Balance With a Twist
Since I had counseling today, I began my morning with the second Thursday morning Yogawood class. Once again, it was extremely small, just four all together including me and the teacher Karin. We mostly worked on twisting and standing poses, nothing too complicated. That was fine with me. I hadn't slept well the night before, and I overslept and had to rush to get to class.
I spent most of the time between class and counseling browsing in the small shops in Collingswood. I explored the library. Took a look at the gourmet food shop. Went through the fancy gowns at Marlene's and Veronique's. (The latter has the plus-sized gowns.) Said "hi" to Erica at the thrift shop.
When I found out that counseling was later than I thought it was, I had lunch at Texas Wieners, one of several new stores that had opened on the bottom floor of the new Lumberyard Condos since July. Texas Wieners is apparently an offshoot of a store in South Philly. Like it's Lumberyard neighbor Primo Hoagies, it's a low-cost alternative to some of the pricier eateries in Collingswood. As you can guess by the name, they mostly specialize in hog dogs, but they also sell sausages, burgers, and fish and crab cake sandwiches. I decided to try something a little different - the "Fish-O-Rab," a fish cake sandwich with broccoli rabe and mozzarella. The fish cake was a bit mushy and the roll was smaller than I thought it would be, but otherwise, it was quite tasty...and only $2.89, a steal in a town where a simple burger can cost up to $7.00 without tax.
Counseling went fairly well. I told Scott about everything that's been going on lately, from my wonderful vacation to the problems my parents are having with their marriage. We mostly discussed my job search...or lack thereof. He mostly said to keep reading the books on jobs and job hunting I took out of the library and take out more.
I had briefly debated taking a longer ride. The weather, which had been cloudy and cool all day, was getting worse by 2PM, adding a chilly wind to the mix. I finally decided that, between the early and rushed start and the weather, it just wasn't a biking day. I headed home right after counseling.
Got a few more chores in at the apartment. I swept the sawdust from the branch that was taken down yesterday off the porch. I hung the general fall decorations and redressed the Sailor Moon dolls in their regular uniforms.
I baked a zucchini cake. Mom sent me the recipe a few weeks ago, but I didn't have the time or cool enough weather to make it until today. It only required eggs, sugar, spices, flour, baking soda, and zucchini and/or whatever fruits and nuts you have on hand. I added farm market zucchini and carrots and a can of pineapple chunks. It came out incredibly moist and flavorful, like a sweeter carrot cake.
Called Verizon right before making dinner. My internet has been a pain for months now. I thought it was fixed in the spring, but it's gone right back to going down again. Last night, shortly after midnight, it went down for 20 minutes, interrupting Lauren's and my chat time. Thankfully, the lady I talked to was not only the nicest and most helpful person I've ever dealt with at Verizon, but she was the fastest, too. I only had to wait a few minutes for her to find someone to come in tomorrow afternoon to look at my line.
It had been cloudy all day, but it didn't start raining until sometime between my conversation with Verizon and starting dinner. I had pan-seared salmon, cucumber-tomato salad, and Oven-Fried Eggplant (eggplant in a wheat germ-flour batter baked in a stove at a high temperature - got the recipe from a cookbook a roommate gave me in college) while listening to the rain and watching Grand Hotel. I don't think it's raining now, but I read online that it's supposed to continue on and off for the rest of the weekend.
Life is a lazy river - no matter where you are. Movies, musicals, mysteries, pop culture, and lots of other great stuff.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Wednesday, September 09, 2009
And the Branch Comes Tumbling Down
Woke up late and had a late breakfast. It was still cloudy, cool, and humid when I went around to the side path to pick up sticks. Once again, I was bitten alive by mosquitoes, but I did get it done. It never takes me very long to do the path anyway. It's not like it's long or wide. I tossed the sticks in the backyard (which is all trees and leaves) and swept the path itself.
Spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon working on editing this month's Monkees Role Play, which Lauren and I finished yesterday. Look for it hopefully sometime in the next two weeks!
I finished editing with enough time to have a nice lunch of Garden State Turkey Meatball Soup (defrosted home-made chicken stock with cut-up turkey meatballs and summer vegetables from the farm market) and tomatoes with light mayonnaise. As I did the dishes, I heard the sound of footsteps coming upstairs. I saw two men with a chainsaw. Miss Ellie had finally hired someone to cut that rotted branch down. The branch was so thick and heavy, they had to do it three segments, but it's now laying on the pile of sticks in the backyard.
Work wasn't nearly as productive. It was surprisingly busy for a Wednesday, right up until about 7PM, and a real pain and a half. Once again, there were a lot of cranky, annoying, or even plain crazy customers. One woman dressed like a bag lady in heavy layers of clothing and a thick winter hat despite the relative warmth came around at least two times to me and once to another customer. The first one, she bought a small order and had to take off the hot dogs because she couldn't afford them and hadn't bought the ones that were on sale...and then gave 15,000 orders on how to bag without being much of a help herself, including all but stifling a potted flower she was apparently going to give to someone. (One bag would have sufficed, not three plastic bags and a paper one.) She returned an hour later, apparently in an attempt to bring back an item. I directed her to customer service, which handles returns. I saw her a few hours after that, annoying another cashier, this time with a sullen-looking young girl in tow. She also rambled on about how she saw some suspicious-looking men sitting outside talking on their cell phones, and oh, we'd better watch out, because they seemed to be getting ready to rob us! (No one tried to rob us while I was there, as far as I know.)
It remained cloudy when I rode to work this afternoon. I saw a woman buying an umbrella earlier this evening and asked her if it had rained yet. She said no, it hadn't. It must have come down sometime between when I talked to her and when I finished, because by the time I got out around 8:30, the streets and the ground were wet. It looks like it may have rained lightly.
Woke up late and had a late breakfast. It was still cloudy, cool, and humid when I went around to the side path to pick up sticks. Once again, I was bitten alive by mosquitoes, but I did get it done. It never takes me very long to do the path anyway. It's not like it's long or wide. I tossed the sticks in the backyard (which is all trees and leaves) and swept the path itself.
Spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon working on editing this month's Monkees Role Play, which Lauren and I finished yesterday. Look for it hopefully sometime in the next two weeks!
I finished editing with enough time to have a nice lunch of Garden State Turkey Meatball Soup (defrosted home-made chicken stock with cut-up turkey meatballs and summer vegetables from the farm market) and tomatoes with light mayonnaise. As I did the dishes, I heard the sound of footsteps coming upstairs. I saw two men with a chainsaw. Miss Ellie had finally hired someone to cut that rotted branch down. The branch was so thick and heavy, they had to do it three segments, but it's now laying on the pile of sticks in the backyard.
Work wasn't nearly as productive. It was surprisingly busy for a Wednesday, right up until about 7PM, and a real pain and a half. Once again, there were a lot of cranky, annoying, or even plain crazy customers. One woman dressed like a bag lady in heavy layers of clothing and a thick winter hat despite the relative warmth came around at least two times to me and once to another customer. The first one, she bought a small order and had to take off the hot dogs because she couldn't afford them and hadn't bought the ones that were on sale...and then gave 15,000 orders on how to bag without being much of a help herself, including all but stifling a potted flower she was apparently going to give to someone. (One bag would have sufficed, not three plastic bags and a paper one.) She returned an hour later, apparently in an attempt to bring back an item. I directed her to customer service, which handles returns. I saw her a few hours after that, annoying another cashier, this time with a sullen-looking young girl in tow. She also rambled on about how she saw some suspicious-looking men sitting outside talking on their cell phones, and oh, we'd better watch out, because they seemed to be getting ready to rob us! (No one tried to rob us while I was there, as far as I know.)
It remained cloudy when I rode to work this afternoon. I saw a woman buying an umbrella earlier this evening and asked her if it had rained yet. She said no, it hadn't. It must have come down sometime between when I talked to her and when I finished, because by the time I got out around 8:30, the streets and the ground were wet. It looks like it may have rained lightly.
Tuesday, September 08, 2009
Back to the Library Again
Started off today with the laundry, a walk to WaWa to get milk and a soda, and work in the yard. It was still cool and cloudy, but the humidity had increased, and the wind was gone. Picking up the sticks in the front yard wasn't too bad, except for the mosquitoes. They made a literal buffet out of my lower legs. (Good thing I wore capris today.)
I really do enjoy helping Miss Ellie out. She's an older woman and can't get around as well as she used to. Besides, I live here, too. I don't want to trip over sticks and acorns any more than she does, and I also want the yard to look nice. I left the sticks in a pile, as per Miss Ellie's instructions. I'll do the side path leading to my apartment tomorrow and rake the leaves and acorns later this week. (If I can - it's supposed to rain for the rest of the week.)
It was very, very quiet at Uncle Ken and Dad's today. Dad was the only one home, and he spent the morning cleaning out the pool and watering the plants in the pool area. Jessa was at school, Jodie was at work, and Uncle Ken and Dolores are still on vacation in North Carolina.
Headed to the library after lunch. There weren't many DVDs to put away, so I just organized the children's DVDs and put away children's Easy Reader books. The Easy Reader books are shorter than young adult chapter books and have pictures, but longer and more wordy than most picture books. Some of you may be familiar with the titles - Amanda and Oliver Pig, Nate the Great, Arthur the Hedgehog, Frog and Toad, and some of the most famous Dr. Seuss books, including The Cat In the Hat, fall into this category.
Made two quick stops on the way home. I browsed JoAnn's fall selection and checked out their hobby section. I remember seeing a line of 18-inch American Girl-like dolls in the Micheal's in the Consumer Square Mall when I was in college, but I didn't have the money for anything from the line at the time. (Not to mention the modern clothes didn't really go with my Victorian doll Samantha.) I was hoping JoAnn's carried the line, but no dice. I didn't see anything related to doll-making at all, not even clothing patterns. I'd really like to find some clothes for Little Jessa, especially pants. Felicity needs clothes, too.
I stopped at Super Fresh for their peanut butter sale ($1.34 for Skippy Super Chunk Natural), then headed home. I read the book I took out of the Haddon Township Library on finding careers after college (I must have done something wrong there) and watched the 1982 musical Grease 2.
Yes, Grease 2 is the infamous sequel to the 1972 stage show and 1978 movie Grease. It's 1961, two years after the original movie and show were set. Poodle skirts have been replaced by straight skirts, hot cars by hot motorcycles, soda shoppes by bowling alleys, and Eisenhower-era conformity by Kennedy-era optimism. The Pink Ladies and the T-Birds are still the ultimate in cool at Rydell High School...but head Pink Lady Stephanie is sick of obnoxious head T-Bird Johnny and decides she wants something more mature in a man and a motorcycle. That cute new British guy Michael might be the one...but he's the smartest kid in school, and there's a code that says the Birds and the Ladies can't date outside their clique. Michael, however, turns out to be smart in more ways than even he dreamed of...
Ok, so it's cheesy, most of the songs are pretty bad, the main plot is a rehash of the one in the first Grease, and it lacks the grit of the original stage and movie versions. On the other hand, I actually like how that "uncool kid into cool kid" plot is handled here better. Sandy's transformation, both in the show and the movie, always seemed to happen too fast. (It's slightly better-explained in the movie's novelization.) Here, Michael's change from shy, smart Brit to hot biker is done far more gradually...and instead of just turning up in the last few minutes, it drives most of the film. And unlike Sandy, Michael's not asked to give up being smart. As Stephanie says at the end, she gets two for the price of one, a hot biker and a hot genius...and she likes him that way.
The numbers are a bigger problem. They range from one of the best opening numbers in a movie musical ("Back to School Again") and one of the funniest ("Reproduction"), to some of the most banal and silliest lyrics to ever appear in a movie musical ("Who's That Guy?," "Rock-A-Hula Luau"). My favorite number is the Pink Ladies' "Girls For All Seasons" in the Talent Show towards the end. I love all the detail put into this sequence. The costumes really do look like a group of teenage girls in 1961's idea of glamor. Mom says Sharon's March Shamrock costume, for instance, is based around an early 60s Girl Scout uniform - she says it looks exactly like the one she wore as child during the early 60s.
(Mom also swears her sex-ed classes used to get almost as wild as the "Reproduction" number.)
Started off today with the laundry, a walk to WaWa to get milk and a soda, and work in the yard. It was still cool and cloudy, but the humidity had increased, and the wind was gone. Picking up the sticks in the front yard wasn't too bad, except for the mosquitoes. They made a literal buffet out of my lower legs. (Good thing I wore capris today.)
I really do enjoy helping Miss Ellie out. She's an older woman and can't get around as well as she used to. Besides, I live here, too. I don't want to trip over sticks and acorns any more than she does, and I also want the yard to look nice. I left the sticks in a pile, as per Miss Ellie's instructions. I'll do the side path leading to my apartment tomorrow and rake the leaves and acorns later this week. (If I can - it's supposed to rain for the rest of the week.)
It was very, very quiet at Uncle Ken and Dad's today. Dad was the only one home, and he spent the morning cleaning out the pool and watering the plants in the pool area. Jessa was at school, Jodie was at work, and Uncle Ken and Dolores are still on vacation in North Carolina.
Headed to the library after lunch. There weren't many DVDs to put away, so I just organized the children's DVDs and put away children's Easy Reader books. The Easy Reader books are shorter than young adult chapter books and have pictures, but longer and more wordy than most picture books. Some of you may be familiar with the titles - Amanda and Oliver Pig, Nate the Great, Arthur the Hedgehog, Frog and Toad, and some of the most famous Dr. Seuss books, including The Cat In the Hat, fall into this category.
Made two quick stops on the way home. I browsed JoAnn's fall selection and checked out their hobby section. I remember seeing a line of 18-inch American Girl-like dolls in the Micheal's in the Consumer Square Mall when I was in college, but I didn't have the money for anything from the line at the time. (Not to mention the modern clothes didn't really go with my Victorian doll Samantha.) I was hoping JoAnn's carried the line, but no dice. I didn't see anything related to doll-making at all, not even clothing patterns. I'd really like to find some clothes for Little Jessa, especially pants. Felicity needs clothes, too.
I stopped at Super Fresh for their peanut butter sale ($1.34 for Skippy Super Chunk Natural), then headed home. I read the book I took out of the Haddon Township Library on finding careers after college (I must have done something wrong there) and watched the 1982 musical Grease 2.
Yes, Grease 2 is the infamous sequel to the 1972 stage show and 1978 movie Grease. It's 1961, two years after the original movie and show were set. Poodle skirts have been replaced by straight skirts, hot cars by hot motorcycles, soda shoppes by bowling alleys, and Eisenhower-era conformity by Kennedy-era optimism. The Pink Ladies and the T-Birds are still the ultimate in cool at Rydell High School...but head Pink Lady Stephanie is sick of obnoxious head T-Bird Johnny and decides she wants something more mature in a man and a motorcycle. That cute new British guy Michael might be the one...but he's the smartest kid in school, and there's a code that says the Birds and the Ladies can't date outside their clique. Michael, however, turns out to be smart in more ways than even he dreamed of...
Ok, so it's cheesy, most of the songs are pretty bad, the main plot is a rehash of the one in the first Grease, and it lacks the grit of the original stage and movie versions. On the other hand, I actually like how that "uncool kid into cool kid" plot is handled here better. Sandy's transformation, both in the show and the movie, always seemed to happen too fast. (It's slightly better-explained in the movie's novelization.) Here, Michael's change from shy, smart Brit to hot biker is done far more gradually...and instead of just turning up in the last few minutes, it drives most of the film. And unlike Sandy, Michael's not asked to give up being smart. As Stephanie says at the end, she gets two for the price of one, a hot biker and a hot genius...and she likes him that way.
The numbers are a bigger problem. They range from one of the best opening numbers in a movie musical ("Back to School Again") and one of the funniest ("Reproduction"), to some of the most banal and silliest lyrics to ever appear in a movie musical ("Who's That Guy?," "Rock-A-Hula Luau"). My favorite number is the Pink Ladies' "Girls For All Seasons" in the Talent Show towards the end. I love all the detail put into this sequence. The costumes really do look like a group of teenage girls in 1961's idea of glamor. Mom says Sharon's March Shamrock costume, for instance, is based around an early 60s Girl Scout uniform - she says it looks exactly like the one she wore as child during the early 60s.
(Mom also swears her sex-ed classes used to get almost as wild as the "Reproduction" number.)
Monday, September 07, 2009
Hard Labor Day
First of all, Happy Labor Day to all Americans! I hope you didn't have to work.
My Labor Day didn't start out so bad. It was still cloudy and cool, but it never rained. Had hot oat bran cereal for breakfast and watched cartoons. Went down to Miss Ellie's side of the house to see how she wanted the sticks done tomorrow. She said to just pile them up and let neighbors take care of the rest. It's a really big job. Thanks to the recent storms, there's huge sticks all over the place. I'll do it tomorrow, while the laundry's in the dryer.
I wish I'd stayed with Miss Ellie. Work was a total zoo. There were lines across the aisles, even with half the registers open. I guess that's what happens when it suddenly drops to 75 degrees on Labor Day. There's nothing for anyone to do but shop! Not to mention, most kids are starting school, if not tomorrow, then sometime this week.
It was a royal pain in the rear end. People were cranky. People were annoying. The lines were so long, I panicked and was hard on myself all day. There's a sale on Coke where you have to buy four 12 packs of soda cans and one 6 packs of bottles...but the coupon for the sale doesn't state this clearly. More than three-quarters of the people who did that sale brought five 12 packs, not bothering to read the slightly smaller print that said "must buy bottles and 12 packs." Many people were not happy with that, either. People get so touchy about their soda.
First of all, Happy Labor Day to all Americans! I hope you didn't have to work.
My Labor Day didn't start out so bad. It was still cloudy and cool, but it never rained. Had hot oat bran cereal for breakfast and watched cartoons. Went down to Miss Ellie's side of the house to see how she wanted the sticks done tomorrow. She said to just pile them up and let neighbors take care of the rest. It's a really big job. Thanks to the recent storms, there's huge sticks all over the place. I'll do it tomorrow, while the laundry's in the dryer.
I wish I'd stayed with Miss Ellie. Work was a total zoo. There were lines across the aisles, even with half the registers open. I guess that's what happens when it suddenly drops to 75 degrees on Labor Day. There's nothing for anyone to do but shop! Not to mention, most kids are starting school, if not tomorrow, then sometime this week.
It was a royal pain in the rear end. People were cranky. People were annoying. The lines were so long, I panicked and was hard on myself all day. There's a sale on Coke where you have to buy four 12 packs of soda cans and one 6 packs of bottles...but the coupon for the sale doesn't state this clearly. More than three-quarters of the people who did that sale brought five 12 packs, not bothering to read the slightly smaller print that said "must buy bottles and 12 packs." Many people were not happy with that, either. People get so touchy about their soda.
Sunday, September 06, 2009
Fall's Early This Year
Awoke to a cool, sunny day, in the lower 70s. It's really too cool for this time of year, but it's still appreciated after August's 90-degree heat waves. Spent the morning listening to WOGL's Brunch With the Beatles show. In honor of the remastered re-releases of the 13 original British Beatles albums coming out on Wednesday, they ran a few songs from each of the albums. Though Sgt. Pepper is my favorite album overall, The White Album and Revolver have songs I like, too.
I tried calling Mom, but she was watching Skylar and Collyn. Oh well, I'd call back later. Called Rose and got her answering machine; not a big surprise. Made Dark Chocolate Chip Pancakes for breakfast and spent the rest of the morning working on DVD and video inventories.
Not surprisingly, work was a zoo today. There were lines at every line, and we actually had a lot of them open, for once. Some fairly grouchy customers, too, but no really major problems. There was no relief, but there was enough help by 5:30 for me to leave on time.
Sometime around 4PM, the sun disappeared behind clouds. It dropped into the 60s and became very windy. I had a bit of a rough ride home.
I did finally get a hold of Mom when I got home. She was making dinner for herself. Keefe went home with Anny and her kids and Daddy's out working for the week. Mom claims she and Dad are going to try to work things out, or at least call at truce until they can actually afford a divorce. We'll see how long this lasts after Dad gets home.
She seems to have had a good day with her grandsons. Collyn is old enough to eat solid foods and cruise around in his walker now. He and his older brother Skylar have a little game worked out when they visit Grandma. Skylar will hide behind the pantry door in the kitchen while his brother follows him. When Collyn gets close enough, Sky jumps out and yells "Boo!" Apparently, this makes his brother giggle with delight. That's so cute.
Skylar will be starting kindergarten at Margaret Mace School in North Wildwood next week. I hope it works out. He's not known for getting along with kids in a group setting. Mom says he behaves fine for her, but I know few kids who would misbehave for Mom.
Awoke to a cool, sunny day, in the lower 70s. It's really too cool for this time of year, but it's still appreciated after August's 90-degree heat waves. Spent the morning listening to WOGL's Brunch With the Beatles show. In honor of the remastered re-releases of the 13 original British Beatles albums coming out on Wednesday, they ran a few songs from each of the albums. Though Sgt. Pepper is my favorite album overall, The White Album and Revolver have songs I like, too.
I tried calling Mom, but she was watching Skylar and Collyn. Oh well, I'd call back later. Called Rose and got her answering machine; not a big surprise. Made Dark Chocolate Chip Pancakes for breakfast and spent the rest of the morning working on DVD and video inventories.
Not surprisingly, work was a zoo today. There were lines at every line, and we actually had a lot of them open, for once. Some fairly grouchy customers, too, but no really major problems. There was no relief, but there was enough help by 5:30 for me to leave on time.
Sometime around 4PM, the sun disappeared behind clouds. It dropped into the 60s and became very windy. I had a bit of a rough ride home.
I did finally get a hold of Mom when I got home. She was making dinner for herself. Keefe went home with Anny and her kids and Daddy's out working for the week. Mom claims she and Dad are going to try to work things out, or at least call at truce until they can actually afford a divorce. We'll see how long this lasts after Dad gets home.
She seems to have had a good day with her grandsons. Collyn is old enough to eat solid foods and cruise around in his walker now. He and his older brother Skylar have a little game worked out when they visit Grandma. Skylar will hide behind the pantry door in the kitchen while his brother follows him. When Collyn gets close enough, Sky jumps out and yells "Boo!" Apparently, this makes his brother giggle with delight. That's so cute.
Skylar will be starting kindergarten at Margaret Mace School in North Wildwood next week. I hope it works out. He's not known for getting along with kids in a group setting. Mom says he behaves fine for her, but I know few kids who would misbehave for Mom.
Saturday, September 05, 2009
A Beautiful Day For A Farm Market
It was a really perfect September day, lower 80s, sunny, and no humidity at all. I'm glad I was able to get up early enough to make my farm market/yard sale run...and the weather was nice enough to bring out some yard sales. I haven't seen any since before I went on vacation.
The Farm Market was packed to the gills. Not surprising, given this is Labor Day Weekend. Many people were probably picking up salad fixings, corn, and vegetables for the grill. Blackberries were gone, but I did buy peaches, carrots, tomatoes, Italian plums, a small green pepper, a cucumber, and zucchini.
As I mentioned, there were a couple of yard sales in Collingswood and Oaklyn this morning. I found some good stuff at a large multi-family sale on Kendall Boulevard in Oaklyn, down the street and around the corner from me. I don't normally buy clothes from yard sales, but I found a really, really nice LL Bean red-and-green sweater in a winter pattern that I loved. I also picked up a video of the Angela Landsbury TV musical Mrs. Santa Claus and a cassette copy of the Bruce Springsteen album Greetings From Asbury Park.
After I got home, I ate an early lunch, packed a snack, changed into my uniform, and headed to work. The Acme was busy, but it wasn't as bad as I'd thought it would be (I figured the lines would be across the aisles) and we had plenty of help. I guess everyone's waiting for tomorrow or Monday.
Jodie called me on my cell phone while I was on break and asked me if I wanted to come over to Dad's house for dinner. I had no plans for after work other than showing Miss Ellie the dead branch leaning over my porch, so sure!
My landlady Eleanor is a very nice woman, but she's also in her 70s and not able to get around as well as she used to. I help her out as much as I can. She did finally get far enough up the stairs that she saw that the rotted tree limb leaning over my porch is too thick to be clipped and too heavy for even her grandsons to handle. She really is going to have to call help for that one. We were able to fix an outside lightbulb that blew out, though.
Changed and went over to Dad and Uncle Ken's as soon as Miss Ellie was safely inside. Jodie made a huge dinner of barbecue pork ribs on the grill that were so tender, they fell off the bone, roasted potatoes with Uncle Ken's fresh rosemary, grilled asparagus, romaine and cucumber salad, corn, and tiny corn-on-the-cobs from Dad's own corn stalks. They said they originally invited Rose and Jessa as well, but they never appeared. I ate a ton and had a nice chat with Dad and Jodie, and even brought some home for the rest of the weekend.
It was a really perfect September day, lower 80s, sunny, and no humidity at all. I'm glad I was able to get up early enough to make my farm market/yard sale run...and the weather was nice enough to bring out some yard sales. I haven't seen any since before I went on vacation.
The Farm Market was packed to the gills. Not surprising, given this is Labor Day Weekend. Many people were probably picking up salad fixings, corn, and vegetables for the grill. Blackberries were gone, but I did buy peaches, carrots, tomatoes, Italian plums, a small green pepper, a cucumber, and zucchini.
As I mentioned, there were a couple of yard sales in Collingswood and Oaklyn this morning. I found some good stuff at a large multi-family sale on Kendall Boulevard in Oaklyn, down the street and around the corner from me. I don't normally buy clothes from yard sales, but I found a really, really nice LL Bean red-and-green sweater in a winter pattern that I loved. I also picked up a video of the Angela Landsbury TV musical Mrs. Santa Claus and a cassette copy of the Bruce Springsteen album Greetings From Asbury Park.
After I got home, I ate an early lunch, packed a snack, changed into my uniform, and headed to work. The Acme was busy, but it wasn't as bad as I'd thought it would be (I figured the lines would be across the aisles) and we had plenty of help. I guess everyone's waiting for tomorrow or Monday.
Jodie called me on my cell phone while I was on break and asked me if I wanted to come over to Dad's house for dinner. I had no plans for after work other than showing Miss Ellie the dead branch leaning over my porch, so sure!
My landlady Eleanor is a very nice woman, but she's also in her 70s and not able to get around as well as she used to. I help her out as much as I can. She did finally get far enough up the stairs that she saw that the rotted tree limb leaning over my porch is too thick to be clipped and too heavy for even her grandsons to handle. She really is going to have to call help for that one. We were able to fix an outside lightbulb that blew out, though.
Changed and went over to Dad and Uncle Ken's as soon as Miss Ellie was safely inside. Jodie made a huge dinner of barbecue pork ribs on the grill that were so tender, they fell off the bone, roasted potatoes with Uncle Ken's fresh rosemary, grilled asparagus, romaine and cucumber salad, corn, and tiny corn-on-the-cobs from Dad's own corn stalks. They said they originally invited Rose and Jessa as well, but they never appeared. I ate a ton and had a nice chat with Dad and Jodie, and even brought some home for the rest of the weekend.
Friday, September 04, 2009
Summer Magic
Started off the day with hot oat bran cereal and a peach for breakfast, then headed to the Acme for this week's paycheck and grocery shopping. The Acme was busy, but not too bad, considering that we're now officially into Labor Day Weekend. I had a lot of luck with sales (likely also thanks to Labor Day Weekend). Got whole-wheat pasta, Fiber One Yogurt packs and granola bars (had coupons for both), chicken drumsticks, Multi-Grain Cheerios, brown sugar, regular white sugar (the Acme's cheap brand), and a whole-wheat roll for the meatball sandwiches I planned on having tonight.
This time, I went straight home instead of to the mall behind the Acme. Put everything away, then had a quick lunch of yogurt, a granola bar, and a small apple. I've been overstuffing myself lately, and I wasn't really that hungry.
It was still a pretty decent day, a little hotter and more humid than it was this week, but far from unbearable, and cloudy on and off. I decided to go for a long bike ride, my first since before vacation. First stop was the PNC Bank on the White Horse Pike to deposit my paycheck. Not surprisingly, given the nice day, it was dead and I was in and out.
Willie the Woodsman and Wife's, a gift shop in Audubon that carries WebKinz, had mentioned to their e-mail list that they now had the WebKinz Turkey and Lava Dragon. I haven't seen them anywhere else, including the Collingswood Variety Store and FYE. I want a turkey for my Thanksgiving displays...and they're just plain cute besides, with their bright feathers and goofy, endearing expression.
I rode around Audubon a bit after that. Stopped at the Audubon Library to see if it was finally open. The last time I went over there, it was closed for an extended vacation between July 4th and the 19th. Not this time; I had no problems getting in. Like the Oaklyn Library, it's housed in a late 50's-era brick building. It's a little bigger than the Oaklyn Library and generally in better shape, with a brightly painted and fairly extensive children's section. The adult fiction collection is larger than Oaklyn's, but not as large as the Haddon Township Branch Library or the Haddon Heights Library.
Briefly said "hi" to the owner of Desserts By Design, but didn't stick around after that. It was getting hotter by the minute, and I wanted to save some money for the Farm Market tomorrow. I rode over the train bridge and into Oaklyn.
I originally intended to stop at Doria's Deli for a drink, as I was very thirsty by that point, but they were closed for vacation until after Labor Day. Went next-door and got a treat from Leo's Yum-Yum Ice Cream instead. Their signature dish, (called Yum-Yum) is something like a somewhat creamier water ice. I had pina colada. There were no chunks of pineapple and coconut like I was hoping there would be, but it did taste like a real pina colada, up to an including a surprising note of rum. (Likely extract. I hope.)
With not much money left, I just rode home after I finished my Yum-Yum. Spent the rest of the afternoon doing stuff around the apartment, including dusting and doing last month's budget. The dusting didn't take too long. It just wasn't that dusty this month, probably because the windows have been closed for most of it. I had more gunk in the air conditioner than around the house.
I had my dinner of a meatball sandwich on whole-wheat crusty Vienna roll with fried onions and peppers and a salad while watching Summer Magic and enjoying the magic of a soft late-summer evening. A breeze wafted in from the screen door, ruffling my bangs and cooling my forehead.
Mrs. Carey's right. There is something special about a summer's evening. "I feel sorry for city people tonight..."
Oh, and meet my WebKinz Turkey, Plymouth! I may put him outside or start a farm/fall room for him; haven't decided yet.
Started off the day with hot oat bran cereal and a peach for breakfast, then headed to the Acme for this week's paycheck and grocery shopping. The Acme was busy, but not too bad, considering that we're now officially into Labor Day Weekend. I had a lot of luck with sales (likely also thanks to Labor Day Weekend). Got whole-wheat pasta, Fiber One Yogurt packs and granola bars (had coupons for both), chicken drumsticks, Multi-Grain Cheerios, brown sugar, regular white sugar (the Acme's cheap brand), and a whole-wheat roll for the meatball sandwiches I planned on having tonight.
This time, I went straight home instead of to the mall behind the Acme. Put everything away, then had a quick lunch of yogurt, a granola bar, and a small apple. I've been overstuffing myself lately, and I wasn't really that hungry.
It was still a pretty decent day, a little hotter and more humid than it was this week, but far from unbearable, and cloudy on and off. I decided to go for a long bike ride, my first since before vacation. First stop was the PNC Bank on the White Horse Pike to deposit my paycheck. Not surprisingly, given the nice day, it was dead and I was in and out.
Willie the Woodsman and Wife's, a gift shop in Audubon that carries WebKinz, had mentioned to their e-mail list that they now had the WebKinz Turkey and Lava Dragon. I haven't seen them anywhere else, including the Collingswood Variety Store and FYE. I want a turkey for my Thanksgiving displays...and they're just plain cute besides, with their bright feathers and goofy, endearing expression.
I rode around Audubon a bit after that. Stopped at the Audubon Library to see if it was finally open. The last time I went over there, it was closed for an extended vacation between July 4th and the 19th. Not this time; I had no problems getting in. Like the Oaklyn Library, it's housed in a late 50's-era brick building. It's a little bigger than the Oaklyn Library and generally in better shape, with a brightly painted and fairly extensive children's section. The adult fiction collection is larger than Oaklyn's, but not as large as the Haddon Township Branch Library or the Haddon Heights Library.
Briefly said "hi" to the owner of Desserts By Design, but didn't stick around after that. It was getting hotter by the minute, and I wanted to save some money for the Farm Market tomorrow. I rode over the train bridge and into Oaklyn.
I originally intended to stop at Doria's Deli for a drink, as I was very thirsty by that point, but they were closed for vacation until after Labor Day. Went next-door and got a treat from Leo's Yum-Yum Ice Cream instead. Their signature dish, (called Yum-Yum) is something like a somewhat creamier water ice. I had pina colada. There were no chunks of pineapple and coconut like I was hoping there would be, but it did taste like a real pina colada, up to an including a surprising note of rum. (Likely extract. I hope.)
With not much money left, I just rode home after I finished my Yum-Yum. Spent the rest of the afternoon doing stuff around the apartment, including dusting and doing last month's budget. The dusting didn't take too long. It just wasn't that dusty this month, probably because the windows have been closed for most of it. I had more gunk in the air conditioner than around the house.
I had my dinner of a meatball sandwich on whole-wheat crusty Vienna roll with fried onions and peppers and a salad while watching Summer Magic and enjoying the magic of a soft late-summer evening. A breeze wafted in from the screen door, ruffling my bangs and cooling my forehead.
Mrs. Carey's right. There is something special about a summer's evening. "I feel sorry for city people tonight..."
Oh, and meet my WebKinz Turkey, Plymouth! I may put him outside or start a farm/fall room for him; haven't decided yet.
Thursday, September 03, 2009
End-Of-Summer Balance
Tried the first Thursday 9:30 Yogawood class today. I was one of only two people who did. First of all, the class is brand new. It may not have been well-advertised. Second, many students started school today. The mothers who normally come in the morning were concentrating on getting their kids together for the big day instead. Third, we're coming up on Labor Day weekend, and anyone who isn't going back to school may have already left town or was getting ready to do so. The other woman was an older lady whose youngest child had just gone off to college, and she needed something to take her mind off empty nest feelings.
We mostly worked on standing poses, like Warrior. I'm not bad at Warrior, but sometimes, I just can't seem to get my arms or legs in the right places. They always seem to want to stick out.
Browsed in the library and the Collingswood Variety Store after class let out, then went to the Friends In Deed Thrift Shop to say "hi" to Erica and see if she had anything good. I didn't find anything interesting there, so I headed home. Spent the rest of the morning baking Double Ginger Cookies. I put too much molasses in to make up for being out of brown sugar.
I had time to make a summer vegetable and cheese omelet for lunch after the cookies were done and enjoy the gorgeous weather we're still having. It was a little cloudy this morning, but it cleared nicely by the time I was working on my cookies and was pleasantly in the upper 70s again.
Work was very busy. This was hardly surprising. Not only is it the beginning of the month, but as I mentioned, many kids return to school today, and anyone who isn't preparing for school is getting ready for the Labor Day Weekend. I was in and out with no problems other than a lot of sneezing. My nose has been misbehaving for most of this afternoon, running like crazy no matter how many allergy pills I take.
Tried the first Thursday 9:30 Yogawood class today. I was one of only two people who did. First of all, the class is brand new. It may not have been well-advertised. Second, many students started school today. The mothers who normally come in the morning were concentrating on getting their kids together for the big day instead. Third, we're coming up on Labor Day weekend, and anyone who isn't going back to school may have already left town or was getting ready to do so. The other woman was an older lady whose youngest child had just gone off to college, and she needed something to take her mind off empty nest feelings.
We mostly worked on standing poses, like Warrior. I'm not bad at Warrior, but sometimes, I just can't seem to get my arms or legs in the right places. They always seem to want to stick out.
Browsed in the library and the Collingswood Variety Store after class let out, then went to the Friends In Deed Thrift Shop to say "hi" to Erica and see if she had anything good. I didn't find anything interesting there, so I headed home. Spent the rest of the morning baking Double Ginger Cookies. I put too much molasses in to make up for being out of brown sugar.
I had time to make a summer vegetable and cheese omelet for lunch after the cookies were done and enjoy the gorgeous weather we're still having. It was a little cloudy this morning, but it cleared nicely by the time I was working on my cookies and was pleasantly in the upper 70s again.
Work was very busy. This was hardly surprising. Not only is it the beginning of the month, but as I mentioned, many kids return to school today, and anyone who isn't preparing for school is getting ready for the Labor Day Weekend. I was in and out with no problems other than a lot of sneezing. My nose has been misbehaving for most of this afternoon, running like crazy no matter how many allergy pills I take.
Wednesday, September 02, 2009
Woman at Work
I was called in around 8:30 and went in at noon. Spent the morning doing what I'd planned on doing anyway, washing the windows, dusting the molding around the windows, and updating my Firefox browser. It was another gorgeous day, sunny and cool. Good for cleaning.
It was a good thing work was steady for most of the day. It's the beginning of the month and there were a few obnoxious customers and a few chop shop people, but there was otherwise no problems, and my relief was on time.
I was called in around 8:30 and went in at noon. Spent the morning doing what I'd planned on doing anyway, washing the windows, dusting the molding around the windows, and updating my Firefox browser. It was another gorgeous day, sunny and cool. Good for cleaning.
It was a good thing work was steady for most of the day. It's the beginning of the month and there were a few obnoxious customers and a few chop shop people, but there was otherwise no problems, and my relief was on time.
Tuesday, September 01, 2009
Shine Like the Sun
What a beautiful day! There couldn't be a nicer day, 70 degrees, sunny and breezy, without a cloud in the sky. I couldn't wait to start it. I was up at quarter of 7 and out to do the laundry by 9. Dolores was just eating breakfast when I came in. Dad and Uncle Ken were doing chores. Jessa wasn't home. She left for college last Thursday and is likely enjoying her new-found freedom. I'm glad she's doing well in college, but I'm going to miss seeing her at home all the time. She's a good kid.
I ran to CVS for eggs while the laundry was in the dryer, brought them home, then went back to Uncle Ken's for the laundry. Unlike last week, there were no problems with the laundry, and it was in and out. I said "hi" to Dolores' daughter and her baby girl May, then went home with my laundry basket.
I put everything away, then had a simple lunch of carrot sticks, peanut butter, and light raspberry yogurt. I did a few chores around the house. Made my bed, prepared my rent, left the rent at Miss Ellie's side of the house, then jumped on my bed and headed to Haddon Township for this week's library volunteering session.
The adult DVDs weren't bad, but the kids' DVDs were absolutely awful. Not only were there a ton of them to return, but the new DVD case only seems to have encouraged more people to just shove items wherever they feel like it. I was able to help several children, too. One little girl was looking for princesses. She was thrilled with Little Mermaid 2 and Barbie and the Magic of the Pegasus. Another girl wanted Thomas the Tank Engine.
There weren't as many regular DVDs to put away today, which may have been just as well. It was too nice to spend all day in the library. After a quick stop at Super Fresh for English muffins (they had the $1.99 whole wheat muffins this time), I waited to get across the now-rush-hour traffic on Cuthbert, then headed for the Newton River Park for a nice, long bike ride.
The park was never so gorgeous. The river sparkled like emeralds in the sun. The leaves and grass are still the brightest green imaginable. They're usually at least a little brown by this time of years after months in the hot sun, but all this rain has had some positive results. I've never seen the trees look lovelier. All the moss and bushes in our front yard are still a vibrant shade of green, too. It's like walking through the Emerald City every time I go in my front door. I feel like Dorothy.
After I got in from my ride, I swept the porch. There was a considerable collection of nuts and parts of nuts after the storms last weekend, and I haven't gotten a chance to clean up after them until today. I don't want to encourage ants again.
After I swept, I took advantage of the unusually cool weather to do something I haven't really been able to do for a while at home - bake! I made a Blackberry-Peach Grunt from Alton Brown's I'm Just Here For More Food. The "Grunt" was basically what Betty Crocker calls a cobbler with butter instead of shortening. (Alton does have a cobbler recipe, but it uses pie crust, which I wasn't going to make.) I didn't have enough blackberries, so I added one of those big, fat farm market peaches. Good ol' Alton. It's the best thing I've made in ages, sweet and tender, yet bursting with warm summer flavor. I used to make cobblers a lot in late summer and early fall, using the season fruit after it got cool enough to bake. Cobblers are some of my favorite desserts. Easy to make, and a wonderful way to make use of bruised and/or old fruit.
Also took advantage of the nice weather to make turkey meatballs. I haven't had simple old spaghetti and meatballs in ages. It felt wonderful...a great way to end a lovely day.
What a beautiful day! There couldn't be a nicer day, 70 degrees, sunny and breezy, without a cloud in the sky. I couldn't wait to start it. I was up at quarter of 7 and out to do the laundry by 9. Dolores was just eating breakfast when I came in. Dad and Uncle Ken were doing chores. Jessa wasn't home. She left for college last Thursday and is likely enjoying her new-found freedom. I'm glad she's doing well in college, but I'm going to miss seeing her at home all the time. She's a good kid.
I ran to CVS for eggs while the laundry was in the dryer, brought them home, then went back to Uncle Ken's for the laundry. Unlike last week, there were no problems with the laundry, and it was in and out. I said "hi" to Dolores' daughter and her baby girl May, then went home with my laundry basket.
I put everything away, then had a simple lunch of carrot sticks, peanut butter, and light raspberry yogurt. I did a few chores around the house. Made my bed, prepared my rent, left the rent at Miss Ellie's side of the house, then jumped on my bed and headed to Haddon Township for this week's library volunteering session.
The adult DVDs weren't bad, but the kids' DVDs were absolutely awful. Not only were there a ton of them to return, but the new DVD case only seems to have encouraged more people to just shove items wherever they feel like it. I was able to help several children, too. One little girl was looking for princesses. She was thrilled with Little Mermaid 2 and Barbie and the Magic of the Pegasus. Another girl wanted Thomas the Tank Engine.
There weren't as many regular DVDs to put away today, which may have been just as well. It was too nice to spend all day in the library. After a quick stop at Super Fresh for English muffins (they had the $1.99 whole wheat muffins this time), I waited to get across the now-rush-hour traffic on Cuthbert, then headed for the Newton River Park for a nice, long bike ride.
The park was never so gorgeous. The river sparkled like emeralds in the sun. The leaves and grass are still the brightest green imaginable. They're usually at least a little brown by this time of years after months in the hot sun, but all this rain has had some positive results. I've never seen the trees look lovelier. All the moss and bushes in our front yard are still a vibrant shade of green, too. It's like walking through the Emerald City every time I go in my front door. I feel like Dorothy.
After I got in from my ride, I swept the porch. There was a considerable collection of nuts and parts of nuts after the storms last weekend, and I haven't gotten a chance to clean up after them until today. I don't want to encourage ants again.
After I swept, I took advantage of the unusually cool weather to do something I haven't really been able to do for a while at home - bake! I made a Blackberry-Peach Grunt from Alton Brown's I'm Just Here For More Food. The "Grunt" was basically what Betty Crocker calls a cobbler with butter instead of shortening. (Alton does have a cobbler recipe, but it uses pie crust, which I wasn't going to make.) I didn't have enough blackberries, so I added one of those big, fat farm market peaches. Good ol' Alton. It's the best thing I've made in ages, sweet and tender, yet bursting with warm summer flavor. I used to make cobblers a lot in late summer and early fall, using the season fruit after it got cool enough to bake. Cobblers are some of my favorite desserts. Easy to make, and a wonderful way to make use of bruised and/or old fruit.
Also took advantage of the nice weather to make turkey meatballs. I haven't had simple old spaghetti and meatballs in ages. It felt wonderful...a great way to end a lovely day.
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