Odds and ends again... mostly odds...

Meryl Streep is my favorite actress ever. (Or am I supposed to say "actor"?... seems like I heard or read somewhere that actor is to be non-gender specific and thus more PC. Whatever.) She's amazing. I have loved every movie I've seen with her in it. Meryl Streep has more talent in her little finger than most of the actors (actresses) out there. Seriously. For one thing, this:

I loved that movie. And I can't imagine doing that move at my age, let alone her age. And speaking of age, she is aging better than any other actress also. I greatly admire that woman. No, it's not a crush... well, maybe a little... Anyway, I bring this up only because she must have somehow been featured in a dream I had last night or something, because I woke up thinking of her. (Hey, gotta be a good day when you wake up thinking of Meryl Streep, right?) And thinking how she has more talent in her little finger than, well, you know.

And then I thought of her little fingers... Have you ever noticed how Meryl Streep has very small little fingers? I mean, her little fingers are small... they're half the size of her ring fingers (or 3rd finger or whatever the technical term is for the finger between your little finger and your bird). I noticed it years ago and now look for it on occasion in her movies. (Ever do that? Notice something and then can't help but look for it over and over. Yes, you do.) So I've been scouring via Google images for Meryl Streep and her extra little, yet still gorgeous, little fingers. And it's been amazingly difficult. Most photos I've found don't show her hands very well, or if they do, she's doing something like this...

But I did find these...


So, that's what I find interesting at 4:30am.

This week is our son's school's spring break week. If we were normal, we'd be on a nice vacation somewhere with our son, leaving his hard-working older sister home to attend her college classes. But, we are not normal. I am not, anyway.

Fortunately, Sammy was lucky. And Lucky Sam has some good friends... A good friend, Austin, who invited Sammy to go with him and his family to the Kalahari Resort in Ohio. Sam is half fish, and I'm sure he is in heaven right now. I miss him, but am oh so happy for him. Austin's family and 2 other families all went there together, so there are lots of kids. Some younger kids, but Sammy likes little kids. I'm so happy that Sam is getting to do something so very, very fun for spring break. And they're staying in the "Village Suite" at the Kalahari... pretty freakin' awesome.

In light of Sam being gone most of this week, he and I made plans for Saturday, Sunday and Monday. I took Monday as a vacation day to spend with Sam. We started on Saturday with a tanning session for Sammy. (I let Sam do about 4 or 5 tanning sessions... a local tanning joint has a deal where you get 6 free to see if you like it, then you can sign up if you want. Awesome.) Then on to the Hollister store at the Saginaw mall.

Words cannot express how much I hate Hollister stores. I am far, far too old for them. They play the music too damn LOUD and they spray far too much perfume EVERYWHERE. And they sell cheap stuff at ridiculously high prices. But, words cannot express how much I love my son, so... to Hollister we went.

Sammy and his friends are what Joycie (lovingly) calls "label whores." Joycie and her friends would happily hit the local "Salvo" for t-shirts (Salvation Army store). And since we live in a town that has many world travelers, they'd find some cool, like-new t-shirts from places like Belize, Ireland, Australia, China... Sammy wouldn't be caught dead in anything from Salvo. Even if no one could possibly know it came from Salvo, HE WOULD KNOW. And since we were not spending any money on a family vacation once again this year, I agreed to Hollister. What will $230 buy at Hollister? 1 pair swim trunks, 2 pair of shorts, 3 t-shirts, 1 t-shirt with a collar and 1 bottle of Jake cologne. Yes, $230. (Kev, if you're reading this, I know you're croaking right now, so get over it.) This desire of Sam's to wear The Name Brand clothing is definitely not something he got from me or his Dad... we got home and Kev met us in the garage... and Kev had on a black t-shirt that I got free from my employer back in 1979. Yes, 1979.

Sunday, I took Sammy back into town for another tanning session, a hair cut and then a "date" with his girlfriend, Julia. We picked Julia up and went downtown where I stayed at a local coffee shop, using their super fast free wi-fi to get some work done, while Sammy and Julia just walked around together. I managed to hack it out... I say that because I felt awful. When we got home Saturday, I felt awful... Sam was afraid our Sunday plans would be cancelled, but I stuck it out. Not easily.

Because once again, I caught some damn bug. Been sick again since early Saturday, with a stomach flu or something, reminiscent of April '08. Ugh. Ever since I had that Augmentin reaction, I have felt weird and/or sick. Weirdly sick. Sickly weird. Vertigo is crazy. Also, my sense of taste is greatly diminished. Very odd. I have been putting more salt on things lately without thinking about it, because I can't taste it until it's too much salt. And salt doesn't help with vertigo (I read that somewhere, I think). Too much salt doesn't help a person's body at all. So I've been trying to be aware of it, and not use it. It's like food is so-so and coffee is simply hot. Today, I can taste coffee more, so I know my sense of taste is returning, slowly though.

Monday, Sammy needed an allergy shot, and then we had plans to go out to breakfast and then a bunch of other plans. I did get him to his shot, and then to breakfast as promised... to an iHop (allergy shot in one town, iHop 30 miles away in a another town, oy!). Sammy wanted iHop because he loves their cornmeal pancakes. Guess what... the cornmeal pancakes are no longer on their menu; can't get 'em. He was disappointed, and I was like, "OMG, I drove 30 miles for this and I feel like CRAP." And then we had to cancel all the rest of the day's plans because I had to hurry home, and then I spent the rest of the day pretty much between my bed and my bathroom. What a sweet way to spend 8 vacation hours. I was telling my best friend, Sandy, all about my troubles, and she said, "It's like they said in that movie The Bucket List, 'never trust a fart'!" That's my Sandy, she can still make me laugh even when I don't feel like it.

And now I've been up and done with my shower since before 5am, sitting at our dining room table with all my work spread out - it's all staring at me! Been writing this blog post all that time, on and off, with several interruptions... But also having enjoyed the coffee Kev made this morning, talking with him before he had to leave for work, and enjoying what I can see of a gorgeous sunrise down our long hallway, past the kitchen, through our small window...

2009 and already miscellany

I mentioned that I've been listening to recorded books lately... I listen in my car on my drives to and from work, mostly. Once again, my current book is one set in Ireland. As with all books I read/or listen to, when a passage strikes me, I tend to write it down. Yesterday, I heard this:

"Below the hem of my nightdress, I could see, and I noticed it with a quick flick of misery, that the skin was blotchy over the knob of my ankle bone. And when I lifted the leg and twisted myself to look at it more closely, I saw that the veins at the back of my knees were coarse and blue-black. That was new, wasn't it? Then because the mirror was in front of me, I experimented with moving my head while I listened to Ella. Yes, the skin of my neck puckered when I bowed my head. I leaned across and peered into the mirror and did it again. Lower chin, throat puckers; lift chin, throat smooths out. To think when I was young, I took the fabric of myself for granted. It never occurred to me, no more than it would to Ella now, that some day I would be afraid to look at myself closely."

From the book, My Dream of You, by Nuala O'Faolain - in which I'm only less than half-way through, but so far, so good...

And darn it all, Dyan Cannon is back in my head. Ugh.

While I was rewinding the cassette tape (yes! cassette tape! They look like this, remember?), so I could write down the above text from the book (rewind, write, rewind, write... very handy thing to do while driving!), I heard a bit on NPR, so I stopped for a moment and listened. It was a bit about a group of people artists who each took a photo at 7:15pm each day for a year. It was somewhat interesting; here's the article on NPR.org. I haven't formed any opinion about the collaborative work, because I haven't looked at their site enough... maybe some day when I'm at Espress Milano and can use their super fast 'net access, I'll do so. Maybe. But I did take a gander at the web site for the artist from whom they got their inspiration... I'm not going to link to it here, you can get to it from the NPR article. But.... Oh. My. Heck. This guy did these one-year "art" pieces. In one, he built a wooden cage in his apartment and basically lived in it for one year without radio, TV, etc., and had a friend bring in food. Um... like solitary confinement in prison. Have you ever wondered what it would feel like to be in solitary confinement in prison for a year? Me, neither. (Duh, it'd be awful.) Another year-long piece was punching a time-clock every hour for a year at the same time... only the NPR article got it wrong, because the artist didn't quite make it every hour all year long... there is a document on his web site that explains all the times he missed or was late or early. So seems to me he failed on that one. Then another I looked at was him vowing to live outside for a year. Ever wonder what it'd be like to be homeless? Me, neither.

Stranger still for me was the Google search results... it would appear this guy is some well-known artist, I guess. Oy! Me and my hicksville-ness will just stay out of it. All that "thought-provoking" crap stuff on this one just ain't my thang. Here's a thought for you... instead of pretending to be homeless, help them!

So... did I stay up and watch 2009 come into being? No, I did not. I was in bed quite early, actually... before 9pm. Kev was watching some sports stuff on TV, Sammy and his friend, Nate, were up and about, and I said g'night. Joycie and Mike called me about 9:30pm, so I got to wish them Happy New Year. Then I closed my eyes. To sleep a wonderful, restful sleep. Best way to bring in 2009 as far as I'm concerned. Here's hoping the rest of ought nine will be similarly peaceful. Sammy and I are also still hoping our slogan "everything'll be fine in '09" is dependable. No New Year's resolutions from me, however. Don't believe in 'em. It's just Thursday, folks, just another Thursday. What I resolve to do today is no more important than what I resolve to do on a Thursday in, say, March. Gotta go with the flow, stay in the loop, keep your eye on the ball, roll with the punches, make hay while the sun shines, be the duck* and try not to take any wooden nickels.

*Be the duck. This is a wisdom I learned from my mom. When something or someone bothers you and you have no control over the situation, or very little control... be the duck. Let the anger &/or frustration roll off you like water off a duck's back. Be the duck is good advice. Many a time I've needed it, remembered it and got back to being productive and of a more peaceful mindset. Go, Mom!

Yesterday, by the way, was NOT my sister, Kathy's 50th Birthday! But I got Kev, Joycie and Sammy all 3 to call her and wish her a very happy birthday. It was most excellent. Because at some time in our youngsterhood, I apparently decided that Kathy's birthday was not really December 30th, but instead, the Last Day of December, and we argued about it off and on through the years. So when I called Kathy yesterday morning after my family had all called to wish her A Very Happy Birthday Today!, I could hardly talk from laughing. Kathy was on to me from the get-go, but I still got a big chuckle out of it. She told me, "You've been trying to change my birth date for years, and it's never going to work." Right-o. Did I mention she's FIFTY YEARS OLD?!!! Ha! I figure in a couple more decades, I'll be able to convince her.

No-Tail the Squirrel... A few months ago, we began to notice that one of the fox squirrels that lives near our house had a very thin tail...



Not a very good photo - it was kinda dark out and snowing when I took it, but you can definitely see the difference in the poor critter's tail vs. his fine-tailed kin. We figure he got into a fight with something, but maybe it's some kind of squirrel disease.

He's been coming up to the bird feeder regularly, and when I'm up early, such as this morning, I've noticed he's usually the first squirrel to arrive. He'll climb up the limb of the bush nearest the feeder until it bends right to the feeder and onto the roof he goes. It's very graceful. But when other squirrels begin to arrive, fox, gray, black, a veritable melting pot gathering of squirrels, he is the No. 1 to be scared away. Poor little No-Tail. I took a photo of him just now, and I had to use my flash through the window... look at his poor, skinny freezing tail now...



I don't have the heart to scare him away from the feeder.

Update! He's at the feeder still, and a gray squirrel is occupying the other side, and another fox squirrel just came up, onto the roof and tried to take over No-Tail's side of the feeder... and No-Tail didn't let him! Yay for No-Tail! Perhaps he's made himself a New Year's Resolution...

can't get it out of my head

Anyone who knows us well knows our family likes us our TV and movies. Big fans. With the cold weather and the colds & flu lately, we have been watching some more movies than usual together. Also because some of our usual favorite TV shows haven't had any new episodes... *sigh*

Between my recording a ton of movies from various channels and Kev picking up some DVD rentals, we have had quite a mix of movies lately. Watched a few good ones I recorded, like "Die Hard" and other old ones. Some cheesy but good Hallmark Movies, like "Generation Gap" and "A Christmas Visitor", along with Kev's rented "Knocked Up" and some others... funny how the bad ones are easier for me to remember than the good ones...

Because we saw some really, really bad ones... like:

"Far North" - I will say this movie had some incredibly talented actors and some beautiful scenery. But... Oh. My. Heck. The ending is so awful that I can't stop thinking about it every now and then. Warning: if you continue to read here, it will totally spoil the movie for you. However, since I strongly recommend you do not spend any precious minutes of your precious time on this awful movie, here's the ending... Basically, a woman raises a child from an infant as her own daughter, when the daughter is a young woman, a man enters their very secluded world and the daughter and man fall in love... apparently the mom also loves the man, so while he is out hunting, she kills her daughter, then cuts off her face from her dead body, dresses in her daughter's clothes and then puts the skin of her daughters face onto her own so that she can fool the man when he returns to the darkened teepee into having sex with her. Which he does, quite quickly, by the way, and then when he's done and kissing who he believes is his young love, ummm... well, the face moves around on the mom's face and the truth is creepily apparent. So the man freaks Big Time, and well, who wouldn't, eh... and runs out of the teepee stark naked into the arctic weather. To perish, one would assume. The mom lays there with her hands on her, um, faces, crying. Roll credits. *shiver* Awful. I can't get the picture of the mom washing the daughter's face skin out of my head. Nice. If you look at the IMDB comments, one person, who liked the movie, wrote "I just hope people will remember it." Your hope has come true, commenter, but not for the reasons you seem to think... Ugh.

And, "Open Water" - yes, yes, I know... everyone knows how bad that movie is. But we hadn't seen it. I recorded it, so in our defense, it's not like we paid a rental fee. And I can't really claim that we watched the whole thing, since I spent an awful lot of time hitting the forward button on my DVR remote. I had forgotten it was based on a true story, though I had seen a TV show about it one time. Kev, Sammy and I watched it together the other evening. Very bad. But then I remembered that the comic Ralphie May had done a little skit about going to see that movie, and he was hilarious.

And finally, Hallmark's "A Kiss at Midnight" - ok, the movie was fine, for the cheesy romantic movie it was intended to be (I actually got Kev to watch it with me yesterday morning!). But what was awful, what was so awful, we were practically mesmerized by it... was Dyan Cannon, more specifically, Dyan Cannon's skin - her face and body. Now, Dyan Cannon is/was a good actor and a beautiful woman. But, as one article I read stated, "Dyan Cannon is the obvious victim of trying too hard to look young." The woman is going to be 72 years old very soon. In this movie, I couldn't stop looking at the difference between her face and her neck and arms. She is walking around in tight jeans (kudos for any 72 year old), but with high heels and she walks so funny... like an old person trying not to walk like an old person. Her arms are so very wrinkled in contrast to her face. If you click on the link to the movie, you'll see the photo of her with Faith Ford, and notice that Dyan is wearing gloves. There is a reason for the gloves. I think her worked-on face makes the rest of her look even worse. It is so strange. Sadly strange. With Dyan's bone structure, she should have just let herself go... yes, she would have looked her age, but still beautiful. The creepiness of her face vs. body totally ruined the sweet, little movie for me.

So there you have it. My effort to purge the memories of these 3 awful movies out of my head... and into yours. Enjoy.

What did you think I meant? That wasn't it.

Now that Kevin is on the lab tech job he's had since last October & he isn't working any weekends (thank goodness!), he and I have our weekend early morning routine. Coffee.

Sometimes we sit together and go through a pot or two while we talk, other times, we may decide to watch a recorded episode of Lost or CSI while we drink our coffee together. Or, Kev will have some hunting or sports show on the TV, and we'll both semi-watch it while we talk. Sometimes, like this morning, Kev will watch a recorded game (Tigers vs. AZ from last night), and I'll get on my computer.

I'm kinda sorta listening to the game, but also doing some research... last night I had a dream that wasn't about the movie "Twister" nor was it about a scary tornado, but whatever I was dreaming about included those beautiful wind lawn sculptures from "Twister". I've had a thing for those ever since I saw that movie. So this morning I was itching to get on the 'net and see what I could find out. Turned out to be not a whole lot, other than the artist is Evan Lewis and his web site is sorely lacking in photos of his pieces that were in the movie. I tried to find our copy of the DVD, which I believe was downstairs near the TV last time I saw it... but since we moved all the stuff out of that big room for the carpet installation and haven't yet moved and sorted everything back... it was a pointless search. Especially on only one-half cup of coffee. And then I got distracted trying to take photos of the turkeys tearing up the mulch and making a big mess beneath our bird feeders. I want a close-up of one of their heads, because the turkey's head... it's ugly. So ugly, it's very, very interesting to me. They move so quickly, however, and they're smart, so they're leery... I've had no luck on that photo yet.

So anyway, for our weekend mornings, the two most important components are coffee and talk. Kev and I usually take turns filling up our coffee cups. To be honest, Kev has done a helluva lot more filling up turns than I have so far this year...

Just a bit ago, I was standing at my desk trying to take a photo through the window of the damn turkeys, and I finally gave up. Decided it was my turn to fill up...

me: Honey, you ready for a refill?

as I walked over to get his cup...

Kev, with very cute exaggerated enthusiasm: Yes, I am!

as I was heading toward the kitchen...

Kev: And I expect it to be delivered topless.

in kitchen, pouring coffee...

me: No top on your coffee cup. Got it.

LF

Ah, for the good ol' days.

So... this past Thursday evening, during the middle of a movie, "The Brave One" with Jodie Foster, great movie, btw... our DVD player decided to poop out on us. If you've seen that movie, then you know some parts of it are quite suspenseful, and it was at one of those tense moments that the DVD player quit. It would turn itself off almost immediately after being turned on. And so then, of course, we couldn't get it to spit out the DVD. I got my trusty tools out and took the machine apart, finally freeing the DVD from it's crappy electronics prison. Sammy and I were able to finish the movie on the downstairs TV & DVD player.

Yesterday morning, Kev and Joycie took Sammy into the oral surgeon's office where Sammy got all 4 of his wisdom teeth removed. We had stocked up on rented DVD's and a Wii game in anticipation of keeping Sammy quiet this weekend so he would heal well. Bummer that the upstairs DVD player broke.

So this morning, Sammy was doing real well (pain pills work for him, too), and I had about $60 in Best Buy money (love that Best Buy Rewards Zone Master Card)... so Kev and Sammy went into town to buy a new DVD player.

They came home with a new 42" HP LCD MediaSmart Plasma HDTV, a DVD player for it and then a cheaper DVD player so Sammy can use that on the TV we're moving from the basement up to his bedroom.

Oh! The Changes. Direct quote from Kevin just now, "See, that's what I hate about this f***ing shit. It's so complicated, and I don't know what the hell I'm doing."

Amen, brother.

Thankfully, Joycie & Mike were here, so Mike helped with the moving around. We moved the big Toshiba TV from upstairs to downstairs, and then the smaller Panasonic TV up to the 2nd floor to Sammy's bedroom, while the new Hewlett-Packard got set up in our living room. But then there are all the hook-ups for the DVD players, the satellite boxes and the VCR's. Oy! Makes my head hurt. I'm usually the person who has to do that kind of hooking up stuff around here... but this evening, I struck a napping pose in the recliner, and I stayed there. Mike and Joyce helped Kev a lot, and basically, they got as far as they could, coz we need new satellite receivers or something like that because of the HD bit. While those 3 frustrated themselves with that mess, Sammy kept himself busy setting everything up in his bedroom, moving the Wii stuff up there, all the games, the guitar, etc. He got it all set.

Kev's been wanting a new, huge TV for years, and he found such a great deal on this one at Best Buy, that he just went & bought it on the spot. He & I had just discussed (again) this morning buying a new plasma TV, and I told him that it really just wasn't good timing right now for us from a financial standpoint (as I open bill after bill after bill from various medical outfits, etc.). Sammy told me that Kev thought I was gonna be way pissed off, but... really I wasn't at all. He did get a helluva deal on it... and anyway, I adore that man so much that he can get away with just about anything... Also, he just got his annual bonus at work; the man deserves to buy his TV.

(I also got my annual bonus, but I promptly paid off my Home Depot credit card... from when we bought our new LG washer and dryer last year by opening up that Home Depot credit card and getting zero percent interest for one year. Felt great to pay that card off knowing we didn't pay a penny in interest. Sweet.)

I am very happy that Kev got a TV he wanted, even though our house was utter chaos since the moment he and Sammy arrived home. You can't just plug the thing in and watch TV, those days are long gone... the user guide, English language part only, for that TV is 110 pages long. Holy cow. The "start here" guide is 24 pages, and the warranty and support guide is 16 pages.

Sammy is very happy to finally have a TV in his room. I've had this long-standing rule, more of a philosophy really, that my children would not have a TV in their bedroom. I feel that it isolates them, keeps them from participating in the fold of the family, the part that takes place outside of their bedrooms...

But eh, that's bunk. I'm the only one that thought that way, and so that nonsense didn't fly.

Also... Joycie will have her TV in her bedroom, so I suppose it's only fair that Sammy gets a TV in his.

Yes, I just said that about Joycie... she will have her TV in her bedroom!

She, Mike and I had a long conversation today (while the boys were shopping at Best Buy), and Joyce has decided to live at home beginning with the next college semester this fall. The lease on her apartment goes through the summer, and she wants to see what it'd take to get out of it so she can move back home sooner. With her living at home, we'll save a lot of money. Also, she's going to be working, and she'll be able to keep all her money for herself instead of helping pay for apartment life. Another decision we made is to sell her Isuzu Rodeo and buy her a cheap, non-gas-guzzling vehicle. We're spending so much money on gas for the Rodeo, and so even if we lose money selling the darn thing, it'll still be worth it in the long run.

I am so happy that she'll be living back at home. Her bedroom will be like her own apartment, and she'll have the same level of freedom. I wouldn't expect her to behave otherwise, and her dad and I will have to respect that. I know we won't have any problems with it, and I am just so looking forward to having her living back here with us... even if I don't see her that much, just knowing she'll be back here with us makes me feel good inside.

She'll also be living that much closer to Mike, so that was a Big Plus for the 2 of them. Those 2 are so adorable together. Also, we'll hopefully get to see more of Mike, too. That'd be great.

Life's funny... funny good. The way things are tonight, what's happened today and now the plans for the future... didn't see that coming at all this morning! It's a happy funny.

Not like this clown...

Shampoo to movies...

The hair stylist I’ve been going to for years used to co-own a shop that sold a variety of “high end” hair products, among those the Matrix Biolage stuff. She’s now the sole owner of an “Aveda concept salon” so no more Matrix. I did buy some from a salon at the mall, but that was years ago, and none since. Too much money. And since I’m a long-time user of Suave shampoos and conditioners, I like their identical version, “biobasics.” Seriously, it is identical. I know this for a fact... companies like the one that produces Matrix Biolage will license out their formula to companies like Suave, and then whenever Suave makes money on biobasics, Matrix Biolage gets a cut. Companies of high-end personal care products, particularly shampoos and the like, do this because they know that the wealthy &/or snobby people that buy their name brand would never lower themselves to purchase Suave at Wal-Mart, and those of us [smart shoppers] buying Suave are not going to buy the pricey stuff, so it isn’t like they are cutting themselves out of a market. Intellectual property licensing is a good deal for all!

So this morning, I’m using my biobasic, which got me thinking about the Matrix movie trilogy. My nephew, Michael, is a big fan and owns all 3 DVD’s, which Sammy recently borrowed. I’ve seen the Matrix and Matrix Reloaded before, but never got around to actually watching Matrix Revolutions. After the debacle that was Matrix Reloaded, I lost interest. However, I just watched Matrix and Matrix Reloaded again, in preparation for finally getting to Matrix Revolutions. Again, I’m stalled. Matrix was great, I think I finally understand it better. But Matrix Reloaded?... what were they thinking?... Ugh. It’s so awful in parts that it took me something like 4 days to get through it. Some of the fight scenes are so cartoonish that I was fast-forwarding through them. Thank goodness for fast-forward, because those fight scenes were far too long and drawn-out. I remember hearing bad reviews about the 2nd one, and oh yeah, totally justified. I don’t recall the reviews about the last one at all, because by that time, Matrix had ceased to exist for me, filed away in the compartment of my brain under So Not Important. I do intend to watch the last movie, but I plan to have plenty of Bud Light on hand to help me through it. Maybe Reloaded would have been better that way... just not sure it’s worth going off my diet & drinking beer to get through it... hmmm... will have to think about that.

Speaking of bad movies, if you have not seen or yet rented the DVD, “Conversation(s) with Other Women,” do yourself a big, fat favor and DON’T. First of all, the (s) thing is too cutsey... too “I think I’m smart.” And the split-screen thing... AACCCKKKK! Awful. Awful, awful, awful. The split-screen thing is that the movie is divided into half, vertically, and the director is showing the same moment in 2 angles. I hated it. What was the point of it, anyway? It’s like the director thought, “hey, if I do this artsy-fartsy split screen thing, then the lowly, much-more-stupid-than-mighty-me viewers of my movie-that’s-too-good-for-them will hopefully realize that when 2 people are talking to each other, there is really 2 sides to the conversation.” Ummm... duh. We got through about 15 minutes or so of it last night, when husband began falling asleep. This was before 8pm. That movie is CRAP. Turned it off and were then much entertained by the recorded episodes of Grey’s Anatomy and Men in Trees. One zillion times better.

We were home early and watching TV because both children were gone. Sammy to a friend’s house, then to the basketball game, then to – prepare yourself – Hooters for a birthday dinner for his friend, Brandon. Hooters. The horror.

Joyce also went to the b-ball game, then to the Winterfest dance at the high school afterwards. Where she had an amazingly wonderful time. She has a new beau, and she is very, very happy. New Beau is coming over this evening for dinner, then joining us at a family birthday party. Should be fun and interesting.

So yesterday with the kids' plans all settled, Kev & I drove into work together, and he picked me up after work at 3:45pm. We were sitting at a booth at Buffalo Wild Wings and drinking beer by 4:15pm. A very nice start to the weekend. Got some shopping done and had a good time together.

And now, I must go take the towel off my newly shampooed head and get ready for Sammy’s last No. 2 team basketball game this morning. I have to admit, I’m glad this is the last Saturday morning game... because I have things to do on Saturday mornings! More on that later...

Livin' for the weekend

This past Saturday evening, my sister and brother-in-law, Janet & Bob, held Christmas at their house. This way, we all got to see Rogan, their grandson, and Susan, their No. 1 daughter & Rogan's momma, Stewart, Susan's fiance, Austin, Stewart's son, and Sara, Daughter No. 2, & her fiance, Derek. We won't see them on Christmas day, so it was super nice to get to spend our "Christmas" evening with them. Rogan made the most adorable little Santa.


Janet made a ton of good food, and they had a houseful of people. It was really fun. The boys got way excited... people, food, cookies, camera flashes, lots of talking & laughing, and oh, yeah... PRESENTS!

Kev had to leave the party and head into work for his 12-hour midnight shift. That sucked. One would think I would get used to his having to work this swing shift, but I just can't seem to do so... I wish he could take an early retirement. But the mortgage and Joycie's upcoming college fees scream an emphatic No. Ughhhh...

And speaking of "no"... seems like I spent most of the 2 days of our weekend telling the kiddos, primarily Sam, "no" and "shhhh" so that Kev wouldn't be disturbed. When he's sleeping on these weekend midnight shifts, it's like our world grinds to an almost-halt. It's amazing the things that turn out to be noisy. Especially in the hands of Sammy. Well, ok, that part isn't so amazing. Sam could make noise with a kleenex. In fact, he did. A lot.

I didn't get much done for home, no vacuuming or pounding in of nails... but I did get into a lot of the paperwork I brought home from the office. Nice quiet sh...stuff. I don't like doing work from my job at home, but on the other hand, I'm thankful I can be at home and still get some of that stuff done... so I don't have to be into the office so much on the weekends. Come to think of it, an early retirement for me would be nice, too... (like I don't think of that pretty much daily)

I did manage to watch a movie with Sammy. We got out my DVD, "Love Actually." One of my very favorite movies. I haven't let Sam watch it before, as it's R rated. But I let him this weekend (anything to keep him quiet!), and then when the first scene came on with the couple that does the stand-ins for the movie... ummm... I kinda sorta remembered why I hadn't let him watch it before. Pillow up, Sam, and cover your eyes, quick! Anyway, a great movie. Sammy liked it, too, in spite of the many pillow in the face moments.

Wrapping up the weekend... the best finale of Survivor ever. Yay for Yul! Cool that Ozzie won the car. And Becky... well, she must be gay. Not have a romantic thought about Yul? Yeah, right. I liked her, though. The tribal council where she & Sundra could not make fire was one of the most entertaining yet. We were all busting a gut when the jury started in with the yawning. Can you imagine trying to strike that flint over and over for an hour and half? Amazing they had any hand control or strength left to strike a match. Really good season. Be a hard one to top. The finale & reunion were both great and well worth feeling so darn tired this morning.

The melt down

We hit the last matinee showing of Ice Age 2 yesterday, and I gotta say, it was a great way to spend some time. I loved the part where Sid starts singing, "Food, Wonderful Food..." Sam's favorite part was when all the miniature sloths were worshipping Sid. Clap Clap. Thunder of Clap Clap. Funny! Two things about it I didn't like. First, I currently abhor possums. Crash & Eddie were hilarious, but I spent too much time thinking, "too bad they're possums." Dumb, I know. Second, a mammoth thinking she's a possum was a bit too over the top, even for little kids. Sam would have thought that was stupid even as a 1st grader. I also loved the part where Manny told Ellie her butt was huge, and she was so very happy with that. Wouldn't that be great?! Your butt's enormous. Yay, pass the popcorn!

After the movie, we zipped into Home Depot to spend our gift cards that my in-laws gave to Kev and I for our birthdays (his late, mine early). We bought a passle of those 3M Command hooks. We've got a nice little corner now next to the gun safe that's kind of out-of-sight... so I'm going to fill it with hooks for Kev to put his many, many hats on. That man loves his hats. And he gets picky about where to set them down, so they don't get squashed. Yet another project for today!

It rained while we were in the movie, and when we got out the sky was darkish... after we were done at Home Depot, the sky was dramatic, and beautiful.


Then we went to dinner at the Genghis Khan Mongolian Barbecue. That place is pretty cool. We enjoyed it very much. I liked picking out my own food and sauce and then watching the guys at the round grill cook it. My sister, Kathy, once said to me that she didn't like it... that when she goes out to dinner, she doesn't want to have any part of having to cook it herself. Since I love to cook, I found it interesting. This was my second time there. The first time I went, I made 2 trips. The first batch turned out way too salty, and the 2nd batch was supposed to be teriyaki sauce, but the restaurant had run out, so the manager concocted his own version... which was dreadful. Last night, I did 2 trips again, and both were excellent. Sam's 2nd trip was buffalo chicken, and it was too spicy hot to eat. It was so hot that you really couldn't taste the food, just the hot. (Sam made a 3rd trip.) Sammy loves shrimp, so he had a ball. I think I would have been fine because both my trips were smaller portions... but I ordered a draft and when I got back to the table, there was this extremely tall, 22-ounce lovely glass of beer. You can't put that much beer in front of me and expect me not to drink it. I'm pretty sure that's what made me feel way too full and miserable. Kev was feeling miserable, too. We had barely gotten into the car before he was asking for Tums.

Called Joycie on the way home, and she was in the shower... she & Allison had just got back from the hotel pool. She called us back and we all got to say goodnight to her.