plenty of time off next week, and anyway, in Cape May County, you don't "sign up" to work on summer holidays. You work summer holidays, no questions asked. Even without the sand and sea air, the Acme was packed today, especially when I came in around noon. Not only is it a holiday, but it's the beginning of the month as well. Most public school kids start classes sometime between tomorrow and Thursday, too. (Private school kids start later - Jessa mentioned that her Catholic school doesn't start until next week.) Not to mention, Mondays are usually a busy day for us, anyway. I had no real plans for today other than my yoga class, and I'm going to get plenty of time off next week anyway. The nice weather must have affected my customers; for all the long lines, there were no major problems and no call-outs.

I have to admit, I had a pretty decent summer. It wasn't the most thrilling summer of my life, but I did do some cool stuff. I got new glasses. I went to see a Camden Riversharks game in an Executive Suite, no less. The wonderful weather allowed for a lot of riding around and exploring. I got my older blue bike back on the road. I finally started yoga classes. I spent some time with Jessa. I found that awesome, huge antique store in Barrington that I WILL be returning to. I bought some cool DVDs, including Get Smart and Tiny Toon Adventures. I read some fun books.

There were fewer lowlights - no hurt body parts (knock on wood this continues), more hours at work (and better hours), fewer days of humid weather. My biggest complaint is I didn't get to do EVERYTHING I wanted to do...and I should have done some things (like get my glasses and my ID) sooner.