Thank you, Mr. Carrier! :-)

We were home so late from Brave last night that we could be forgiven for sleeping in until after nine. I had to get up, take some ibuprofin and go back to bed because I'd apparently slept like a pretzel again and the arthritis in my neck was producing some spectacular stars (thankfully, no stripes). By 9:45 I was ready for oatmeal and yogurt and sat down to divest all the discount omeprazole out of their bulky boxes and into a pill bottle (why can't this crap come in a pill bottle anyway?) while watching The Presidents on History 2. (Oooh, nice vintage film footage in the McKinley/Roosevelt part!)

Sometime after noon we had to go out: James needed to get money so I could pay the lawn guys tomorrow. He decided to go to the Publix off the East-West Connector near I-285, since we had Barnes & Noble coupons. Well, so I said, "I wonder if they have any good watermelon. It would be good to go along with dinner." [We had honey barbecue chicken wings and corn on the cob as being appropriate supper for the Fourth.] So we went in.

Since we hadn't had lunch, we were drawn immediately to the soup bar. We got some really thick chicken noodle soup for both of us, and some Mongolian beef in case the soup wasn't filling enough, then picked out a dessert for tomorrow (a chocolate mousse cake to share; our Publix never has them), then cruised by the meat and found some minimally-fatty lamb shanks for tomorrow night's dinner. Oh, yeah, and we did get the watermelon, too!

So we only spent a minimal time in B&N. I broke down and bought The Geography of Bliss, which I heard the author speaking about on "Travel with Rick Steves." I buy more books because of podcasts; I want to get No Man's Lands, too, after hearing the author talk about the book on Steves' radio show (author followed in the steps of Ulysses, from Troy back to Ithaca—I never realized Sorrento, Italy, was named after the Sirens!). LOL. Of course I had to buy a book the author talked about on "The Splendid Table," too, about a year ago. Another good one.

Once home, we doled out the soup and put on 1776 for its yearly viewing. "He Plays the Violin" still reminds me of dancing around the den of the old house with Bandit. When that was over I put Johnny Tremain on. It hits all the pertinent parts of the book, but is really very superficial, and the ultimate lesson Johnny learns is missing from the film in the name of a Disney happy ending (despite the fact in the same era they managed to keep Old Yeller intact). However, how could you not like the Liberty Tree song? Also watched the short "Ben and Me."

The watermelon was the perfect capper to dinner and then we settled down to Independence Day concerts: the quickest Capitol Fourth I've ever seen; it went by so quickly! Lots of orange in the DC fireworks this year, and I love watching the flowers of the other communities' fireworks at the horizon. Switched quickly to watch the remainder of the fireworks from New York City—New York put on a super show, with heart-shaped figures, lots of spheres, and a great soundtrack.

Sigh. And of course they joined the Boston Pops right at the end of the "1812 Overture." The preceding show was a rerun of Criminal Minds. Thanks, CBS...you couldn't have cut it by five minutes and given us most of the song? Boy, do I miss A&E's coverage of the Boston Pops fireworks!

Labels: food, holidays, movies, music, shopping, television

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