Started out this morning at my place, baking Apple Cookies from that Better Homes and Gardens Cookies Book I picked up a few weeks ago while watching Easy to Love. Another Esther Williams vehicle takes us to Cypress Gardens, a botanical park and water ski show in central Florida. This time, Williams is a popular performer in the park and a secretary to the park's head manager (Van Johnson). She's head-over-heels in love with her boss, but he only cares about promoting the park and it's girl shows. When he takes her to New York on a business trip, she meets a handsome singer (Tony Martin) who is interested in her. Not to mention, there's a water skier (John Bromfeld) who's in love with her, too.
I wasn't holding out much promise for this one after the previous Williams romantic comedies on the set were busts, but this was absolutely adorable. Once again, while the plot is no great shakes, it's better-written and has better leads. Williams seems to work best when she has a strong leading man who is equally interested in the material, and here, she has two. Johnson is harried fun as her business-minded boss. Martin's just as good as the more suave performer. The Cypress Gardens cinematography is stunning; check out the water ski finale, choreographed by none other than Busby Berkley!
If you have any interest in Williams you might want to check out her numbers in the That's Entertainment films first, without the distraction of the flimsy plots. If you're ready for more, Easy to Love and Pagan Love Song are your best bet from the second TCM set.
After the movie ended and the cookies were out of the oven, I headed out for a walk and to run some errands. My first stop was the Oaklyn Library. I needed to return the Esther Williams set and and to do this week's volunteering session there. Although they had a volunteer doing some shelving, I was able to organize the adult and kids' DVDs, shelve kids' books, and make sure the kids section was in good order. When I finished at the library, I went to WaWa for a quart of skim milk.
I had a nice little walk home. It was far warmer, hazier, and more humid than it has been. Despite the lack of rain, the yards are bursting with fall mums, asters, and the last of the roses. A few folks have their Halloween decorations out; most have settled for potted mums and leaf-trimmed wreathes.
When I got home, I went online for a little while, then had leftover bean and vegetable soup for lunch while watching Halloween specials. Garfield and Odie have a hair-raising encounter with ghostly pirates on a haunted island in Garfield's Halloween Adventure. Bugs Bunny runs afoul of Witch Hazel, while Sylvester is scared by mice and Tweety and Daffy Duck has his own run-in with Hazel in Bugs Bunny's Howl-Oween Special.
I switched to music while I did a few chores. I made the bed, then vacuumed the whole apartment and took out my two rugs to air them. I had to do this quickly, as it was getting late by that point. As soon as I was done, I put together a quick dinner, changed into my uniform, and rushed off to work.
Work was pretty much the same as yesterday - not too bad when I got in, but much busier during rush hour. We're still in the beginning of the month, and a lot of people who normally would be working are at home, thanks to that darn government shutdown. Thankfully, my relief was on time. I was able to get out with no problems and buy the Smart Balance 50/50 butter sticks while they were still on a good sale ($1.88) and I had a coupon.
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