Kim's Thoughts
Just a few thoughts I feel worthy of jotting down!
A Three Movie Weekend – so far…
Several movies I’m interested out all at once = not enough time to catch them all. Long weekend = more chance to see movies! So, I decided to see as many as I could this weekend. Three of them were showing here in Sanford, so they were the ones I chose! What did I see? “The Lovely Bones”, “Leap Year”, and “Sherlock Holmes”. What didn’t make the top of the list because it wasn’t playing in Sanford? “Up In The Air”.
So – what did I think of the ones I saw this weekend? Glad you asked…
The Lovely Bones
I wasn’t sure about this one. The previews caught my eye, but I was trying to figure out what I thought about it based on the previews. Was it going to be a downer? Was it going to be a horror film? Was it going to be a suspense thriller? I opted to give it a try and hoped that it would be good!
It is the story of Suzie Salmon, who was a typical 14-year-old in the early ’70s. It was a time before it became necessary to be concerned about strangers. Against her better judgement, she was lured to a secluded spot by an adult neighbor who murders her. From what I understand of the book, I am grateful that the movie spares us the details of her murder. She finds herself in a place between reality and heaven. She watches over her family and her murderer from the in between place. Her family is distraught and her murderer goes undetected. Her father goes on a never-ending quest to find out who killed his little girl.
I was impressed with the acting and characters in this movie. The most impressive was Stanley Tucci as George Harvey – Suzie’s murderer. I have never seen Tucci in a role that didn’t impress me, but this was a very different view of him than I have seen in past roles. He is an outstanding character actor who brings life and reality to any role he takes on. This is no exception. He plays the villain part to perfection. I also found Susan Sarandon’s portrayal of Suzie’s Grandma Lynn a fun diversion from the more serious parts of the movie – she was a tough, hard drinking, chain-smoking woman with way too much make up and her hair teased to the sky! I really enjoyed watching her.
The part that I was less impressed with was any scenes of Suzie in her spirit world. I found it to be a little too bazaar, fragmented, and disjointed from the rest of the movie. It didn’t seem to fit. It was very reminiscent of the 1998 movie “What Dreams May Come” with Robin Williams, except it didn’t come together in “The Lovely Bones” as nicely as it did in “What Dreams May Come”.
All in all, I thought the story was good and the acting and characters were well done, but the bazaar segments left me wondering what the point was. So, I left wondering if the good parts outshined the bazaar parts or the other way around. I’ve decided to focus on the good, but can’t completely overlook the bazaar — so, I rate this one a B.
Leap Year
This is a typical romantic comedy — Amy Adams portrays Anna, a woman who wants to be engaged to her boyfriend, Jeremy, so much that she concocts this plan to travel to Ireland to surprise him by proposing to him on leap year in keeping with an old Irish tradition. Comedy ensues when she runs into complications with her travel plans and is dependent on a cocky Irishman named Declan. As expected, she ends up falling for Declan and realizes it just as Jeremy finds her and proposes.
The movie is very predictable and moderately funny, but is really quite cute. So, I rate it a B- for being an OK romantic comedy – good, but not memorable.
Sherlock Holmes
The write-up on Yahoo Movies states “Robert Downey Jr. brings the legendary detective to life as he has never been portrayed before”. I couldn’t agree more! It didn’t take long before I realized they totally ruined my idea of Sherlock Holmes! I admit that I am not a HUGE follower of Sherlock Holmes stories and movies, but have read and seen a fair amount of these classic tales of brilliant detective work. My vision of Sherlock Holmes is a distinguished English gentleman who has an uncanny way of looking at the evidence and coming up with the solution through highly educated means. The portrayal of this wonderful character in this movie is quite the contrary! Robert Downey Jr. portrays him as an asinine, arrogant buffoon who just happens to have a knack for putting things that most people overlook together to piece together a mystery to come up with a solution. The brilliant mind part is there, but the rest is a mockery of a beloved classic character. Also — I can not imagine Sherlock Holmes as a common street fighter and an action adventure type character who performs acrobatics and martial arts type of attacks on his enemies. It just doesn’t fit and completely ruins any resemblance to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes. Rachel McAdams and Jude Law join Robert Downey Jr. in his failed attempt to bring new life to the classic characters they portray – Law plays Dr. Watson and McAdams plays Irene Adler. The saving grace is that Law and McAdams did far better acting jobs! Robert Downey Jr’s portrayal of Holmes looked more like a bad combination of Charlie Chaplin and Downey playing himself — it was apparently meant to be funny, but it wasn’t!
I might have overlooked the wild switch in the character dynamics if it had been a good action/adventure format. But I can’t say that it was. I thought it fell flat in that department! In one word, it was BORING!!! I actually dozed off more than once and found myself jolted awake by a loud bang or gun shot (an expensive nap). It was totally unbelievable and moderately interesting. Another place I felt it fell short was the use of mental flashes to show Holmes’ thought process as he looks at evidence and thinks through how he will fight his opponent. The scenes are much like those used in the TV series “Psych”, but are not as successful in being funny and relevant to the scene.
I got the feeling they tried to mix comedy and action/adventure and failed at both. The only part of the movie that was interesting and kept my interest was the end when Holmes explained how all the magical/mystical deeds of adversary, Blackwood, were actually done – that was all kinda cool. But, other than that, it was a real yawner for me! I rate it a C+ — not terrible and not a total loss, but I really wish I hadn’t spent $7.00 to see it and take a little nap!
I’d like to see “Up In The Air” and may take a drive out-of-town to see it tomorrow — maybe it will redeem the weekend full of movies! But, I do have work that needs to be done around the house, so it will depend on how I feel tomorrow and how much I think I can get done if I also go to a movie!
iTune Diversity
I’ve often said that I like just about any kind of music, but have some obvious preferences – mainly 60’s/70’s classic rock, country, and country rock. But I enjoy a lot of other kinds of music, too! As I review the list of songs I have accumulated on my iPhone, it makes that statement very clear – in fact, it SCREAMS it out! My iPhone may just win prizes for being the most diverse list of artists, songs, and styles ever found! hahaha
I get a kick out of putting it on “shuffle” and let it play randomly! I can get Patsy Cline singing “Sweet Dreams of You” and then Heart’s “Barracuda” and then Elvis singing “Teddy Bear” followed by Led Zepplin’s “Stairway to Heaven” and then Rosemary Clooney’s “Mambo Italiano” may come up with The Rolling Stones “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” immediately following! In any given hour of listening to my tunes, I can hear anyone from The Doors to Frank Sinatra to CCR to Liza Minnelli to Willie Nelson to Procol Harem to The Ozark Mountain Daredevils to Bread to Kris Kristofferson to The Kentucky Headhunters to Mungo Jerry and so on! Cool!!!
BTW — what do we have to do to get the rights released for The Beatles to be on iTunes? I can find Paul, John, George, and Ringo separately and Beatles Tribute albums, but no Beatles!!! I could add a ton more, if I could get the Beatles!!!
I have well over 600 songs and close to 200 different artists on my iPhone – here is the breakdown (in alphabetical order by artist – not necessarily in order of preference):
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Aaron Tippin – 14
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Allman Brothers Band – 2
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America – 6
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The Animals – 2
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The Archies – 1
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Argent – 1
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The Association – 2
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Atlanta Rhythm Section – 3
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Bachman Turner Overdrive – 3
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The Band – 2
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Barbara Fairchild – 2
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Barbara Streisand – 11
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The Beach Boys – 7
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The Beau Brummels – 1
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Bette Midler – 9
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The Big Bopper – 1
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Billy Joel – 5
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Blondie – 3
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Bo Didley – 1
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Bob Dylan – 7
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Bobby McFerrin – 1
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Bobby Rydell – 1
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Boston – 1
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Brad Paisley – 1
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Bread – 7
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Brian Hyland – 2
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Brooks and Dunn – 2
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Canned Heat – 3
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Captain and Tennille – 1
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Carly Simon – 5
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Carole King – 5
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Carpenters – 5
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Cass Elliot – 1
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Cat Stevens – 2
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Chad and Jeremy – 1
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The Chantels – 1
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Charlie Daniels – 6
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Chicago – 5
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The Chiffons – 1
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Chubby Checker – 2
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Chuck Berry – 7
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Commander Cody – 1
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Confederate Railroad – 1
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Cowsills – 4
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Creedence Clearwater Revival – 21
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The Dave Clark Five – 12
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David Allen Coe – 3
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David Essex – 1
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The Diamonds – 1
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Dion – 1
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The Dixie Cups – 2
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Dolly Parton – 3
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Donovan – 2
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The Doobie Brothers – 4
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The Doors – 5
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Duane Eddy – 1
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Dwight Yoakam – 8
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Eagles – 8
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Eddie Money – 1
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Edgar Winter – 1
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Edison Lighthouse – 1
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Electric Light Orchestra – 10
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Elton John – 4
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Elvin Bishop – 1
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Elvis Presley – 38
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Eric Clapton – 3
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Etta James – 1
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The Fendermen – 1
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Fleetwood Mac – 4
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Foreigner – 5
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Frank Sinatra – 15
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Frankie Valli – 1
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Gary Puckett – 5
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Gary Wright – 2
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George Benson – 2
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George Harrison – 3
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George Jones – 2
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Grand Funk Railroad – 3
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Gretchen Wilson – 1
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Hank Williams – 4
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Hank Williams, Jr – 4
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Heart – 3
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Helen Reddy – 4
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Herman’s Hermits – 6
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The Hollies – 3
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Huey Lewis – 7
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Jackie De Shannon – 1
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James Taylor – 5
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Jan and Dean – 6
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Jay and the Americans – 1
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Jerry Lee Lewis – 2
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Jo Dee Messina – 1
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Joe Cocker – 3
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Joe Diffie – 2
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Joe Walsh – 1
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John Fogerty – 1
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John Lennon – 1
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John Mellencamp – 2
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Johnny Lee – 3
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Johnny Rivers – 8
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Joni Mitchell – 1
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Kentucky Headhunters – 8
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Kitty Wells – 1
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Kris Kristofferson – 6
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Leanne Rimes – 1
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Led Zepplin – 3
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Lee Ann Womack – 1
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Lesley Gore – 3
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Linda Ronstadt – 2
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Link Wray and His Wrey Men – 1
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Little Richard – 4
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Liza Minnelli – 3
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Lloyd Price – 2
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Loggins and Messina – 5
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Loretta Lynn – 1
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Louis Armstrong – 1
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Lynyrd Skynyrd – 5
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The Mamas and The Papas – 7
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Marianne Faithful – 1
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Marshall Tucker Band – 2
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Martha Reeves and the Vandellas – 1
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Marty Stuart – 1
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Marvin Gaye – 1
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Mel McDaniel – 3
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Melanie – 2
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Merle Haggard – 5
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The Monkees – 3
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Mungo Jerry – 1
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Neil Diamond – 3
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Oak Ridge Boys – 1
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Ozark Mountain Daredevils – 2
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Patsy Cline – 8
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Paul McCartney – 1
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Paul Revere and The Raiders – 1
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Peggy Lee – 4
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Peter Frampton – 2
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Poco – 1
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Procol Harem – 1
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Pure Prairie League – 3
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REO Speedwagon – 3
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Rick Springfield – 1
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Ricky Nelson – 3
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Ricochet – 1
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Righteous Brothers – 2
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Ringo Starr – 3
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Ritchie Valens – 3
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Roberta Flack – 5
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Rod Stewart – 5
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Rolling Stones – 5
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Rosemary Clooney – 11
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Roy Orbison – 5
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Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs – 2
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Sammy Kershaw – 2
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Sarah McLachlan – 1
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Sawyer Brown – 5
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Seals and Crofts – 5
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Simon and Garfunkel – 3
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Skip and Flip – 1
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Sly and the Family Stone – 2
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Smokey Robinson – 1
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Spanky and Our Gang – 3
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The Spencer Davis Group – 1
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Steely Dan – 1
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The Steve Miller Band – 2
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Stevie Nicks and Don Henley – 1
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The Strawberry Alarm Clock – 2
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Stray Cats – 2
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The Safaris – 1
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Sweet – 3
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The Temptations – 4
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Three Dog Night – 1
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Tim McGraw – 3
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Toby Keith – 5
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Todd Rundgren – 1
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Tommy James and the Shondells – 1
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Tracy Bird – 1
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Tracey Lawrence – 3
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Travis Tritt – 1
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The Trogs – 1
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Van Morrison – 4
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Waylon Jennings – 5
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The Who – 4
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Willie Nelson – 3
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Wilson Pickett – 1
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.38 Special – 1
Days of the Week
Have you ever thought about the true meaning of the names of the days of the week? Yeah, you could go through that whole process of determining the root and origin of the word and get the meaning that way! But, it probably won’t tell you what the true original thought process was behind why each day starts with a specific letter or two! I have cracked that code!!! Here is why Monday starts with an “M” and so on…..
M = Monday: The “M” in Monday stands for Moaning about having to get out of bed and start a new work week!
T = Tuesday: The “T” in Tuesday stands for Talking about what your plans are for the weekend!
W = Wednesday: The “W” in Wednesday stands for Wondering if you’ll make it over the hump to the weekend!
Th = Thursday: The “Th” in Thursday stands for Thinking about the weekend!
F = Friday: The “F” in Friday stands for Finally knowing the weekend is about to start!
Sa = Saturday: The “Sa” in Saturday stands for Sleep in at least an extra hour or two!
Su = Sunday: The “Su” in Sunday stands for Sleep in an unlimited amount of time!
So, there you have it — the ancient word creators knew exactly what they were doing when they came up with the names of the days of the week!
Hhhmmm
Well, all I can say is “Hhhmmm”! Today’s thoughts and activities have been all over the place – some border on “strange” and some just plain left me speechless! But…..a blogger never has a problem turning “speechless” into the written word! hehehe I’ll start with today and maybe I might even add in some other odd things or thoughts that have plagued me lately! I’m going to bounce around and go out-of-order, because the first one – although it happened last, so far – was the one that beat it all….the perverbial “nail” in the coffin, so to speak!
My finger nails have been growing nicely, lately. I tend to go in waves where they will be nice and long and strong for a while and grow like weeds…………then, they start to snap off and soon they are all stubbles, look like crap, and I can’t get them to grow back out for love nor money! Anyway, my right hand nails have gotten pretty long (I’m not sure why, but that hand always seems to grow faster/better than the left hand) and I was concerned they would start to crack or break because I was starting to catch them on things, so I made an appt to get a manicure this morning. I got there and asked Aprille to cut them back a little so they are the same length as the nails on the other hand, which were all a nice workable length – look good, but don’t get in the way (except the index finger, which I broke over the holidays and was still little more than a stubble)! She did and I left with nice, well manicured nails! Happily, I went on to run a quick errand and then go to Cracker Barrel for lunch. The chairs at the tables there are heavy and don’t slide well, so I reached down to pull the chair forward so I could sit closer to the table…………just as I pulled the seat forward, the chair decided it didn’t want to do that and my hand slipped off the seat………..and bent THREE nails on my right hand backwards – the three that were long and getting in the way a couple hours earlier, but were now the perfect working length and polished to perfection! My heart sank as I pulled my hand up to assess the damage! It looked like they survived!!! I didn’t see any cracks or missing/hanging nails!! And then, I saw it – the nail on the index finger had a crack that started on the side and went across to the center of the nail! I pulled it back and sure enough, the nail was broke and had to be cut off!!! To keep from catching and tearing it, I carefully pulled it off and went on with my lunch! So, now I have BOTH index fingers snapped off to nothing! Way to ruin a beautiful manicure! But – the good news is that if that had happened BEFORE the manicure, I probably would have lost all three nails and I would have been even more upset!!!
My lips are a little chapped this morning – it started to be noticable yesterday. I get chapped lips a lot in the winter and have to be careful what I put on them to avoid or repair chapped lips. Chapstick and anything with menthol or other medicinal type ingredients all make my lips break out! Not sure how Chapstick falls into that category, but it does. So, I typically use Burt’s Bees in the little round tins or Vaseline Lip Therapy – they are about the only ones that work, yet don’t make my lips break out! The reason I’m bringing this up isn’t to let you know I have chapped lips or to warn potential kissers……it is to tell you where my thoughts went when I sat here this morning wondering if I had any of either of the above mentioned products or if I had to run out and get some! As I sat here, I remembered and started thinking about when I a kid. I always had problems with chapped lips – worse than I do now! But, I used to try to keep them moist in a different way — I would lick my lips way beyond the lip part and get them good and moist – then, I would put the palm of my hand over my mouth to hold in the moisture!!!! My lips would get all red and chapped way up and down around and beyond my lips, so I would do it more to try to moisten them more!!! It took me years to realize that what I was doing was CAUSING the problem, not solving it!!! By getting the skin good and wet and holding it on there so it couldn’t dry, it was chapping it even worse and beyond the normal area!!!
I didn’t want to get out of bed this morning. I woke up several times, but rolled over and convinced the girls to let me go back to sleep for “just a little while longer”! In one of those short snooze times, I had a dream that I had a hair appt this morning and that I went in saying that I needed more than just a trim and asking that it be cut shorter cause it was starting to stick out around my ears, stick out over my collar, look too thick on top, and look like a shaggy dog!!! I woke up and realized my appt today was for a manicure, not a hair cut, but when I looked in the mirror, I realized my subconscious was right — I DO need a good shape up!!! Luckily, I have an appt the week after next — I just hope I can hold off that long without starting to whack at it myself!!!
I was in a store the other day (not in Sanford – don’t worry) and said something to the clerk (I don’t even remember what) and she looked at me and said, “Yur from somewar up thar in the North, arn, ya?” – in a very slow, drawn out way – kid you not! It wasn’t just a southern accent, it was just like something you hear on those shows that overly exaggerate the uneducated way some talk way back in the mountain woods! So, I just smiled and said, “yes, I’m from Upstate New York originally, but I’ve lived here about 24 years now.” She looked at me with wide open eyes and said in a shocked voice, “New York? Really? You don sound at all like dem New York people talk! I kin understand you, I cain’t understand dem from New York at all! WOW, I jus don know how ya’ll kin stand to live in dem big cities, like dat!” I thought about explaining that I was from way upstate in Western NY and that we don’t typically have the same accent as those in NYC and that there is a whole big beautiful state outside “the city”, like I often do, but I decided to just smile, nod, take my change, and go on my merry way! But, this, too, caused the thoughts to run rampant! I thought for quite a while after that as I drove back home from the store…….I thought about how I lived the first 28 1/2 years of my life in NY and the second 24 1/2 years of my life in NC and that, although I don’t hear it, I apparently have developed a subtle mixture of accents. Around here, I often get told that they can tell the minute I open my mouth that I am a Yankee. But, when I go home, I often get told that I’ve been in the South too long cause I’ve picked up a little Southern Twang! I think I’ll be fine, so long as I don’t start ending sentences with the word “AT” — such as, “Where you at?” (instead of “Where are you?”), “Where do you stay at?” (instead of “Where do you live?”) or “Where’d I leave my keys at?” (instead of “Where did I leave my keys” or “Where are my keys?”)!
The good thoughts of the day, though, came after the errand I ran between my manicure and lunch at Cracker Barrel! I ran by The Painted Pedal to pick up a form and drop off a check for the deposit for the group cruise my Mom and I are going on in the spring! A friend of Mom’s is going to go with us, now, too – so I had to get the information sheet we need to fill out for her. Up until now, I’ve thought quite often about the cruise and how nice it will be to do one with Mom! This will be my third cruise, but her first! So, I want it to be a really special experience for her AND I want it to be a special memory that we can share!! We had such a great time going to Vegas together and I want this to be right up there with it or exceed it in terms of amazing memories!!! But, as of today, we have real money invested and it just seems more real — like it’s gonna happen, instead of just something we’re planning to do!!! So, I sat through lunch thinking about being in Key West and pictured us in a tropical setting in Nassau — listening to calypso music and sipping drinks out of fruit shells with straws and umbrellas in them! I could suddenly feel the warm sun on my face and hear the waves crashing on the shoreline! DANG — I wanna go NOW!!!!
OK — now it is time for a nap!! The girls are already in on the bed, snoring — think I’ll go join them!!!
Day Fit For A King
Today – January 8th – was a day fit for a king! Yep, the King, Elvis Presley, would have turned 75 years old today! But that wasn’t the only notable thing that happened, or for that matter, didn’t happen today! I have a lot of thoughts about today and the last few days rattling around in my head, so this is sure to be a good old “brain dump” so I can make room for the thoughts I hope to have over the weekend! Weekends tend to generate a ton of great thoughts, so it would be nice to have some space available for them when they start pouring in! So, here goes…….
Elvis — it is hard to believe he would have been (or is, depending on your belief) 75 years old today! WOW — I grew up watching the young, handsome Elvis in movies like Viva Las Vegas and Kissing Cousins (my two favorites). I remember watching the ’68 Come Back Special and falling in love forever with that skin-tight black leather outfit and the guy in it! I was 12 years old — do you know what something like that does to a 12-year-old girl just starting to bud into her teens? Yeah – it was a lasting vision that still melts my jammies to think about! I would lay on my stomach on the floor inches from the TV watching anything that came on with Elvis in it and CRY my eyes out!!! I played the Elvis songs loaded on my iPhone all day at work today — most set me to be-bopping, many put me in a mellow moment, and some brought tears to my eyes! Ones that will ALWAYS bring tears to my eyes are “You Gave Me A Mountain”, “If I Can Dream”, “Are You Lonesome Tonight”, and “One Night” – my personal favorite Elvis song out of all Elvis songs!!!
The thought of Elvis also makes me think of and remember my dear friend, David Whittier! David was the lead singer of a local band called Defiance and a very close friend of mine. David always made me think of Elvis – he sung some of his songs (“If I Can Dream”, “You Gave Me A Mountain”, and “Polk Salad Annie”, to name a few) and sounded very much like him. When he sang anything, he would bring tears to my eyes! So, David was always a trigger to get all emotional about Elvis. David passed away tragically way too young from a horrible accident! Now, when I hear Elvis, I think of my dear friend, David, and get the warm fuzzies all over! I know that Elvis and David are jamming together in Heaven and they will forever link memories of each other in my heart!
It is no secret that I grew up and spent the first 1/2 of my life in Western New York in a small town about half way between Buffalo and Rochester just off of Lake Ontario in the Buffalo snow belt! I have seen some pretty massive blizzards over the years — some that required earth movers to come in and cut through mountains of snow to clear roads. Even though it snowed several months out of the year, we had very few snow days from school – if they closed school because of snow, we never would have gone to school in the winter months and some spring months! So – I will never understand the panic that goes on in Sanford, NC when the weather man even mentions the word “snow”, even if it isn’t part of the forecast! This week, the weather guys all predicted a potential for some light snow on Thursday night / Friday morning. The forecast was for “a trace to 1/2 inch” possible in some areas, depending on where the cold front passes through. So, by 2:00 on Thursday afternoon, most of the counties, including the one I live in, decided to put the schools all on a 2 hour delayed opening on Friday morning —- BEFORE they even knew IF we’d get any snow and if we did, how much and what impact it might have! As it turned out, there was NO snow and NO ice Friday morning! But, since they already announced the delayed opening, parents had to scramble around because they had kids that would be home alone for two hours in the morning if they didn’t either arrange for their care or be late for work! All for nothing! Jeez!!! I will never understand the reaction to the threat of snow here!! Someone on Facebook today made the joke that maybe the grocery stores and the weather people are in a partnership to boost sales of bread and milk — Kroger, Food Lion, etc. call the local TV stations and say “hey, we’ve got a bad surplus of bread and milk on our hands! You think you might be able to create a snow scare so we get to sell out of our stock?” The weather station kick into gear and say the word “snow” and BAM – all bread and milk across the state flies out of the grocery stores within minutes!!
We’re working on some exciting things for CARA! On Friday, February 5th, Cafe 121 is hosting a “First Friday” fundraising event benefiting CARA – 50% of the sales for dinner that evening will go directly to CARA! We’re working to generate a lot of interest in going to Cafe 121 for dinner on the 5th! Then, on Monday, February 22nd, we’re having our annual Bella Dinner at Bella Bistro! An amazing 5 course meal with wine pairings and a champagne reception before the dinner starts! Tickets are on sale for $75 each and sponsorship opportunities are available. All proceeds benefit CARA’s Holly Fund to pay expenses for homeless animals with special needs. If you’re interested in attending this event, please leave a comment here and I’ll get you the info you need to get tickets or be a sponsor!
I talked to a dear friend today that I don’t talk to as often as I would like to — just a matter of busy schedules, which is absolutely no excuse!!! There are some people who I just plain need to commit to make time for keeping in touch with them more often! She is one! It was great talking to her and we plan to get together for brunch and a movie soon!
2010 is off to a kick-ass start!! Hope it keeps up!
Mixed Emotions
Life is back to normal after the holidays and extended time off from work. You know – back to the old grind; same ole, same ole; the big let down; back to work to rest from vacation…….however you want to categorize the fact that vacation, holidays, and daily afternoon naps are over and everything is back to the way it was before! This always creates a huge internal conflict in me and sends my emotions into a perfect portrayal of Sybil – the girl with the multiple personality disorder played beautifully by Sally Field in the 1976 film of the same name! I’m all over the place with mixed emotions!
I traveled to my Mom’s for a week the day after Christmas until this past Saturday. It was the second time in as many months that I was able to be home for a holiday – I also spent a week there over the Thanksgiving holiday! I’m not positive, but I’m fairly certain that this was the first time in the 24 years that I have lived in NC that I went home for BOTH Thanksgiving and Christmas and it was wonderful!!! I usually pick one or the other holiday or my Mom comes here one or the other holiday and there have been times over the years that we weren’t able to get together EITHER holiday (those years really sucked)!
So, why the roller coaster of emotions? Here are the pros and cons lists:
Pros – the trip:
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Spend quality time with my family
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Being in the homes I grew up in – my Mom’s home and my brother’s home (which used to be my Grandparent’s home)
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Relaxation – no work, no responsibilities, afternoon naps
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Great food
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Lunch with dear friends from high school – Laura, Linda, and Chris
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Got to see snow around the holidays
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Familiar, comforting surroundings
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Memories
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Love – lots of love
Cons – the trip:
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SNOW — yeah, it was on the pro list, but there was WAY too much of it, so it is here, too!!!!
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Flight delays, crowded airports, enhanced security due to a terrorist attempt the day before I flew up
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Missed my dogs a LOT
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Gone over Thanksgiving and Christmas, so didn’t put up any inside decorations — kinda stifled the Christmas spirit
Pros – the return:
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The girls were so excited to see me and I was so excited to see them!!!
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Back to my routine, work, and normal way of doing things
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Left the SNOW behind (do you get that the snow was a real issue this trip????)
Cons – the return:
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Reestablished the distance between me and my family — major let down
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No more daily afternoon naps
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Back to work and responsibilities
So — now that I’m all settled back in to my normal life and routine, what am I looking forward to? A planned cruise with my Mom to Key West and Nassau — gonna be GREAT!!!
Oh, and I just realized I didn’t do a resolution list for 2010, so here it is – I hope I do as good or better at keeping them this year as I did last year!!!
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Seek out more opportunities to be with family and hometown friends! Not as easy as it sounds……
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Continue to remind myself to not get all excited and wrapped up in things I have little or no control over. I did a decent job of this last year, but can still use some improvement! AND – I’m thinking it will likely be even more important this year! The stress of worrying about things that are out of my control is just plain NOT worth it! Life’s too short and I just need to keep in mind that everything happens for a reason and make the most out of whatever gets dished out to me and move on to the next adventure! It is a much healthier outlook! I resolve to do a better job of maintaining this attitude in all potentially stressful situations!
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Put my health, personal well-being, and inner happiness FIRST and foremost! This sorta goes with the first one, but takes it just a little further!
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Lose weight — yeah, the standard resolution of probably 80-90% of all Americans — why should I be any different?
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Renew my love of cooking — this was on last year’s and I didn’t really do much towards it! So, I’m going to try to be more serious about it this year! I used to love to cook and was a pretty good cook! I’ve gotten so far out of the habit that I tend to forget how to make the simplest of dishes! I’d love to learn some more advanced skills and get back into entertaining and cooking for others! Let’s see how this one goes this year!
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Work on drastically reducing or eliminating my debt!
I think that’s quite enough to tackle for now!
Here’s to the joys of being on vacations and traveling, getting back into my routines, looking forward to exciting plans for the future, and resolutions that are challenging yet achievable with a little effort and conviction! Life is good — enjoy it while you can!!!
Reality TV – Really?
I wanna know whose reality Reality TV is based on? I don’t know where they get some of these people – I don’t know anyone who acts the way most on Reality TV shows act or, if they do, I doubt they’d do it on national TV in front of millions of people! As I flip channels, I realize that the art of writing an entertaining TV drama or situation comedy has just about died! Yeah, there are some good shows out there, but I wonder what exactly brought about the change in what we call entertainment.
Case in point – how many “Real Housewives” from anywhere actually talk, act, and seem proud to be the way the ones on TV do? I have never actually watched an episode of any of the “Real Housewives” shows – the clips on the ads are enough to tell me there isn’t anything “Real” about it!
OK – I admit, I do get into some of the Reality TV shows…..I’m not totally anti-Reality TV! I like ones that are contest oriented or I can learn something from – Top Chef, Project Runway, Dancing With The Stars, Iron Chef America, and a few others. I also occasionally watch Tabitha’s Salon Takeover and Say Yes To The Dress just for the heck of it!
When I was a child, I used to think that shows like Leave It To Beaver and Ozzie and Harriett were REAL – that someone secretly followed them around with a camera and filmed everything they do and we got to watch them……AND…..that someone was secretly following me and my family around with a camera filming everything WE did and somewhere else in the world someone got to watch US! I used to play act so that my life would be more interesting to those who were watching me from somewhere across the globe! It never occurred to me to act like an idiot for their entertainment – quite the contrary – I tried to behave like an adult so they would think I was older and more sophisticated than I really was!
Do we really care what Steven Seagal, the Kardashians, the Osbournes, Jon and Kate, the housewives, or any of the others like them are doing? Do we really think it is “real” and not staged? (after all, even I staged MY reality show when I was younger)
Can you imagine what the rest of the world must think of us when they watch these shows? After all, we claim them to be “Reality TV” and most people on these types of shows act stupid, whore-ish, mad, abusive, brash, or just plain idiotic — they must think that is the way a typical American acts! What must they think of us? I, for one, would much prefer they think we are more like Ozzie and Harriett than a Real Housewife!
Now — one of the newest shows is Hoarders — yes, I know there are people who live like that – I have known a few personally (not quite that bad, mind you)! But, why in the world would they want to bring TV cameras into their home and show their filth to the world? I have not actually seen one of these episodes, either, because the clips have been enough to turn my stomach! I get embarrassed when someone stops in and I have dishes in the sink and haven’t vacuumed the dog hair up in a day or two – and I’d panic if they actually opened that closet or two that I cram everything into for storage! I would think being one of those on that show would be devastating!
I think it is just the “get on the bandwagon” theory — like most TV seasons tend to be: one cop, law, or medical show gets high ratings and the next season there are 2 or 3 more like them to try to steal the ratings from them! One Reality TV show got a lot of attention and they started popping up all over the place. I want to know when the old-fashioned TV shows will come back — where are all the creators and writers that can actually be creative enough to come up with a fictional story line and write some dialogue and get us interested in the characters? There are some out there, but we need more — we need to get off the “Reality” bandwagon and back on the “Fictional” bandwagon!
Closing Out A Decade
In just a few short hours, a year will end….and so will a decade! To say that this year has flown by would be an understatement. An old saying tells us that the older we get, the faster the time flies by. I believe it! Recent years feel like I wake up on New Year’s morning, blink, and it is suddenly New Year’s Eve of a new year!
New Year’s Eve is a day of reflection — closing out and saying goodbye to a year past and celebrating the beginning of a year to come. Going through a symbolic closure is important for our ability to successfully move on. So, in keeping with the tradition of reflecting on the past, here are some of the key events that defined the past year and decade for me:
2009:
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Made it up to Mom’s three times and she made it down to my home twice!
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My brother and his wife made their first trip to my home.
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Made it to Hawaii!!!
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Finally got all the white walls in my house painted some of the most beautiful colors and it looks GREAT!
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Joined the Carolina Animal Rescue and Adoption (CARA) board.
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Reconnected with several of my old high school friends and attended a great reunion get together with a bunch of them!
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The Girls stopped eating and tearing up everything in sight!
The movies I liked the MOST in 2009:
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It’s Complicated
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The Blind Side
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Up
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Taken
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Hotel for Dogs
The movies I disliked the MOST in 2009:
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The Box
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The Time Traveler’s Wife
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The Last House of the Left
And now for the things that defined the past decade for me:
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Watch the turn of a new century
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Earned my Master’s Degree
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Bought my house
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Took on a new role at work
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Lost my precious Puddles after about 16 years of companionship
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Traveled all the way to Arizona just to be with a friend of about 45+ years on her 50th birthday party
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Enjoyed a wonderful trip to Las Vegas with Mom – a first for both of us!
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Was shocked and saddened by the events of 9/11 and the failing economy
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Experienced some health issues – some pretty serious – and learned to live with them and make life style accommodations
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Started this blog
So, how did I do on my 2009 Resolutions?
Not bad!!! I went back to read the post I wrote on January 1st and think I honored the promises I made to myself pretty closely!
The first one was to “take care of me first and stop worrying about things I have little or no control over” – I took better control of my health, maintained and renewed a membership at Natural Balance Medical Spa for monthly pampering appointments, and consistently stopped to remind myself to not get so stressed when things were out of my control. I think I did a decent job of this — but I can still use some improvement there, so will continue to work on it!
The second one was to paint the interior walls in my house – DONE!!!
The third wasn’t as successful as I had hoped — it was to go out to eat less and cook more! The intent was to let me focus on renewing my love of cooking and polish an old skill that I was good at and lost some of! Well, I did do a fair amount of home cooking and even upgraded my kitchen appliances to help! But, I have to be honest and say that it wasn’t as successful as I intended it to be —- so, I think this one needs to go back on the list to work on this year!
All in all, I think the year and the decade was good to me — some low points, but a lot of high points — I’ll have to give some thought to what I want to resolve to work on this year and put them in another post.
For now, I am thankful to be able to ring in the New Year with my Mom and do it with good health and happiness for both of us! Life is good!
Movie Review – It’s Complicated
Christmas Day at the movies — a great tradition that I enjoy very much! I watch for what movies will be released on Christmas Day and pretty much decide which one I plan to see long before the day gets here! This year, I was torn between two – “It’s Complicated” and “Nine”. I couldn’t decide, so I settled for going to BOTH!!! Then, I looked at the show times to see what I needed to do to juggle them and was very disappointed to find out that “Nine” didn’t come to Sanford! I would have to go to Cary to see it! I toyed with the idea of going to Cary, but decided that I didn’t want to devote the entire day to movies, so made the choice to only see “It’s Complicated” in Sanford.
The movie stars Meryl Streep (Jane), Alec Baldwin (Jake), and Steve Martin (Adam). Jane and Jake are divorced and have three grown children. The divorce, caused by Jake cheating on Jane with a much younger girl, resulted in 10 years of bitterness and the inability for them to be in the same room with each other. During a weekend trip to see their son graduate in NYC, they are thrown into a situation where they have dinner, get drunk, and end up in bed with each other! While they proceed with an affair (by the way – Jake is still married to the younger woman he cheated on his wife with), Jane meets Adam, an architect that is working on an addition on her home. hilarity ensues!!! Scene after scene cracked me up — it was so funny and enjoyable!
The story was cute, the characters were perfect, and it was such fun to watch! The audience seemed to agree with me – they were laughing out loud, clapping, and gasping throughout the entire film! It was a thoroughly entertaining afternoon!
I rate this one an A and highly recommend it for anyone who just wants to be entertained and laugh!
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