Spring Is Just Around the Corner

I slept in longer than I planned and didn't get to laundry until around 10:30-11AM. Good thing I didn't really have much laundry to do today and about three quarters of the train tracks are clear. There wasn't really anyone home, either. Dad was the only one, and he was in and out.

While the laundry was in the dryer, I ran to CVS, then headed down to Newton Avenue to do this week's Oaklyn Library volunteering. However, when I got there, I noted that the main room was filled with elderly people watching a video. I didn't want to be in the way, so I just went back to Dad and Uncle Ken's after that.

I did, however, get a rather nice little walk in. Saw many signs of spring, including the first green grass poking out of people's yards and the very first crocus popping out of the ground in front of the house across the street from the Oaklyn Library.

Sandy, my uncle's neighbor, met me when I was there. She likes to do creative things with the huge pinecones in the strip of land in front of the pool. When I arrived at home, she was stuffing pinecones in a chain link fence to make a shamrock design. We had a nice chat about my family, the area, and my sister Rose's upcoming baby shower. I also met another neighbor and discovered that yes, there are single people around here...I just don't see them much.

She ended up giving me a metal towel rack that she couldn't use. I discovered when I finally got home that it's the perfect size to hang my American Girls' doll dresses on. After I finished with the organizing, I put my clothes away, had a quick lunch, and headed back out, this time to the Haddon Township Library.

I wasn't at Haddon Township for too long. It was around 3:30 when I arrived, much later than I'm usually out and about. I just put away the large pile of DVDs. I ended up taking out two books (a book of slow cooker recipes and a book on womanhood) and three DVDs, another Barbie as special (this time one of the earliest ones, Rapunzel) and two classic movies, It Happened One Night and An Affair In Trinidad.

Made a quick stop at Super Fresh on the way home for two things I'd forgotten yesterday, tomato paste and low-sodium canned tomato sauce. I think both will come in very handy for slow-cooker stew recipes. Super Fresh was surprisingly quiet, given that it was five - rush hour time - when I arrived there.

I had originally planned on eating dinner out somewhere. The late hour and the threat of light rain (after it being blah and cloudy all day long) convinced me I was better off having dinner at home. I enjoyed a cheddar cheese omelet and steamed broccoli while watching Barbie As Rapunzel.

While an improvement over it's so-so predecessor The Nutcracker and the too-sugary Diamond Castle , it still isn't quite as good as the recent literary adaptations. First and foremost, like The Nutcracker, the CGI animation is AWFUL. Everything has a waxy look, even the animals. Yes, I know this is supposed to sell wax dolls, but that's still not an excuse. Second, this has very little to do with the actual fairy tale, even less-so than Nutcracker.

On the other hand, the plot, like Diamond Castle, revolved around the importance of art in our daily lives...in this case, painting and the worlds one creates with one's imagination. It also involves learning to forgive, something you don't often see in an animated cartoon. And while Barbie/Rapunzel herself was a little bland, the secondary characters were a blast. I loved the hilarious, sweet-natured Penelope the Purple Dragon. Someone at Artisan must have loved her, too. She had her own little subplot involving her much larger dragon father who expects her to be big and scary, when she's really rather small and doesn't like scaring anything besides dry logs.

(Also, unlike some of the recent Barbie specials, including Diamond Castle, this isn't a musical. The one full vocal song is kept to the credits. Considering Diamond's dull music, this is probably a plus.)

Promise of Spring

The sun greeted me as I awoke to the loveliest day we've had in ages. It shown through my windows as I wrote in my journal. It beamed as I enjoyed my breakfast of leftover brown rice pudding. It sparkled on the river as I got my rent for the month together. It warmed my back as I dropped off the rent and headed for work.

Yes, today was absolutely gorgeous. Other than it's still windy, it was a perfectly nice, typical day in late winter-early spring. I had very nice rides to and from work. There was no snow left on the sidewalks at all this morning...and barely any left anywhere by the time I headed home. You'd never know we've had snow around for almost a month in some places.

Work itself was on-and-off busy again, but the on times were really on. It's the beginning of the month, which always seems to bring a lot of obnoxious people who can't shop any other time out of the woodwork. Other than that, my relief was right on time and there were no major problems. I restocked on brown rice, sugar, fat-free evaporated milk, cake mix, and beef stock before heading home.

I did a few things around the house after I got home. I took out the paper recycling, which I've been meaning to do for weeks, including three boxes from recent online orders. I did the budget for the month. (Spent a LOT last month, but I needed a lot, too...and I got that tax return.) I took down the winter decorations. Normally, I'd wait another week or so to take the winter stuff down, but after this crazy season, I'm really sick of looking at it. I'll wait another week or so to put the spring decorations up - it's still a little early for that.

Stew, Snow, and History

My rare Sundays off are usually pretty quiet, and this one was no exception. I lay around for a little while after waking up, just reading and writing in my journal. I made Chocolate-Chip Whole Wheat Pancakes with home-made Cranberry Syrup for breakfast when I finally did drag my rear out of bed.

Had a nice, long chat with Mom after eating. She'd apparently just gotten up herself. She'd had a decent week and was in a fairly good mood. Keefe had also gotten up and was just plain tired. He'd gone to Lower Cape May Regional High's Winter Wonderland Dance the night before and seemed to have had a good time.

We talked for an hour, mostly about my sister Rose's pregnancy and how much I like living here, even though I feel a little out of place. My neighbors are really nice people, and there's so much to do here. Everything I need is right outside my door or a bike or train ride away.

My sister Rose will be having her first child in May. Her baby shower is next month. We talked about her gaining weight, about what I intend to give her for the shower, and about how she and her boyfriend are having differences about how to raise the child. We were raised eating whole grain food and fruits and vegetables; Craig wasn't. We never really went to church and weren't really raised with religion; Craig's family wants the baby to be Christian and that's it.

We talked for so long, a whole hour of the Brunch with the Beatles show went by without me even realizing it. The theme was "The Beatles in 1970 and 71." I'm glad I got to hear at least John Lennon's three '70 solo hits ("Instant Karma" is a favorite of mine), "Let It Be," "The Long and Winding Road," and Paul McCartney's two. I don't think I really heard George Harrison's.

I let the I Love the 70s Sunday afternoon show run while I prepared my second crock-pot recipe. While the Mediterranean soup Tina posted yesterday sounds nice, I'm not a fan of beer or olives and had none in the apartment. I opted for a simple beef stew instead. I first browned some beef chunks. While they were in the pan, I chopped two stalks of celery (leaves and all), a carrot, a quarter of a small onion, and some of the leftover broccoli from the other night. When the beef was done, I tossed them and the veggies into the crock pot with low-salt beef broth, no-salt-added tomato paste, and pinches of oregano, parsley, and pepper.

I went for a walk while the stew simmered. I didn't feel like a train ride this time, so I just walked down to Newton River Park. (Passed by Uncle Ken's on the way and chatted briefly with him while he got some fresh air on the porch.)

The park showed the effects of the more spring-like weather we've had recently. There were still patches of snow left on the ground, but they weren't as heavy or icy as even a few days ago. All but a very few patches of icy snow were gone from the sidewalks. The shady paths on the side of the park that passes several houses were still muddy and snowy, though, and likely will remain that way for another couple of weeks, or until it gets warm enough for the sun to get through there.

I stopped at the little bridge over the river to watch some ducks and Canadian geese playing on the river. About half of the river is still frozen, to the point where some gulls were standing on it, but most of it was waving softly in the cool breeze. The ducks seemed to be having a marvelous time, and I enjoyed watching their antics.

Headed back for the White Horse Pike after leaving the park. I had no idea what to have for lunch. I'd debated Taco Bell, but I didn't feel like fast food, and most of the other restaraunts in Oaklyn aren't open on Sundays. I finally opted for a hot roast beef hoagie and fountain Coke Zero with Chocolate and Raspberry syrups from WaWa.

I was greeted by the most delicious smell when I walked in the door of my apartment. The beef stew was simmering nicely, the broth and beef and tomato sauce turning a nice rust-red color. I decided to let it go a little longer and did some pilates.

After I finished, I turned off the crock-pot and let it cool a little before dinner. Besides, I wasn't that hungry yet. I decided to take the opportunity to finally do something I've meant to do since I got this laptop from my best friend Lauren last summer. I downloaded the pictures I've taken on my digital camera between Christmas 2008 (when I first got it) and two weeks ago, after the second blizzard. The downloading took mere minutes, a far cry from the hours it took on my old upright computer. I organized the pictures into four CDs - one for pictures from Christmas 2008 and 2009, one for pictures from last year's vacation with Lauren and the trip to Philadelphia with Linda and James, one for other family events, and one for shots of my porch and the area around my apartment during several snowstorms, including the recent one.

It's those snow pictures that I've included in my first Photobucket album! I may post more personal pictures someday, but for now, I just have the shots I took on Christmas Eve before Rose picked me up, between the February blizzards, and on the day of the second blizzard.

My Photobucket Account

(Why didn't I take any pictures on the day of the first February blizzard? I worked that day and didn't have the time to be running around with my camera. I was going to take it to work with me that morning, but forgot.)

Not everything I did today came out so well. I tried baking a Banana-Cranberry-Chocolate Chip Bread before dinner, but it refused to bake and came out more like bread pudding. Oh well, no more using parchment paper for the breads. I think it's preventing them from cooking.

Slush World

It was flurrying when I woke up this morning, but the wind was gone and it wasn't nearly as bad as yesterday. The sidewalks were still a little messy when I ran to the bank to deposit my paycheck. I did quite a bit of slipping and sliding. I hit a lot of slushy puddles, especially on the White Horse Pike. My boots were soaked when I got home.

Since I had some time after I came back from bank, I swept the remaining slush off the area of my porch leading to the steps and salted them. (Michael must have salted the steps the other night before or during the storm.) I updated my finances. I had a small lunch of yogurt, applesauce, and a granola bar before grabbing an apple for a snack, changing into my uniform, and heading for work.

The snow had ended shortly after I got back to the apartment. It was merely cloudy when I rode my bike to work. I still had to walk my bike on the mush-covered sidewalk on the Black Horse Pike, but even then, it was disappearing fairly rapidly.

Work was almost exactly the same as yesterday - on and off busy. We had plenty of help for once, and there were no major problems besides some faintly annoying beginning-of-the-month people. I didn't have a relief, but it was quiet enough by 5 that I was able to shut down.

Good thing, too, because I had a LOT of grocery shopping this week. I desperately needed to restock just about every fruit and vegetable in my larder, and I'm almost out of olive oil, cereal, and granola bars, too. I ran out of milk this morning. I was overloaded on the bike going home, but I did make it back. Helps that the sidewalk was mostly clear by quarter of 6.

There was a box on my landlady's porch when I arrived home. I saw it there when I left for work, but I hadn't had the time to grab it then. I ordered a small, 1.5 quart Crock Pot from the Vermont Country Store, via a gift card Lauren gave me for Christmas. I thought a Crock Pot would be nice for days like today, when I work in the late morning and afternoon and have time for dinner afterwards...but no desire to cook it. I'm testing the pot now with an "Old Fashioned Rice Pudding" made with brown rice and fat-free evaporated milk. We'll see how it works out.

Cabin Fever

Sometime during the night, the snow finally stuck to the street. Manor Avenue was lightly covered with white fluff when I awoke this morning, and more was coming down. It was still really windy, too, which was really the problem here. The snow turned out to be the light, soft spring snow that falls quickly and disappears just as fast. Though I spent the morning hanging around inside, the street had melted into slush by quarter of 1 and was clear enough for me to ride to work. I did have to walk my bike over the slush on the sidewalks on the Black Horse Pike, but otherwise, there were no problems.

Work was actually pretty quiet when I came in, but it picked up big-time around the usual 4-6 rush hour. I heard them contemplating calling people in early, but we did finally get some more help. Thankfully, there were no real customer problems and my relief was on time.

I normally grocery shop on Fridays, but I was off at 6 and I wanted to get home before it became fully dark, just in case everything turned into ice. I'll do it tomorrow after work.

Cozy Balance

It was, indeed, snowing when I awoke this morning. However, what it wasn't doing was sticking. The only things covered with snow were the remaining ice piles. Other than it being windy, I had no trouble hopping on the bike and heading to Collingswood for my first yoga class in almost three weeks.

I'm really glad I did. Class was fun. The Olympics had gotten Karin jazzed and feeling up for a lot of twisting and standing poses. She wasn't the only one, either. Despite the weather, there was a big crowd today, 13 students counting Karin. We worked with a partner at one point, too, pulling them as they did downward facing dog and getting good stretches on both ends.

My next stop after class was something I've wanted to do since I got my tax return in the beginning of the month - get a haircut! I desperately needed one. My hair was getting too thick and heavy and was a mass of split ends. I sat back and enjoyed a hot chocolate and chatted with the ladies about the weather and their customers. Some lady called while I was finishing my drink and apparently tried to push her highlights-and-cut-and-full treatment appointment further back in the day...after attempting to cancel it all together.

The young lady who cut my hair did a fabulous job. I got it styled in soft layers around my face, which brought out my curls nicely. It's a little shorter than I had it in September, since we'll be getting into spring soon. I absolute love it. It's so cute.

The Collingswood Library was next on my list. I had enough time after my hair cut to do get some volunteering in there. I helped FA, the librarian in charge of the volunteers, put DVDs away and return the covers. (The Collingswood Library circumvents DVD theft by keeping the actual DVDs in a locked file behind the main counter. The only things on the shelves are the boxes.)

Headed to CoffeeGround, the coffee shop a few blocks from Genesis Counseling, for lunch. I had a nicely spicy Vegetarian Chili and some more hot chocolate. Chatted with the young guys, most of whom looked about college age or slightly older. We made jokes about all the people fussing over the weather for no good reason. The snow was coming down fairly heavily...but it STILL wasn't sticking to anything important.

I made a short stop at Rite Aid and ended up with water, which was much-needed after the well-seasoned chili. An older lady told me there that not everyone had handled the weather well. The Philadelphia School District had actually decided to shut down today...based after last night's over-hyped weather reports.

Counseling was next on the list. Had a nice chat with Scott, mostly about my crazy month and my problems losing weight. Namely, I've been gaining weight for months. I'm back over 200 again. Scott suggested that I try eating slower, and putting down my fork between bites. French Women Don't Get Fat also mentioned this. My best friend Lauren, who is a very slow eater, has also pointed out my bad habit of eating too quickly before. I really do need to work on that.

The snow still wasn't sticking after I left Genesis Counseling, but the wind was getting worse. I didn't have any other running around to do, so I just went straight home.

Spent the rest of the afternoon at the apartment, catching up on another chore I've put off for weeks - baking! I made Rosemary Dinner Rolls from the Live Longer Cookbook and added cranberries to that delicious Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe from last March's Prevention Magazine. Watched Singin' In the Rain, listened to soundtracks, and watched the snow drift cozily across my porch and the river.

(And BTW, the snow has finally stuck...to the ground. As of this writing, it has yet to stick to the street or sidewalks.)

Snow Need To Panic

Started off a cloudy, damp morning with my first run to the Haddon Township Library in almost three weeks. I couldn't put it off any longer. I had a big stack of books due, some of which were overdue.

Getting there was a chore. Cuthbert Road, which isn't the easiest street to navigate on normal days, was a muddy mess, and busy to boot. I couldn't take the longer route this time, though. I had to work later.

I returned everything but one book I left at Dad's (I'll return that next week). There were lots of DVDs to return, adults' and kids', so I spent an hour doing those. I tried talking to one of the librarians about jobs, but she didn't really lift my spirits. She said her children are my age and out of work...in California. From what I've gathered, half of California is out of work. They've been hit a lot harder by the economic problems than we have.

I spent another hour looking for books. I took out one on networking, two American Girls books (I've never read Josefina's Changes book and I haven't read Molly's in a long time), one on nutrition for women, and three novels. They had the new Susan Kandel Cece Carusco mystery, Dial H For Hitchcock, that I've been waiting for. I also grabbed the next in the series for the Holmes on the Range and Avery Andrews mysteries.

Went straight home after I checked out my stack of books. Got in around quarter of 1...and it's a good thing I did. There was a message from a manager on my answering machine. Could I come in at 1 instead of 3? Obviously not. I rushed lunch and changing and made it in by 2.

No wonder they needed me. We were mobbed again. This is getting a little silly. It was one thing when we were really supposed to get hit with over a foot of snow, but the National Weather Service is saying 6 inches for here, 12 inland. Not to mention, any snow we do get will probably just melt in a day or two. The ground is as mushy as an old tomato. It's just too warm for the snow to stick around like it has...and unlike the last few storms, it's not supposed to get much colder than this. One of my customers mentioned that the local newscasts were really hyping the storm, which would explain a lot.

They originally wanted me to stay later, but I was iffy because of riding home in the dark. Thank goodness they did get a relief in - he was one of the boys who is always late coming from work, but at least he appeared at all. The snow is now completely gone from the sidewalks on the Black Horse Pike, making my ride a lot easier.

Wet Winter Weather

Today was laundry day. I slept in longer than I'd planned, so I tried to take the path across the train tracks to save time. That was a big mistake. It was a total mess back there. The softly falling rain added huge puddles to wherever there wasn't still snow and slush. I did finally make it to Hilcrest Avenue, after climbing through that tangle of vines again and soaking my errand-running sneakers.

It was too late and too wet for me to try to get to the Oaklyn Library or run any errands. I spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon reading Southern Fried and drying off instead. Dad got in from Florida yesterday. He ended up driving me home and to work (after I stopped at home, had a very quick lunch, changed, and put my clothes away).

The managers had tried to call me in earlier, but I was still at Dad's then. By the time I got in, it was too late. Turned out to not really matter much anyway. Though the cashier at the self-checkout lanes said it was busier in the afternoon, by 2, it had slowed down. It was on-and-off busy all night, not dead but nothing anyone couldn't handle.

I was a little annoyed with the teenage night manager. She told me I had a relief, then sent the girl in the register in front of me and shut me down. What she didn't notice was I still had a line. I ended up being a little late.

This actually worked to my advantage. I called Dad on my cell phone to pick me up...just as I saw him coming out the exit door behind me! Seems he discovered he needed a few things and had arrived early. He dropped me home, and I spent the rest of the evening watching Good Eats episodes and eating honey-glazed carrots and leftover Chinese Chicken Legs for dinner.

Oh, and the rain's been coming down rather hard all night, and to my knowledge, is still coming down. According to the National Weather Service, we may still get some snow, but it'll probably be an inch or two. Given how warm it's been, even if we do get snow, I doubt it'll stick for very long.

"I Think It'll Rain Down..."

Well, at least it wasn't this morning. I had 11AM work. It was merely cloudy and a bit cooler than yesterday when I headed across the Black Horse Pike. The snow-covered sidewalks had cleared enough for me to walk my bike around and over the remaining icy patches. Hopefully, the weather will clear out the remaining snow, as it did on Christmas Day.

Work was busy all day, probably due to several major 4-day 10 for $10 sales. We had no problem whatsoever, including missing help. I was in and out quickly, picking up brown sugar during lunch.

I finished work at 4 and spent the rest of the afternoon doing a quick dusting session. I wasn't going to do anything too big. I just did it not long ago, and the dust wasn't really that bad, but it had to be done. It's one of the many chores and errands I've put off over the past couple of weeks, thanks to the weather and my cold. Hopefully, I'll be able to catch up on a lot of things this week.

It didn't notice it raining until I'd stepped out of the shower and heard water tapping on my roof along with the water going down the drain. It was coming down pretty well earlier, but it seems to have settled down into a drizzle.

No matter what it does, at least it isn't snow. Snow doesn't bother me, per se...but I'm getting sick of all the hysteria over it. We don't normally get three major storms in one season, and no one around here knows how to react. I'm tired of everyone whining over it at work, customers and employees.

Calm Before the Storms

I slept in, until 9:30, and relished it. I never get Sundays off, so it was a real treat to be able to spend a morning making Cranberry-Sunflower Seed Pancakes and not having to rush. Mom called ME, for a change, too. She was enjoying some quiet time to herself after Dad had finally gone fishing for the first time since before Christmas...the first time we've had decent enough weather to be fishing.

Other than that, she hadn't had a great week. My sister Anny, her son Skylar, and my brother Keefe had all gone through a violent bout with the flu that lasted hours and apparently involved violent unloading of stomachs several times an hour. Poor Skylar had it the worst. He got so dehydrated, Mom said if he'd done it any longer, they would have had to take him to the hospital. Mom says she hasn't gotten it yet...unusual, since she's usually the first one to get anything.

Spent the rest of the morning with breakfast and Brunch With the Beatles. They honored George Harrison with most of his major Beatles songs and quite a few solo tunes, from the pre-fame "Three Cool Cats" to my favorite of his solo work, "All Those Years Ago."

I took off immediately after the Beatles ended. It was a gorgeous day, sunny, bright, windless, and probably in the upper 40s-lower 50s for the first time in ages. Perfect day for a walk. I thought of going to Audubon and Haddon Heights, but most of the small stores up there are closed on Sunday. I turned around and went in the direction of Collingswood instead.

Most of the stores in Collingswood were closed, too, but the town was hopping anyway. There were lots of people out enjoying the weather, ranging from parents with energetic kids to elderly folks to teenagers. As it was past 1 by that point, I assumed they'd just gotten out of church.

I found lots of people, but not much to do. I hiked over to the PATCO station and took a five-minute train ride to Haddonfield. Haddonfield is kind of the same thing as Collingswood - a small, eclectic, upwardly-mobile town on a major highway. Thankfully, there's fewer closed shops in Haddonfield than in Collingswood (although one of the early casualties was that really cool used CD store where I bought my Billy Joel's Greatest Hits Vol I and II and Monkees Greatest Hits discs), and most of them were open.

(On the other hand, for a town that has "Shop Local" posters plastered everywhere, there's an awful lot of chain stores, including Cold Stone Creamery, Starbucks, and CVS.)

Not to mention, there are few towns in New Jersey - or anywhere - that can claim to have a dinosaur named after it. The near-complete skeleton of Hadrosaurus was discovered near Haddonfield in 1858, according to the sign next to the statue of the beast between stores. It was the most complete skeleton ever found up to that point, and it's still on display in the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences to this day.

I spent a couple of hours browsing around the shopping district. I had a yummy hot cider and toasted bagel with cream cheese at the Grind House Cafe. The Happy Hippo Toy Shop was having a 20% off sale on everything in the store. I bought one of the newest WebKinz, a Ginger Cat. I stopped at CVS for a pack of tissues for my purse and bought Palmolive dishwashing liquid on sale and a bag of cough drops (which are much cheaper there than at the Acme).

Finally started heading home around quarter of 4...when the darn train appeared. It took forever. It was fairly full, too, much to my surprise. I guess I'm not the only one who wanted to take advantage of the beautiful weather before we get rain later this week. I hung around Collingswood a little while longer, but there still wasn't much open, so I finally headed home down Collings Road. I tried the path on the train tracks, but it's still covered with snow, so I just ended up taking the long way.

I had a small dinner of an omelet made with the last of the stir fry vegetables and cheddar cheese when I got home and watched Muppet Show episodes. I'm glad I went for my little outing today. I haven't really had the chance to get out since early February.

Oh, and meet John the Ginger Cat! My second BeatleKinz, he's going to move in with his mate Paul in their Beatle Flat in LondonKinz.

Isolation

I debated on and off running to the bank this morning, since I worked at noon. It didn't take very long, and I had to send out bills, anyway, so I did it. It was sunny, bright, and warmer than it has been, probably in the lower 40s. Everything's melting like crazy here. The snow on my porch is more than half-gone.

While the snow is melting in sunny spots, anything in the shade remains icy. I discovered this the hard way when I walked over a patch of ice near the train bridge over West Clinton Avenue and almost ended up flat on my face. That was really close. I'm going to have to be more careful going by there until the snow is gone completely.

I've been feeling really isolated. Of course, it's really part of a larger problem, but it's been more pronounced this winter. It's been at least three weeks since I've been able to run my regular errands, between my hours, the weather, and this cold.

Ok, colds happen to everyone, especially at this time of year. Ok, we got two historic blizzards in a row. Those are legitimate excuses. Ok, I've worked a lot. I just feel like I'm in a box, somehow. I feel like I'm a machine who stands behind a register, says "hello," shoves food around, counts money, and says "good bye." I have no life and no feelings. I can't love, and I can't write anymore. I haven't come up with a really good idea for a regular story in ages. Even our Monkee Role Plays haven't really been that great lately.

I was able to continue to ride the bike to work, still dodging traffic on the Black Horse Pike. More of the snow is melting on the sidewalk, but they aren't anywhere near clear enough to ride on.

Work was, once again, very busy. It was much busier than it has been, and this wasn't aided by being short on help. We had at least four call-outs, including my relief. It was quiet enough by the time I got off that I was able to shut down with no problems.

I took myself out to dinner at Arby's to cheer myself up after work. That was probably a mistake. My stomach's been feeling weird ever since. Maybe it's reacting to the bacon in the Chicken Club Sandwich.

I hope it's not reacting to the ice cream. I bought a gallon of light Turkey Hill Ice Cream after work. Coconut Almond Fudge doesn't sound like a flavor that would normally be called "light," but while fairly high in calories for a light (probably due to the almonds), it has less fat and sugar than some of the plain light and frozen yogurt flavors. I only buy ice cream once in a blue moon, when there's a really good sale. It wasn't the best sale, but come on...who's gonna resist a light Coconut-Almond-Fudge ice cream?