For no particular reason, today felt like a great day for one in which nothing happened.

I woke up and wrestled with the decision to back out of attending a sports writers luncheon on Sunday. I would've had to leave at 10:30 a.m., getting up when tired and leaving Casey behind. It would've been more difficult if we're staying at my apartment because of Lori's birthday party on Saturday night, the end of which we're hoping to make when I get off work. Now, if I'm going to get up early on Sunday, it's so Casey and I can go into the City together to see the Rockwell exhibit at the Guggenheim before I have to be at work.

After making the decision and calling the appropriate people, I sat down to write my column for Sunday, which was fun and did not have nearly enough space. I used the quotes I got from the Phillies players on Monday and wrote a major league column for once, rather than all minor league stuff. And I just reread it as I polished it off here at work, and it's pretty good. Oh yeah.

I cleaned up the kitchen a little, rinsing the drainer, which had somehow gotten dirty when it's only supposed to be CLEAN dishes that go in it. Hmmm... And I don't know if Betty knows where the trash cans are in the basement, because when Lori's not around, I think I'm the only one who takes out the garbage. I also cleaned the bathroom a little, mainly the toilet, in part because I can say I did when my mom makes her next crack about me cleaning the bathroom.

I made some tortellini (enough for dinner too) and ate it watching the "Bart the Genius" episode of The Simpsons on my DVD before showering. A little bonus to my day came when I had all that done at 2:15, and with no TV to watch since NBC was all repeats last night, I sat down to read about Harry Potter succeeding in the second task of the Triwizard Tournament - an unexpected half hour of quiet reading time. I went down and got my car from the lot across the street and brought up my clean laundry, which had been in the trunk since Wednesday, and then left early for work, my early departure necessitated because of Lori's birthday Sunday. She loves the two scented candles I have in my room (both brought by Casey from Illuminations when she visited in early September), so I wanted to get her a gift certificate. I knew I wouldn't be able to get into Manhattan to the store there, and I didn't want to ask Casey to do it. I considered stopping at the Mall at Short Hills - out of my way, but not too bad if I left early enough - until I found out there is a store at the Jersey Gardens outlet mall near Newark Airport. So that's where I went.

The mall is huge - two levels of stores, in gigantic figure-8s. It's hard for me to tell, but I pictured it as maybe a quarter-mile circuit if you walk the outer loop of one level, which I did. I walked in and looked at the directory and did not find Illuminations listed anyway. Annoyed, I left, thinking maybe, if I hurried, I could make it to Freehold Mall and then to work by 5 p.m. for the meeting. But in the parking lot, I realized that wouldn't happen, so I thought that maybe the internet (where the Illuminations site told me the Jersey Gardens mall has a store) was more up-to-date than the directory. Inside, I saw a pocket map of the mall, and I thought maybe that would be more up-to-date. Nope. Well, I thought to myself, might as well walk around and see if you find it, because you don't need to be at work this early.

I walked the entire upper level, gazing through the largest music store I've seen this side of the Virgin Megastore in Times Square: FYE, which, I (perhaps ashamedly) admit, I had never known stood for "For Your Entertainment." But this FYE was in the middle of the mall, inside the "loop" of the figure-8. And it went clear through to the other side. If only I'd found $1,000 on the floor there.

Circling around to the other side of the loop, I passed the first of two Auntie Anne's pretzel shops, and I caved. For the second time this week.

I took my pretzel and lemonade and sat down on one of the couches (this is a high-class mall, with carpeted concourses) at the intersection of the 8 to eat. Completing the upper level, I took the escalator downstairs, and decided that after walking clockwise upstairs, I'd go counterclockwise downstairs. Descending the escalator, I saw the second Auntie Anne's - this one was at 5 o'clock of the lower level; the first was at 1 o'clock of the upper.

Walking briskly and sucking on my lemonade, I nearly missed Illuminations pop up on my left. If I'd gone clockwise on the lower level like I did on the upper, I'd have come to the store after almost another complete circuit.

The kid behind the counter had to have the manager come out and ring up my gift certificate, and rush hour/weekend traffic from the Turnpike and onto the Parkway made me late for the meeting, but I didn't miss much. It was all outlined on the agenda we all received anyway. Is there an emoticon for rolling your eyes? Not that it isn't necessary, but I don't need to go into this now.

Here's hoping for a fun weekend...