Tales of the Rebels

Began a sunny day with breakfast, then cleaning. I finally got some quick dusting in. After I finished cleaning, I put up the Valentine's Day decorations. I know it's a little late, but I figured, better late than never.

Watched the next disc of Rebels episodes as I worked. Hondo the Bounty Hunter turns up again in "The Wynkahthu Job." He recruits the crew of the Ghost to help him and his partners retrieve a valuable treasure, including proton bombs for the Rebellion. Ezra and Kanan have "An Inside Man" helping them get information on a new secret weapon out of an Imperial factory in Lothal, at least until Thrawn shows up for an inspection.

Maul gets Ezra to help him out again in "Visions and Voices," this time on his home planet of Dathomir. They find the information they want from the holocrons, but it comes with a steep price. The spirits of the Nightsisters, the witches who live on Dathomir, take over Kanan and Sabine's body, and it's up to Ezra to bring them back.

Extremist rebel Saw Gerrera makes his first appearance on the show in the two-parter "Ghosts of Geonosis." The crew rescue him from the abandoned planet that once held the Separatists' droid-making facilities. It also holds the last Geonosian and his precious egg, which he hopes will allow for the survival of his kind. Saw wants to interrogate him and threatens the egg, but Ezra reminds him that this makes him no better than the Empire.

It's a day in the life for Zeb, the big cat-like fellow who acts as the group's muscle, the grouchy astromech droid Chopper, and the organized protocol droid AP-5 in "Warhead." Zeb finds a droid that seems to be abandoned and lost its memory. Unfortunately, his new friend turns out to be an Imperial infiltrator droid. They're built to record data and bring it back to the Empire. Zeb and the droids have to figure out a way to get rid of the droid before he sends any data on their base and it blows every explosive for miles sky-high.

It was well after 1 when I finally made it out to run errands. First stop was the Oaklyn Library. Considering they were 40 minutes from closing when I arrived, they weren't busy at all. I organized DVDs, tidied up the kids' area, and shelved kids' books.

Next stop was the Acme for groceries and my schedule. In good news, I only have six hours on Wednesday, not eight, and Monday off this time along with Thursday and Friday. The bad news is I lost hours. I'm expecting my tax refund to show up sometime this week or next, which should help. (And the lost hours aren't that surprising. If memory serves me correctly, my hours weren't that great at this time last year, either.)

Didn't have a huge order, but I did need to do some restocking. Picked up canned diced tomatoes, evaporated milk, grapefruit, apples, bananas, sweet potatoes, soup, cereal (Acme's generic cereals were on sale - I went with their Honey Nut Cheerios), cake mix, chicken legs, tea, and mandarin orange cups. Used online coupons for yogurt (I love that new French yogurt in the glass cups that have turned up recently) and toilet bowl cleaner. I thought I'd use another coupon for almond-coconut milk and try to get some more plant products in my diet.

Didn't make it home until around 3. I quickly put everything away, then had a fast lunch while watching more Rebels. Finished out the Geonosis episode. Called my stepdad Bill to wish him a happy birthday.

Worked on writing for a few hours after I ate. Maz delivers Rey and her sisters right to the gates of Twin Suns Palace in the country of Naboo. The kingdom's beloved rulers are King Han and Queen Leia. Rey tells them how they escaped and what the giant has planned. Leia sadly explains that Kylo is a prince, and their son, who betrayed the kingdom when he believed his parents no longer loved him. The giant's slave was Leia's brother Luke, the kingdom's last remaining wizard. He was teaching others magic when Kylo Ren and the Giant's forces destroyed them and captured Luke. The gold bands on his wrists inhibit his magic, as do the loss of his sword and sacred magic books.

Broke at quarter of 6 for dinner. I'd left out the chicken legs I bought earlier. Instead of getting fancy, I just sprinkled salt, pepper, and dried herbs on them and baked them in the oven for 40 minutes. Also had roasted sweet potatoes, baked apple rings (to get rid of an apple that had gotten soft), and sauteed spinach and mushrooms. I overdid the oil with the spinach; otherwise, it came out very well, a simple, hearty meal for a winter's evening.

Went into Lego Star Wars after dinner. I had just enough time to get through the Free Play on Mos Eisley Spaceport. I still had problems with the Imperial walkers and lost a lot of money, but I did get almost all the pieces.

Finished the night with the remaining Rebels episodes on the third disc. "Trials of the Darksaber" and "Legacy of Mandalore" has Sabine returning to her home planet after Kanan and Ezra teach her to use the black lightsaber they found back with the Nightsisters. Her Empire-supporting family disowned her after she joined the Rebels. She has to prove to her mother and brother that she can be the leader her clan needs, even if she has to fight the Imperial governor to do it.

The disc ended with "Through Imperial Eyes." The Imperial in this case is Agent Kallus, who is acting as a double agent for the Rebels while still working for the Empire. Ezra warns him that the Imperials are catching on to his deception. Grand Admiral Thrawn is determined to find the spy in their midst. Kallus has to find a way to rescue Ezra and head him off.

(Oh, and it sounds like they're done with the trees out there. They just trimmed limbs off the last one. I don't think they could take down every tree out there anyway, even if they wanted to. The cliff along the river is too rocky and slopes too precariously for cranes. Not to mention, Charlie has too much junk in back to move.)