Riddick Review

Yesterday hubby and I went to see the latest installment in Vin Diesel's Riddick franchise.

I gotta say, while it was entertaining, I was a bit disappointed - it basically felt like a Pitch Black reboot.

It starts out with Riddick injured and left for dead on a strange desolate planet. In a brief flashback we see how he came to no longer be the Necromonger Lord Marshall that he was awarded at the end of Chronicles of Riddick and how he got stuck on this new planet. The first portion of the film is basically Riddick tending to his wounds and living off the land with a dingo pup while fighting off the planet's predator creatures. Then he sees a storm brewing and with the storm, comes deadly predators (kinda like in Pitch Black, with the darkness comes the predators) so it's time to make an exit off the planet. He lures some bounty hunters to his location with a plan of commandeering one of their ships to make his escape.

So in short, the majority of the film is Riddick trying to get off the planet before all hell breaks loose, just like in the first film of the series.

Yeah... I was disappointed.

Even in Chronicles he got trapped on a planet he had to escape from but it didn't take up the whole movie.

In this one, the plot barely moves forward.

I would have liked to have seen more between Riddick and Vakko (Karl Urban) and the Necromongers and his quest to find Furya...

I did like the interaction between him and his pet dingo dog, despite the animal's fate being predictable.

Any of you guys see it yet? Thoughts?

By the way, this meme totally cracks me up:

Words Can't Describe...

I know it was like a week ago, but last Thursday night, during a midnight showing of the new Christopher Nolan Batman movie, 12 people were killed while 50 were injured when a man opened fire inside the movie theater!

I just... there's no words for that. It's just sad. People go to the movies to escape reality for a few hours and enjoy the entertainment onscreen before them. No one thinks something like this is going to happen! I know first hand, having worked/managed a theater for a few years, working many midnight special premieres like this for blockbuster movies, I never thought of something happening like this there!

Reports say that witnesses said someone, whom now is assumed to be the shooter, exited through the theater's side emergency exit door appearing to take a call early on in the movie and then the shooter came through the door not too long later, so obviously it was propped open.

My mom heard on the news today that someone is putting a lawsuit out against the theater, the film studio and the doctor that had been treating the shooter prior to the incident.

I can definitely see stricter policies and procedures for the theaters from now on.

When I worked there, our ushers were supposed to be doing "theater checks" every 15-30 minutes and the theater checks included checking that the exit doors were shut tight, that the sound and picture on screen were of acceptable quality, and looking for unruly patrons in the theater doing things they shouldn't be. I know though, that often times we had to remind ushers to do these checks and that some of them "half-assed" the checks.

I can see these being much, much stricter now as those emergency exit doors are supposed to be shut tight for a reason - they don't open from the outside and they swing outward so it's not like someone can kick it in.

I read somewhere that the movie started at 12:15am and calls about the shooting came in at about 12:38am. Should a theater check have been done during that time? Possibly... I know at our later shows we'd dismiss the ushers after they did one final theater check.

I'm not trying to point blame, but as a former movie theater employee of several years, it does make me wonder.

I feel horrible for all those families of the victims though! And the community... having been part of a community affected by a major shooting, I know what's that like and it's not pleasant at all. Let's be sure to continue to keep them in our thoughts and prayers!

My Must-See Summer Movies of 2012

Now that summer movie season is in full-swing, I thought I'd share my "must-see" ones.

Must See In Theaters

• The Avengers - This one is a no-brainer - Thor, Iron Man, Hulk, and Co all together in one huge, epic movie? Yeah, definitely needs to be seen on the big screen!
• Rock of Ages - Since I don't go to a lot of Broadway musicals in Chicago these days (hubby's not into that sort of thing), I think seeing a big screen adaption of this one would be satisfactory (I just wished they had Constantine reprising his Broadway role as the main character). I'll probably end up seeing this one with my mom or sister since I know hubby won't go (he's really not a fan of musicals).
• Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter - I sorta reviewed the book a few years back, which hubby and I both read and it was a pretty good book, really blurring the line between fiction and history, almost making you doubt what you know (despite the fact I have issues reading books that are a bit historical). I hope they don't change too much, but looking from the trailer it seems they did add in a character I don't recall being in the book... I just hope they didn't leave out Honest Abe's interactions with Edgar Allen Poe - the few scenes with Poe were quite memorable (and comical) in the book and some of my favorite parts!
• Dark Knight Rises - Another no-brainer, the final installment in the Batman reboot trilogy, heck yes!
• The Expendables 2 - This is a must for me - so many great action stars, including my man candy Jason Statham and Chuck Norris has a role in this one too which is just awesome as he hasn't done much acting in recent years! And of course it comes out 12 days before my birthday so you can bet what we'll be seeing!

Will Probably End Up Renting

• The Dictator - While we skipped seeing Sacha Baron Cohen parade around as Bruno, Borat was pretty funny and The Dictator looks to be more along the lines of Borat humor. Not sure if it's worth spending money on to see it at the theater or going out of our way to get a sitter but I'm sure I'll be worth renting!
• What To Expect When You're Expecting - Considering the book/site is promoting this one a lot, and given the ensemble cast, I'm sure it'll be predictable, but it looks cute and funny and being a newer, 1st time parent I know we'll be able to relate to it plenty! Again, I doubt we'll go out of our way to get a sitter to go see this one in the theater, but it's definitely one I wouldn't mind renting!
• Men in Black 3 - Most likely worth seeing, but again, don't think it'll be worth spending the money in the theater or making the time to get a sitter.
• Prometheus - Hubby will make sure we'll see this one eventually, as it's the Alien prequel and I know he really wants to see this one.
• Brave - This year's Disney/Pixar animated flick... to be honest, I haven't seen or heard much about this one yet other than it's the 1st Pixar film featuring a female lead and that she apparently has @thenerdybird's likeness lol... I'm sure it'll be worth a rent, but doesn't seem to be one I'll rush out and see.
• The Amazing Spider-Man - To be honest, I'm not ready for a Spider-Man reboot. It's been a decade since the Tobey Maguire one came out (I saw it with some classmates on my senior class trip!) and only 5 years since the last installment of that version was in theaters. Just seems too soon. I'm sure it'll be good and we'll rent it eventually, but I'm just in no hurry to go see it.

What are your "must-see" movies this summer?

Book Club Friday: "One Day"

I decided I would link up with Heather and her new partner-in-crime Katie for Book Club Friday this week since I actually finished a book, haven't written/posted my summary of it yet, AND I watched the movie adaption of the book =)

Anyways, I know I'm like a year behind on this one, but this week I finished "One Day" by David Nicholls.

From Goodreads:
"It’s 1988 and Dexter Mayhew and Emma Morley have only just met. But after only one day together, they cannot stop thinking about one another. Over twenty years, snapshots of that relationship are revealed on the same day—July 15th—of each year. Dex and Em face squabbles and fights, hopes and missed opportunities, laughter and tears. And as the true meaning of this one crucial day is revealed, they must come to grips with the nature of love and life itself."

 It's a pretty interesting concept/format for a book - follow the lives of 2 people for roughly 20 years, but only on 1 certain day each year. It was a fun story, watching them both grow up from college graduates through adulthood and middle age. 

Almost wish I had thought of it, following the soon to be 15 year friendship/relationship of hubby and I going all the way back to the 1st time we met in December 1997. However our story isn't done yet ;-)

Because of hubby and I having such a long history though (as he noticed this week, this year we'll have known each other for more than half our lifetimes!), I could definitely relate to the ups and downs of Emma and Dexter's friendship/relationship! 

I will say though, about the book, while a lot of it was predictable, the twist out of nowhere literally had me going "What the hell just happened there?!" "Did I read that right?" and had me flipping through the upcoming chapters just to confirm it, as I just couldn't believe that happened! Totally didn't see THAT coming! 

As far as the movie... I missed the character development that the book had - some of the years just kinda breezed by in a matter of seconds like they included them just for the sake of having them when in the book you know more happened. Also, I liked how with the book they summarized some of the things that happened since we last checked in with Dex and Emma whereas with the movie, some years they touched on it, others they didn't. I missed the whole affair Emma had going on with her boss at one point as well as the whole first meeting she ever had with a publisher (that scene was pretty funny!). I also looked forward to them getting lost in the maze together at Tilly's wedding, only for that scene to get shortened and changed... I wish there was a tad more Suki Meadows on screen too (and for some reason I pictured her as a hyper little Japanese girl with all the crazy Japanese clothing but London-ized, lol...). And I don't quite understand why they added on years at the end there, stretching things out for longer than they actually went on...  

I get they had to change things and cut things for time and to get certain points across but yeah, the movie was alright, I liked the book better though.

Have you read One Day or seen the movie? 

What were your thoughts?

Everyone is Expendable!

My old theater buddy just posted this on his Badass Movies blog and OMG!

I LOVE IT.
I LOVE IT.
I LOVE IT!

Seriously, I do! This trailer made me feel like a giddy kid in a candy store!



Arnold has some of the funniest lines ("I'm back!" and "My shoe is bigger than this caaah!") too!

It comes out a week and a half before my birthday - bet you can guess what we're seeing for my birthday movie! =D =D =D


I did have an awesome idea though on how this movie/franchise could be even more awesomer - do away with the character names and backstories and just let the action stars be their larger than life action star selves. They could be in like a league of awesome action stars, joking around with each other about their taglines, careers, whatever when some baddies show up and just keep coming. They have to fight back to find out why... and we learn that Edward Norton is the villain, sending the baddies, because he's pissed that Fight Club and The Incredible Hulk never gave him the action star cred he thought he deserved! Now that would be pretty awesome! I'm glad Chuck Norris joined the franchise, because well, he's friggin' Chuck Norris, but I know him not playing the larger than life version of Chuck Norris that we all joke about and having a character name and backstory is going to be a letdown (despite how awesome this franchise just is), kinda like Bruce Willis and Arnold playing characters and not their badass selves.

Anyways... only real complaint I have is with Liam Hemsworth being in it. I don't think playing hunter Gale in Hunger Games really qualifies him for action star status here... if it was his brother Chris who plays Thor... okay, maybe, but even that would be stretching it, considering the action movie resumes the rest of the cast here has.

Any of you out there just as excited for this movie as I am???

Random Ramblings

I finally finished "The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland In a Ship of Her Own Making" by Catherynne M. Valente. I originally won the book last summer in a giveaway on @amy_geek's blog and while I did enjoy it, it just took me awhile to get around to finishing it as I had a bunch of other books I wanted to get through and kinda worked on it in between them. Since the new Sookie Stackhouse book doesn't come out til May 1st, after finishing the Hunger Games Trilogy I decided to finish young Miss September's adventure in Fairyland! And it was a really cute book! It has a bit of an Oz feel to it, as September is a young girl who is one day whisked off to the magical Fairyland! Upon there, she loses her shadow, meets a witch and accepts a quest to get back the witch's magic spoon from the mean Marquess who currently rules Fairyland. She also makes friends with a friendly Wyvern and a blue Marid named Saturday. Her Key follows her, but is always a few steps behind and her green smoking jacket keeps her company as well. This book is full of adventure and a pretty easy read (just under 250 pages) and most of all - it's fun and whimsical! It also pays homage to both Alice in Wonderland and The Chronicles of Narnia. If you like fantasy novels, this is a great little gem to pick up! And I'm so excited that a sequel is in the works too!

So, as I wait for the next Sookie Stackhouse book to come out, I am currently reading the rough draft/1st edit of hubby's novel he's currently working on as he put the 1st 9 chapters on my Kindle app - he's hoping to have it up for sale on Kindle later this summer and you bet your bottom dollar I will be plugging it! He calls it a "gunpowder fantasy" as it is a medieval fantasy but there's gunpowder involved instead of just swordplay (or so I gather). Feel free to check out his blog/site for more details!

We recently rented "In Time" from Redbox. It stars Justin Timberlake, Amanda Seyfried, Olivia Wilde and the guy that plays douchey Pete on Mad Men. Hubby wanted to see this one in theaters, but since having Jay... seeing movies in the theater anymore has become a rarity (which is kinda hard to believe as there was once a time when we would go multiple times a week! LOL). The premise is interesting - in a futuristic world, time is the currency, kept track of by a digital clock on your arm that starts counting down the day you turn 25 and you get 1 year. How you spend that year is entirely up to you - you can earn more time by working, having generous friends and family members, and by winning at gambling, or you can waste away your time on drinking and other vices. Once your clock stops though, you die by what looks like an instant fatal heart attack. Oh and you stop aging once you turn 25 too, so there's no telling who is really 26 and who is 50 or even 100! In the ghetto people are used to living day by day while the rich have acquired years and years of time. JT's and Amanda's characters become like a Bonnie and Clyde futuristic Robin Hoods as they set out to tip the economic scales, giving the poor a chance by taking years from the rich. It was pretty good! Was a little weird seeing Amanda Seyfried with a shorter, red bob though - used to her having long blonde hair!

My BFF from college called off her wedding this past weekend (it was supposed to be in August). It's sad, but she said it was mutual as after talking, they both agreed that neither of them were really feeling it much anymore. I guess it's for the best though and I totally understand.

Jay just gets smarter and smarter... he knows how to work plugs! He unplugged the computer cords and promptly looked to see if it turned the TV off. When it didn't, he eventually went over to the outlet strip that the TV is hooked up to and started turning the big orange button off and on. Off and on... now he knows he's not supposed to be playing with the cords - when he unplugged the computer ones, he tried hiding in the corner when hubby went over to pull him out, lol... he also knows how to work the garage door button, wanting to press it whenever we come and go via the garage so we let him. And the other day he was trying to stack empty boxes from our groceries to climb! He also came up with a new "game" while we were shopping last week, where he grabs either my thumbs or my pinkies or pointer fingers and "makes" me clap my hands, lol... it's pretty funny and he's been doing it quite often when we're together, cracking up hysterically because he thinks he's controlling me, lol...

Jay is also the screaming kid in the nursery at church now - 2 weeks running! I don't know why he does it - he's been there before... we pulled into the parking lot though and he started whining a little (he's getting good about recognizing places we go to). Then I took him into the early toddler room and instead of handing him off to one of the childcare workers I walked him in and tried to get him occupied with some toys. He wasn't having it. He cried as soon as we got through the gate and got even more worked up whenever I put him down. Eventually one of the workers came over and tried to help and took over so I could go meet up with hubby in the lobby. We went to pick him up after and he was sobbing, although they said one of the other workers got him to calm down for a little bit. Poor guy - I don't know what to do... he knows I always come get him. Separation anxiety sucks and he's been extra clingy and snuggly to me this week too (he learned he can latch onto mommy's leg). He's also been getting upset when hubby leaves for work - both in the morning and at night.

I drank 2 cups of coffee today - the Van Houtte French Vanilla light roast. I learned that if I put enough of Coffeemate's French Vanilla Caramel creamer in it and enough sugar it hides the icky coffee taste I hate! I was still super tired though and ended up taking a half hour nap - wtf?? I thought coffee was supposed to keep you awake... O.o

Hubby got quite drunk Sunday night, if you couldn't tell by my tweets or Facebook posts. He had (what we thought was) a little bit of Tennessee Whiskey left and he brought home some other type of alcohol the other night. He keeps piling his bottles of alcohol up on the kitchen counter though, despite us having a bar downstairs, and I told him he needed to finish the whiskey up soon as it was taking up too much space. I figured he'd make several mixed drinks out of it over the course of the next few days... I didn't expect him to chug it! By the time Game of Thrones was over Sunday night he was acting a bit... goofy. And kept drinking. It was amusing but annoying at the same time... and omg he has no filter when he's been drinking that much as I learned some TMI stuff about family members I would rather erase from my mind! We did have a nice conversation and some snuggle time as he started to come down from his goofiness.

I finally made an appointment to get the massive moles on my back checked-out and possibly removed. The other night, my bra was just rubbing against one of them soooo bad it still hurt for a good bit after taking it off! I should have had them looked at and removed awhile back, but I never got around to making the call. And sadly, the soonest they can get me in, since I'm a new patient, is July 5th! Nearly 3 months away! Ugh... I was hoping to get them off much sooner than that... I have 2 really big ones on my back that I've had forever and all my doctors know about them and have taken note of them, keeping an eye on them at my check-ups, however I never really noticed just how big and ugly they were until last fall when I noticed them in the mirror. Seriously, I'm not just wanting those 2 removed for cosmetic reasons - they're dangerous, being all big and one is raised too. I also have one on the right side of my head, along my hairline by my ear... okay that one is more cosmetic, as I hate it and always bump or notice it when I'm doing something with my hair or putting my glasses on - I 1st noticed it in Jr. High and for awhile thought it was a zit so I would try popping it before I came to the conclusion it was indeed a mole. Hopefully these 3 are easily able to be removed (the one in my hairline might not be though, as I would prefer not to have my hair cut or shaved in that spot to remove it) and none of them are cancerous!

Speaking of mini surgeries... my father-in-law is having surgery on the 26th to have his dialysis tube moved from his neck to his arm - apparently only 50% of those that have it in their neck survive more than a year so when the opportunity to have it moved to a "safer" spot was made available he decided to go for it! Everything should go fine, but keep him in your thoughts and prayers regardless that day!

And I think that's pretty much all the random catch-up ness for now!

The Beanie Baby Hunger Games

Eleni posted this recently and, after finding time to watch it (it IS 11 minutes long), I thought it was tooooo cute and really well done! Also, it includes elements from the book that were left out of the movie. And again, it's just cute!

PS: I LOVE how "Caesar Flickman" is sitting on both Hunger Games AND Battle Royale, lol...

Angels in the Outfield - We're Always Watching!

 As I've mentioned time and time again, I am a bit of a TBS junkie when it comes to my default TV viewing habits (although nowadays, during the daytime the TV is usually turned to Sprout). I do just love it though when TBS plays old school movies from my childhood as their late-night movie!

This past week I got to take a walk down memory lane and watch once again:

Remember this one from 1994?

Young Roger lives in a segway foster home with another foster boy, JP, in a neighborhood within walking distance to the California Angel's stadium, where the boys spend most of their summer afternoons watching the games from the nearby trees. One day Roger's widowed deadbeat dad shows up and Roger asks when will they be a family again. "When the Angels win the Pennant" dad tells him, basically implying it'll never happen, as the Angels are in last place. But Roger, being a naive kid, doesn't realize that and prays that maybe God can send a little help to Angels to make it happen. Pretty soon Roger and JP get to go to a game in the stadium and lo and behold, Roger meets Al, an angel in charge, overseeing some angels that seem to be helping the ball team do the impossible! However, only Roger can see them. Pretty soon, desperate manager George Knox takes notice of Roger being a sort of a lucky charm and eventually starts to believe the boy's claims about there really being angels helping out the team.

As a good Christian girl in grade school, and a bit of a tomboy at the time, I LOVED this movie. It combined baseball as well as good clean family fun with a plot based around faith and angels.

In the center: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Neal McDonough, and Adrian Brody.
I think that's Matthew McConaughey on the far right.

Watching it now, it's amusing seeing all the now-famous stars. Sure, the big names in it at the time were Danny Glover, Tony Danza and Christopher Lloyd - all early/mid-90s golden actors, as well as Brenda Fricker (aka the Pigeon Lady from Home Alone 2) playing the foster mom Maggie. But it also stars a young Joseph Gordon-Levitt as the main character Roger. And there's a young Matthew McConaughey, Adrian Brody, and Neal McDonough all as supporting actors playing Angels players. Dermot Mulroney (best known for playing love interests in My Best Friend's Wedding and The Wedding Date) plays Roger's deadbeat dad. Oh, if only we knew the stars these guys would become years later!

I gotta say, watching it nearly 20 years later, it still is a pretty good family feel-good film! I think I might even pick this one up on DVD at some point to share it with Jay - we can do a 90s baseball double feature, pairing it with another one of mommy's childhood baseball favorites, The Sandlot!

"May the Odds Be Ever In Your Favor!"

I forgot to mention, hubby and I went and saw The Hunger Games movie last week.

It was the first movie we recall going to since we saw Conan the Barbarian 3D (mmm barbaric Jason Momoa!!) for my birthday. Last August.

Anyways, I finished the whole trilogy a few weeks before and hubby thought the movie looked good from the trailers so we made an effort to get out and see this one in theaters (seriously, I'm soooo behind in movies I want to see it's not even funny!).

WARNING: Spoilers Ahead!

What I Loved:

• The settings really were pretty close to what I had pictured them being! So that was neat!
• How they brought Katniss' Capitol Clothes to life, from the parade outfit on fire to her interview dress... that was just great!
• The behind the scenes of The Games. The book is in 1st person from Katniss' point of view so this was a nice element of the movie, plus it developed Scenca Crane's character a bit more, as we only hear about him briefly in the books.
• Scenca's death sentence - that was just great! Lock him in a room with nothing by Nightlock to eat. Genius!

What I Missed:

• They cut out Madge - the mayor's daughter who's sort of Katniss' friend and we learn later there's a family history with their mothers and The Games. In the book, it's Madge who gives Katniss the Mockingjay pin and we learn of the pin's history/significance later. Kinda sad, as they could have easily left her in...
• No bread from District 11! In the book, after Katniss does her memorial thing with Rue before the hovercraft lifts her body away, a parachute arrives with some bread that Katniss recognizes being from District 11. It's a token of their gratitude for what she just did and she thanks them for it in the 2nd book which causes their district's uprising to begin (not like how it happened in the movie).
• No Avox's! Seriously, where were they??
• Katniss and Peeta in the cave - she tells the backstory about Prim's goat and also she drugs Peeta so she can sneak off to The Feast to get his medicine.
• Katniss losing it in the Hovercraft (which were also pretty much not present!) after The Games.
• Cinna wasn't as... flamboyant as I had imagined him. I LOVE Lenny, and I liked him as Cinna, but... iono, he needed more. I pictured Cinna to be this stylist like the ones you see on Bravo or whatever crazy reality show these days has stylists. But he was just in a boring old black suit with gold eyeliner. He needed some color - a crazy colored tie or gloves... or a scarf! Something to make him look a little more flamboyant. I mean, I get she says in the books he's more down to earth than the rest of her stylist team, but he's still a stylist. Even more flamboyant in his movements would have helped in my opinion.

What Needed Clarification:

• The 3 finger salute - I had just the read the books within a month or so of the movie coming out and when hubby asked me what it meant, I honestly couldn't recall. And they did it several times throughout the movie. That could have definitely used clarification, as I've read others were confused by it and its meaning as well.
• Effie Trinket - while Elizabeth Banks did a GREAT job as Effie... um, I don't recall them actually ever saying her name, let alone introducing who she is and what her job is. I assume most people that didn't read the books just thought she was the Capitol liaison/handler for District 12, but still... like I said, I don't recall them ever even saying her name!
• Peeta and Katniss flashback - I don't think they really made it clear what was going on there as Katniss looked more sad than starving and it wasn't really obvious that Peeta was out there to get to the bread to her. Plus, they didn't look young enough - I imagined them being like 10 (okay so they're supposed to be 12, but still).

iO9 gives a pretty good list of other stuff I didn't already mention here too.

I think how they did it, it works. Obviously they had to make some cuts for time as it was already 2 and a half hours long and of course they can't fit in EVERYTHING from the book, so there's going to be things people that read the books miss or didn't like. Some people I know personally said it felt like The Games lasted a total of 2 days, which disappointed them. And I'm sure you've heard about people being pissed to learn that Rue is black. I'll admit, reading it, I didn't necessarily picture her as black, just very very tanned due to working in the fields all day... so I guess I pictured her as a light-skinned black girl, but my mind didn't really make the connection (and BTW, can authors just come out already and say that a character is black and not describe them as "tan"? Just say black or African American - this is 2012 for crying out loud, we can handle it!) But I thought the girl they picked was perfect for her. Thresh on the otherhand... not gonna lie, I totally pictured him as being a Hulk-like character, the way they describe him as being big and strong and how he just easily breaks Clove, lol... terrible, I know, but yes, I pictured him to be like the Hulk, lol...

Anyways, that's just my thoughts regarding the movie adaption of the book!

BTW, I thought Jennifer Lawrence was great and look forward to her career taking off - in case you forgot, she played Bill Engvall's teenage daughter on his self-titled sitcom that ran for 3 sesasons on TBS. On Wiki, they said it took her 3 days to accept the role as she was "initially intimidated by the size of the movie and what it may mean for her fame."

Have you seen the movie? 

Did you read the books beforehand? 

What did you think?

2011 in Entertainment

In 2011...

I read:

• World War Z (well, technically I finished it, having started it near the end of 2010)
• The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
• Dead Reckoning (Sookie Stackhouse book #11)
• The Girl Who Played With Fire
• The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland Into a Ship of Her Own Making (started)
• A Game of Thrones (started)
• A handful of parenting books

I watched (TV):

• A Game of Thrones (season 1)
• Franklin and Bash (season 1)
• True Blood (season 4)
• Entourage (season 8)
• Glee (seasons 2 & 3)
• New Girl
• Up All Night
• Community
• The Office
• The Walking Dead (season 2)
• Once Upon a Time
• Conan

I watched (movies):

• The Green Hornet
• The Mechanic
• I Am Number 4
• Paul
• Fast Five
• Thor
• Bridesmaids
• Bad Teacher
• Transformers: Dark of the Moon
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
• Winnie the Pooh
• Cowboys and Aliens
• Conan the Barbarian in 3D

Listened to:

• Volbeat
• Shinedown
• Britney Spears
• Lady Gaga
• Adele
• Katy Perry
• LMFAO
• Red Hot Chili Peppers
• Bush
• Skrillex
• The Pretty Reckless
• Tinie Tempah
• Theory of a Deadman
• The Lonely Island
• Evanescense

The Fabulous Holiday Blog Challenge: Day 4

Day 4

Favorite Holiday Movies/TV Specials

I LOVE the Christmas movies!

As I mentioned earlier this week, our favorite is:

A Christmas Story!

Unless you've been living under a rock, this gem takes place in the 1930s/40s (as the year isn't actually said) and follows 10 year old Ralphie and his family as all he wants for Christmas is a Red Ryder BB Gun despite everyone telling him "You'll shoot your eye out!" There's also various other hijinks that are just downright funny and hilarious, but the film is still quite sweet! While it wasn't a hit during its initial release, it gained classic status over the years and while we make a point to catch 24 Hours of A Christmas Story every year, one year hubby wanted to watch it early so we sought out a copy on DVD for own.

Other favorites include Elf (Will Ferrell as Buddy the Elf, seeking out his birth father and spreading Christmas cheer wherever he goes!) and National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (where the Griswold's try to have a fun old-fashioned family Christmas with Cousin Eddie and all!).

As far as the animated Christmas specials go...

My favorite is the original Boris Karloff version of Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas.

I *hated* the live-action Jim Carrey massacre of it - waaay too much focus on Cindy Lou and the sappy backstory... just give me the original animated version please!

I also scored a great deal last year on Amazon, getting the Original Christmas Classic Collection. Granted, only 4 of them are worth watching (Little Drummer Boy, Frosty the Snowman, Santa Claus is Coming to Town and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer), but it's still a great set to have since they don't replay these nearly as much as they did on TV when I was a kid (Frosty was my favorite back then!). I love the claymation though and was sooo excited last year when Community did their Christmas episode all in claymation, giving a nod to all the great Christmas classics!

I can't wait to watch these classic Christmas specials with Jay over the years - I really hope he enjoys them like I did as a kid (and still do to this day!)

We did add 2 new Christmas specials to our collection this year just for Jay:

 

Elmo's Christmas Countdown, where Elmo and Abby help Stiller the Elf (voiced by Ben Stiller, lol...) save Christmas with the help of other celebrity guest - I got this one during Border's GoB sale last summer for just $8! And the VeggieTales' The Toy That Saved Christmas which I haven't seen in years but couldn't pass up.when I saw it in the $5 bin at Walmart recently.

The Fabulous Holiday Blog Challenge: Day 2

Day 2

Your Favorite Holiday Tradition (new or old)

This is one hubby and I started a few years ago - seeing how many times we can watch 24 Hours of "A Christmas Story" on TBS.

It starts on Christmas Eve (I want to say around 7pm CST) and replays every 2 hours for 24 hours straight (that's a total of 12 showings!).

Hubby and I both LOVE this movie - it's probably our favorite full-length Christmas movie (the original Grinch is probably my favorite holiday short). We usually catch it twice before falling asleep, once in the morning and then at least once (sometimes twice) while visiting with my in-laws as my Father-in-Law hates watching it more than once and if he notices it's on the second airing we've watched there he'll flip, lol...

We can't wait to show it to Jay (hubby's already started quoting lines to him, such as "I can't put my arms down!" whenever we bundle him up, lol...) and has mentioned several times we need to get him a pink bunny suit like the one Ralphie's aunt sends him and his mom makes him try on, lol... It'll be a few years before Jay "gets" it but oh well - start 'em young!

"What kind of name is 'Stove' anyway?"

I got a bit of a complaint, everyone.

This past weekend hubby and I rented the movie Bridesmaids. And it wasn't as funny as everyone made it out to be.

I had been wanting to see this one since it was in theaters, as it was made to sound like it was the female version of "The Hangover" (which was hilarious!). Hubby had no interest in it though as hello, it's a movie about a group of bridesmaids.

Ever since though, I've heard person after person, from relatives to co-workers to some of you in Blogland and the Twitterverse, talk about how funny and hilarious it was... after weeks of suggesting it, I finally talked him into us renting it and watching it together.

And I was sadly disappointed.

There were some funny parts - the part where they're trying on the dresses, the entire scene on the plane, the bridal shower and the part where she's hanging out with the cop or trying to get his attention.

Melissa McCarthy was quite funny though (as expected) and while Kristin Wiig was funny at times, I think I prefer her more as a supporting actress rather than a lead.

But the rest of the movie was just slow, and boring... it honestly didn't get funny til a good 30-45 minutes in - the first part was just dragging and we were both getting a bit bored, but I kept hoping it would get better. I mean, everyone said it was hilarious! Best movie of the year! Just as funny as The Hangover if not funnier!

Yeah... no.

Considering Judd Apatow was involved as well as Paul Feig (I mean c'mon - their show Freaks and Geeks was and is one of my absolute favorite TV shows!), I know what to expect. However this wasn't it. In comparison to other films Apatow's been involved in, I'd rank it up there with Funny People, which was also a disappointment. While it was funny at times, it dragged on quite a bit and at times I found myself bored.

So yeah... Bridesmaids.

I'd say it's worth watching it once, so you can say you saw it and decide for your own, but for me, I was a bit disappointed as it didn't live up to all the hype I had heard from almost anyone and everyone.

"I'll do what I want, GOSH!"

Watching Napoleon Dynamite on TV for the millionth time recently reminded me of one of the previous times I was watching it and decided to look something about it up on Wiki... and much to my delight, learned they're making an animated series out of it that will be debuting on Fox in 2012!!!

For those that watch Talking Dead each week after The Walking Dead, you might have heard a mention to this last week when Jon Heder (and Felicia Day! <3 her!!) were the guest commentaries.

I'm seriously freaking excited about this though!!!

They have the original cast from the movie back (minus Kips eventual wife Lafawnduh, as it sadly seems the series takes place without her) which makes it even more awesome!

The movie came out in 2004, near the beginning of my 3rd year of college, and when my former college roomie and I were just starting to hang out. This basically became our movie as over the course of our friendship we've watched it waaaay too many times to count (it was also our go-to movie when drunk, as we thought it was hilarious and could quote it word for word, lol... we even made a drinking game out of it!). Seriously, we LOVED this movie and whenever I watch it I think of the fun times we had together.

I am soooo excited for the TV show - hubby thinks I'm crazy, but I know he'll end up watching it with me.

My guess is that it'll air Sunday nights, during Fox's Animation Domination block with Family Guy and The Simpsons.

Also, don't forget to enter my Bath & Body Works Signature Fragrance Holiday Giveaway!

Breaking Up with Netflix

Well, I did it.

After a 2 year relationship with Netflix, hubby and I cut the cord and I canceled our membership tonight.

While I have enjoyed having it the past 2 years, the recent price change is just not worth it for us.

We joined in August 2009 after we had rented 2 newer movies at our local Blockbuster that cost us roughly $10 and we had only a week to watch them. I had heard about Netflix for awhile and decided to look into it, as pizza and a movie rental was an easy at home date for us on the weekends. After learning that the cost of Netflix was about $9 a month, we decided why not? If we didn't watch a movie right away, no worries, we'd only get charged the flat monthly rate. Plus, they had some stuff available for streaming too, which seemed kinda cool and I did get some use out of it every once in awhile.

We would watch an average 1 DVD a month, unless it was one that one of us wasn't that interested in, then it might take us a few weeks to get around to it. And while I didn't stream a lot, it was nice to have that option in case I got bored one night and wanted to watch something if nothing good was on TBS that night.

But since having Jay, our priorities have changed and it usually takes us a few weeks to get around to watching our Netflix movie. I also don't stream all that much these days since we moved as the TV with the Netflix devices (our PS3 and Wii) are in the basement and I don't always enjoy sitting down there by myself late at night after Jay goes to bed. I have watched some TV episodes on my laptop, but still... I hate watching TV on there as I can't do anything else on the laptop while it's playing.

The $8.99 charge for Netflix was reasonable - we did get around to watching our movies eventually and the streaming was a nice option to have for when I wanted to use it.

But with the recent price change... we'd be paying $15.99 a month to keep the same services - $7.99 for streaming which we hardly use and $7.99 for DVDs that we eventually get around to watching but not right away.

It just doesn't make sense for casual viewers, like we are now, to keep it.

We might do the streaming in the future when Jay's a little bigger, as there's lots of kids shows on there for him, but right now I think we'll just do Redbox for our movies. There's literally at least 2 kiosks within walking distance of us (1 is just a block away) not to mention most weekends we make a stop at Walmart where a major kiosk is so we could just pick up a movie on our way out and drop it off at one of the kiosks by our house. As far as TV shows, if I want to watch an older show, we'll just download the torrent from somewhere online like we have in the past - not that big a deal.

So, Netflix, it's been fun, but you've just gotten too expensive for us and you're just not worth the cost.

How I spent birthday #27!

Well yesterday (Monday) I officially entered my late-20s as I turned 27, an age I actually don't mind and a number I kinda like, lol...

Anyways, we celebrated.

I requested Sunday and Monday off work as 1) I didn't want to work on my birthday and 2) we invited family over for a cookout on Sunday.

Usually we cookout at my parent's house for my birthday on the Sunday before or after (whichever is closest) however since we have a house of our own and a grill hubby and I decided just to invite everyone over here for it. My parents came over, as did my sis and her boyfriend, hubby's parents, his little sis, and all 3 of his brothers that live nearby came too (which is a rare occasion getting us all together on a non-major holiday!) and my little cousin came over too although my aunt and uncle were both sick.

Earlier in the day we went to Old Navy to spend my $30 in "Super C-A-S-H" I had and I ended up getting another pair of jeans, a pair of lounge/active pants, a cute dressy shirt, 2 cami's and hubby got himself a pair of cargos too. Then we went to Walmart to pick up some corn and other cookout stuff we needed last minute and then stopped at Dairy Queen to get an ice cream cake for us to eat!

We started boiling water for corn on the cob around 445 and hubby started up the grill around 5pm. By 630pm we were ready to eat!

It was a pretty fun time however Jay is a bit scared of his Grandpa J (hubby's dad) as he hasn't seen him that often compared to everyone else (minus his uncles) and Jay's at that age where he's scared of being alone with people he doesn't know or recognize. He made up for it though by giving Jay some of the ice cream cake (which made him literally jump all over the place well into the night, lol...).

In addition to my HTC Thunderbolt hubby got me earlier this summer, he also told me he got me the Tony Romo navy jersey I wanted and it'll be here before the regular football season starts in just under 2 weeks. My parents got me Nickelodeon's Hey Dude season 1 on DVD and Lego Pirates of the Caribbean for Wii. My sis and her boyfriend got me The Mask on DVD which also has the terribad Son of the Mask on it as well, lol...

Monday (my actual birthday) I spent the 1st part of the day snuggling with my favorite little snuggle buddy for a bit before going to the chiropractor for my weekly adjustment and physical therapy on my back (which includes an ultrasound which feels like a mini-massage, then I get an actual massage and they do this electrical stimulation thing that feels good too). After that I went to Gamestop and got Smash Brothers Brawl for the Wii using a $25 gift card I got from doing surveys along with a 20% off birthday coupon and then I looked around Target to see if I could find Super Mario All-Stars for the Wii as Gamestop didn't have any copies for sale in our area and my aunt, uncle and cousin gave me a giftcard for there. I also stopped over at Borders to see if they still had any good Bestseller's left (ie: The Help and One Day as I heard both were good!) but unfortunately they didn't. I did stumble across the Elmo's Christmas Countdown DVD for 50% off though which I grabbed, as the lowest price I've seen it for was $14 and I was planning on getting it for Jay to watch this holiday season anyway (little dude LOVES watching Elmo and any shows that have puppets in them!).

After my little shopping trip I went and got a much needed pedicure as my toenails were a mess (my big toenails *always* get ingrown somehow) before meeting hubby at home to take me out for dinner.

We went to Olive Garden where I got their stuffed chicken marsala with a glass of their new Moscato wine which tasted *really* good (and I'm not much of a wine person). It had a bit of a sparkling taste to it and the chicken was really good too!

Conan = Khal Droggo minus facial hair
Jason Momoa is sooooo typecasted now, lol...

After dinner we went and saw Conan the Barbarian in 3D for FREE! When we saw Cowboys & Aliens last month they gave out free passes afterwards as I guess the movie started kinda late (although hubby and I were both late as he missed his exit on his way back into from traveling for work and walked in right as the movie was starting) and I did some research and found out our passes were good for 3D movies too, so we decided, why not? Not to mention Conan's the only movie in theaters right now I could get hubby to go see with me, plus it's Jason Momoa (aka Khal Droggo from season 1 of Game of Thrones - yum!). Yes, the movie was bad - very bad - but it was entertaining to say the least (assuming you go into it knowing it's going to be bad), lol...

We took a quick trip to Walmart on the way home before being reunited with Little Man who was thrilled to see us (he got passed back and forth between his grandmas today!). Since it was still my birthday hubby (who took the night off work) took care of putting Jay to bed for me, since I usually do it during the week.

So... that's how I celebrated turning 27.

Not bad, not bad at all... the only part I could have done without was Jay being difficult while I was changing his poopy diaper earlier and getting some of it on my arm, lol...

101 in 1001 progress update #5

This morning the Illinois/Wisconsin stateline was hit with some pretty strong storms and our house was one of the unfortunate 600,000+ that had its power knocked out at 715am! It's about 130am the next day and as of 1130pm it still wasn't back on and was 81 degrees in the house! My parent's house has power though so we're spending the night there, hoping ours comes back on tomorrow at some point!

Anyways, here's an update on my 101 in 1001 list!

#4 - Watch at least 2 Netflix DVDs and 2 Instant Queue movies a month (11/66, 11/66)
Yeah... slacked a bit on this one. In June we watched "The Green Hornet" on DVD and I gotta admit, it was better than I was expecting (which honestly wasn't much). While it wasn't great, it was fun and amusing. I'd give it a 3 out of 5 stars. So far for June we've watched "I Am Number 4" on DVD - it was alright, although I would have enjoyed it much better if it didn't have all the dumb teenage romance drama in it. I enjoyed the kid that played #4, the gal that played #6, and Timothy Olyphant as #4's guardian. It was an enjoyable movie and I'd recommend it. Also, I wasn't surprised that the team of Gould and Millar who worked together on Smallville for years were involved, as had that teenage superhero feel to it. I could see a sequel happening for this one too. As far as Instant Watch goes... no movies in June and so far for July I've watched "Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" - I recently finished the 1st 2 books and decided to start watching the Swedish films before the American remake comes out this Christmas. I gotta say though, actress Noomi Rapace IS Lisabeth Salander. I don't mind the casting of Daniel Craig as Blomkist in the American version, but I really wish they would use Noomi again as she's got the part down pat!


18 - Read at least 15 (non-children) fiction books (5/15)
I've read 2 so far for June and July! In June I finally finished "Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" and promptly started "The Girl Who Played With Fire" which I finished in July. I swear, Steig Larrson had a pattern to his books - make the 1st 200 or so pages of the book have just enough intrique to keep you interested (because they are a bit boring, making you wonder where is the story going already!?) and then something major happens in the last half of part 2 or between pages 200-300 that makes you glued to the book, wanting to read what happens next, making it so you don't want to put it down! That happened with both books! While book #2 seemed to move a bit faster than book 1, I was still wondering the whole time "where is this going? what's the point?" during the 1st 200 or so pages. And then something major happens and I breezed through the rest of the book in a matter of days! I really want to read the 3rd, however it's not currently available in trade paperback (only in large print paperback) and the Kindle version costs more than the hardcover version at Walmart so I guess I'll just wait...

22 - Find a part-time job that works me at least twice a week
Well, I guess I have this now! We've had several key people quit at work recently due to moving away and apparently I've "proved" myself too since as of this week, aside from management I have the 2nd most hours at work, working at least 2-3 shifts a week with a handful of on-call shifts, half of which I get called in for. The paychecks have been nice, but it's been a bit hard shifting from working 1-2 days a week to working 4-5! I'm used to hanging out with Jay most of the week and it's been a bit strange not doing that!

29 - Have a date with hubby at least once a month (4/33)
30 - Take an overnight with hubby once a year (1/3)
These go together for June & July, as hubby and I attended a wedding up in the Twin Cities from June 30-July 2 (my childhood best friend's wedding) and we left Jay with my parents to get some mommy and daddy time! It was nice getting away and not having to worry about squeezing in feedings, etc into the schedule but it was a bit strange being without him too!

51 - Host a PartyLite party once a year (1/3)
I did this in June! While not quite as many people came as I had hoped, I did get some "book orders" and got a nice bit of hostess credit. I stocked up on my tealights and took advantage of some nice hostess offers too! Definitely worth it!

53 - Visit in person with a friend once a month (6/33)
I've seen several people in June, so that counts!

60 - Go to church at least once a month (3/33)
We had Jay's baby dedication on Father's Day Sunday and we went once again in June too.

88 - Get a pedicure 3 times a year (2/9)
For Mother's Day, hubby got me a Groupon for a mani-pedi which I redeemed days before we went to the wedding in the Twin Cities - it was nice! The finger nails didn't last longer than a week, but the toenails still look good!

98 - Go on vacation somewhere once a year (1/3)
We went to the Twin Cities this year! While it was a mini-vacation, it was still a vacation for us and is about as much of one as we'll get this year, with Jay being so little. I'm sure we'll go somewhere more exciting for longer next year. Aside from the wedding, we stopped in Mall of America for a bit, ate some CiCi's Pizza (which the nearest one is nearly an hour from us so despite seeing all the commercials on TV, we've never had it!) and we drove past the Metrodome - the home of the Minnesota Vikings! Near the end of last season, the roof collapsed due to all the snow that had built up on top of it - it still looked like it was under construction!

2011 Summer Flicks

Summer movie season is soon upon us!

Here's my list of films I'd like to see this summer:

Fast Five (April 29)
Yes, the 5th installment in The Fast & The Furious franchise. What can I say, I like Vin Diesel!

Thor (May 6)
We see most superhero movies, so seeing this one is kind of a given.

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (May 20)
Since this one isn't part of the original trilogy and only has Johnny Depp and Geoffrey Rush returning I'm not sure how good it'll be, but hey, Johnny Depp as Capt. Jack Sparrow again? I'll take it!

The Hangover, part 2 (May 26)
While we saw the 1st one a month after it came out, we thought it was hilarious and is one we've actually watched multiple times since. Hopefully part 2 is just as good, rather than the disappointment that was Due Date.

X-Men: First Class (June 3)
I'm up in the air about this one, but I'm pretty sure the hubby will want to see it. We'll probably catch it on Netflix though like we did with Wolverine.

Super 8 (June 10)
A JJ Abrams, Steven Spielberg young adult sci-fi adventure. It looks like it aims for the same type of audience that Goonies was suited towards, and Goonies is a classic! Plus it looks fun!

Green Lantern (June 17)
Again, superhero movie. 'Nuff said.

Transformers: Dark Side of the Moon (July 1)
I really don't want to see this one as the 2nd one was sooooo bad, although they did film parts of it in Chicago so I guess I would be neat to see familiar places in the movie. I'm pretty sure hubby will drag me to this one though, lol...

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, part 2 (July 15)
The final Harry Potter movie, and it opens on my old roomie's birthday too! Unfortunately she lives in Dallas now though so I won't get to see it with her. This is a MUST SEE on my list though, which means we'll definitely have someone watch Jay so we can go see it in theaters.

Captain America: The First Avenger (July 22)
Another superhero movie!

Cowboys & Aliens (July 29)
Harrison Ford and Daniel Craig star in this Western Sci-Fi tale. It definitely looks interesting and has 2 great actors starring in it!

What movies are you excited to see or are planning on seeing this summer?

The social network

The other night hubby and I finally got around to watching our current Netflix DVD - The Social Network - as it had arrived before our move but we had been too busy the last few weeks to get around watching it and when we did have time we were more in the mood for a comedy than a drama.

Anyways, I LOVED the music - while Daft Punk's Tron:Legacy soundtrack was one of my favorites of 2010, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross did an awesome job on the soundtrack for this one as well and their Oscar was well deserved!

I also thought the movie was interesting and entertaining and it got me thinking back to the early days of Facebook.

As I've mentioned on here previously in other Facebook-related posts, I started using the site over winter break 2005/2006. Back then it was called The College Facebook (I still have my invite email from a friend!) and like you saw in the movie, it was exclusively for college students as you needed a .edu email and your school had to be on the list in order to sign-up.

I remember at the time NIU got Facebook there were less than 300 schools on there. It was neat to find people I went to high school with, as you could list your High School and graduating year on your profile, however I remember some of my fellow alumni had gone to schools that weren't yet on Facebook or friends that had only gone to community colleges (which none were on Facebook back then). I remember spending part of a late night at my college roommate's townhouse (the semester before we moved in together) working on my Facebook page and finding old classmates from high school. It was like www.classmates.com but better!

Back then the site was simple - you had a photo, you had your basic info like birthdate, hometown, major, relationship status, etc. Sure, The Wall existed but it was rarely used it seemed.

There was also a neat feature where you could add your courses and section number to your page so you could connect with classmates easily - came in handy if you missed a class or had a question about an assignment or even if you were planning on taking a course next semester and wanted to offer to buy the book off someone at the end of the current semester (happened to me once!). There was also the early Event feature which was moreso used to find out what parties were happening that weekend, however once it got popular people stopped using it as several people had gotten fined as their landlords or other students who worked in the apartment's leasing office would rat the party hoster out! Also, before there were "pages" for places or things to "like" there were college specific groups that were localized for that college and anyone could make them. For NIU, we had ones like "How many Cubs (or Sox) fans can we get to join?" or "I've gotten a piercing from Kenny!" "Walmart is the place to be in DeKalb!" Eventually they did away with them just being college specific and you could join groups your friends from different colleges were in.

I remember later that semester my school newspaper reported on it, as it seemed most of the campus had jumped on the bandwagon and it seemed for awhile like there was an article about Facebook every semester!

Eventually they opened it up to high schools and community colleges and before you knew it, anyone who had a valid email address. They also added applications, which no one really understood at first although Mafia Wars was a popular one at the time as well as some vampire one that never really caught on. Then came statuses and the newsfeed... so confusing at first yet they've become a part of our everyday lives!

When did you join Facebook? 

What did you think of The Social Network movie?

101 in 1001 progress update #3

I  haven't updated my 101 in 1001 in awhile... here's a bit of an update!


#4 - Watch at least 2 Netflix DVDs and 2 Instant Queue movies a month (8/66, 8/66)
As far as physical Netflix DVDs go, we've watched 2 in March - Easy A, which I wrote about not too long ago and was HILARIOUS, and Dinner for Schmucks which had its funny moments but overall wasn't that great of a movie.

For Instant Watch, I watched quite a bit these past 2 months: The Proposal, Labyrinth, Jesus Camp, Sunshine Cleaning, Arthur and The Other Guys. The Proposal was the stereotypical Sandra Bullock/Ryan Reynolds rom-com I expected it to be, so no surprises there. I've seen Labyrinth before but was in the mood to watch it again and it's such a great classic fantasy film starring a young Jennifer Connolly and David Bowie and his infamous "bulge". Jesus Camp is a documentary taking a look at this Evangelical Christian group and how they teach/train their kids in a church and camp setting - being a Christian from an Evangelical background this documentary showed me nothing new, nor was it shocking... to me it was "normal" as I had grown up going to summer camp with a similar youth church service/program and youth group was pretty similar... I guess if you're not from that background it might seem a bit shocking, but I am so I didn't get what the big deal was people on my Facebook were making over it. Sunshine Cleaning was really good - stars Amy Adams and Emily Blunt with Alan Arkin and Steve Zahn. Basically Amy is a former high school cheerleader turned cleaning maid and a single parent carrying on an affair with her high school sweetheart who's now a detective and married. Desperate to find a way to make more money to send her troubled son to a private school, her lover suggests she get involved in crime-scene clean-up, saying it's easy work but good money and she's more than qualified as she is a cleaning maid. She gets involved, starting her own crime-scene clean-up business with her junkie sister. Through the work though she comes to love it as she feels she helps the family of the victims move on, etc and she begins to take pride in her little cleaning business. Arthur I watched on a whim, as I've been bombarded with the commercials for the Russell Brand remake and was curious so I watched the Dudley Moore original. It was alright... not as funny as expected although I'm sure it probably was back in the early 80s! And The Other Guys... we watched this one the other night. Again, it was funny, but not great. I wouldn't recommend spending money on it but if you're bored and it's free it's not a bad one to waste time watching!

#40 - Buy a House & #43 - Own a dishwasher
It's official! Hubby and I are homeowners! We closed on the 7th and moved in the following weekend. We're still unpacking and have boxes still to take care of, however things are coming along! I LOVE having a dishwasher and it's nice having a washer and dryer that we can throw clothes in whenever without having to pay $3/wash&dry. While a house has noises of its own, it's nice not having loud neighbors up above us banging/stomping around at all hours of the day and night!


#42 - Mario-ize Jay's room
This one is in progress - I got the basic background layers of painting done in his room, I just need to go back and do the detail as I only had about a day before we moved stuff in. And of course we need more Mario decorative stuff too, but it's coming along!

#49 - Create a rec/play room
Our house kinda came with a rec room, but of course it's our stuff that makes it what it is. So far we have a nice entertainment center setup for watching TV and movies and playing video games. We also have a bar down here, a bookcase full of boardgames and an extra table and area that when Jay is bigger he can use to build puzzles, play games, build Legos or color on or use Play-Doh on. There's also a toybox bench down here too and we still have plenty of space for his toys when he's bigger and starts accumulating them!