Filler

So much is going on right now, and I am a little overwhelmed with how to put it down here. So to get my writing juices flowing again, I'm gonna write about the many movies we have watched lately. And there have been many... So here goes~
No Reservations - This movie was very cute. It stars Catherine Zeta-Jones as a very self-involved upscale chef who's life is turned upside down when she is left to care for her niece when her sister dies. Her status as head chef is threatened when a temporary chef is hired to fill in as she acclimates to her new circumstances. Abigail Breslin plays the niece, and I am finding myself enjoying more every time I see her in something. I thought it was a very good movie, and the food in it...oh my!
Miss Potter - Renee Zellweger plays Beatrix Potter,the author and illustrator of the Peter Rabbit books. She is considered an "old maid" by Victorian England standards, but is unfazed by it in the love and affection she carries for her characters. Ewan McGregor plays her publisher. Both of them are very good in these roles and the children's literature subject matter adds a whimsical tone. I am not a "fan" of Renee Zellweger, but I really enjoyed her in this movie.
Awake - Hayden Christenson is a very successful man who undergoes surgery for a heart transplant and has the unfortunate luck of being conscious throughout his surgery. He feels the pain and hears everything going on. And there is a lot going on! This movie held my interest from the start, through the twists that come out. Jessica Alba stars as the fiance of the unlucky patient.
Waitress - So so so so good! I copied this plot summary because I don't think I could have put it better.
Trapped in a miserable marriage and blessed with the ability to transform her misery into delicious desserts, a small-town waitress finds her life forever changed by an unplanned pregnancy. Every day, Jenna ies on her apron and serves her customers with a smile, and every night she goes to bed knowing that she is one step closer to the day that she can kiss her scarily domineering husband goodbye forever. A smart and sassy baker whose extraordinary pies are inspired by her daily trials and tribulations, Jenna fears that her dreams are all but dead when handsome Dr. Pomatter reveals that she is soon to become a mother. As Jenna begins penning a series of letters to her unborn baby, her life starts to change for the better in ways she never could have imagined. The final film from actress/filmmaker Adrienne Shelly, Waitress debuted at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah just months after the director was discovered dead in her New York City apartment -- the victim of a homicide.
Keri Russell plays Jenna and Nathan Fillion plays her doctor. I highly recommend this one.
Arctic Tale - This is March of the Penguins, except with Queen Latifah narrating and the focus on a baby polar bear and a baby walrus. This is a fantastic documentary that shows a small hint of what global warming is doing to our earth. If you liked the penguin movie, you'll surely like this one too.
The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill - This documentary centers on an area of San Francisco that has become home to a large flock of wild parrots. No one really paid much attention to them until a street musician started to feed and care for the birds and developed a close bond with them. I really liked this one, the man's care and gentleness with the birds is very heartening.
Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers - This documentary angered me so much. It focuses on the profit made by big corporations when we are at war and how that affects not only the employees, but the soldiers serving as well. Why can't people see the money making business that this war has become? Check it out if you are tired of hearing the biased rhetoric we are fed from the "news".
Southland Tales - I really didn't like this movie. I had a very hard time following it and to be hones I even dozed off a little while watching. I'm not sure how to describe it, so I'm not going to try. Shell thought it was really good, it's just not my kind of movie I guess.

Nim's Island - We took the kids to see this at the theater and we all loved it. Abigail Breslin and Jodie Foster star in this. Just go see it. Trust me.

My First Meme!

Thanks Denise for tagging me. Here goes!
1. Do you like blue cheese? Yes, very much
2. Have you ever smoked heroin? Never!
3. Do you own a gun? No & I hope to never have to feel the need to question that.
4.What flavor do you add to your drink at Sonic? CHerry...Yum
5. Do you get nervous before doctor's appointments? Not the ones for me
6. What do you think of hot dogs? They are best with mustard & sauercraut
7. Favorite Christmas song? Carol of the Bells
8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning? Water
9.Can you do push ups? I doubt it
10. What do you order at Starbucks? Grande Caramel Frappuchino Light or Hot Chocolate
11. What’s your favorite piece of jewelry? My engagement & wedding rings-but they don't fit right now :(
12. Favorite hobby? Reading
13. How do you eat your eggs? Usually scrambled
14.Do you have A.D.D.? No
15. What’s one trait you hate about yourself? That I procrastinate way too often
16. Your eye color? Brown
17. Name three thoughts at this exact moment? I want to go home; I need to eat something for lunch; I need to lose weight
18. Name three things you bought yesterday? I only bought two-Frappuchino & Bear Claw from Starbucks
19. Three drinks you regularly drink? Water, lemonade, iced tea
20 Current worry right now? Where am I going to get the money for my trip to CA
21. Current hate right now? The President
22. Favorite place to be? curled up next to my wife
23.How did you bring in the New Years? With my boy
24. Where would you like to go? Australia
25. Name three people who will complete this. Probably no one
26. Do you own slippers? Yes, they are red and have Mickey Mouse on them
27. What shirt are you wearing? a white 3/4 sleeve
28. Do you like sleeping on satin sheets? I don't think I ever have
29. Can you whistle? I can, but I don't have much control over it
30. Favorite color? green
31. Would you be a pirate? Really...what kind of question is that?
32.What songs do you sing in the shower? I don't sing in the shower
33. Favorite girl’s name? I like a lot of girls names
34. Favorite boy’s name? See answer above
35. What’s in your pocket right now? Nothing, I don't really use my pockets
36. Last thing that made you laugh? My coworker's flippant remark about a customer
37. Most frequently dialed phone number? Home
38. Worst injury you’ve ever had? I can't think of any injuries
39. Do you love where you live? I do very much
40. How many TVs do you have? 2
41. Who is your loudest friend? My wife
42. How many dogs do you have? 2
43. What are you thrilled about right now? That a very dear friend had her baby & he is healthy and beautiful
44. Do you have a crush on someone? No
45. What is your favorite book? I couldn't pick just one
46. What is your favorite candy? I love chocolate, and chocolate with peanut butter, and chocolate with caramel, and chocolate with marshmallows...get the picture?
47. Favorite Sports Team? Nada
48. What song do you want played at your funeral? I've never thought about it
49. What were you doing at 12 AM last night? sleeping
50. What was the first thing you thought of when you woke up? I think I'll sleep in longer, who needs well-styled hair??

Note to Self: Snap Out Of It!

I really can't put my finger on exactly why, but I have been really bummed out the last few weeks. And it needs to be done now, I am very over it. What could be getting me down...

• I can't stand being the weight I am. And it feels like the frustration I have about it is so big I can't see around it to do anything to change it. I feel like I'm stuck here.
• The kids & I are going to CA in 2 months and I am fat. Hmmm, I see a trend here... I hate that I am going to see friends and family who I just saw last year and I am about 20 pounds heavier already. I have such cute clothes, that don't fit. I don't want to have to buy more clothes in yet a bigger size, but I don't know what I will wear if I don't.
• The kids & I are going to CA in 2 months and I still have to buy our return trip plane tickets. How am I going to afford that?
• I have been screwing stuff up at work. I'm not afraid of losing my job, but I really hate messing up.
• They are doing massive layoffs at Shell's work. She feels like her job is in jeopardy. She is absolutely without a doubt the main income earner in our house.
• I feel like a bad mom and wife. And sister. And friend.
• I can't sleep. Maybe because there is so much rattling around in my head?

Well, that was depressing. I should probably list some good things that are going on, you know for perspective...

• Easter was nice. Shell & I put the kids baskets together the night before. She of course bought them way too much stuff. And they loved it all. We went to my parents for dinner and watched August Rush. I thought it was really good.
• Last Sunday we didn't do anything. We got everything done on Saturday so we wouldn't even have to leave the house. We slept in, made breakfast, and then watched TV and movies all day. We watched "All Over Me", an indie lesbian flick with Leisha Hailey. It wasn't as good as we had hoped. We watched "Gone Baby Gone", starring Casey Affleck and directed by Ben Affleck. It was very very good. Also watched the documentary "Paper Clips" about a school in a very conservative, white town that does a project to teach the kids about the Holocaust. It was excellent. I love good documentaries and this was one.
• Shell is leaving next week to spend 5 days with her mom. I will miss her, but I feel like at least while she is gone, I won't be falling down on my responsibilities as her wife. So I am kind of looking forward to that. And I am taking 2 days off work then too, so that's a very good thing.

So it's not all horrible, but still enough to put me in a funk apparently. What really sucks and gets me down the most is that what I am most bummed about are things that I could change. And the fact that I'm not, makes me more sad. It's a circle that I can't get out of. I need to figure out what it will take to break it and do something about it. And soon because I really don't like feeling this way.

Fun Times

Last Thursday was Shell's birthday. She is now the same age as me, at least for the next 7 weeks until my birthday. I got her a few DVD's that she wanted, and went in to work late that morning to "celebrate" with her. We went out on Saturday for the actual celebrating. My girl spent the night at my parents house and the boy spent the night at Dana's. After dropping him off and picking Dana & Jeannie up, we drove downtown for dinner at Old Chicago. Some of Shell's coworkers met us there and after dinner we headed for Charlie's. It is a gay bar and is her favorite place to go. It works out really well because they have two dancefloors, one that caters to the country listening crowd and the other is for the dance music lovers. Once there, we met up with even more people from her work. We had some drinks, Long Beach Iced Teas for me - I LOVE THEM! - and we danced. A lot. It was so much fun. We left when the bar closed at 2 and went to Village Inn to eat. After dropping Dana & Jeannie off at their house, we went home. It was 4:00am! But oh boy was it worth it. I spent a lot of time talking to Dana, and I'm glad. I don't get a lot of opportunity to do that, and after talking to her I hope we get the chance again soon. She is the closest friend that my wife has, and it's nice to be able to share a bit with her.

I had hoped that Sunday would be a do-nothing day, but it was not to be. Dana woke us up when she brought our boy home, around 10ish. I started working on laundry and Shell started getting ready for the baby shower she was going to. I took the boy to a birthday party he was invited to, and then we picked up the girl from her time away with Dammy. (That's what the kids call my mom instead of Grandma) We went home and ate dinner, and the kids watched the Bee Movie and Shell & I watched Why Did I Get Married? I thought it was good. The kids loved the Bee Movie, I might watch it tonight. I started a membership with Blockbuster for their Netflix-style movie rentals and got those two movies and Waitress. For Shell's birthday I bought her August Rush, Death Proof and Planet Terror. So we will be watching a lot of movies. I am looking forward to getting caught up on movie watching.

We also watched The L Word last night. There is only one more episode left this season and then next season will be the last. To say that I am sad about this is an understatement. I will really miss our Sunday nights watching it together. I think we will have to buy the seasons on DVD and just start over again.

Summer plans & some other stuff

Yes, it is only the middle of March and we are making our plans for the summer. And before. We have spent a TON of money this week, with nothing tangible to show for it. Let me back up a bit before going into all that.

Saturday we went to my company's annual party. We were all dressed up really nice. And the dress I wore looked pretty good actually. We had our pictures taken, I can't wait to see them. The kids both had their caricatures done. And we ate really good food. All the employees got $50 gift checks and I got a 5 Year Plaque. Plus, we won the centerpiece that was on our table. It is always fun to see my co-workers outside of the office, especially the other women who work in our Colorado Springs office. The kids have a blast walking around and talking to everyone. They are always on their best behavior and I get many compliments on them. I NEVER get tired of that!

We went grocery shopping Sunday morning and then picked up Chinese food and headed over to my parents house. Asia is the same, which is good for now. There is really nothing that can be done, so it's just a wait and see until she is obviously suffering. We're sad. Mom and I sat down with the calendar to set some tentative dates for this summers California trip. More on that later. And she agreed to keep the kids for us on Saturday night so we can go out to celebrate Shell's birthday. Yay!

So what did we spend so much money on?? Well, I booked Shell's flight to Las Vegas next month. She is going out to see her mom and help her find a place to live in Orange County. And to see her nieces and nephews and her niece's baby. She is very excited, and I kind of am too. She will be gone for 4 1/2 days, and although I will miss her a lot, I hope to get some things accomplished to surprise her. We'll see.

Money also spent on... Margaret Cho tickets!!! We are going to see her on May 3, which is our wedding anniversary. And even more exciting... we bought our True Colors show tickets!. Coming to Red Rocks this year with the True Colors tour is Cyndi Lauper, B-52's, Carson Kressley, Joan Armatrading, Nona Hendryx and ROSIE O'DONNELL. I'm just a little excited, can you tell? So that will be July 5, which is 2 weeks after PrideFest. I can't wait!

It's Only Tuesday

What has happened since my last post....

My boy had his progress check for Karate on Saturday. He passed. So he will test for his High Brown belt in April. He is very excited. I didn't take any pictures during his test. Bad mommy!

I took my car on Sunday to get new tires. All 4 of them. It was long overdue. After leaving my car, we went shopping at Kohl's. They were having lots of sales. We had to get a birthday gift for my niece's 1st Birthday and some clothes for us. On Saturday we are going to my company's annual dinner/party. It is the 25th year we have been in business, so it is a little more formal then it has been in years past. So Shell decided that we needed some new clothes. I bought a dress! I'm still kind of freaking out about it. I haven't worn a dress in years. I think the last time was for our wedding actually. And after shopping we went to Old Chicago for dinner. It was a VERY expensive day, but so much fun. I hate clothes shopping for me, but when I'm with her I don't mind it so much. She pretty much picks stuff out, I try it on and she approves or vetoes. It's perfect.

We watched 2 episodes of The L Word on Sunday night. Enough said.

This morning I had a dentist appointment. I had to get 4 fillings. After not going to a dentist for 5 years, that was my consequence. Well, that and I have to go back in a couple of weeks for a deep cleaning. The fillings were not so bad, but he said that I will probably be sore for about a day. When the numbness started to wear off I took some ibuprofen, so I'm not hurting right now. Hopefully I can either stay ahead of it, or it really won't be so bad.

I talked to my mom yesterday and they have new dog drama. Their Shar-Pei Asia has cancer. They noticed a lump on her leg a week ago and went to the vet to have it checked. They determined that it was a mass and not fluid, but recommended taking her to a specialist to have it diagnosed. In the 4 days between appointments, it more than doubled in size. The specialist at first recommended amputating the leg, but after checking her over found the cancer cells in her lungs as well. Apparently she has a very aggresive strain that probably would not respond to radiation therapy. She doesn't seem to be in any pain right now, and they did give her medication to hopefully reduce the swelling around the mass on her leg. But it's just a matter of time now. No telling how long until things get bad enough to have to decide what's best for her. Shell is very sad. She really loves that dog. The kids know and they are sad too. They want to go see her this weekend. I think we probably will.

On a side note - I bought the new Janet Jackson CD on Friday. It is quite enjoyable. She is one talented (and hot!) woman. The kids don't want to listen to the CD when they are in the car though, because they don't know the words to sing along. I also bought the 25th Anniversary release of Thriller. That one we listen to with the volume turned UP and singing at the top of our lungs. I love it. I also bought the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band CD. I have always loved that album, but never owned it on CD. It was only $9.99, so I picked it up as well. I am LOVING my new music options!

A little bit of this, a little bit of that

I don't have a lot to write about, but with the week coming up I'll be lucky to think about posting, let alone actually doing it! So it's been over a week since I last posted...what have I been doing??? Working and going to Karate. That about sums it up. We are at Karate on Tuesdays & Thursdays from 7:45pm-9:30pm. On Wednesdays we are there from 6:30pm-8:45pm. Saturdays we are there from 7:15am-12:45pm. Plus the 1/2 hour drive each way. Oh, and the kids have after school musical practice on Mondays and Thursdays until 5:15 and Wednesdays until 4:45. It's no wonder I'm never home and when I am I'm too tired to do anything. My MO sister called last night just as I was making the girl something to eat before taking the boy to Karate. I COULD have talked to her during the 8 minutes I had left before walking out the door, but it was also the only 8 minutes I would have to talk to Shell all day. I picked my wife, because often she is not the first pick for my attention. I feel pulled in multiple directions every day. I think it's starting to take a toll on me. No, I'm sure it is.

I started and finished a book this week (Karate at least gives me some time to read). It was Goldie Hawn's autobiography, A Lotus Grows in the Mud. I love the title and I really liked the book. It focused a lot on her spiritual journey and eventual reconciliation, but gave a lot of insight into what inspired her to seek these out.

Last night I stayed up to watch A Raisin in the Sun, which I had recorded on Monday night. I only intended on watching an hour or so before going to bed for a few days. Well, I started it and ended up watching all 3 hours. I didn't want to turn it off. It was amazing! Phylicia Rashad, Audra McDonald, Sean Combs (who knew he could act!)...they were so so so good. It was a really beautiful movie. Can you tell that I liked it? It is coming out on DVD in May.

Speaking of new releases, my girlfriend's new album came out this week. You may have heard of her - Janet Jackson? I am so excited to hear her new stuff. I hear it's really good. I am planning on getting it this weekend. I can't wait.