Anniversary #28

Another whirlwind weekend trip is in the books. This time Ron and I flew to Las Vegas for our 28^th anniversary. I’ve said before that Las Vegas isn’t my favorite place to visit, but I don’t have anything to complain about this time around...except for the HEAT!

One of the things that struck me as we got off the plane when we landed in Nevada was the slot machines just steps from the gate. Since I don’t gamble, I don’t get it. Honestly, these machines intimidate me, but I know that many of my family members and dear friends LOVE playing them and don’t mind feeding money into them. I'm just not smart enough to gamble. I tried to use quarters to play one of the slot machines at the airport - the joke is on me cuz they only take bills! Boy did I feel silly!

Highlights of the weekend included spending some quality time with my siblings and my lovely sister-in-law, re-meeting my nephews (who grew incredibly tall and handsome), and of course, celebrating our anniversary with a delicious dinner and wonderful Cirque du Soleil show called "LOVE." Ron’s highlights also included a round of golf in 108 degree weather with a buddy. Crazy? Yes!

I’ve been reflecting on the last 32 years of our lives, (Ron and I met in 1979 when we were both 17). If you were to ask me what the key is to our happy, successful marriage, I would have to give you a list...

1.       We listen to and support each other,

2.       We have learned to let go of the small stuff and forgive each other,

3.       We laugh every chance we get, and most importantly,

4.    We let each other be who we are.

Marriage isn’t without its challenges. It takes work every day. When we first got married, we had only a vague idea of what we were getting ourselves into. It’s been a very interesting journey and there were several times that we weren’t sure how to go forward. Now I’m happy to report that we have mostly figured these things out. My husband is my best friend and there is no one I’d rather spend my spare time with. I can’t wait to see what happens in the next episode of “The Adventures of Ron and Laura.” 

Stay tuned!  

Sin City Here we Come

Tomorrow after work, Ron and I will be hopping on a plane to Vegas. We are spending the weekend there in part to celebrate our 28th wedding annversary. I get to spend time with siblings and Ron gets to play golf with a buddy as well.

Las Vegas is not my #1 dream destination especially in August when it's supposed to be 108 degrees while we are there. Ron and I don't gamble and we're not really party people. There are all kinds of shows, though. We have tickets to see "Love" - the Cirque de Soleil show about the Beatles. We have heard that it's a really great show. Looking forward to seeing the show, celebrating our anniversary and seeing 2/3 of my siblings. I'll have photos and a full report when I get back.

I hope I don't melt in the desert heat...

Spy Kids & One Day

Well, you would think that by now we would have learned our lesson about letting Viliamu choose the movie...apparently we had to have one more bad experience with this before getting it. Do not let an almost 5 year old choose a movie just because he's seen the previews or because it has "kids" in the title. It was ridiculous in so many ways. Juvenile humor, terrible acting, and sub par special effects. The story was just stooooooopid. Ron fell asleep 20 minutes into the movie but at least he didn't snore as loud as the man 5 seats down the row from us. On the bright side, there were enough fart jokes to keep Viliamu interested, laughing and happy. Thankfully, the movie was only 1 hour and 29 minutes long and the pain was fleeting. Don't waste any time or money on this movie.

We also saw One Day over the weekend. It's been 2 days since we saw it and I'm still not sure what I think about it. It was not a typical romantic comedy or even "chick flick." It is the story of how 2 people stay in each other’s lives over the years from 1988 until 2011. Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess are the two lead actors who show the changes in these lives on July 15^th every year. It was well acted. The male character is a pig with no discernible redeeming qualities.  The female character doesn’t show any self respect for years – she stays friends with him and puts up with his antics and self destructive behavior for years. I still haven't figured out why they ended up together. Sounds like I didn't enjoy it, doesn't it? Like I said, I still don't know. It wasn't what I was expecting and I was disappointed.

Mother of the Bride

jb is engaged!

photo by Gloria Schindler

 




Causten called us a few weeks ago to tell us that he was going to propose to her on August 20th. It has been so hard to keep the secret - especially since we were with family last weekend. But the secret is out now - and we couldn't be happier for them!

There is no date set yet. It will probably be a long engagement... 2013 sometime, I think. I could be wrong, but I will keep you posted. I have to start getting in shape - I don't want to be the FAT mother of the bride!!

The Help

Ron and I have been incredibly busy. Last weekend we flew to Portland for Trysta’s graduation.  We were able to squeeze in a movie so Ron and I did see The Help. I just haven’t had the chance to write about it until now.

After reading the book, I had some big expectations for the film. Of course the book is always going to be better than a screen adaptation, but this film did an admirable job of telling the story. I give the credit for this to Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer who portrayed Aibileen and Minny beautifully. They were just perfect. Emma Stone did a respectable job playing Skeeter, but Bryce Dallas Howard was great as the despicable Hilly Holbrook.

Watching a movie like this about a historical time in our country’s past is hard. Racism and discrimination are the ugliest part of our history. Unfortunately, it still exists today. It also reminded me of my early childhood and the fact that I was raised by a Mexican maid. Queta was with us for 10 years and I loved her so much. She was strict but very loving. She came with us when we moved from El Paso to Indiana, but it was too hard for her to be away from her family. She was older and the weather was too big a change for her as well. She flew back to Texas and went back to her family in Juarez. I never saw her again. She died before I moved back to El Paso as an adult. There is a scene at the end of The Help where Aibileen says good-bye to the little girl she has taken care of and the child cries and cries….it made me so sad and I realized I was crying for Queta. It’s been a long time since a movie affected me so profoundly.

Please go see this movie. It is more than worth the price of the ticket and believe me when I tell you that there will be Oscar nominations for Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer.

Why I don't read more...

I love books. I love to read. When I was 11 years old, my favorite aunt, my Aunti Frankie gave me A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith to read. It was my first “grown up” book and I absolutely devoured it. More than that, I became part of the story. I became Francie Nolan, the main character in the book. I cried when something awful happened to her, rejoiced when she overcame those things and I mourned when I finished the book. A good book does that to me – pulls me into that world and out of this one for a little while. It’s a great escape. I love movies for the same reason.

The problem with reading now is that I just don’t seem to have the time. Work, home – life gets in the way. Every once in a while, though, I will neglect other things I need to do and dive into a book. I’m not a lot of fun to be around when I get hooked by a book. Depending on the book, I might even become obsessed – reading every spare minute I have including during the commute to and from work. I feel guilty leaving Ron alone while I am off on my adventures into the written world. At least when we go to the movies, he is sitting beside me at the theater.

Unfortunately for him, I have been bitten by the reading bug again. I blame it on The Help by Kathryn Stockett. I just finished it late last night. Now I’m in that weird mourning period after I have finished a good book. I miss Aibileen, Minny and Skeeter and I want Hilly Holbrook to eat another piece of that pie! Great book – I highly recommend it! Can’t wait to see the movie now to see if it holds up to the book. I like all the actresses so I am hopeful.

The problem is that I want to read another GOOD book now…any recommendations?

The Upside of Being Down...

 The upside of lying in bed while recuperating is having the opportunity to read and to catch up on movies via pay-per-view, Netflix and Cable. That’s what I did this past Monday and Tuesday (in between naps!). The book I am working on right now is The Help by Kathryn Stockett. My friend Eileen read this book and recommended it to me quite a while ago but I am only now getting around to reading it. I have to be honest and tell you that I’m trying to finish it before the movie comes out next Friday. As much as I love movies, they rarely do a good book justice. Hopefully, I will finish reading it in time and then I’ll let you know how it compares.

As far as movies are concerned, I did finally watch the most recent remake of Jane Eyre with Mia Wasikowska, Michael Fassbender and Dame Judi Dench. Here is where I issue a disclaimer that Jane Eyre is one of my favorite stories and I was predisposed to love it…I did love it. Mia portrayed Jane’s sad, tragic life so beautifully. It’s been a long time since I read the book, but after seeing the movie, it reminded me how much I admire Jane’s strength through an incredibly difficult life. I marvel at her ability to see through Rochester’s initial meanness with her to the point where she falls in love with him. It’s such a wonderful story and I do believe that this movie version did the book justice. I’m going to read the book again and you should see the movie!

I also caught It’s Kind of a Funny Story on HBO or Showtime. It’s a small movie about a depressed teenager who checks himself into a psych ward when he fears that he might commit suicide. He makes some interesting friends in the process of coming to terms with some difficulties and stresses in his life. There are some really poignant scenes between Craig, the teen boy and his adult friend, Bobby. The writing was very good. Keir Gilchrist plays Craig beautifully and Zach Galifianakis (I am not a big fan of this actor) does a very good job portraying Bobby. I was really touched by this film.

Gonna rest this weekend, read some more of The Help and maybe catch a few more movies that I missed somewhere along the line….

Name change?

I am thinking of changing the title of this blog to "Tales from Ron & Laura's Bed & Breakfast - Storage Facility and other adventures..." Doesn't sound quite right, does it? Our nest isn't quite empty right now but it's not full either. Neither Beckie nor Mandi have a different primary address at the moment, but neither spend much actual time here. This is another transitionary period for them and Beeson B & B is just a place to land on the way to their next adventure.

So now I am adjusting to having two of them home, but in a different way. The garage is full of storage boxes filled with their childhood, high school and college mementos and odds and ends of furniture from college apartments. Thanks to a couple weekends of intense cleaning, sorting and donating and my incredible organizational skills, we are still able to park one car inside.

The hardest part of all of this and what I struggle with the

most is how to be the mother of adult children - how to NOT give advice, lecture, ask what their plans are or show too much concern. My tongue is pierced from the repeated times I have bitten it to keep from telling them to "be careful" or to tell them how worried I am about their travel plans. Even so, I have slipped MANY times and said more than I should have. Once it's out there, you can't take it back and believe me when I tell you that they will never forget it.

It's all about the letting go. I have said it before and I'll say it again - letting go has been the hardest part of parenting for me. I am not good at it - AT ALL. It's difficult when your children don't need you to kiss their bumps and bruises anymore, although when they have problems these days, it's a little more complicated than that. For now I have to settle for being their soft place to land when they ask for it and not when I think they need it.

Our storage capacity is just about full but there is one room vacant at the Beeson Bed & Breakfast. Any takers?