In the Summertime

It was still sunny but cool when I finally rolled out of bed this morning (after staying up late with Lauren last night). Ran Olivia Newton-John's Greatest Hits Vol. 2 on LP while eating Peach Brown Sugar Pancakes for breakfast. Along with her two singles from Xanadu and "You're the One That I Want" and "Hopelessly Devoted To You" from Grease, we get three of her most popular songs from the 80's, "Make a Move On Me," "A Little More Love," and "Physical." Other than slightly burning one side, the pancakes came out very well, moist and just sweet enough.

Worked on writing for a little while after breakfast. The residents of the Cottages meet in a picnic a few days later to celebrate expelling Empire Industries from their property. In good news, Leia says that she got Officer Madine to slap an injunction that'll keep the Imperial Gang away from them. Tarkin has been put in jail for a long line of infractions, though most of the Gang got away, including Vader. On the other hand, Luke admits that not only is the mortgage due, but they now need to make money for Uncle Ben's hospital stay.

Broke around 1 for a quick lunch. Ran the soundtrack to Streets of Fire while I ate. I haven't seen the movie, apparently a "rock and roll fable" about a guy who rescues his singer girlfriend from local hoods, but the music is fabulous. "I Can Dream About You" was the hit, but my favorite song is the epic dance number "Tonight Was Made for the Young."

Work was very busy with the tail-end of the beginning of the month folks and college kids preparing to return to school. I gathered baskets and indoor trash and did some returns, but I was mainly outside. I had help from a college-age boy and a teen boy early on, but for some reason, they kept them both inside later in the day. At the very least, it did slow down a bit later on, possibly due to the lovely day. It remained sunny and cool, and not nearly as windy as it was yesterday.

It was such a nice day, I once again took the long way home down Nicholson Road. This time, it was pretty quiet everywhere. There wasn't even the usual traffic around Wal Mart. Everyone must have gone to dinner.

(By the way, when Lauren and I were shopping in the Audubon Crossings Shopping mall behind the Acme in May, we noticed three empty stores, including the former Lucille Roberts, were being combined into what appeared to be one big store. It seems it was actually two big stores. I saw a Marshall's the last time I cut through there, and Ross Dress for Less has joined Wal Mart and Marshall's on the sign for the Wal Mart side of the property. I'm absolutely thrilled. The closest Marshall's to here is in Deptford; the closest Ross is the one Lauren and I visited in Moorestown. We could really use both, and quite frankly I prefer them for inexpensive clothes to Wal Mart.

I'm a little worried that they might end up taking out Avenue, though. I like them, too. My bathing suit and two of my favorite pairs of shorts came from that Avenue. Oh, and the mall did end up getting another gym in the former Staples building.)

Made a quick dinner of Tuna-Chinese Beans Salad when I got home. Switched to CDs for my favorite Billy Joel album, An Innocent Man. If you grew up in the early-mid 80's like I did, this is probably the album you most associate him with. "This Night," "Uptown Girl," "Easy Money," and "Tell Her About It" are some of my favorite songs by him.