Early Autumn

 I was up late with Lauren and consequently didn't get up until 10:30 this morning. I had Chocolate Chip Pancakes and ran Brunch With the Beatles. Today, the show saluted the Beatles' manager Brian Epstein with songs that were written when he was managing them ("I Will,") inspired by him ("Baby You're A Rich Man," which John apparently wrote to encourage Brian after he began thinking the Beatles didn't need him anymore), or by other groups he managed ("Red Rubber Ball" by the Cyrcles, "Ferry Cross the Mersey" by Garry and the Pacemakers). I tried calling Mom, but I got her answering machine. I wasn't working until 5; I'd try again later.

After breakfast and the show ended, I went in the back room to get some different clothes for my dolls. It's cooled off enough that their bathing suits and thin summer frocks are no longer appropriate. Molly's now wearing her Camp Gowanigan uniform from the book Molly Saves the Day. Samantha wears her blue-and-white checked Play Dress and Pinafore with her plastic "meet" Mary Janes and socks. I don't have a lot for Felicity. She wears her Laced Jacket and Skirt, despite it still being a bit too hot for it. Jessa now sports the Earth Day Outfit tie-dye t-shirt and shortalls with mustard-colored socks and Springfield Collection sneakers.

When the girls were all dressed, I tried getting a hold of Mom again. This time, she picked up on the second ring. She said she was in the shower the first time I called. We discussed the cool, cloudy, fall-like weather. I told her about how much fun I had yesterday with the wedding and the Craft Festival, and about the health insurance company giving the Foot and Ankle Center a hard time over my claim. She told me about how much she enjoys being on her own. She can do whatever she wants - look up things online, take classes, do crafts, enjoy events in Cape May. Like me, she doesn't mind being alone.

And apparently my sister Rose has taken some mandatory group therapy sessions in order to get her law certificate. That may have been the smartest thing she ever did. Mom says she's learned a lot about herself and how she tends to overreact to certain situations (like the incident during the Wegman's trip a few weeks ago).

When Mom signed off to greet her husband (who had come home from a fishing job), I headed for the kitchen. In honor of the fall-like weather, I decided to make Pumpkin Cookies. Ran Three Stooges shorts and The Long Hot Summer while working on my treat.

Another well-known Hollywood couple, Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward, met and fell in love during the making of this southern-set tale from 1958. Big Daddy Warner (Orson Welles) just wants his teacher daughter (Joanne Woodward) to marry and give him grandchildren, especially since her brother (Anthony Franciosa) has already married a local beauty (Lee Remick) that every boy in the area seems to lust over. Woodward's not in any hurry to marry anyone, even the mama's boy who has been courting her for years. Meanwhile, a local widow (Angela Landsbury) has her eyes on Daddy Warner. And then, suspected barn-burner Ben Quick (Newman) smoulders into town, looking for a job. Warner thinks he's found the perfect man for his stubborn daughter; his son sees competition for his father's affections. Woodward, for her part, sees straight through the sexy Quick...or thinks she does.

Other than I thought the ending was a tad too pat, this was a sexy and languid melodrama with none of A Summer Place's frosty glossiness. If you're a fan of any of the cast or of hot-blooded southern-set family dramas, this is well worth seeing.

The cookies took longer to make than I thought they would. I had to rush through a lunch of leftovers, then put them back in the oven when they weren't done enough. When I was pulling the first batch out, I got part of my lower left arm too close to the pan. Ouch! It really hurt! I ran cold water over it right away. I now have a nice red line on the underside of my arm.

I otherwise made it to work intact. Perhaps because of the encroaching clouds, work was busy when I came in, quiet when I left. There were no really major problems, and I was in and out.