I awoke this morning with a mission: finish the first draft of the skin book in time to get to the free 7:30 screening of The Dukes of Hazzard.

Well, 7:30 rolled around and one half of the goal had been accomplished.

And, for once, it was the correct half.

Yes, yes. The skin book has been emailed off. Portions of it could be better — like the section on research or the introduction — but other sections are thorough and I’m generally pleased with them. Hopefully others will be, too.

I’m sorry I missed the movie, but it will come around on video sooner or later. And, really, that’s how Dukes should be viewed, right?

Rudi and I headed out yesterday evening to Tyson’s Corner to look at a sofa. It wasn’t what we were looking for, but while we were at the mall we got watch batteries for some dead time keepers and some free skin products (from the company who is subsidising the book I’m writing), so all was not lost.

We had one more errand to run while we were out that way and headed west. It was just at sunset and the sun was poised just over the treetops like a single red Christmas light. Had I wanted to recreate it here for you, it would be the perfect use for a fluorescent red Crayola crayon.

So maybe that’s why I did it. Maybe I was inspired by nature…

I had already looked through the dress racks at TJ Maxx. There was nothing that would be appropriate to wear to Caroline’s wedding. So I went off to look for inexpensive tea and for athletic wear. I found the tea, but no workout clothes. But as I turned around, there it was — a dress.

And not just any dress, mind you, but a ruby red dress.

But it was a size smaller (and sometimes two) than what I normally wear.

I looked at Rudi. He looked at me. He said, “It’s just one size. You could fit into it by the wedding.”

So I went to try it on. Rudi offered to wait for me, but I told him not to bother. I wouldn’t be able to zip it up. I certainly wasn’t going to parade a half-done-up dress out in public.

The dress felt lovely going on over my head. It should — the lining (although not the rest of the dress) is silk.

But the side zipper seemed to be stuck and with the dress only half-zipped it looked like the dress hadn’t been cut properly, which would have explained its presence at TJ’s.

I kept working at the zipper though, and millimeter by millimeter it rose toward its destination. And, as it did, the rest of the dress evened out, until finally the zipper was done up and the dress looked fine.

Except…

Do you remember the scene in Dirty Dancing when Baby tries on her dancing costume dress for the final fitting? And she starts giggling because the dress dips so low you can see her bra?

Well, that’s this dress. And it looked a little funny because my tan line from Falcon Ridge is very pronounced right now. But I’ve never owned a dress with such a décolletage (as a side note, the word actually refers to the neckline of the dress and not the woman’s anatomy, as I had always thought) before.

I bought it (and a bikini that was marked way down so I can even out the funny tan line).

I’m not sure a plunging neckline is appropriate for a wedding, though, (and I’d hardly want a reputation as Caroline’s American cousin with the poor taste) so I might hold off and wear it to the Kennedy-King dinner in October instead.

But it sure does feel good to look at it hanging in my closet this morning.

I am supposed to be finishing the first draft of a book on skin health today. (No, I did not pick the topic…) Generally, I’ve found it easy enough to write and interesting to research. I know tons more than I did when I started. Of course, it’s mostly gross stuff that can go wrong with your skin, but still…

The first draft is due Monday. I have another 10 pages or so I need to write before I’m going to be happy with the way it’s put together. But today has been so remarkably unproductive. I’ve written sentences. I’ve deleted the same sentences. Written more. Hit the delete key. So on and so forth. ::sigh::

The book was flowing so well before I went on vacation. What happened to my good writing fairy? Why did she foresake me? And, more importantly, how do I entice her back?

On this day 230 years ago, the Second Continental Congress established the nation’s first post office department. So if the USPS has to raise prices in the next year or so and the price of a stamp goes up to 40 cents for a letter, just remember that that’s a ridiculously reasonable rate of inflation. (Plus, what else could you buy for 40 cents these days?)

Ben Franklin, our first postmaster general, earned a salary of $1000/year and had a secretary and a comptroller under him who each earned $340/year.

On a side note, Boston set up the first post office in the colonies in 1639. [Abby is correct; Massachusetts had finally approved the Constitution by 1939. Just shows I shouldn’t be allowed to play with numbers when I’m sleepy…]

Have I mentioned how much I hate mornings? Even mornings when I am leaving on vacation? I tend to go to sleep way too late and then still have way too many things to do and so get up way too early. I mean, when else would I actually set the alarm for 6:30 a.m.? Yes, yes. I know some of you (Di) actually believe that that’s a reasonable time to get up. But I’m not in that crowd. My body yearns for a 9-9:30 a.m. waking hour. And tomorrow (on the first day of being on vacation as opposed to the first day of leaving for vacation), I’m not going to set any alarm clock. I’m just going to wait for my body to feel rested. Because, after all, that’s the whole point of a vacation.

I have some posts that should appear while I’m gone, so keep checking in. And I’ll see you next week!

Last I left you, I was having trifle troubles and was terribly late to our friend Shawn’s party. So it went.

Rudi went out and bought another quart of milk and I made a second batch of custard — refrigerating the first lot for our own use later in the week.

We managed to get to the party while there was still food, but not early enough to have our dishes eaten. But we did get to sample our own dishes (firsts for us on all three), and they were decent. The trifle is not quite like Gramma’s — but it wouldn’t be, would it? — but it’s tasty, and it benefits from a night in the fridge — something I will try to remember next time I want to serve it somewhere. As for the other dishes, Shawn’s red velvet cake finally gave me an insight into why so many people cite it as a favorite.

This morning, I slept in while Rudi dozed in the living room, reading the Tour de France coverage as it happened. After the first riders crossed the finish line, we headed to the farmers’ market to pick up peaches, milk, blueberries, corn on the cob, raspberries, lettuce, scones, and marscapone.

We spent the afternoon at the movies with John and Phillip watching Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. John and I agreed it and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory were sufficiently different so as to judge them separately, but my recollections from the last time I saw the Gene Wilder version (about 10 years ago) make me believe the original is a little creepier. I definitely liked the Oompa Loompas in the original better. I have liked Johnny Depp since he starred in 21 Jump Street (back when Fox was a fledgling network with national programming only on one night), so it was definitely two worthwhile hours spent with friends.

This evening, we’ve spent reading Harry Potter. I have stopped for the night, wanting to savor it a little longer and realizing that if I went past where I paused, I would have to finish it tonight. Rudi has opted to finish it and to refrain from dropping hints until I finish tomorrow evening.

On tap for the remainder of week: a lot of work before I pack it in Tuesday to head out for a few days of well-earned vacation. Then, Spamalot on Broadway Wednesday and camping at Falcon Ridge Folk Festival through the weekend. I hope to come back Monday rested, tanned (that book on healthy skin I’m currently writing be damned), a little sore from a good amount of bike riding, and with a long list of musicians worth listening to.

So, I apologize in advance if posting here is a little light this week. I’ll be thinking about you (even if I’m not leaving you notes here), and will post long tributes to my new (and old) favorite bands next week.