The Day Before the Storm

Slept a lot longer than I planned; didn't get going until past 10. Ran Frosty's Winter Wonderland as I ate breakfast in honor of the winter storm we're supposed to get tomorrow. The second Rankin-Bass Frosty tale has the snowman's kid buddies making him a snow woman to be his wife and keep him company. Trouble is, she's not "all livin'" like he is. While the Frosty and the kids try to figure out how to bring her to life, a jealous Jack Frost is determined to get Frosty out of the way so he can be the only cold-weather icon.

Spent the rest of the morning and about an hour tonight writing. Leia visits the little town near-by to buy fruit for her mother and talk to her pregnant friend Shara Dameron. Shara says she and her family are leaving Naboo. Not only has Palpatine increased taxes, but he strips those who don't pay him of their land and homes. Three counselors who have spoken out against him have vanished in the past month. It's said he transforms dissenters into mindless beasts.

When Leia's there, she has a Force vision of her parents being killed in their cottage by an ancient figure in a black cloak. She rushes back, only to find the cottage a smoldering ruin and her parents murdered. Luke, who had been visiting them, is gone too, as are their animals and all their worldly goods.

Seeing a flash of white in the woods, the despairing Leia chases after it. It turns out to be a unicorn with a long gold mane and a green crystal horn. The creature is scared and skittish, but it seems to recognize Leia. It helps her dig a grave for her parents, then follows her behind her cart to Obi-Wan's cottage.

By the time she's arrived at the cottage, the moon is out. It's light transforms the unicorn into her brother Luke. Obi-Wan witnesses it, too. He shoos the twins in his cottage, before someone sees them.

Broke for lunch at 1:30. Did an episode of The Backyardigans while I ate and got organized. Wizards Tyrone and Pablo have "A Giant Problem" when the humongous Tasha starts stomping around, awakening a grumpy Queen Uniqua from her nap. She insists that her royal wizards get rid of the giant.

It was past 2 before I headed out to run errands. It was actually a bit warmer than I thought it would be, given the storm we're supposed to get tomorrow, sunny and in the lower 50's. Still very windy, though. I dodged Canadian geese and a few folks out for a stroll as I cut across Newton Lake Park. While many trees are showing the first signs of buds, for the most part, it's still winter in the park. The grass remains dry and yellow; the weeds along the riverbanks are little more than brown sticks.

The Haddon Township Library was much busier, in fact the busiest I've seen it in a while. Everyone must have come from school or work to take out books and DVDs before the storm hits. I had a hard time organizing the kids' DVDs, thanks to all the children and parents around. Also shelved the audio books, CDs, and new releases. (Someone else did the adult DVDs.) Found the first set for the new version of DuckTales; the original was a favorite of mine in the late 80's-early 90's. Also took out Spartacus and last year's version of King Arthur.

Dodged early rush-hour traffic on Cuthbert, heading over to Collingswood to look at the Bike Share. Since I was there a bit early, I decided to have an early dinner at The Pop Shop. This time, I went with bacon and Apple Cinnamon Bettys - aka pancakes with sauteed apples - to celebrate having finished those five Star Wars fairy tales. Their pancakes are massive, the size of the plate. I really do wish the apples had been cut up and distributed in the actual pancakes, not just dropped in the middle of them. Other than that, they were quite tasty. I got in there just in time, too. By the time I was actually eating my dinner, the place had filled up with noisy families and groups of college students.

Next stop was supposed to be the Collingswood Bike Share. Despite it being well past 5:30 when I arrived at their fenced-in enclosure, they remained closed. Checking their Facebook page, it turned out that they're only open when the Collingswood Farm Market is...namely, from May to November. I was so upset! People ride bikes year-round, you know, not just then.

Went to Dad and Jodie's house to say "hi" and see if they could drive me to work tomorrow. They couldn't take me to work...but they did say they'd get me a brand-new bike for my birthday. My last two bikes were used, and they both eventually broke down. I need something that already comes with decent pedals and wheels. I also need to find a tarp or something that can cover it. Charlie has no garage, and the only shed around the house is in his dogs' enclosure and is for his garden things alone.

Made it home around quarter after 7. Did a little more writing, then baked simple Old School Chocolate Chip Muffins from one of Alton Brown's cookbooks. Watched Working Girl as I baked to cheer myself up a bit. Tess McGill (Melanie Griffith) is tired of bouncing from one secretarial job and obnoxious boss to the next. She thinks she's found her new role model in Kathleen Parker (Signourney Weaver), a no-nonsense executive for a major mergers and acquisitions company. After she house-sits for Kathleen while her boss is laid up from a skiing accident, she discovers the older woman had intended to present Tess' big idea about a company buying a radio station as hers. Tess passes herself off as an executive to handsome mergers dealer Jack Trainor (Harrison Ford) in order to make sure the deal goes through, but the last thing she expected to do was fall for him. Now she has to keep up with the charade, while dealing with her cheating boyfriend (Alec Baldwin) and disbelieving best friend (Joan Cusack).

One of the biggest hits of 1989. Weaver, Griffith, and Cusack were Oscar-nominated; Carly Simon's hit song "Let the River Run" won. Ford may be even better as the love-flumoxed businessman. This is another movie where you should keep an eye out for some now well-known faces, including Ricki Lake as a bridesmaid, Oliver Platt as Tess' boss early-on, and Kevin Spacey in a cameo as a lecherous executive (which seems rather ironic nowadays). If you're a fan of the cast, romantic comedies, or rags-to-riches tales, this is one of my favorites.

(Incidentally, it rained for a while around 9 or 10 PM. I don't hear it doing anything right now. It's just supposed to rain tomorrow; the real snow's not supposed to arrive until the afternoon. We'll see what happens.)