Just so you won't wonder if I'm still alive, and to thank you for regularly checking for new posts (all 2 or 3 of you, that is), I'll give you a small taste of what my last five or six days have consisted of, in chronological order. I fear it would be difficult to order them any other way, for they are so very different from each other.
1) Enchanted (So stupid it worked. I laughed my head off.)
2) Paris, Je T'aime (Pretty good ... not as good as I hoped.)
3) Juno (Even my husband said, "Hilarious," which is big coming from him. Tears, too ... well, at least from me.)
4) Ratatouille (The parts I was awake for, I enjoyed.)
5) P. S. I Love You (More laughter, more tears. Deserves more credit than the chick-flick -hating critics gave it.)
6) The Great Debaters (Can I just say, "Wow"? And dadgummit, more tears.)
Six down, six to go. (And that doesn't count the additional DVDs on tap.)
I'm working on another post of a more serious nature, so keep your eyes peeled. (That started out as "pealed," but I checked and it's peeled, indeed, as painful as that sounds.)
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Saturday, December 22, 2007
Here we come a-yelling?
Kristen and I were out doing some holiday errands and stopped for hamburgers at the Burger King drive-through. While we were there, an incident happened that reminded me not only of who we are, and who we are to be, but also that it's better to go postal vicariously through other people.
The lady ahead of us had great difficulty placing her order. She repeated the whole thing several times, and the poor employee kept getting it wrong. The last time he repeated it back to her, the lady simply yelled at the top of her lungs, "TWO NUMBER ONES!!!!" (and although she didn't say it, you could hear the rest of it in her voice, "... you $%#$ %$%*@!!"
To his credit, the employee replied calmly. "Okay, two number ones, and what drink would you like with the second one?" And amazingly, she answered him calmly.
I have to say that after she yelled, I laughed my head off. She really didn't sound like she was about to go to the window and do anything violent, she was just fed up--not only with the BK employee, but with holiday stress in general. It was her moment to let it all go. (I hope, but then again, perhaps this is her usual M.O.)
In the long run, it was not only a release for her, but for me, too, and it reminded me of how hard it is to keep your cool during this time of year. We are supposed to be thinking about peace and love and all the good stuff, but instead are running around like headless chickens trying to get everything finished. It all seems so critical in the days leading up to Christmas, but so unimportant when it's all over.
In these last few days of the season, temember who you are to be, and let someone else do the yelling.
Here we come a-wassailing
Among the leaves so green,
Here we come a-wand'ring
So fair to be seen.
Love and joy come to you,
And to you your wassail, too,
And God bless you, and send you
A Happy New Year,
And God send you a Happy New Year.
We are not daily beggers
That beg from door to door,
But we are neighbors' children
Whom you have seen before
Love and joy come to you,
And to you your wassail, too,
And God bless you, and send you
A Happy New Year,
And God send you a Happy New Year.
Good master and good mistress,
As you sit beside the fire,
Pray think of us poor children
Who wander in the mire.
Love and joy come to you,
And to you your wassail, too,
And God bless you, and send you
A Happy New Year,
And God send you a Happy New Year
The lady ahead of us had great difficulty placing her order. She repeated the whole thing several times, and the poor employee kept getting it wrong. The last time he repeated it back to her, the lady simply yelled at the top of her lungs, "TWO NUMBER ONES!!!!" (and although she didn't say it, you could hear the rest of it in her voice, "... you $%#$ %$%*@!!"
To his credit, the employee replied calmly. "Okay, two number ones, and what drink would you like with the second one?" And amazingly, she answered him calmly.
I have to say that after she yelled, I laughed my head off. She really didn't sound like she was about to go to the window and do anything violent, she was just fed up--not only with the BK employee, but with holiday stress in general. It was her moment to let it all go. (I hope, but then again, perhaps this is her usual M.O.)
In the long run, it was not only a release for her, but for me, too, and it reminded me of how hard it is to keep your cool during this time of year. We are supposed to be thinking about peace and love and all the good stuff, but instead are running around like headless chickens trying to get everything finished. It all seems so critical in the days leading up to Christmas, but so unimportant when it's all over.
In these last few days of the season, temember who you are to be, and let someone else do the yelling.
Here we come a-wassailing
Among the leaves so green,
Here we come a-wand'ring
So fair to be seen.
Love and joy come to you,
And to you your wassail, too,
And God bless you, and send you
A Happy New Year,
And God send you a Happy New Year.
We are not daily beggers
That beg from door to door,
But we are neighbors' children
Whom you have seen before
Love and joy come to you,
And to you your wassail, too,
And God bless you, and send you
A Happy New Year,
And God send you a Happy New Year.
Good master and good mistress,
As you sit beside the fire,
Pray think of us poor children
Who wander in the mire.
Love and joy come to you,
And to you your wassail, too,
And God bless you, and send you
A Happy New Year,
And God send you a Happy New Year
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Fun things
Just a couple of quick things.
First, Blogger announced Dec. 13 you can now use Open ID here, which is nice for those who don't use Blogger accounts. You can make comments using your ID from certain other services. Check it out!
Second, a couple of quick, fun plugs for my faves.
Here's a short promo video made when David Wilcox played at Blue Rock Studios in Wimberley, Texas. (Which sadly, I missed.)
And ... drumroll, please!
Once is available on DVD today. Woo hoo!
First, Blogger announced Dec. 13 you can now use Open ID here, which is nice for those who don't use Blogger accounts. You can make comments using your ID from certain other services. Check it out!
Second, a couple of quick, fun plugs for my faves.
Here's a short promo video made when David Wilcox played at Blue Rock Studios in Wimberley, Texas. (Which sadly, I missed.)
And ... drumroll, please!
Once is available on DVD today. Woo hoo!
Friday, December 14, 2007
Another note to self
Buy Deep Dark Chocolate Cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory instead of making it.6 measuring cups and spoons, 5 bowls, 4 pans, 3 knives, 2 cutting boards, and a mixer in a partridge tree later...
The cake is cooked. The topping is not.
The back, she is broken.
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Putting it all in perspective
The easy stuff:
1) Dealing with kids and dismal grades
2) Broken down car
3) Going to the ER to have stitches removed from daughter's face (caused by falling flag in color guard practice last week)
Otherwise known as "my life."
The hard stuff:
Being the parents of LaSharon Powell, a 17-year-old girl killed in an auto accident in our school district this afternoon, or the parents of the other four injured, two critically.
Not my life. Just a reminder to myself.
Please pray for these students and their families. I can't imagine a more horrible way to experience the holiday season than this.
1) Dealing with kids and dismal grades
2) Broken down car
3) Going to the ER to have stitches removed from daughter's face (caused by falling flag in color guard practice last week)
Otherwise known as "my life."
The hard stuff:
Being the parents of LaSharon Powell, a 17-year-old girl killed in an auto accident in our school district this afternoon, or the parents of the other four injured, two critically.
Not my life. Just a reminder to myself.
Please pray for these students and their families. I can't imagine a more horrible way to experience the holiday season than this.
Monday, December 10, 2007
Drowning in Christmas Stuff
EDIT: I removed the image I had on this post. Quite by accident, I figured out a way to increase your blog traffic in amazing numbers, but it's not necessarily the way I wanted to increase it. :-) Just imagine a cozy Christmas scene with stockings hung by the chimney with care, a purdy decorated tree, and lots and lots of other "Christmas stuff."
I've come to the conclusion that I simply have too much "stuff" for Christmas decorating. I used to really look forward to it, and would spend a few days cleaning up the house good, then put the decorations out, and even then I got a little carried away at times. Let's just say one tree has never been enough, shall we?
So, the last few years, Todd gets the boxes down from the attic, and the stuff sits. And sits. And sits. I had grand plans this year to start early, get a box or two at a time down, sort through it, get RID of the "too much stuff" stuff, and it would be easy as pie, right?
Then I got sick, and now it's December 10, and I'm back to the "too much stuff" thing. When I'm out shopping, the shiny, glittery "new stuff" calls me, but mostly, I've resisted this year.
Well, except for that rug. And ... those Christmas tree skirts. (Which now join the two I bought on clearance last year that I totally forgot about until I opened the boxes of too much stuff.) I'm having to give away skirts, and this is the first time ever it's not because I lost or gained weight. (Although that's a story for another day.)
But, yeah, too much Christmas stuff, and thus, a flagging Christmas spirit.
Something's not quite right, don't you think? I'd venture to say it's more than just me with a "too much stuff" problem at Christmas these days.
I've come to the conclusion that I simply have too much "stuff" for Christmas decorating. I used to really look forward to it, and would spend a few days cleaning up the house good, then put the decorations out, and even then I got a little carried away at times. Let's just say one tree has never been enough, shall we?
So, the last few years, Todd gets the boxes down from the attic, and the stuff sits. And sits. And sits. I had grand plans this year to start early, get a box or two at a time down, sort through it, get RID of the "too much stuff" stuff, and it would be easy as pie, right?
Then I got sick, and now it's December 10, and I'm back to the "too much stuff" thing. When I'm out shopping, the shiny, glittery "new stuff" calls me, but mostly, I've resisted this year.
Well, except for that rug. And ... those Christmas tree skirts. (Which now join the two I bought on clearance last year that I totally forgot about until I opened the boxes of too much stuff.) I'm having to give away skirts, and this is the first time ever it's not because I lost or gained weight. (Although that's a story for another day.)
But, yeah, too much Christmas stuff, and thus, a flagging Christmas spirit.
Something's not quite right, don't you think? I'd venture to say it's more than just me with a "too much stuff" problem at Christmas these days.
Wednesday, December 05, 2007
The soapbox inscribed with the golden compass
MY DEAR WORMWOOD
The ways in which we have managed to take the patient’s eye off preparations for celebrating his savior’s birth are simply delightful.
That whole Golden Compass movie hoopla is by far the best plan we have laid in years. Forget boycotting Disneyland, Johnson and Johnson, Barack Obama, (or Kingdom Below forbid, Harry Potter!), or any of the minor scuffles we’ve managed to create over the years. This one is supreme.
If we can keep him indignant about our claims that there is no Enemy Above, he will surely forget to talk about such silliness as the “Enemy Above’s love” for him.
Do remember you are there to fuddle him.
One of our greatest allies at present is the Church itself.
Your affectionate uncle
SCREWTAPE
Yep, that’s a little tongue in cheek, if I do say so myself, and not nearly as good as C.S. Lewis would have done it (except for the parts in italics, which I ripped off from him).
I'm watching the whole Golden Compass movie hoopla unfold, and wondering which of the promoters had the amazing marketing idea of tipping off the Christians.
You see all the rush to boycott the movie? You see how that may just make it the biggest movie of the season? Come on people. This trick has been done before. Forbidden fruit only makes the kids hungrier, and only makes the grownups look more stupid.
I don’t have a huge issue with the emails that describe what the movie’s about, but they are often accompanied by MESSAGES IN CAPITAL LETTERS TELLING ME I SHOULD BOYCOTT THIS MOVIE. Oh, yeah, now my interest is really piqued, along with that of my kids.
If your child wants to see the Golden Compass, I say take her while you still have the opportunity to be a part of her decisionmaking process. If you’ve brought her up believing in God, in whichever faith you subscribe to, have honest conversation with her about what Phillip Pullman might want her to believe. If she’s too young to understand that, she’s too young to see the movie anyway. It doesn’t look like it’s filled with singing dwarfs or rosy-cheeked maidens.
My daughter came home from school the other day and said, “My friend isn’t allowed to go see the Golden Compass.”
“Really?” I said. “If you want to see it, I don’t mind. You are old enough to understand what the author’s trying to get people to believe, aren’t you? That God doesn’t exist. And in the movie, they ‘kill’ God, who turns out to be a phony?” (Which is a kind of strange dichotomy if you think about it. Why kill something that doesn’t exist?)
She said, “Yeah, I know. Well, my friend’s mom doesn’t really care if she sees it, but her church said she isn’t allowed.” (And my daughter is 10. And she’s heard that. And she gets it.)
Who are we kidding? Do you really think the church started this? Hollywood has been playing previews of this movie for months now in the theater, and the books have been out for who knows how long before that. But, why, suddenly, a week or two before the release, is it suddenly an issue for Christians.
Well, we aren’t that quick to start stuff, but we are sure good at jumping on the bandwagon when someone pulls it up to the circle.
Imagine the hoopla if someone had tried to start a boycott against Narnia because it glorified God? Who knows, maybe they (whoever they are) thought about it, but then just laughed at the ridiculousness.
Supposedly, the “plot” is that kids will watch the movie and be drawn into reading the books, which are allegedly more overtly atheistic and anti-Christian. (I'll be honest--I don’t know, I haven’t read them. I can't stand fantasy, but if I need to eventually, I will.)
Again, the crux of the matter is, if you’re not looking at what your kids are reading or watching, and talking about it with them honestly, and hoping and praying they will make good decisions when they can truly think for themselves, then what difference does it make anyway? It’s a free for all.
Discuss amongst yourselves.
(However, be warned that if things get ugly, I’ll delete your comments. I’d just like to hear some honest, heartfelt, yet adult discussion about this debacle.)
The ways in which we have managed to take the patient’s eye off preparations for celebrating his savior’s birth are simply delightful.
That whole Golden Compass movie hoopla is by far the best plan we have laid in years. Forget boycotting Disneyland, Johnson and Johnson, Barack Obama, (or Kingdom Below forbid, Harry Potter!), or any of the minor scuffles we’ve managed to create over the years. This one is supreme.
If we can keep him indignant about our claims that there is no Enemy Above, he will surely forget to talk about such silliness as the “Enemy Above’s love” for him.
Do remember you are there to fuddle him.
One of our greatest allies at present is the Church itself.
Your affectionate uncle
SCREWTAPE
Yep, that’s a little tongue in cheek, if I do say so myself, and not nearly as good as C.S. Lewis would have done it (except for the parts in italics, which I ripped off from him).
I'm watching the whole Golden Compass movie hoopla unfold, and wondering which of the promoters had the amazing marketing idea of tipping off the Christians.
You see all the rush to boycott the movie? You see how that may just make it the biggest movie of the season? Come on people. This trick has been done before. Forbidden fruit only makes the kids hungrier, and only makes the grownups look more stupid.
I don’t have a huge issue with the emails that describe what the movie’s about, but they are often accompanied by MESSAGES IN CAPITAL LETTERS TELLING ME I SHOULD BOYCOTT THIS MOVIE. Oh, yeah, now my interest is really piqued, along with that of my kids.
If your child wants to see the Golden Compass, I say take her while you still have the opportunity to be a part of her decisionmaking process. If you’ve brought her up believing in God, in whichever faith you subscribe to, have honest conversation with her about what Phillip Pullman might want her to believe. If she’s too young to understand that, she’s too young to see the movie anyway. It doesn’t look like it’s filled with singing dwarfs or rosy-cheeked maidens.
My daughter came home from school the other day and said, “My friend isn’t allowed to go see the Golden Compass.”
“Really?” I said. “If you want to see it, I don’t mind. You are old enough to understand what the author’s trying to get people to believe, aren’t you? That God doesn’t exist. And in the movie, they ‘kill’ God, who turns out to be a phony?” (Which is a kind of strange dichotomy if you think about it. Why kill something that doesn’t exist?)
She said, “Yeah, I know. Well, my friend’s mom doesn’t really care if she sees it, but her church said she isn’t allowed.” (And my daughter is 10. And she’s heard that. And she gets it.)
Who are we kidding? Do you really think the church started this? Hollywood has been playing previews of this movie for months now in the theater, and the books have been out for who knows how long before that. But, why, suddenly, a week or two before the release, is it suddenly an issue for Christians.
Well, we aren’t that quick to start stuff, but we are sure good at jumping on the bandwagon when someone pulls it up to the circle.
Imagine the hoopla if someone had tried to start a boycott against Narnia because it glorified God? Who knows, maybe they (whoever they are) thought about it, but then just laughed at the ridiculousness.
Supposedly, the “plot” is that kids will watch the movie and be drawn into reading the books, which are allegedly more overtly atheistic and anti-Christian. (I'll be honest--I don’t know, I haven’t read them. I can't stand fantasy, but if I need to eventually, I will.)
Again, the crux of the matter is, if you’re not looking at what your kids are reading or watching, and talking about it with them honestly, and hoping and praying they will make good decisions when they can truly think for themselves, then what difference does it make anyway? It’s a free for all.
Discuss amongst yourselves.
(However, be warned that if things get ugly, I’ll delete your comments. I’d just like to hear some honest, heartfelt, yet adult discussion about this debacle.)
Sunday, December 02, 2007
Kristen says ...
Gail's blog about her witty grandson Sam reminded me of "Kristen says the darnedst things"--a category I've neglected for a while. :-) Either she's getting older, or I'm getting less observant. I fear it is both. So, to that end, I will regale you of a recent tale.
You know there are two givens when you have kids. (At least.) The first is they will follow you into the bathroom and it will be at least 18 years before you have the assurance you will be able to do your business alone again. Maybe more. Anyway. The second is when you hear a suspicious noise, or silence, whichever the case may be (and often scarier in the second incarnation), and you ask, "What are you doing?" you know what the answer will be, right? Exactly. "Nothing."
Well, this morning Kristen proved one of these points, but she's wised up on the second. I was in the shower and could hear little noises coming from the other side of the (frosted) door. So, in good mom form, I said, "What are you doing?"
She said, "Just standing here. Breathing."
Dadgummit. Just when you think you've got them trained.
And just so the other two won't feel left out:
Ryan texted me the other night, very excited, from college. "Mom, I just found the Denton Piggly Wiggly!" That, my friends, is scary. He's apparently been missing his small town grocery shopping exeriences from East Texas and Alabama.
And Emilie? She is quite the wise one. She recently dumped her boyfriend of more than two years (yeah, she's 14, but I think it's easy to stay committed for two years when you only see them five minutes a day during passing periods). We were talking about it in the car and she said, "I just wasn't interested in such a serious relationship at age 14." Go, girl. And if she kills me for this, it will mysteriously disappear from this blog without warning. :-D (You may wonder, but the kids are always asking me if I'm going to blog things they say, and they almost look happy about it. Watch out, Jerry Springer.)
What would I do without my kids to make me laugh?
You know there are two givens when you have kids. (At least.) The first is they will follow you into the bathroom and it will be at least 18 years before you have the assurance you will be able to do your business alone again. Maybe more. Anyway. The second is when you hear a suspicious noise, or silence, whichever the case may be (and often scarier in the second incarnation), and you ask, "What are you doing?" you know what the answer will be, right? Exactly. "Nothing."
Well, this morning Kristen proved one of these points, but she's wised up on the second. I was in the shower and could hear little noises coming from the other side of the (frosted) door. So, in good mom form, I said, "What are you doing?"
She said, "Just standing here. Breathing."
Dadgummit. Just when you think you've got them trained.
And just so the other two won't feel left out:
Ryan texted me the other night, very excited, from college. "Mom, I just found the Denton Piggly Wiggly!" That, my friends, is scary. He's apparently been missing his small town grocery shopping exeriences from East Texas and Alabama.
And Emilie? She is quite the wise one. She recently dumped her boyfriend of more than two years (yeah, she's 14, but I think it's easy to stay committed for two years when you only see them five minutes a day during passing periods). We were talking about it in the car and she said, "I just wasn't interested in such a serious relationship at age 14." Go, girl. And if she kills me for this, it will mysteriously disappear from this blog without warning. :-D (You may wonder, but the kids are always asking me if I'm going to blog things they say, and they almost look happy about it. Watch out, Jerry Springer.)
What would I do without my kids to make me laugh?
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