Yearning to take a picture

Wish I had taken a picture yesterday of the SEA of schoolchildren marching in front of my house. They all wear the same uniform so it was quite a sea of maroon and tan. Except for an aide (?) or a mother who was wearing a really inappropriate outfit of big gold hoop earrings and a bare midriff (and not a very attractive midriff, at that). It was ALL of the kids (or all of the SMART or well-behaved kids) from all of the schools in my town. It was a very hot day and they were happy when they got to my house because I have a big tree and there was SHADE.

Dreading a house revaluation that is coming to my town. Do they expect to get water from a stone? And how are they going to get into all of these apartment buildings with no one in charge. When I was working, I had a better excuse to avoid them, but now they might even catch me. The question is, do I let them in? Perhaps if they see the state of my house, the assessed value could go DOWN? I have decided that this is what I want. There is no way we can sell our homes for a profit anyway. Of course, they could just send in my name to the TV show, Hoarders.

The St. Zita society (book), by Ruth Rendell: I listened to the audio book. This is a very lightweight mystery. Sort of an Upstairs/downstairs thing but with too many characters. Kind of like who lives at one address but it is the neighbors and their servants this time. Not much of a mystery as the reader is privy to all of the goings on. It is just the other people who don't know what is going on. I enjoyed the Britishisms.

Bollywood dance class

Went to a one hour class on Bollywood dancing at the Vineland Public Library. The teacher was in casual clothes and taught us the steps slowly. I had the usual problems of remembering all of the moves and doing some of them. I am not too good at jumping and doing things fast. The class seemed lost on the really young and the really old. The teacher kept giving us positive reinforcement ("Good job!") even though she wasn't really watching us. Some little girls were acting crazy (what did THEY have to eat?) and I couldn't keep myself from speaking to them..."Girls...we are TRYING to concentrate here". The teacher thanked me, but the mother was oblivious to their distracting behavior. One little plump boy tumbled to the ground, more than once. His explanation was, "I am not used to standing on my tip toes."

Don't know much about mythology : everything you need to know about the greatest stories in human history but never learned (book), by Kenneth C. Davis: This was a fascinating book. In the end, too many gods for me to remember, but interesting to see the similarities between various myths and religions. I was interested also to learn things that might come in handy while doing crossword puzzles. And there were some good quotes.

People around me are trashing Ancestry.com. Woman can't find name of her family in the newspaper database...she has found the names using newsbank which is supposed to be linked to Ancestry. Very frustrating interaction with customer support. She thought the woman was an idiot. My experience with Ancestry was to find my grandmother linked to the wrong parents! They even included a photograph of her gravestone, which I have visited. THAT is scary!

Mislaid

Part of my many excuses about why I no longer take photographs.  I have an OLD SLR I could dust off and try out, if they still make film.  The digital camera given to me by my family has been MISLAID and I think the megapixels are 3.2.  My polaroids can no longer be supplied with film.  (Wonder how much I could get for a brand new Polaroid camera still in the box?)  Now I am taking really crappy pictures with my phone, an LG Rumor.  Just have not made the transition to the digital age.  I used to have a darkroom and all.  Several friends keep harping about what a great photographer I am (was).  So today I have an appointment with a techy person at the TLC (Technology learning center) at the Cape May Court House Public Library to ask questions about photo stuff.

Just tried to copy a picture I took last night of the Philly Phanatic. Had to get one off of the Internet. Apologies to whoever took this one.  I get a kick out of him.  A whole hour of him was weird though.  He came to the Cumberland County Library last night.  I wonder if there is only ONE of them?  He doesn't talk, and was trying to get across the idea to the kids that they needed to TURN AROUND in order to pose for pictures.  They were so busy looking at him that they forgot to pose.  First he turned around in a circle, trying to give them the idea and almost wacking people with his tail.  Then he made circling motions with his hands.  I worried about the SPANISH kids, which was dumb, cause he doesn't speak ENGLISH either.  It must be really hard for him to NOT speak. Anyway, the kids were adorable, with PP dolls, headdresses, etc.  Some of the kids were in tears or on the verge of tears.  He is more scary than Santa Claus.  A kid from Canada, who didn't know from the Philly Phanatic, burst into tears when he saw him.

It's July 2 already and I really haven't made any summer plans.  Clay College or other art class?  Summer rental?  Travel plans to Maine or ? Visit old friends with beach houses?  I think the SUN just came out.  That was not in the forecast.  The forecast is rain off and on all day, heavy at times.  When I asked the librarian if that was the sun outside, she said, "Yes, but it is humid and gross out there."  Now I feel better about staying the the nice, cool library all day.

The shark bited him and he died

Six year olds have such an adorable way of speaking.  I just can't bring myself to correct their grammar.  Had breakfast with two adorable twins who are very affectionate.  Trying to notice the differences between them each time I get to see them.  Someone kissed me and said "I love you" but which one?  Today I learned that one of them just kisses the "BB" (a cross between a pillow and a stuffed animal).  The other one kisses "everybody".  Then he clarified...."Not everybody.  Just my family and my teacher."  So, I had ONE arm around O. (who was watching Chitty Chitty Bang Bang on his iPad) and one arm around D. (who was playing a sword fight game on HIS iPad).  Talk about cacophony!  Oh, they were both coughing and sniffling too so I hope I don't catch anything.  One of them wanted to kiss me ON THE LIPS.  I couldn't avoid such an offer!  Also watched part of The hobbit and some other hideous action movie from long ago.  Charmingly, when they first arrived in Fairton, they wanted to watch The Swiss family Robinson, the same movie we watched the LAST time they visited Fairton. 

All the libraries are closed today (Good Friday).  Luckily I got into the Sweet life bakery (on Landis Avenue in Vineland, NJ) which is ONLY open Fridays and Saturdays now.  Unfortunately, they are cutting back more and more.  First, they stopped making breads and now they have stopped making soups and sandwiches and now they have cut way back on their hours.  Seems like a nice crowd is in and out today, anyway.

Went to a nutrition lecture and did some dances with the WII.  That was really fun.  The nutrition program was full of old people (I mean "actively aging" people).  Wonder if we get on the nerves of the people who work there.  I know we get on MY nerves.  A lot of characters who insist on putting in their "two cents".

Playing Sorry

Had a great night a few days ago hanging with two 6 year old twins.  They are very loving and within 5 minutes of seeing me, they are kissing me and saying "I love you".  We watched a really fun movie, the old Disney Swiss family Robinson.  Then I tried to entertain them during dinner preperations by playing Sorry with them.  It was somewhat of a struggle.  They thought they knew the rules, but they couldn't read the info on the cards and they had trouble counting the squares.  The other problem was that if anything bad happened to one of them he cried in frustration.  This did have somewhat of an inhibitory effect on my ability to play.  But we got through it.  I think it is a difficult age for games (losing).

Another cold and windy day.  I am SICK of it.

Went shoe shopping.  I really needed some Easy Spirit shoes.  They only had white in my size.  Oh well.  All the shoes seemed to be "on sale" but I think it is a racket.  An effective racket, at that.  I feel much better buying something if I think it is on sale, no matter what the actual price is.  I bought some other shoes, which I am not sure are really appropriate for someone 65 years old, but just for something different.  Now I need to go home and get rid of THREE pairs of shoes, all in the interest of cllutter control.  Plus, my women's group is recycling shoes.

How electronic things work

This is ironic, but I checked out a book on my Nook. It is called How electronic things work....and what to do if they don't. The weird thing is, this book caused a problem I have never before had on my Nook! I can't figure out how to make the page advance. A strange message came up that I have never seen before. So I went back to another book that DOES work. Is that stupid or what?

Spent a lot of time with friends over the weekend. Also a lot of time with some six year old twins who seem to love me right now. I know that these stages are very temporary so I am taking advantage of it. They tore my sister's whole house up and made pretend houses out of chairs and blankets and cutlery and pillows and wall decorations and snacks. We had some playing cards and we were pretending that they were cell phones and video games. My sister and her boyfriend were just too tired to be disciplining so things got pretty wild. They are like whirling dervishes and love machines. It is so very upsetting to know that kids of that adorable age were murdered in Connecticut. Later Sunday night I was crying as Obama gave his speech at the memorial service in Newtown. It came on right after 60 minutes, which is the only TV show I actually watch ON PURPOSE.

I am kind of starving, waiting for a Christmas party to start. Using the computers at Rutgers Camden where I have staff privileges. Unfortunately, I no longer have parking privileges so I had to put over $4 in the street meter. Just got out a wheeled cart I knew I had to practice wheeling my "crap" around. My purse and my traveling folders and other bags full of business stuff are really wearing me down. I was surprised at how well this thing works. It is designed for one suitcase (back in the days before they thought of putting the wheels ON the suitcases) and is more lightweight than I had remembered. Guess I won't ask Santa for that, after all. It "kind of" works if I pile my stuff up and don't go over any uneven surfaces.

I am half-sick of shadows

Kind of a silly title and kind of a silly book. I did enjoy it although the audiobook kept skipping in my car. I think it is my player. The book is by a man, Alan Bradley and is about a young girl, who is part sleuth, part alchemist. She lives in a house that is almost a castle with her father, her two aggravating sisters and some servants.
Her mother has died and they have fallen on hard times. Her father decides to rent out the house to a movie crew around Christmas time. Trouble ensues and includes snowstorms and fireworks and a murder. This is considered the author's second "Flavia de Luce mystery". I enjoyed it for the descriptions and the very British witticisms.

Hung out with some really fun six year olds last night. We watched an old fashioned cartoon called The aristocats. I was amazed that modern children could enjoy such a thing. The kids were delightful, so loving, delivering occasional kisses, "just because"... So sad to think that children this age were murdered by another crazy American. Although I guess it is not just Americans who are crazy. Japanese and Vietnamese people knife each other as they do not have our easy access to guns. But what is going on? Do they just get the idea from TV and other events? But why?

Working today. Went to the cafeteria for lunch. I love it over there. Except for the fact that this is a PEPSI campus. Thinking of all the trees and all the seasons I have witnessed here and also thinking about a coworker who retired and died too soon.
I like this one tree out there. The leaves turn all brown but they do not fall off. It is juxtaposed next to an evergreen. I have been working here part time going on twenty five years! They already had a goodbye party for me several years ago but I keep on hanging on. Now I work only once a month, and not every month.