Leavin' on a jet plane...

In less than 24 hours Ron and I will be jumping on a plane and heading north to Oregon for a family wedding. I just finished packing but I really feel like I have forgotten something...can't figure out what. Anyway, since I am already awake, I was toying with the idea of staying awake for the royal wedding, although I don't think I care enough about the royals to watch the ceremony and then deal with the consequences of staying awake...I still have to go to work later today, ( I am writing this at 1 am in the morning). Sorry, Wills and Kate.

I'm fairly certain that I won't have time to squeeze in any movies this weekend, but there's a rumor that there will be wine tasting as some point this weekend. Family, wedding, wine tasting all within 48 hours - how will we get it all done?! I will let you know later how well we did.

Happy Friday!

Arthur 2011

Sometimes spur of the moment decisions don't work out as well as we hope. With our chores done for the day and Mandi and Beckie out doing their own things this evening, Ron and I decided to drop over to the theater to see if we could catch a movie. We got there and there were 2 that we could see - Arthur or Limitless. We should have just gotten back in the car and come home. Instead, we bought tickets to see Arthur.

Yes, we read and heard the reviews that said the movie was not good. We hoped that they were exaggerating...sadly, they were not. The original movie was sweet and charming and came out 30 years ago. Arthur 2011 had none of the charm even though they tried to recycle many of the original jokes. Russell Brand is no Dudley Moore and it was sad to see Jennifer Garner reduced to the role of the mean fiance. Nick Nolte made a brief appearance here as well - just awful. The only actor I enjoyed was Helen Mirren.

So the bottom line here is if you have seen the original, absolutely skip the remake.

At Long Last - Water for Elephants

A couple of confessions before my review...

#1 I did not read the book before I went to see this movie tonight. I meant to, really I did. I bought the book and it has been on my nightstand since mid-March. I got distracted by "The Hunger Games" and my night class and work and life...so I haven't read the book yet.
#2 I am a huge fan of Robert Pattinson. You may think that I can't be objective about about him in a review, so I will do my best not to gush.

I am glad that I didn't read the book first. Everything that happened on screen was a big surprise for me and that made the movie wonderful. I'm not going to spoil the important points for anyone else who hasn't read the book, either. I will just say that the story was entirely satisfying.

Reese Witherspoon, Christoph Waltz and Robert Pattinson were all very good. There WAS excellent chemistry between all three of these actors. This depression era drama/romance set in the world of a traveling circus seemed very authentic. The actors appeared completely at ease with the animals. Reese looked beautiful and calm riding the show horses and the elephant. Robert had real chemistry with Rosie the elephant as well. As for Christoph, he plays evil like no one else!

As far as I'm concerned, Robert has successfully graduated from the vampire world. He looks amazing in color mainly because you get to appreciate how blue his eyes are, (not that golden eyes aren't equally gorgeous!). I don't know if this movie will be recognized for any awards, but it might be the best movie I have seen so far this year...YES, GO SEE IT!!

Oops, was that gushing?

4 Year Old Comedian

Viliamu aka Wild Thing is a hilarious boy! I probably should be writing down the things he says so that I can remind him when he's older. His mama does a good job of documenting a lot of the things he says, but I am almost always caught off guard! I am going to do my best to improve here.

It was our weekend with Wild Thing...this boy is the best combination of humor, attitude and heart. He's just 4 and a half years old, but he has an amazing vocabulary. I attribute this to all the time he spends with his teenage siblings and the fact that he is incredibly observant.

So what did this brilliant boy say when we told him that it was time to clean up his toys? "Viliamu is not in right now...please leave a message at the sound of the beep....B-E-E-E-E-P!" What a character!

By the way, we took him to see "Rio." It's an animated movie about a rare blue macaw and is set in Rio de Janeiro... We have seen our share of mediocre animated movies lately, because we love to take him to the theater. I just have to say that I was very pleasantly surprised by the story, the animation and the music - I loved it and it held his attention!! It's not quite as good as a Pixar film, but very close! Take the kids to see this or just go for fun.

Being a Mom is like having OCD

Anyone who knows me knows how much I love my daughters and how important they are to me. They know it, too. So why is it that when I express concern for their well-being, I almost always get in trouble with them?

My daughters are all in their 20's now. They are amazing, capable, hard-working and productive members of society. Even so, I cannot help saying, "Be careful!" when they are about to go out with their friends or when they are going to drive long distances in the car. I really can't help it. Maybe that's why Beckie waited until after she had gone sky diving to tell me about it. Can you blame her? But could you have blamed me if I had tried to talk her out of it?

The thing is - I do trust them and trust their judgment. It's other people that I don't trust. A friend at work recently announced that her daughter had just gotten her driver's license. I feel for her, because I remember how hard it is to let go. Yes, you have to have faith, but it is so hard to let go. You teach your kids how to drive, but you have no control over what the other drivers are doing.

So as well as I know that it drives my girls crazy to hear me say 'be careful,' it's a compulsion I just can't stop. I bite my tongue, but the words still come out. Then there are the times that they will ask me what I think about something...am I supposed to lie if I'm not crazy about a decision they've made or a direction they are going in? I apologize for all the times I've said the wrong thing or the times I just haven't been able to keep my big mouth shut. I will also apologize in advance for the times that I will disappoint them in the future. I hope that someday they will see how hard it is to quit being protective. Forgive me, Jenn, Mandi and Beckie. I am still a work in progress.

Happy Birthday to Me!

I am 49 years old today - just 365 days away from the big 5 - 0 and a big red hat with purple feathers on it. I think I'm handling the immensity of the day with composure and grace. Actually, the fact that I work with older adults helps me to keep everything in perspective. Most of the people I work with are in their 80's and several are in their 90's. I have absolutely nothing to complain about.

My birthday weekend was very nice. It started on Friday morning with birthday wishes, flowers and brownies from my girlies. At work there were more birthday wishes, a balloon and a yummy caramel chocolate cake. After work, my Hunka Hunka Burnin' Luv aka Ron, picked me up to take me to dinner at the Texas Roadhouse for my favorite pulled pork dinner - mmmmm - mmmmm. Saturday we went to San Fran, shopped, ate and saw a movie. Today, my actual birthday, I slept in and was pampered for one more day - more eating out, more shopping and another movie. All weekend long I received phone calls, texts and messages on facebook from family and friends. Not only that, but I got a big hug from my favorite 4 year old. It was a lovely weekend and I am truly blessed. Thanks to everyone who took time to wish me a happy day - I love you all.

By the way, I did see 2 movies this weekend. We saw Hanna yesterday. Very interesting. It was more violent than I am comfortable with, but it wasn't too gooey. Saoirse Ronan was very good in this role. I can't really give you any more than that because anything I say would give away important plot points - I do recommend this movie but feel that there was quite a bit of back story lacking - they could have done so much more with this story. Cate Blanchett was almost the weak link here - not my favorite role for her - but she is very unlikeable in this anyway.

We also saw Source Code. I went into this movie knowing only that Jake Gyllenhaal was in it. I REALLY enjoyed this one. I know that the science in this movie was impossible, but what if.... Anyway, it was GOOD. You have to pay attention, but it's worth it.

So, it was a good birthday and a good movie weekend. I am a lucky girl!

Syllabus

First day of class.

Introductions.

Textbook.

Syllabus
Personal essay.....10%.
Midterm exam....25%
Final exam...........25%
Paper....................40%

Assignment for next week.
Read Chapter 1.
Turn in personal essay.

Dismissed.

Maybe this won't be as difficult as I thought.

Psychology of Aging

I am almost 49 years old, but tomorrow I am going back to school. Granted it's only a once a week evening class at a local community college, but I will be sitting in a classroom, listening to a lecture, maybe taking notes, and probably taking a midterm and a final exam....school.

What's funny about this is that after I graduated from Ball State University way back in 1984, I swore that I was done with school. I almost dropped out after my junior year, in fact, but Ron insisted that I had gone that far so I HAD to finish. I'm glad that I did. However, a BSW hasn't done all that much for my career without having gone on for a Master's degree. At the time I was only concerned about being a wife and mother, so it didn't matter to me then. However, the kids have grown up and I'm ready to see if it's in me to consider going back to school for a Master's. At the very least, maybe I will get a Career Certificate in Gerontology. Who knows?!

So, I'm starting small...one class, one night each week, but after a full day at work. Am I crazy? Probably, but I am going to give it the "old college try." Fitting, isn't it? I will let you know how I do when the session ends at the end of June.

Happy April!

It's the 4th day of April and already it's been quite an eventful month. I just got home from Houston where my sister, brother and I planned and successfully executed a surprise birthday attack for our mother's 70th birthday! She was truly surprised - it was all good!

I got home LATE last night since my original flight was canceled and I had to take a later flight. I'm glad I had the foresight to take a vacation day to recover. I slept in, unpacked my suitcase, posted all my photos on facebook and rested. Since I got my chores done, we even went to see a movie today. We saw The Adjustment Bureau. I have to say that Matt Damon is really growing on me. His chemistry with Emily Blunt was good and their relationship was compelling. The story was interesting and exciting - a bit of suspense. I even liked the way it ended. It won't be up for any awards but I'm glad to have seen it. I recommend it for the love story aspect.

We got home in plenty of time to watch the NCAA Championship Basketball game...unfortunately, the Butler Bulldogs came up a bit short after a very impressive showing in the tournament this year....what a heartbreaking game, right, Mandi?! Maybe next year...

Back to the real world and work tomorrow.

Did I tell you I'm going to take a class during spring session at Foothill College on Wednesday evenings? Wish me luck.