We are Family

Started off a gorgeous spring day with Chocolate-Chocolate Chip Pancakes and the Beatles on WOGL. "The Beatles' Break-Up" was the theme today, which mostly meant songs from The White Album, Let It Be, and Abby Road. Fine by me. The whole break-up thing got ugly, of course, but those are some of my favorite Beatles albums.

Called Mom after breakfast. We didn't talk for very long. She and Dad were planning on meeting Rose, Keefe, and me around 7:30 at Applebee's in Vineland, in front of the Cumberland Mall. They wanted to treat Rose and me to a birthday dinner, especially since Daddy hadn't seen us in a while.

I got in and out of work on time. Work wasn't bad today. It was busy all day, but never overwhelming, about par for a normal, non-football-season Sunday afternoon. We sold a lot of cakes and party food. In addition to a lot of sports action at this time of year (the Flyers just made the playoffs and the Phillies started last week), there's also many birthdays in April, including my own on Wednesday. There were no major problems, and my relief was on time (which, given he was one of the young men who are usually late coming from a second job, I appreciated).

Went straight home after work. I was going to do some work online until Rose and Keefe picked me up, but it was just too nice to sit inside for very long. I changed into shorts and a t-shirt and went for a walk in Newton River Park. It was a lovely day for it. The park was crowded with people boating, having picnics and birthday parties, walking dogs, pushing strollers, and riding bikes.

I worked a little on editing this month's role-play after I got back in. Rose said she and Keefe would pick me up around quarter of 6, but it ended up being more like quarter after 6. They'd gone to the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia to see something called "The Body Room," an exhibit about the human body. Thing was, all of the displays were taken from actual, preserved human bodies, some of which had been taken apart for the display. I understand that they were excited about it and it's helpful to science and nice to know how our bodies run...but it's kind of gross to hear people talk about it, especially half-way to going out to dinner.

They got so caught up talking, Rose missed the exit for the Cumberland Mall. She took the next one, which landed us in Millville. They turned Rose's GPS on to get us back on the right track. Thankfully, it didn't take us too long to figure out where we were going. Ironically, we arrived around quarter after 7-7:30, which is when we were originally going to meet in the first place.

We had a nice dinner. Mom and Dad were both in exceptionally good moods, and so were Rose and Keefe. Rose and Keefe had spent their Saturday joining Audubon's city-wide yard sale. They'd apparently made a tidy sum from it, too, including selling a stack of Rose's old law textbooks for somewhere between $50 and $60. Rose has been craving milkshakes and took Keefe to the best milkshake place around, the Pop Shop in Collingswood.

We shared an appetizer sampler and a bowl of spinach-artichoke dip. I had the Garlic Herb Chicken. Dad had a small strip steak. Rose had the Grilled Portobello Chicken. Keefe had a huge chicken Parmesan (he was the only one who couldn't finish his). Mom had the Fiesta Lime Chicken, though she claimed it was too spicy for her. Afterwards, everyone but me had coffee; I had tea.

Rose and I had a nice chat about her problems and mine going home. I don't often get to discuss my problems with many people who aren't a psychologist or a customer. Rose basically said that I need to be less hard on myself and more accepting, and that I need to push myself further and get past my fears. She says she's doing well with the pregnancy, after having put her foot down about Craig trying to push her into doing too much last month. She does have a man, two dogs, and a cat to take care of, not to mention trying to finish law school on top of it.

We're going to try to get together on Friday to pick a comforter for my birthday, which I really need.

"Grease" Is Still the Word

I slept in this morning and just watched Donald Duck cartoons and ate oatmeal for breakfast before it was time to head for work. It was a lovely day for a ride, too. It was windy, but the sun was back out. The wind kept it warm without getting as ridiculously hot as it did last week. It's too early for that.

The nice weather kept people out of the Acme, too. It was dead when I arrived, and while it did get busy enough that I wasn't bored this time, it never got really crazy. My relief was right on time, and I had no problems picking up oatmeal, milk, and tea. (I forgot the tea yesterday and wouldn't have been able to fit the oatmeal and milk with everything else on my bike.)

I changed shirts after I arrived at home, grabbed my jacket and purse, and headed back out again. I deposited my paycheck in the ATM machine, then walked down to WaWa for a soda fountain Cherry-Chocolate Coke Zero. It was nice to be able to enjoy the lovely weather. There were lots of other people out and about, too - bike riders, a gaggle of teenage boys on their skateboards (who really shouldn't have been riding them on busy West Clinton Avenue), people taking their toddlers for a ride in strollers, dog walkers, people chatting on porches and working in their yards.

When I got in, I baked Banana-Dried Cranberry Muffins while watching the first Grease. Yes, Grease is still the word, and it's still a lot of fun...especially now that the widescreen DVD allows you to see more of the numbers. Every kid who grew up in the 70s, 80s, and 90s probably knows the plot by now. Sweet Australian girl Sandy falls for hot greaser Danny in Rydell High School in 1959, but his buddies think she's a little too sweet. Danny tries to show Sandy that he can be the upstanding guy she wants, but Sandy might be having her own second thoughts on being "too pure to be pink"...

What I like about the first movie is the 70s grit that has attached itself to this supposedly 50s tale. They may be adults, but they talk like teenagers do, even now. There's a surprising amount of sex talk that went right over my head as a kid but comes off as pretty realistic now, including Rizzo's dealing with her little problem towards the end. I also liked Sandy being Australian; I know it was probably their way of writing Olivia Newton-John's obvious accent into the script, but it actually makes more sense. In the book and original show, Sandy's just from a Catholic school in the same town. Here, she's REALLY a fish-out-of-water, not just from a different faith but a totally different country and way of living.

City of Brotherly Love

Today did not start well. First of all, I overslept and never did get to yoga. My cookie tin's been empty for days now, but it's been too hot to fill it. It finally dropped back to the 60s this morning (where it belongs at this time of year), so I thought I'd make Oatmeal-Coconut Cookies. I tried to toast the oats and coconut, but the coconut burned. They ended up being Oatmeal Cookies. I didn't even get a chance to put them away before I had to race to work.

Work was busier than yesterday, but still not overwhelming. The front desk ran out of money when I tried to get my paycheck cashed, but I overreacted and got one of the managers upset. I didn't mean to do that! It's my impatience acting up again. I did get it cashed, and she seemed ok later, but I still wish I'd kept my big mouth shut.

There were some annoying customers, too. While we stopped selling the stickers for the free pots and pans last week, customers can redeem them until the 15th. While I like the idea of giving out pots and pans, I think the way they went about it was all wrong. The stickers were hard to keep track of, a pain to distribute (we had to give them out from rolls in our registers and count every single one), and annoying to return. People put them all on the same card when they're buying multiple pans, or they get upset when they can't get the stickers back when they have too many for the pan they want.

The next time they want to do a promotion like this, they have to think of a better way to keep track of collecting money for it. Maybe they should use the store sales cards, like for the turkeys and hams around holiday times.

Thankfully, my relief was right on time. I was doing my weekly grocery shopping when I got a call on my cell phone from my sister Rose. She'd called me yesterday, and I called her back first thing this morning. Our 17-year-old brother Keefe was visiting her this weekend. Did I want to show him my place and have a chat with him? Sure! I was almost done, anyway. (Ironically, Rose called me as I was looking for a birthday card for her. Her birthday was Wednesday.)

I finished my shopping quickly and hurried home. Called Rose right when I got in, and she and Keefe appeared 20 minutes later. Keefe and I had a nice, long chat, mostly about our parents and my apartment and how close he is to our sister Anny and her kids and how much Mom and Dad are driving him nuts, especially Dad. He said he and Dad had a fight the other day. He was supposed to have worked on my stepfather's fishing boat this week, but Dad left before he got out of school for spring break, and he really needs the money.

Rose and Craig picked him up about an hour later, just long enough for us to chat and listen to one of my Led Zeppelin records. (Keefe's a huge Led Zeppelin fan.) Apparently, they're going to order Indian food for dinner. (I don't know from where.) Keefe gave me a bag of gifts from Mom on my way out. She gave me a small bag of Jelly Belly jelly beans (I love those), a container of chocolate-covered sunflower seeds (I love sunflower seeds, too), a huge Godiva chocolate bar, and a dress, a nightgown, a pair of shoes, and a pair of socks for my American Girls dolls. (The Michael's where she works sells the Springfield Collection line of 18-inch dolls and clothes.)

And I got a really good schedule next week, speaking of my birthday. Nothing later than 5, no really long hours (nothing more than six hours), Monday and my birthday on Wednesday off.

All-Day Work-a-thon

Yup, today was my 8 1/2 hour shift. It was BOOOORRRIIINGGG! We were dead for almost the entire day. There was one short spurt around 1PM and another around 6, but other than that, I spent a lot of time standing around the register hating my job. Didn't help that I had a massive headache for most of the day and was really tired. I did have three breaks, including one half-hour lunch, but I didn't get the last break until about 45 minutes before my shift was done.

On the other hand, there were no major problems with the customers we did have. One woman fussed when she thought the stickers on the rotisserie chicken meant they were $2.00 (they're $6.99), but other than that, nothing. And my relief was that kid who is always late coming in from work; he was supposed to have arrived at 7, but didn't show until 20 minutes later...which meant I inadvertently got off 10 minutes early.

I even managed to get the budget done this morning before work. Yes, I did spend an awful lot last month, including more than usual on food. First of all, though, I got that check from the Union. Second, I ate at home for most of the week I was on vacation, which I don't usually do.

Keeping Cool

Started out another unseasonably hot day with work. The Acme was the quietest I've seen in ages. It was dead, not even on-and-off this time. It was just beginning to pick up a little when my relief arrived (on time). I've been craving ice cream, and the Acme ice cream brand, Stone Ridge Creamery, just put out four new flavors created by Acme employees via a contest last fall. I ended up with the most interesting-looking of the four, Red Velvet Cake.

When I got home, I changed into a tank-top, shorts, and sandals, and went right back out again. I had a small package I wanted to send my best friend Lauren for Easter. The Oaklyn Post Office was air-conditioned, and more importantly, totally empty. That's the first time I've seen that place empty in ages!

I just hung out online for a while after I got in and did some online research. My best friend Lauren will be visiting here from May 30th to June 5th, and I wanted to find out when some places were open and get some ideas for something to do on Memorial Day. It'll be a lot easier to plan our vacation here than planning a trip in New England is, since there's a lot less driving and traveling involved. I'm hoping to spend three of our days together taking Lauren to all my favorite haunts. One will be spent in Haddonfield and the Deptford Mall, one in Atlantic City, and one taking in the sights of downtown Philadelphia.

I got bored around 5:30 and just went for a walk down Goff Avenue, over to West Clinton, and back up to Manor. Though it was still warm then, probably about 85, it was also very windy. The wind felt so nice and cool! There were lots of people out and about, also enjoying the nice day. A mother and father helped their little girl ride her bike for the first time. Kids played baseball and basketball on their front lawns and patios and rode their bikes across the empty Vending Machine Building lot on West Clinton.

By the way, I ended up with two cooling desserts tonight. That Jello mold salad I made yesterday just would not set properly, no matter how long I left it in the fridge. No matter. I poured half of it into a pan and slid the pan in the freezer for Lime-Coconut-Pineapple Ice. The other half became smoothies!

And that Stone Ridge Red Velvet Cake Ice Cream is to die for. It was the first-prize-winning idea...and I can understand why. It really tastes like red velvet cake, from the "red velvet" chocolate ice cream and vanilla swirls to the cream cheese icing swirls. The calories aren't too bad, but it's fairly fattening, probably due to the cream cheese, so this will be reserved for special occasions.

Spring Into Summer

It was too darn hot when I awoke this morning, already in the 70s at quarter after 9. When I headed out with my big bag of thrift shop donations around 11, it was at least 85, sunny, and windless. This is really crazy. It did get this hot last year in April, but not until later in the month.

I kept my running around quick. I just dropped the bag of donations off at the thrift shop and said "hi" to my friend Erica. The last thing I need is more thrift shop junk. Went to the Collingswood Library for an hour, then rode straight over to the Haddon Township Library for volunteering. I returned DVDs and kids' books at both places. Had a nice chat about my job frustration with one of the younger librarians at Haddon Township, too.

My next stop was the Bagel Shop in Westmont, my very favorite lunch spot. I had a Turkey, Swiss, Lettuce and Guacamole Sandwich on a Honey-Oat Bagel. They really overdid the guacamole, which made the bagel a bit difficult to hold. Other than that, it was quite tasty. I didn't get there until around 2, by which time the place was totally empty except for the TVs blaring CNN reporting about the mining disaster in West Virgina.

I went to the Dollar Tree next. I needed another basket, this time to organize the random items stacked on and under the shelf in my living room area closet. I went for a long ride in Newton River Park after leaving Westmont, partially to avoid the traffic on Cuthbert that made last week's library trip such a pain in the neck. Stopped very quickly at CVS; I was originally craving ice cream, but I didn't like their prices. I bought dried fruit and mouth wash, both of which were on sale.

Spent the rest of the afternoon continuing the spring cleaning, despite the heat. I'm trying my hardest to get rid of those darn ants. I swept out the areas under the sink where the pots and pans are and the "pantry," aka the two little shelves in the area behind the wooden partition, between the sink and the stove. It didn't seem to do a lot of good. I just found more ants on my bottle and can recycling canister, which I emptied and washed out.

And yes, I did organize my living room area closet. Both the living room and bedroom closets are a pretty good size, but I've just left them kind of messy until now. I used a larger round basket to hold the candles, wires, and other odds and ends that were on the shelf in the closet. Stashed the bucket with the cleaning supplies next to the basket, and the little sewing machine under them.

It might be just as well that I forgot to take out something for dinner, given how hot it was. An omelet with spring vegetables and pan-roasted Brussels sprouts worked just as well. I have a Jello-mold "salad" chilling in the refrigerator for dessert.

Sunshine State of New Jersey

Awoke to an utterly gorgeous, really too-warm day. It was windy, but otherwise as summer-like as we're going to get in early April, upper 70s and sunny. I managed to kick myself out of bed early. That left me with enough time before work to take down the Easter decorations and get them in the back room. (The general spring items will remain up until early June, after Lauren leaves.)

Not surprisingly, given the weather, work was steady but nowhere near overwhelmingly busy. First of all, I worked 10-2 and was long gone before the usual 4-6 rush hour chaos. Second, a lot of people may have taken one look at the sunshine and dashed off to the Jersey Shore. (And more's the pity if they did. The Shore is supposed to be ten degrees cooler for the entire week.) Fortunatly, those who remained seemed to be in good moods; there were a lot of parents taking their kids shopping, probably to give them something to do during their week off. My only problem today was the young man who is my relief is one of the kids with a second job who is always late. I shut down and just barely finished on time.

I made an extremely nasty discovery this morning as I left for work. Some feral cat or the other (there are tons in the neighborhood) had dropped the carcass of their last squirrel meal on my porch, near the steps, last night. It took me ten minutes to bring myself to even just knock the thing off the porch and bury it under the five million leaves in the backyard. It wasn't pretty.

The rest of the afternoon went far more quietly (and less disgustingly). I changed into a blouse, shorts, and sandals, grabbed some books, and headed to Dad's to do this week's laundry session. I've done it on Tuesdays for the past few months, but since I had off early today, I thought I'd do it without having to rush.

Dad was the only one home when I arrived. I just read Murder Has a Sweet Tooth for a while, then headed for the Oaklyn Library after the laundry went in the dryer.

The Oaklyn Library was slightly busier than the Acme. A couple of teenage girls showed up at the same time I did, looking for DVDs to amuse them during their week off. A large, plump fellow with a mustache and a young girl were behind the counter today. They didn't recognize me, probably because I don't usually volunteer in the afternoons. I don't know why they wanted my card when I returned my book. Can't they just return the book without the card? I guess they're both new.

It was too nice to be in the library for very long. Besides, my mouth got dry and I started coughing like crazy. That happens at work a lot, though not often elsewhere. I headed to WaWa next for a fountain soda with syrup (got a Raspberry-Chocolate Coke Zero), then went for a walk down the White Horse Pike and back to Dad's.

Uncle Ken, Dolores, and Jodie were all chatting on the porch when I arrived. It really was too nice of a day to be inside! I talked to them, then carried my laundry home.

The nice weather's supposed to continue through most of the week, which is a good thing. I have the rest of this week's library volunteering planned for tomorrow and more spring cleaning, too.

Easter In Never Land

I awoke too early to the warmest Easter we've had in...since I can remember. It was already in the 60s at 8AM. I tried to sleep longer, but I just couldn't bring myself to on Easter morning. Old habits die hard, I guess. I wrote in my journal, then..heard the phone ring.

It was Mom, beating me to the punch on a Sunday for once. She was having an enjoyably quiet Easter, just doing things around the house on her day off. My stepfather is out fishing, and Keefe went with Anny and her boys to the opening day of the Wildwood Boardwalk. Mom said she'd probably join them later.

I hung around the apartment for a little while longer. I made a Cranberry-Coconut Coffee Cake. (Next time, I think I'll add vanilla.) I watched The Easter Bunny Is Coming to Town and It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown. I had no idea when I was supposed to meet Dad and Jodie to go to Karen and Jim's house, so I headed there around quarter after 11.

Turns out I was too early. They weren't even dressed yet! I ran to CVS for contact solution, then came back and chatted with Uncle Ken and Dolores. As with last year, they were going to meet us later. So were Jodie's son TJ and his girlfriend Ashley. Alas, no Jessa this year - she'd opted to spend the day before going back to college with friends. Karen and Jim's daughter Taylere had apparently opted for the same, as had Jodie's younger son Jessie.

We finally drove up to Washington Township around quarter of 1. My older cousins Karen and Jim live in a brand-new housing development there, in a huge house with a big backyard. When we arrived, the older adults chatted while I played with Karen and Jim's son CJ in his swing set. Peter Pan is his new thing; all he wanted to do was fight pirates and find treasure, and I was more than happy to comply.

Around 2, CJ's best friend Craydon and his parents arrived. Apparently, the boys had planned on having a mini-Easter egg hunt in Karen and Jim's backyard. Karen and Craydon's mother hid plastic eggs filled with candy that had the boys' initials on them outside. There were 24, and each boy had half. If they found the other boys' egg, they could call the boy and trade them, or wait until they went inside. They were so funny, running all over the yard! Craydon's parents and I got some great shots of both boys searching for eggs.

I played with both boys at the swing set for a while, joined by Ashley. She turned out to be a very sweet young lady from Philadelphia who had left home at 17, worked in a Philly restaurant for a while, then decided she wanted to go back to school to study radiology. I had some nice chats with her after the boys decided to go back inside. TJ has good taste.

Craydon and his parents left for their own dinner at their house, then we had ours. It was a big one, too. Turkey, green salad with tomatoes and red peppers, green beans, stuffing, Dad's macaroni salad, and rolls. After dinner, we broke out Karen's cupcakes, the remaining bags of Easter candy from the boys' egg hunt, and my Orange Coconut Cream Mousse Pie for dessert. All were big hits. Karen's cupcakes probably just came from a mix, but they came out pretty well for someone who says she can't cook. I especially liked her heavy glaze-icing. That's one I can't manage.

While most of the family sat outside and talked politics, I sat inside with CJ and watched his newest interest, Return to Neverland. This is one of the better films to come out of Disney's obsession with making a sequel to everything in its vaults in the 90s and early 2000s. The year is now 1940, and London is getting smashed by the Blitz. Wendy Darling is all grown up, with children of her own. She's teaching her son Danny to believe in all the tales of Peter Pan that she loved, but she's having a hard time with her sensible daughter Jane. Jane took her father going to war very hard, and she's trying to act "grown up" and put "childish" things behind her, stories of Never Land included. It isn't until pirates turn up literally on her doorstep and she finds herself in the very place in her mother's stories that Jane begins to wonder if there's some truth to her mother's fantasies after all, and to fantasy and the very idea of childhood itself.

Peter Pan was never my favorite Disney movie, but in this case, it's not Disney's fault. It's more the source material. I'm not crazy about Peter Pan in general, which is a lot of fun (all the pirates and Indians), but also incredibly dated. I never liked Peter's character, either. I always found it grating. That may be why I enjoyed this so much. The focus here isn't really on Peter, despite the title. Jane's the main character; we see Never Land through her jaded eyes, though the eyes of a child who has seen unspeakable horrors and needs to re-learn what childhood is all about. The animation isn't bad for Disney's television division, either, which may be why this is one of the few Disney 90s sequels granted a theatrical release.

The older adults (and TJ) just seemed to talk forever, and I just got drowsier and drowsier, even after Return to Never Land ended. I watched TJ play with his Star Wars toys for a while, but even that got boring. It took forever to get Jodie and Dad out the door. I understand - we don't see all of our relatives every day, and TJ and Ashley have school - but I was tired and it all just seemed so LOOONG.

The drive home was long, too. It was fine until we hit barely-moving traffic on Route 55. We passed by police cars; there must have been an accident. Dad finally got off on the Deptford ramp, and we drove home from the Deptford Mall area.

I hope those of you who celebrate it had a wonderful Easter!

There's That Busy Girl!

It was surprisingly cloudy morning when I got up, though not the kind of clouds that end in rain. It was sort of on-and-off cloudy all day. Other than that, it was lovely again, 70s and breezy.

I spent the early morning working on the pudding pie I'm going to bring to Karen and Jim's tomorrow. I pulled out the French Vanilla Okecker Mousse mix, since that worked so well for the Super Bowl. I added fresh-squeezed orange juice to the thickened mousse, then mixed in coconut and poured it in the graham cracker crust. Once that had set, I piled Cool Whip over the mousse and sprinkled leftover coconut on that. I had a little taste of the orange-coconut mousse filling, and it was yummy. I can't wait to try the whole thing tomorrow!

It was such a nice day, I left for work a little early. I wanted to check out the first yard sales of the year. There were two moving sales. The big one was at West Oakland, just off Kendall Boulevard. It was the house with all the collectible dolls and toys and things. I've never really found anything I liked that I could carry home from there after the one 60s mohair bear I bought a few years ago, and today was no exception. The other yard sale also proved uninteresting.

Work was...on-and-off busy, never overwhelming. We had all but two registers opened, but there were never really any lines. I was surprised, and so were a lot of customers. It was mostly people doing their usual weekly shopping or picking up a few random things they need for tomorrow.

Maybe it was because we're out of hams. Or at least, we're out of the hams needed for the $8.00 off coupon. They still had the free hams and the turkey breasts, but those aren't big enough to feed many family gatherings. Oh, well. Some people did buy their meat today, but at least there were no real problems. I had no problems getting out on time.

After work, I did a little random shopping on my own. I badly needed ant bait and spray. The ants in my bathroom and kitchen were really bad again. I haven't been able to find the Ortho stuff Linda recommended. I bought Big Shot Ultra Ant and Roach Spray and Acme ant baits. (And it's a good thing I did work later. They were out of the Acme ant bait earlier today, but they were stocked by 5.)

Though I wasn't as tired as I figured I would be, I still went out for dinner as I originally planned. I ate at Fat Jack's Barbecue behind the Acme after a brief stop at FYE to look for Easter specials. (They didn't have any.) It was only quarter after five at that point. They weren't really busy. I had the Fat (Pita) Pocket sandwich again. It wasn't toasted, but it did seem to hold better than before. I only needed to have a little of it as a salad with French dressing.

I sprayed for ants when I got home and set up the baits, then watched Daffy Duck's Easter Egg-Citement and The First Easter Rabbit. I've discussed the former here on previous April entries, but the latter is new to DVD this spring. It's basically a Rankin-Bass cross between Frosty the Snowman and The Velveteen Rabbit. Stuffy the Rabbit was once a little girl's favorite toy, but her mother threw him out when she got scarlet fever. A fairy turns him into a real rabbit and anoints him the First Easter Rabbit, a symbol of springtime and Easter for children everywhere. Along with three other con-artist bunnies - and Santa Claus! - he determines to return to his little girl and bring her an Easter filled with joy.

My sisters and I absolutely loved this as kids. It was on the end of a tape of random kids' movies and specials we got off cable in the late 80s. We knew it just as "Stuffy," after the First Easter Rabbit himself. In fact, I didn't know the real title until I dug around for it online. Alas, time hasn't been kind to it. It's still kind of cute, but it feels rushed, and it would have been nice if the hero and the villain could have actually met each other.

Here's a segment from The First Easter Rabbit on YouTube (for some reason, I can't find the rest of it). I also found two more classic Easter shorts on YouTube, the Silly Symphony Funny Little Bunnies from 1934 and the Looney Tunes favorite Easter Yeggs, from I think the mid-late 40s from Bugs and Elmer's designs.

The First Easter Rabbit: The Situation
Funny Little Bunnies
Easter Yeggs

For those of you who won't be online tomorrow, I hope everyone who celebrates it has a great Easter!

Springtime Balance

I did get up in time for yoga class this morning. I thought it would help me handle the crowds this weekend better. It was a pain in the rear to get to, though. The chain came off my bike AGAIN half-way there, for the third time in less than a month. I walked the rest of the way, glad that it was sunny, breezy, and already in the 60s at quarter after 9 in the morning.

Almost being late to class was not a good thing. The class was super-full today, 19 people counting the teacher Micki. I barely got a spot! I guess everyone was celebrating being off for Good Friday. Unfortunately, I just could not concentrate after the bike incident and couldn't lift my fat body or get into half-moon poses. I really need to start working on my weak shoulders. They don't get the constant work-out that my legs do!

A few people helped me get the chain on the bike after class, including one guy who worked on the same block. It stayed on long enough for me to get home. I took the suggestion of one of the women in the class and oiled the chain after I arrived. It's worked so far, which is to say, the chain hasn't fallen off yet. I really need to try tightening it next week or seeing if I can ask my neighbor to do it.

I treated myself to coconut-lemon whole wheat pancakes for an early lunch. I normally have them for Sunday breakfast, but I'm going to have enough junk on Sunday. I'll have something simple on Sunday, like eggs.

Headed to work after lunch. Work wasn't as bad as I assumed it would be. I figured that, between people being off for Good Friday and this being the beginning of the month, it would be mobbed all day. Actually, it was only long-lines busy during the usual 4-6 rush hour. Some of the managers tried to ask me to stay until 8, but I wanted to get dinner and told them 7. It had calmed down so much by 6:30, I didn't even need to stay that long. My relief was (just) on time.

Except for one day, next week's schedule is an improvement over last week's. I have Easter Day off and Tuesday off again, and I work early enough every day that I'll be able to get a lot more done than I did this week. (Good thing - I plan on continuing spring cleaning.) The exception is Thursday, when I work my first 8 hour shift in months, 11AM-7:30PM. I don't know what's going on there, especially since most kids are off of school this week. It probably has to do with there being a LOT of people on vacation this week, including a quarter of the administrative staff.

No Foolin'

The gorgeous weather we've been hearing about over the past few days is no April Fool's joke. I awoke to at least 60 degrees at 8AM and sunshine, without the wind that was such a pain yesterday. It probably got into the mid-70s.

Spent an hour online browsing through Lands' End and LL Bean for work pants. I'm tired of buying pants that don't fit right, or have silly so-called "fashionable" wide legs that make it difficult to ride bikes or even walk properly. I want pants that sit at the waist, where pants are supposed to sit, and that will allow me to work without tripping. I think I'm going to buy these from Lands' End, the Women's Regular Knit Sports Pants. They're the "traditional" (meaning, where they belong) fit, and they'll be comfortable at work.

Work wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be when I arrived at 11. I figured we'd have long lines all day, but it was really more like on and off. There were a couple of really big orders and some fairly annoying people, but that may have had to do with this being the first day of the month. This included one older woman who had expected to pay with her Food Stamps card and discovered that she hadn't gotten her card refilled yet. Not everyone gets their Food Stamp money on the first day of the month. Good thing she didn't have a big order.

My relief was one of the young ladies who is always on time, and is early more often than not. This allowed me to do some early grocery shopping. I normally shop on Fridays, but that's only because I get paid that day and it's the first day of our sales. However, I got my vacation money two weeks ago, the Friday before my vacation...which means I don't get a paycheck this week. That's fine. I have plenty of money in the bank, even after leaving my rent with Miss Ellie this morning.

Besides, we're probably going to get slammed tomorrow. Many people have off early on Good Friday or are off all together, including most kids, and will be buying their Easter goodies. That's not counting this being the beginning of the month, or people who shop on the weekends because they work the rest of the week.

I mostly bought fruit and vegetables. Bought more ground chicken on sale, since those meatballs came out so nicely. Was out of dried cranberries, brown sugar, and granola bars. Found an Easter card for Uncle Ken and Dolores. Stocked up on yogurt. I bought flaked coconut, a graham cracker pie crust, and the Acme's generic Cool Whip for the Orange-Coconut Mousse Pie I plan on bringing to Karen and Jim's on Sunday. (I was debating making an Orange-Coconut Cake, but it looks like it's going to be too hot for baking by Saturday evening.)

It was so nice when I finally headed home, the sweater I wore this morning rode in my bike basket with the bag of groceries. Felt nice to ride home in my shirt sleeves in early April!