Cookie Day

Began another beautiful, sunny fall morning with Doc McStuffins. There's quite a few changes in Doc's life, starting in the special "Toy Hospital." She discovers her grandma has the same ability to talk to toys that she does. Grandma takes her to McStuffinsville, a town entirely inhabited by toys. Doc is to run the big Toy Hospital. Doc's not sure she can handle the job. Meanwhile, two broken toys, an abandoned lion-rabbit hybrid and a cute rolling squirrel, think Doc will leave them like their owners did and do everything they can to sabotage her efforts. Doc gets a chance to show her stuff - and teach kids about surgery and hospitals - when the lion gets hurt.

Had morning and early afternoon work. I started and ended bagging, and I got stuck in the register a few times, but I was mainly outside. The carts kept vanishing. Today was the start of another big 2-day sale. We're having a two-day open house, too, with deli and fruit trays and soup.

The Acme had its big cookie party in the back room today. Actually, it was more like a baked goods party. I also saw a chiffon cake, cupcakes, brownies, and Rice Krispies squares. Cookies included Spiced Cookies with cinnamon icing, Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip, pumpkin chocolate chip, butter thumbprint with apricot filling, and sugar. Yum. They were all really good, especially the iced spice cookies and peanut butter chocolate chip.

My schedule is decent, and pretty typical for this time of year. To my surprise, I have Election Day and Veteran's Day off. The Haddon Township Library is open on Election Day. Don't know about the Oaklyn Library. They weren't two years ago. I'll probably just spend Veteran's Day at home.

I got another $5 gift card for doing a good job cleaning the registers. It and the 20 dollars I got on Monday allowed me to put in a decent grocery trip for the first time in weeks. Found cups of mandarin oranges and Halloween chocolate chips on clearance. The 18-count eggs were a part of that 2-day sale. Even thought I didn't badly need them, 88 cents was too good of a price to resist. Restocked cream of mushroom soup, skim milk, apples, canned chicken, crushed pineapple, and peanut butter. Domino's Sugar was on sale, and I had a coupon for two. Good thing, because I needed brown and white sugar. Had a coupon for chicken sausage.

When I got home, I put everything away and changed, then went into writing. Finally decided on starting Jorinda and Joringel. Leia and Han are sweethearts who live in the Kingdom of Alderaan. They wander too far into the woods, the home of the Dark Magicians Vader and Palapatine. Vader once had a sweetheart of his own, Padme, but she was killed by a sorcerer. He vowed that if he couldn't have his love, no one would be in love. He turns all men in love who pass through his domain into animals, and paralyzes all women until the moon comes out.

Leia, Han, and Han's dog Chewbacca are walking through the woods when they come upon Vader's castle. They try to turn around, but Leia can't move. Vader arrives in the form of a cat, knocking Chewie against a tree. He transforms Han into a song sparrow. Leia demands that he release her fiancee, but he refuses. This handsome warbler is going to be a pet for his master.

Charlie came upstairs while I was working. He's going to take the air conditioners down this weekend. He also said for me to keep it down up here. I didn't realize how much noise I was making at night, or how much my voice carries. I tried to turn down everything in the house.

I did more Doc McStuffins during dinner. The other major change in Doc's life is her parents adopted a baby. They tell the kids months in advance. Doc's excited about being a big sister again. Her brother Donnie's not as thrilled. At one point, both he and Lambie run away when they're feeling neglected. Doc's nervous about taking care of a baby. Her parents give her a baby doll to help her learn all about babysitting. The arrival of the baby inspires a very sweet story about how Doc got each of her four favorite toys, and how she wants to get the baby a toy she can love just as much.

The arrivals of both the baby and her new toy Lala make for much excitement. Lala is a baby toy, and she's still learning about things like bedtime rituals. Doc assures her that she'll learn as her new human does.

I made a really nice dinner, too. Had chicken sausage with steamed broccoli and oven-fried eggplant. The eggplant didn't turn out that great, but the other two were good.

Moved to the first Thanksgiving special of the year as I cleaned up from dinner. A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving has Peppermint Patty inviting herself, Marcie, and Franklin over to Charlie Brown's house for the big feast. Trouble is, Chuck's going to his grandparents' house to eat. He and Linus make a meal of toast, popcorn, pretzels, and jelly beans to appease them. Peppermint Patty throws a fit, until Marcie and Linus remind their friends of the real reason for the holiday.

Finished the night with more Lego Star Wars. Was able to get the last pieces I needed for "Negotiations," "Invasion of Naboo," and "Invasion of Kashyakk." Got True Jedi on the last two and the red brick on "Kashyakk." Got a few more pieces on "Bounty Hunter Pursuit."

And I feel absolutely horrible. I was trying to change my watch for Daylight Savings Time and not doing very well. I didn't realize how loud I was while fixing it. Charlie got mad and started screaming downstairs. I didn't mean to upset him. I really and truly didn't. I forgot my room is above his. Now I feel like an idiot and an ignorant, inconsiderate person. Now I'm afraid that every squeak I make in this room will magnify. I'm typing this standing up, so my chair doesn't make noise. I wish I could do one thing without making a mess of it.