I began a sunny, bright day with lots of writing. Han teases Leia about her inability to take care of herself. She may be a warrior and a leader, but she can't cook or make a basket. When she picks berries for their dinner, she scratches herself badly. After she brings him the berries, she uses her magic - and her long hair - to heal herself. Han, coming to the river to catch fish for dinner, sees her washing her cuts and healing them, her long hair flowing around her like a wood nymph. He's entranced, but has no idea how to say it without coming off as snarky or obnoxious. She finally flees.
Later that night, Leia is sleeping outside, near the Falcon. She's looking out to the twinkling stars and the horses sleeping peacefully and the glossy leaves on the trees, thinking about Han and his kiss and what happened earlier. Just as she's falling asleep, she feels Han lay beside her and gently wrap his arms around her. She's too drowsy to protest his forwardness. Besides, she rather likes the feeling of him being there, so safe and strong.
(I was also ignoring Charlie banging around and cursing his brains out downstairs. He said he shut off the water for 15 minutes sometime around 11. I guess he did. An hour or so later, he asked me to check and make sure the hot and cold water were running, which they were.)
I broke for lunch and errands around 1. First stop was Phillies Phatties for lunch. Though it was a beautiful, sunny day, it was also windy and a little chilly. I ate my slice of cheese and slice of mushroom and drank my can of Diet Pepsi inside, while the guys behind the counter chatted and ESPN Sportcenter blared in the background.
It was a fabulous day for a ride through Newton Lake Park. Everything is in full bloom now. The trees have soft, pale-green leaves. The grass green like emeralds, dotted with the intricate yellow bead work of buttercups. Needless to say, there were quite a few people out and about enjoying the weather with me, mainly folks out for a walk. I dodged them as I headed to the Haddon Township Library for this week's session there.
They weren't really much busier than they have been the past few weeks. The weather was just too nice. I organized the still-weirdly-stacked kids' shelves and put away new releases and one lone audio book. Took out last year's movie version of The Man From UNCLE, this spring's spy-themed Barbie special, and new releases for The Cat In the Hat Knows A Lot About That and My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, along with another Star Wars book, Allegiance.
I had a little shopping to do, starting with a trip to Dollar Tree. Inspired by this post by Matt of Dinosaur Dracula from last year, I decided my first birthday present to myself would be a bunch of fun little stuff I could use for a one-person-birthday party. Since I also needed to buy sponges and birthday cards for Rose (whose big day was last week) and Khai (next week), I limited my budget to six dollars. I ended up with a British Farmer's Market Cookbook, a Sofia the First coloring book, a butterfly suncatcher, a bottle of Sparkling Ice Blackberry Soda, a small bag of York Peppermint Patties, and rose-scented bath salts.
Dollar Tree was a mess. It was past 3:30 by then, nearly rush hour, and the line was half-way across the store. The poor cashier did call for help, but they never appeared, at least not while I was there. People were obnoxious and rude, complaining about having only one thing and why did they actually have to wait and why wasn't she moving faster? Geez, it's a line. A little waiting never killed anyone.
I was so happy to get out of there. My stop at Thriftway was far briefer. In fact, it took about 10 minutes. I only needed their 18-pack of eggs (they're much cheaper than Acme's) and a Bed, Bath, and Beyond gift card for Rose. (You'd think they would be even busier, but they were dead as a doornail. Maybe everyone needed small stuff today?)
Went straight home after leaving Thriftway, dodging the early traffic. When I got in, I finished the Sailor Moon episodes I started during breakfast while putting things away and getting organized. Serena Tskino is having the worst birthday ever in the third season episode "Birthday Blues." First off, she thought everyone forgot. Then, she has a fight with Darien when she thinks he's forgotten. (He didn't. She forgot to tell him.) And even after she and the Guardians do get their party, the witch Kaiorinite turns Darien's gift of glass shoes into a monster that tries to take Serena's pure heart! Things get even worse when the monster turns Darien into a glass sculpture and takes Serena's transformation broach. Now, Serena has to rescue her beloved boyfriend, while the other girls (including the mysterious Sailor Uranus and Neptune) do what they can to save her.
Since I had some time before dinner at Dad's, I worked on painting my butterfly suncatcher. Watched birthday-themed episodes of Max & Ruby as I worked. "Surprise Ruby" has Max leading Ruby on a chase to retrieve her tiara before her big surprise birthday party. "Ruby's Birthday Party" is a fun affair, with lots of games and merrymaking - but Max only cares about the cake. Ruby's enjoying opening her gifts in "Max's Presents." Max is more interested in her nifty wrapping paper that she insists on keeping.
Headed to Dad's house around quarter of 5-6 PM. Jodie and Dad were the only ones there when I arrived, chatting with a neighbor and Khai's friend Chloe on the porch. Rose, Craig, and a very tired and cranky Khai arrived a bit later. Everyone gave me pretty cards (I loved Rose's card that had cupcakes with "sparkly" candles that lit up and played "Walking On Sunshine). Dad and Jodie gave me money, $325 all told. (And that last 5 dollars was in dollar bills, which will be very useful for the bus to the Cherry Hill Mall tomorrow.) T.J and his new boyfriend and Dana showed up a bit later.
Jodie made roast beef, potatoes, and carrots in a Crock Pot, Caesar salad, and pop-can biscuits and croissants for dinner. Dessert was a small half-chocolate, half-vanilla cake with very rich cream cheese frosting and chunks of chocolate on the side from Desserts By Design. Yum. Every bit of it was delicious. I very rarely make beef at home (it's expensive and not very good for you), so this was a rare treat. I even got to take the remaining biscuits and last slice of cake home with me. We watched Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune while finishing the cake before I headed out.
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