What I love! | Peaches Prattlings

{January 7, 2014} Did you order a Code Red?

OMG! How many amazing lines do you remember from A Few Good Men?

I was going to talk about something else tonight, but when I turned on the Sundance Channel, A Few Good Men was on and every time I see it, I am compelled to watch it, can’t look away, even when it’s on the “regular channels”, cut and bleeped, but luckily it’s on a cable channel, all the good words are still there!

I realized that this is not a movie in my collection and it should be, it still gives me goosebumps to this day and it came out in 1992. When it opens with the drill line, here, why imagine you can watch it http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=IjLyz8OAj1s, i watch it in amazement, just truly master at Rob Reiner’s genius from that moment.

I still get weepy when they announce the verdict after realizing that “he does think better with the bat!”

I’m not a huge Tom Cruise or Demi Moore fan, but I knew I wanted to see this movie and I am so glad I did, it’s well written, well acted, keeps you on the edge of your seat for the majority of the movie. In addition, there is a great cast, the amazing and intense Jack Nickelson, could you have seen anyone else in this role? Not a chance!

Kevin Pollack is second chair, I was so used to seeing his stand up comedy, it was interesting to see him in a serious role, Keifer Suterland as Lt Kendrick, I always forget about Noah Wylie and Christopher Guest in bit roles and for the first few times I saw it on video, I would always say, I completely forgot that Kevin Bacon is the prosecutor!

Here are a few of the quotes you probably remember most from the movie:

“He eats breakfast three hundred yards away from four thousand Cubans who are trained to kill him and no one’s going to tell him how to run his unit, least of all the Harvard mouth in his faggoty white uniform.”
Lt. Daniel Kaffee

“I run my unit how I run my unit. You want to investigate me, roll the dice and take your chances. I eat breakfast three hundred yards away from four thousand Cubans who are trained to kill me. So don’t think for one second that you can come down here, flash a badge, and make me nervous.”
Col. Nathan R. Jessep

How about this piece of trivia…”You can’t handle the truth!” was voted as the #29 movie quote by the American Film Institute (out of 100).
So here is the scene in full:
Judge Randolph: *Consider yourself in Contempt!*
Kaffee: *Colonel Jessep, did you order the Code Red?*
Judge Randolph: You *don’t* have to answer that question!
Col. Jessep: I’ll answer the question!
[to Kaffee]
Col. Jessep: You want answers?
Kaffee: I think I’m entitled to.
Col. Jessep: *You want answers?*
Kaffee: *I want the truth!*
Col. Jessep: *You can’t handle the truth!*
[pauses]
Col. Jessep: Son, we live in a world that has walls, and those walls have to be guarded by men with guns. Who’s gonna do it? You? You, Lt. Weinburg? I have a greater responsibility than you could possibly fathom. You weep for Santiago, and you curse the Marines. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what I know. That Santiago’s death, while tragic, probably saved lives. And my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, saves lives. You don’t want the truth because deep down in places you don’t talk about at parties, you want me on that wall, you need me on that wall. We use words like honor, code, loyalty. We use these words as the backbone of a life spent defending something. You use them as a punchline. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom that I provide, and then questions the manner in which I provide it. I would rather you just said thank you, and went on your way, Otherwise, I suggest you pick up a weapon, and stand a post. Either way, I don’t give a damn what you think you are entitled to.
Kaffee: Did you order the Code Red?
Col. Jessep: I did the job I…
Kaffee: *Did you order the Code Red?*
Col. Jessep: *You’re Goddamn right I did!*

{January 6, 2014} Happy Anniversary!

To me…and you, my dear sweet readers!

I started this blog December 29, 2006 and I would post things here and there, there were a few times I said I’m going to do this every day, you can imagine where that got me. Well, January 6th of last year, I decided I was going to try something and stick to it and here we are! I vowed to blog every day for a year and see what happens. They say it takes twenty one days to form a habit and we are way past that and I am loving it!

Who knew that I would actually stick with it and enjoy it. I know there have been a few times I was too tired, but I still posted something, it might have been “sorry friends, I’m too tired, but here is my post” but I did it! There were a few times I couldn’t think of a thing to say! Imagine that, me, not knowing what to say, well, not to worry, something came out of somewhere! And here we are!

I guess you could say I had an epiphany to write a blog telling you about myself to begin with and on January sixth, I had a serious epiphany…I was going to blog every day for a year and I am here to tell you, new epiphany, well, I’ve had this one a few times, I’m going to keep going!

I keep saying epiphany because today, January 6th is not only my anniversary, but it’s also The Feast of Epiphany!
“Epiphany, commonly known as Three Kings’ Day in the United States, is on January 6. It celebrates the three wise men’s visit to baby Jesus and also remembers his baptism, according to the Christian Bible’s events.” What are the odds I had an epiphany on The Epiphany! Too cool for school!

Thank you, CKM, for telling me about this holiday, I didn’t know anything about it! When I think of the word epiphany, I always think of the movie “Hook” when Captain Hook says to Mr Smee…’I’ve had an epiphany!’ And Mr Smee’s reply…’a whot?’.
http://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/us/epiphany

So, a great anniversary just worked out…After messaging and talking to two of my besties from high school yesterday, today, I spoke with my sister, my dad, and three of my besties! SDL, CKM and JCT, how awesome has my day been? Try and top it!

So, in conclusion to my random rambling today…I want to say thank you for signing up, coming back, reading, laughing, loving and letting me entertain you for this past year and I look forward to the next year and the next and the next. Happy Anniversary!

{January 5, 2014} Serious movie marathon! Come on with me!

Over the course of the weekend, we watched quite a few movies and I’m going to tell you about them! (I have inside nagging feeling I am forgetting one, which is not like me, and I know if I did, DCM will let me know what it was!)

Last night we watched The Croods. It was cute, we both liked it, but I could see why it wasn’t in the theatre very long. A friend, PP, who reviews movies professionally said on Facebook “I just got out of a double feature of Turbo and The Croods. Ryan Reynolds might be more entertaining if you don’t see him.” While I agree not everything he’s done has been great, I’ve enjoyed quite a few of his movies. I just have to wonder if he was in on the creation to ensure that his character in The Croods was really cute! He was by far the most attractive of the group and they were all “cave people” hmmm…

What a cast! Catherine Keener as the mom, Cloris Leachman as the grandmother who didn’t seem to want to die, much to dad’s chagrin and Emma Stone as the daughter.

The story centers around the Croods Family, who go on an adventure to find the “land of tomorrow” after their cave collapses. Basically, they never did anything or went anywhere outside of the cave, except to gather food and run around a little bit. The father, played by Nicholas Cage was almost afraid of his shadow; in his opinion, his one job was to keep his family safe, and he did that. The one thing a father cannot seem to do, no matter what time you live in, is keep your teenage daughter under lock and key, she wants to explore the world, see what’s out there (of course, you could reverse that with teenage boy) especially when there is a cute boy involved. Learn to take a chance, trust yourself and tell each other how you feel, I love you says it all. Happy ending.
The Croods http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0481499/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

This morning was Quartet, a charming film taking place at a home for retired musicians and opera singers. It was wonderful to listen to different pieces of music and arias sung by these amazing talents. The underlying story was the arrival of Maggie Smith’s character, a retired opera singer and former wife of one of the residents, tension ensues! Everyone is mostly nice to each other, there is professional jealousy and rivalry that carries on today, a lot of flirting, especially by Billy Connelly towards anyone in a skirt!

The wonderful thing is that the entire cast that makes up the residents are all returned musicians, opera, musical theater actor veterans, except for the four leads! The four leads have been in many films, but they were never famous for being on the stage or in an orchestra! It was charming and…happy ending.
Quartet http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1441951/?ref_=nv_sr_1

After Earth was next, with Will and Jaden Smith playing, go figure, father and son! I know you’re shocked. Overall, this was a decent movie, as someone said, it was not a “Will Smith movie” this was more Jaden in the foreground and Will in the background. The premise is that we are years in the future and earth is no longer inhabitable, we live on a different planet now and on the way to a training mission, the ship enters an asteroid field and is forced to go through a worm hole and ends up on earth, nasty place!

Due to the crash, father is injured, son must travel across the planet to find the signal device. Father will guide the son, but he must do it himself and they both must come to terms with guilt they have been feeling over the death of the daughter/sister and forgive themselves and each other for not being able to save her/be there.

Age old story, father seems unstoppable, son idolizes/looks up to father, just wants him to notice him, wants his approval, father wants son to be better, a soldier like him, if that’s what he wants to be…happy ending.

(These movies have been out a while. I’m not giving anything away and it’s my discretion that it’s a happy ending or not!)
After Earth http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1815862/?ref_=nv_sr_1

Elysium is a movie staring Matt Damon and Jodi Foster, on two different worlds. Matt Damon is on Earth, 2154 and is sucks royally, to be blunt. Elysium is a space station, a really nice one, that was built by the wealthy to keep them healthy, wealthy and wise. Well, sheltered is more like it, there is no injury, death and if you’re sick, go into a pod and poof, all better.

Jodi Foster is on Elysium and the Secretary of Defense, I think and an all around bad arse and bad person, taking extreme measures to keep the “riff raff” off Elysium. Let’s just say it’s the equivalent of people trying to cross the border into the US.

Matt Damon gets into an accident and needs to get to Elysium to get into a pod to get better and in the course of his attempts to get there could do something that would give equality to all. And free health care! Happy ending!
Elysium http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1535108/?ref_=nv_sr_1

Epic is an epic tale that takes place on a really small scale! Mary Katherine, or MK, as she now calls herself, because she’s a teenager and finding herself, goes to live with her dad after her mom passes away and her dad is a scatterbrained researcher looking for proof of dwellers of the forest. MK inadvertently gets shrunk down to the leaf peoples size and then adventure ensues! She finds out that the world is “bigger” than just us, the world is a magical place once you open your eyes. (There was definitely some Honey a I Shrunk the Kids in there)

While The Croods had some big names in it, it seemed like there wasn’t a big name in Epic! Amanda Seyfried, Christopher Waltz, Aziz Ansari, Colin Farrell, Beyoncé, Chris O’Dowd, Jason Sudekis, Steven Tyler, Pitbull, wow! Each character was a character! Had their own unique traits and added wonder and amazement to the movie, enough that you forgot who the actor was behind the voice, even though you sit there for a while wondering who’s voice that is! Thank goodness for imdb.com!

Happy ending!
Epic http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0848537/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

We ended the evening watching Wreck it Ralph and Warm Bodies and I know I have reviewed both, but wanted to mention them, those two i rememberd!

So, now you have some things to think about if you haven’t seen some I of these movies! Enjoy!

{January 4, 2014} Crazy weather and catching up

Today was intended to be a lazy day and it was.

First, the weather. Get this…yesterday, yes yesterday, it was 61degrees out, yes I said 61! I had the top down on the car, scarf and hat on, heat and seat warmers and it was fantastic! No haters, please because sometime in the night it started snowing and I don’t think it’s stopped yet. It looks so nice out, all covered in white, so staying in and being lazy was on the agenda, worked out for me.

Next, catching up. DCM had to get some work done this weekend, so he worked and watched football and I watched movies and knitted. At one point I was chatting with one of my best friends from high school CGS via Facebook, any means of communication is a good means! We caught up a little, which was nice, I really need to find some time to visit. NYC.

As I mentioned, a lazy day, so lazy in fact and the movie I was watching so not entertaining, that I dozed off. I have to say I was confused when I woke up, I thought it was later or the next day! And in truth, I was asleep about ten minutes! Just after I woke up the phone rang and it was LTA, one of my other best friends from high school, youth group in fact. We had been trading messages on Facebook the other day and deciding when we could chat and found out that today worked for both of us. It was great, we talked for about two hours.

You know those relationships that you have with some people that you might not talk to but once or twice a year and it’s as if no time has passed, well, these women are two of them and I absolutely love that about us. We catch up and pick up as if we just spoke last week. I’ll take that any day!

Very low key and enjoyable day. Talked to great friends and watched the snow, what could be better?

{January 2, 2014} Insomnia…or as people on facebook like to put it…

Oh sleep…why have you forsaken me?

I think I have blogged about this before, but I don’t sleep, or sleep much. I used to love to sleep, I still do, when I can actually fall sleep and catch up when I can and need to, but I don’t sleep as soundly as I used to. When DCM gets dressed about 6:45/7:00, that’s when my brain wakes up and that’s it, I’m up.

Now, most people who post on Facebook that they can’t sleep but want to, I feel for them. As for me, I’m ok with it, I get a lot done, I’m nocturnal, so this is my time to shine!

Sometimes I read a book or two, but most of the time, I’m writing, to you or working on my book and I have a good feeling that this is the year I finish it! But mostly, I am watching movies and crafting. You saw the sock monkey I made for Miss A, well that is one example of what I do. I cross stitch a lot, which I will be sharing some of my latest creations soon and I have been knitting like crazy! I knitted a bunch of scarves for Christmas and now, I’m knitting some hats and scarves for some friends and one special friends mom who is going through some stuff, she needs some warm and fuzzy!

Next thing to work on learning is socks and sweaters, good thing I don’t sleep!

SDL’s mom made me a hat and an infinity scarf this year and I got my first wash cloth that she crocheted, this thing is awesome, SDL and her sister swear by them and I got my first! And…it was Smarties colored and I had just eaten a sleeve of Smarties, what are the odds? Well, today, I happened to be at Michael’s picking up some yarn and decided to get some of the same material and make a bag for her to carry the wash cloths in as she makes them.

All I can say is that I am definitely productive when I am awake, as evident by some of my posts that get posted at 3:00 in the am! So when I tell a friend that they can call me anytime day or night and they say they were up at two and thought about calling because they needed/wanted someone to talk to, I was probably awake and if I’m really tired and you call, not to worry, I won’t answer the phone!

Insomnia? Bring it on! It’s cold out there…someone needs a scarf!

{January 1, 2014} Let’s start the year off with…laughter!

They say laughter is the best medicine.

Who is they and how do they know, but I still like the sentiment. Here are a few other great quotes by some people, could be the “they”, who seem to know what they are talking about.

-Laughter is the shortest distance between two people. ~Victor Borge

-There is little success where there is little laughter. ~Andrew Carnegie

-The most wasted of all days is that in which we have not laughed. ~Nicolas Chamfort, translated from French

-Laughter is an instant vacation. ~Milton Berle

Here is a great site to a whole mess o’ quotes about laughter. (That’s where some of these came from)
http://www.quotegarden.com/laughter.html

I love to laugh, what about you? I love to laugh more than just about anything in the world, I think I’ve told you, I laugh to the point of snorting and I’m proud of it! and isn’t one of the all time greatest sounds the laughter of a child? So pure and innocent and real, there is nothing like it, can we bottle it?

DCM and I love to laugh together and sometimes we’re the only ones in on it or find something funny and you know what, that’s just fine with us! So, we decided to start the new year off on a good note, we were going to watch movies and laugh. We started off at a Redbox after doing some shopping and it apparently didn’t like our choices, so we turned to On Demand and Netflix, we were set!

We started with the remake of Judge Dredd, called simply Dredd, no comment, which was a violent movie, but comical in its own way at how bad it was. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1343727/?ref_=nv_sr_1. Let’s just say, if you skip this movie, your life will not be incomplete, as much as I like Karl Urban.

Next was Stand Up Guys staring Al Pacino, Christopher Walken and Alan Arkin, what a movie! A pair of aging stickup men try to get the old gang back together for one last hurrah before one of the guys takes his last assignment – to kill his comrade. It was a little slow going at first, but you totally got into it and these three guys, wow. It wasn’t an entire laugh riot, but if you have our sense of humor, you’d be laughing. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1389096/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_5

This morning, before DCM got up, I watch The Guilt Trip with Barbara Streisand and Seth Rogan, I loved it! There were a few times I got choked up because Barbara Streisand still favors my mom, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1694020/?ref_=fn_al_tt_4. The movie was funny and touching and hit home a little and I laughed and laughed and laughed. A good way to start the new year!

One of the things we both love is listening to comedy at a club, on the radio, xm radio, slacker.com and pandora.com, we could listen for hours. And one thing we have in common is the large number of comedy albums we have, most of mine are on cassette tape! and most of his are CD.

After that we were looking for something else and decided it was comedian central! We looked for a comedian and the first one, Russell Howard, didn’t do it for us. Sometimes it’s difficult when the comedians are from other countries and make reference to TV shows, etc that don’t make sense to us.

Then I introduced DCM to Russell Peters, a great comedian from Brampton, Canada. Russell Peters is a comedian I have liked for a long time, he is Indian and a lot of his comedy is about almost any ethnicity, he’s an incredible mimic with accents and tells it like it is, poking a little fun at different stereotypes but never in a malicious way. When DCM and I still worked at Stratix, the majority of the team were Indians and were quite familiar with Russell Peters. http://www.russellpeters.com

We started last night and continued today with the four specials Netflix had: Notorious, The Green Card Tour, Russell Peters vs The Word and Red, White and Brown. He uses some choice language, so if you are offended, you are forewarned.

Next was John Pinette: I’m Starvin’ and Still Hungry. This is a very funny man! He is a “healthy” individual and a lot of his standup revolves around food, his love of it and things a man his size cannot/shouldn’t do, among other very funny things. He uses very little profanity in his show, he is very funny and I recommend him highly. I saw him at the Punchline in Atlanta and have a picture with him!
http://johnpinette.com

Next was one of my favorites, Lisa Lampanelli, the self proclaimed comedy’s lovable “The Queen of Mean”. We watched Tough Love. I must warn you that she is a very foul mouthed comic, so if you are offended by bad language, stay away! She goes after everyone, every race, nationality, religion, sexuality, equal opportunity. She takes the stereotypes to a whole new level and I love it/her! The people who go to see Lisa Lampanelli know what they are in for, very few people are surprised.

Lisa Lampanelli is most famous for her stints on Comedy Central’s Friars Roast, where insults are the common theme. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comedy_Central_Roast

I got to see her 8/9/2008, I only know the date because it was after LD’s 8/8/8 party. I love my picture with Lisa too!
http://www.insultcomic.com

DCM wasn’t impressed with Mike Birbiglia, it was ok, but I usually just hear snipits on the radio and in small doses, he’s funny. John Caparulo was a wash as well, in small doses on xm radio, not bad. He just sounds like a frat boy not sure which way is up. Aziz Ansari, who we both usually like didn’t cut it today.

The next few comedians were a hit! And three were on Last Comic Standing. It’s a reality show that is a competition to see who the best comic is in America, basically at the end, they are the last comic standing. Some seasons had comedians who are already successful in the industry, three of the next few comics were all part of the show and all were winners!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_Comic_Standing

Iliza Shlesinger, winner of the sixth season of Last Comic a Standing in 2008 was too funny for words! She was all over the place, slightly manic, reminded us a bit of Dane Cook. Not a clean comic, but not offensive, definitely a winner! “War Paint” was the name of tonight’s episode.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liza_Shlesinger

Josh Blue was he winner of Last Comic Standing, season four, 2006. He’s a very funny indivual, he has cerebral palsy and works it into his act with perfection. He did say “Laughter is the best medicine…what happened? Doesn’t seem to be working for me!” He is funny whether he talks about cp or every day stuff. We watched “Sticky Change” tonight, where he revealed that he was born in Camaroon, which makes him African American and away he went. I recommend this comedian highly!

Home

Next was none other than Lewis Black, “American comedian, author, playwright, social critic and actor. He is known for his angry face, comedy style, which often includes simulating a mental breakdown, or an increasingly angry rant, ridiculing history, politics, religion, trends and cultural phenomena.” I don’t think I could have said it any better, so I copied from someone else!

He makes us laugh in a big way, check him out if you haven’t already!
http://lewisblack.com

The last comic we watched was Alonzo Bodden: Who’s Paying Attention? He was winner of season three for Last Comic Standing. He is funny and very matter of at act, this last performance, “Who’s paying Attention” told it like it is and made you laugh while he did it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alonzo_Bodden

What a great way to start the new year…laughing, I think that is a very good sign!

{December 29, 2013} What a week!

Here it is, the end of a terrific week and tomorrow we head back to Colorado.

(Settle in, get a cup of coffee or cocoa, this is going to be a long one!)

We got here late on Saturday, you know that fun adventure, I don’t need to rehash that! Sunday after lunch, DCM headed out to see the kids and I hung back, to finish a few Christmas presents and wrap gifts, I was a busy bee! The cool part was that I wrapped almost every single gift with one roll of Muppets holiday paper! I found the paper last year and finally got to use it! Don’t you love that?

Monday came and after lunch, I headed out to meet JT for our annual shopping trip, to find gifts for his family. It’s something we started about five or six years ago and it’s become a tradition that I enjoy and value, I know he does too. Luckily for me, everything he bought was relatively small, so a carrying everything wasn’t too bad; I started bringing a rolling cart to carry everything, there have been some big items!

The fun thing is to talk about what everyone might like, I jokingly told him he should put from JT and JJ on the gift tags, I really do enjoy watching everyone open the gifts and flip over them and how much they appreciate what JT thought about for them. I think I already told you my other job is to show up early on Christmas Eve and wrap gifts, which I really enjoy. I’ve always enjoyed wrapping gifts from childhood, it was my job to wrap the gifts my sister and I would give, I en thought about getting a seasonal job wrapping gifts.

While we were at the mall, we ran into his dad and brother and after shopping joined them at Pappadeaux for lunch, which is always a good time. After lunch, I headed out to take care of a few things and then went to meet BG, JCT and her mom for dinner at one of our favorite places What The Pho, yum! It was so great to see JCT as I haven’t gotten to see her much this last year with her travel schedule and moving to Colorado. It was great to see her mom, a master at crochet, let’s just say, last year, I wasn’t the best student, but we laughed a lot!

Tuesday came and we hung out at the house until it was time to head to JTs for Christmas Eve. A good time was had by all!

Wednesday morning, as you might recall we went to KABs house to see her, JB and Baby A! That was so much fun! After, DCM headed to see the kids and I headed to SDLs to cook and eat and enjoy. So much fun!

Thursday was a treat, CKM was able to carve some time out for me in her way too busy schedule! We went to Moe’s, yum! It was great to catch up in person and relax and laugh, you know, the usual! After lunch, she had to do laundry, so I went along to keep her company and while the clothes were in, we sat in the car and watched Red 2!

After we parted company I went to see my friend BG and his son, JAG and his new apartment. We had some dinner and then played Mario Brothers in the Wii, let’s just say someone way shorter than me kicked my butt in the game, but I held my own and had a great time! Who knows maybe I’ll start to get into some of these games they keep talking about!

Friday, after breakfast I had some time, so I put all my movies into sleeves for transporting back to Colorado, boxed up some things that were still in the garage and took them to the Salvation Army on my way downtown to meet TS and her daughter KS at the High Museum of Art for their three exhibits: The Art of the Louvre’s Tuileries Gardens, Go West: The Art of the American Frontier and Witness: The Art of Jerry Pickney. All terrific! It’s always enjoyable to go to a museum with people who enjoy what they see and to discuss what we think and feel about it.

We caught up, talked, laughed, which was great because I haven’t seen KS in a long time and haven’t seen TS one on one for a while, we’re usually out with a group. After the museum we went to a cute little Italian restaurant, Pasta Da Pulcinella, for some yummy food, exchanged gifts and birthday presents, and then we decided to go catch a movie, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty and you know how that was. What a great day/night!

Saturday was no less busy! Up before DCM, headed out to SDL’s to join her and Miss A for a drive out to Alpharetta for her hippo therapy, working with horses. This was the first time I got to see it and it was great! She loves the horses, especially Poppysead, who she works with most often. Hearing that laugh when she’s trotting around is like nothing else! After therapy, we headed to The Forum for lunch at Jason’s Deli, a nice treat to sit and eat and watch the place fill up.

After lunch, we headed our separate ways, I was meeting JCT for a movie, but first, I went to BG’s to pick up my iPad that I had left the other night. Turns out JT was there playing video games, Lego Marvel. I invited them to join us for the movies, we went to the Venture Cinema, which has gone from $2 to $3 per ticket! We watched Last Vegas, very funny the second time, check out my review!

After the movie, I took the boys back to BG’s for fun and games and headed to Starbucks to hang with JCT for a few hours. It was great! We talk about once a week, but we haven’t seen each other in about a year, so this was much needed!

This morning after I did a load of laundry, we had Waffle House, gotta get it in…we don’t have one that close to us in Colorado. Then DCM went to see the kids, I headed to SDL’s to help her get some stuff done around the house, the girl is amazing with a drill and some glue! I got to play with Miss A, while still getting things done.

Her parents got back from visiting grandpa in Florida and we headed out to SDL’s favorite Mexican restaurant, Agavero Cantina. JCT and her mom met us there for dinner. SDL hasn’t seen JCT or her mom in over a year, so it was time and you know they love Miss A! SDL’s mom and JCT’s mom could talk yarn as they both crochet and knit. Everyone admiring everyone else’s hand crafted scarves and hats!

After one last hug and kiss for everyone, we all headed out in our own directions, mine was home to write to you and wait for DCM so we could catch up on our days.

So, tomorrow we will take care of a few things and then head back to Colorado and get back into the swing of things, work, thereapy, life. I sit here writing to you telling you about my week which was wonderful and bittersweet, mostly bittersweet because it’s always hard to leave your friends, especially the wee tots who you adore. But I know it won’t be too long before I see them again, gotta love FaceTime!

I hope you had a wonderful week, great holidays, if you celebrated and I hope you have a terrific Monday! Happy almost 2014!

{December 27, 2013} The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

Tonight I saw the secret life of Walter Mitty and I have to tell you, I really liked it.

This was a movie that I was really on the fence about seeing only because I am a purest and I love the original. The original is from 1947 and stars Danny Kaye, Virginia Mayo, and Boris Karloff.

The thing that I did like is that it followed the basic premise, but didn’t go too far. The original movie had Danny Kaye living with his overbearing mother, who will turn him over soon to an overbearing fiance. The one thing they had in common was that they both led very quiet, non-descript lives that no one seemed to notice them and they would daydream about great adventures they would take and always, there is a girl.

That’s pretty much how the movies are similar, except for the message, which i well get to soon.

This version has Walter working for Life Magazine, he is devoted to his mother, who loves him very much, played by Shirley McClain and to his nutty sister, who determined make it on Broadway. There is a photographer, played by Sean Penn who sets things motion, so to speak.

I have to tell you, I’m not a huge Ben Stiller fan, but i love this story and let me say, well done! He directed and starred and it worked. Kristen Wigg is the woman who he thinks about and the woman who encourages and inspires him.

All of a sudden he puts one foot in front the other and he’s off on an adventure, some of the time you’re not sure if he’s daydreaming or not. When those he cares about are in trouble, he finds his footing and the courage.

This is a great quote from the movie:
“Life is about courage and going into the unknown.”

It’s incredibly true, you don’t know what you can do until you try…just put one foot in front of the other, you might surprise yourself.

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{December 25, 2013} Christmas, Christmas Eve, family, traditions

Well, it’s that time of year…I want to talk about Christmas Eve, Christmas, Family and Traditions…as promised.

Here is it Christmas night, I’ve just gotten home, I have music from The Nutcracker Suite playing and I am smiling, both happy and a little bit sad and feeling wonderfully nostalgic. I am smiling and feeling nostalgic because going to see The Nutcracker performed by the City Company at Lincoln Center in New York City was something my family did every year around Christmas, I don’t remember, but we may have even gone on Christmas Eve. It was an annual family Chanukah present. (One year we got a Commodore 64, we were in the big time!).

Smiling, because it was something we did as a family; got dressed up, dinner and performance, it was wonderful. The sad part, it makes me miss my mom and right now the famous “Pas de Deux” is on and it is my dad’s favorite piece and one of my mom’s, the other was “Coffee” so I am sitting here smiling and sad at the same time.

That was a tradition we had, along with sometimes going to “The B’s” house to decorate the tree or have Christmas dinner, I think their tree was the first I ever helped to decorate. They always decorated so wonderfully for the holiday, the tree, lights, they have a huge bay window, always so warm and welcoming, the home as well as the family.

Everyone has different traditions and that one was a huge one from my childhood and as I’ve gotten older, there have been new traditions I have been privileged to be a part of.

The first, every Christmas Eve for the last five or six years, I celebrate with JT’s family. Well, the first tradition is that I go with JT shopping and help him choose some gifts for the family, I’ve gotten to know them quite well, so it’s fun to find things for them we know they are going to love. That tradition is usually Thanksgiving week/end or in November, this year it didn’t quite work out that way, so we went on the 23rd, it wasn’t bad at all! We ended up meeting his dad and brother and went out for lunch, it was fun.

Next, I show up about an hour or so early at his house to make a vegetarian lasagna and wrap the gifts he bought, everyone knows and loves to tease him, but it’s something we’ve been doing for years and I can’t imagine not doing it.

Then the festivities begin, everyone shows up, the drinks come out, the laughter and love and then it’s time to eat and they’re an Italian family, so it’s mange, mange! Usually lasagne, mine and a meat, Italian sausages, meatballs, salad, bread and wonderful desserts. After dinner we get settled in for an experience, opening presents. Due to ALL the people, which some years is more, there is almost no room to sit because of all the presents! I should have taken a picture!

Everyone’s name goes into a hat and the first person who opens presents, picks the next persons name and so on. Everyone has brought something for everyone and so you have at least six to ten presents each! All depending on who bought who what. The first year you are there, not everyone knows you, but ST, JT’s mom, makes sure to have something for you, she’s a fantastic hostess! Year after year, as you come back, you exchange more and more gifts and it really feels great, you are no longer a guest, you’re family.

The great thing is that even though not everyone is related, we’re all family and we treat each other that way, even if it’s your first time!

One of the special treats is DG’s cookies! Every year she makes about a gazillion cookies and every family gets a tin of cookies, yum! The catch: if you don’t give back the tin, you don’t get cookies the next year! Apparently a lot of people don’t give her back the tins, so she sends D to get more! One year it took me almost an entire year to get the tin back to her, I always tried to get it to her at the Super Bowl party. This year…she made it easy on us, we got a travel carton, no pressure!

We opened presents, thanked each other profusely, gave hugs and drove home, it was another wonderful and successful Christmas Eve.

Today was Christmas and we started off the day going to see KAB, JB and Baby A! We got to play and open presents and Grandpa, also known as DCM, got to put his car together and blow up his bounce house! see…useful as well as ornamental! They gave us a great picture they had blown up and modge-podged to a canvas, it was beautiful Baby A, awe. It was nice to spend some time with them.

Then it was off to see the rest of the kids for DCM and I was off to SDL’s house for my next tradition, Christmas with SDL, her sister, parents and of course Miss A! SDL used to go home to PA for the holidays, but since bringing Miss A home, Christmas has been at her house and her parents come down south. The first year was funny because she invited me, and my response was absolutely, but it wouldn’t have mattered, I was going to invite myself! Any opportunity with Miss A is a must!

I asked if she wanted me to being anything, without taking a breath, corn soufflé, did I really need to ask? I got there, made the soufflé, popped it in the oven and it was play time and time to catch up with the family. Her dad calls me Auntie G and so does her mom, you have no idea how much I love that! Everyone was in the kitchen playing and talking and laughing, is there anything better?

We sat down to eat to a feast! “Mom-mom” makes a pot roast, carrots and green beans, they are great to ensure that I have enough to eat, as the resident veg head! SDL made her famous mashed potatoes, she and her mom collaborated on the sweet potato with marshmallow dish, there was cranberry dressing, salad, crescent rolls (enough that we didn’t have to fight over the last one!) and for dessert…home made cheese cake and peach pie! Oh my!

Let’s just say after dinner, there was no room for dessert, just yet anyway! So we cleaned up and headed into the den with a nice fire going to get down to the business of opening presents. I’ll give you just one guess who had the most presents! There is always something hand knitted or crocheted from Mom-mom, and I’m in on it, so I am thrilled!

The absolute bestest present…the calendar that SDL makes every year of Miss A and her family and friends, it’s such a treat and honor to be a part of it, our birthdays are part of the calendar too! She didn’t want one of us to open that present without the others, so we had to wait until we had the go-ahead and then we went! We waited for each other to open it, then delved in, wow! I was laughing and crying at the same time, it was awesome! Thank you thank you thank you!

After all the presents were opened, it was bath time, for Miss A, of course! and then time for me to head out and go home, smiling the whole way with my wonderful treats in my bag.

Thank you to everyone who has made this holiday wonderful so far! But…it’s not over! I still get to see more friends this week, which is gift enough for me.

So, as Tiny Tim says “g-d bless us, everyone” and to you I say…”Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!”

{December 21, 2013} Embarrassing our children

One of the joys of being a parent is to embarrass your children.

Most times it’s done unintentionally, it’s just the way of the world, our cars aren’t cool enough, we don’t dress in the latest style, or we wear sweats, a moo-moo, curlers in our hair when we pick them or drop them off at school, we tell them we love them out loud and in public, oh no!

Then there are the times we do it intentionally, and those are the fun times! Come on, what parent out there hasn’t started dancing like a silly person in public or made kissing noises because we knew it would gross them out?

Be honest, you’ve done some of those, if not more or worse! But…our parents did it to us, their parents did it to them and guess what…some day, you will do it to yours!

Start working on your plan now!

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