Getting Ready for Vacation

Began a gorgeous morning with breakfast. Finished out Working Girl, which I started last night, as I ate. Tess (Melanie Griffith) is a secretary who just landed her dream job working with a strong female executive (Sigorney Weaver). The dream turns into a disaster when it turns out the woman stole her idea for rescuing a company from a foreign takeover. Tired of being trampled on, Tess takes over her house, her wardrobe, and her office when she's laid low after a skiing accident. She does everything she can to make this deal her own, including falling for the handsome businessman helping her out (Harrison Ford). But as the deal continues, Tess begins to wonder if her ambitions may mean leaving old friends behind, including her best friend Cyn (Joan Cusack) and her ex-boyfriend (Alec Baldwin).

I'm not normally a big romantic comedy fan, but I will occasionally try the genre if I really love the cast or the premise, as with this one and Moonstruck. Griffith isn't bad as the ambitious secretary, but it's the supporting cast that really shines - Ford gets to show off his all-too-rare comedic chops, and Cusack gained an Oscar nod as Tess' (mostly) supportive best buddy. Despite the R rating and some sex, this is frankly fine for most young adults onwards who love romantic comedies or a good Cinderella story.

Spent most of the morning making my bed and dusting my bedroom. In fact, I made my bed so I could have a place to put all the dolls and books that are jammed into my bedroom while I dust. There's two big reasons I don't dust under everything more often. One is it takes forever. It took me nearly two and a half hours to finish off dusting under everything I could - dolls, books, collectible bears, the Star Wars action figures, my printer, my laptop, folders, comics, all the books and jars on my desk.

(Second is it drives my nose crazy. I've been sneezing all day.)

It was past 2 PM when I finally finished. I went to Arby's first for lunch. They were quiet, not a surprise for so late in the day. I had the same turkey gyro I had the last time I was there, once again enjoying it while watching the traffic on the Black Horse Pike.

Hit the Acme next to get my schedule and groceries. My schedule next week is...to my surprise, no schedule. I'm off Sunday and Monday, and then Lauren will be coming down Tuesday. On one hand, this means I won't have to rush the things I have planned for before Lauren's arrival, including changing the AG dolls and hitting the libraries. On the other hand, it also means I won't be getting a paycheck the week after next, which isn't good.

I didn't have a huge grocery order, but I did need some things that were expensive, especially at this time of year. I won't be getting to the Farm Market tomorrow, so I picked up Romaine lettuce for Lauren and I to have for dinner next week, along with peaches and blueberries. Found a decent Oral B toothbrush on clearance. All the meat was buy one-get one, and I only needed one. I went with ground chicken, despite the price. Restocked sugar, canned tomato sauce, floss, I Can't Believe It's Not Butter, canned chicken, honey, and jam. Grabbed Strawberry Shortcake Graham Cracker Fish for a snack.

Stopped at Marburn Curtains on the way home. I'll pick up bath mats next week, but I did decide I wanted to buy a new mat for the front door today. It has three steaming mugs against a black background. I think I picked one that was too small. Next time, I'll look for something larger.

When I got home, I put everything away, then went into writing. Leia's bored out of her mind at that party. She tries to figure out who Derek Vader really is. He's a man of mystery whose heavily scarred face hides any real emotion. It's said he has a man he's working with at Dark Star Industries who was his supporter and patron, but no one knows whom.

I got off around quarter of 6. I first took down the spring decorations and put up what little I have for summer, which isn't much. (I won't be putting up the patriotic-themed decorations until after Lauren visits.) When I finished, I made a quick meal of scrambled eggs with asparagus and dried mushrooms for dinner.

Ran a genuine serial as I worked for inspiration for my current story. Though Federal Agents Vs. Underworld Inc. came out a decade after my story's set, it has a few things in common with it. Namely, I decided I wanted a female villain to go with my male ones...so the repugnant crime lord is now Jasmine Hutt, a nasty, ugly woman who definitely does not like her deliveries to be late...especially ones made by good-looking pilots-for-hire. There's also a stolen, possibly magical MacGuffin, in this case a pair of golden hands that can give the owners enormous power.