Thoughts Not Usually Expressed

I’m flipping back and forth between The Corpse Bride and The A-Team. Both are totally awesome movies, but as I watch, there are tons of thoughts that I have to leave unsaid. I’m weird enough anyway, and it gets worse when I ask questions during the movie.

For example, at one point during The Incredible Hulk all I could think about was “wow, who is going to clean up that mess?” I got some weird looks for that one.

There is a scene in A-Team where the plane has exploded and the team is in a tank trying not to get shot down by the drone planes who are trying to take them down. They exchange a lot of bullets. And then the team discovers the cannon on the tank and they decide to “fly” the tank to position it over a lake. You know, to soften the blow when they crash land.

I see the issue in this… But have never said anything. Mr. T walks through the living room and goes “So, what happens to all of those bullets and cannonballs that they are shooting? They have to land somewhere, how many people do you think they are killing?”

YES! Thank you!!

How sad is it that I can believe a cartoon movie about a Halloween skeleton that takes over Christmas before I can believe that those bullets and cannonballs didn’t kill several innocent people hundreds of yards down?

Movie logic kills me.

I Pulled a Muscle in my Bum

It’s been a super busy and fun weekend.

Honestly, I have no clue what I did Friday night – I’d like to say it’s because I was partying so hard I have no memory – but alas, the reality is that my memory has never been good and is getting worse.  I think we just hung out at home.  Yeah, let’s just say we hung out at home!

Saturday I got up and enjoyed a cup of coffee whilst watching the Pioneer Woman and then got Mr. T up so he could shower.  Papa came and picked him up and they went to repair the fence.  Apparently Cassius (Lee’s boxer) has been jumping the half fence and landing 5′ below in the easement and then visiting the neighbors yard. The neighbors weren’t all that happy to have him visit.  Maybe he has bad breath.   While they were gone I cranked the tunes and got the house clean!  It felt great!

Dad and Mr. T worked until 3:00 pm and dad dropped him back off so he could shower and we went bowling! It was so awesome!  There were 9 of us total, and the guy behind the counter was super cool and worked with me and told me which package was most fiscally responsible and he goes “It comes with ‘six’ shoe rentals, if you get my meaning” (Dude, you are going to save me money with a party package and give us all the extra shoe rentals we need at no extra charge – yeah, I hear ya!!)

My lovely bowling shoes! And now that I think about it – I don’t remember taking my socks back out of my purse… they may still be in there… huh.

It was so much fun!  I’m a crappy bowler, but I don’t let it stop me! Also, I bowl overhand.  I wasn’t aware that this was odd until this event!  I tried to bowl “properly” and go underhand a couple of times, but it wasn’t comfortable.  Oh, and there was the time I almost fell but didn’t!!  I was so proud of myself for not falling – cause hey – it’s me, a klutz,

and a slipper floor – it’s guaranteed I will wipe out at least once.  But I didn’t fall!!

Of course – the effort it took not to fall – well, I pulled a muscle in my bum, my derriere, my gluteus maximus.  No joke.  I pulled a muscle in my butt.  Fortunately, it only really bothers me getting in and out of the car, or sitting down.  Or anytime my butt is needed in an activity.

Mr. T was the big winner! He left the rest of us in the dust!

Me and My Amy

Check out that form!

I know you’ve seen this one, but it’s a great shot of me and the BD boy!

Part of our group.

It was fun, though, and we all went out to dinner afterwards at a cute little Mexican Restaurant – and they had the jumbo Cowboy football schedules, so score! I got one for my fridge.

(Hey Holly – it has the Redskins on the opposite side! I’d send you a pick, but the Redskins suck!)

(Oh, hey – MMK – the Eagles suck too, just making sure that you knew that!)

Man, I love football!

Anyway… Sunday we got up and headed for church, and as soon as I pulled into the parking lot I remembered – they weren’t having classes today, they were having some type of potluck thingy, and I didn’t have a dish.  Sigh.  We turned around.  (Yes, I’m sure I could have stayed, but I don’t like to partake if I don’t participate.)

So, we drove back home – with a quick detour at Denny’s!  The plus side was that Mr. T and I got to enjoy a lovely breakfast together.  It rocked!

Yummy!

Even more yummy!!!!

Then we headed home to change clothes and over to Grammy and Papa’s house.  Mr. T and Papa had to finish fixing the fence and mom wanted my help rearranging the furniture in their bedroom.  This sounds easy, right?

Wrong.  Their furniture is heavy.  I’m not talking about challenging to move, I’m talking about the fact that their bed is so heavy that I almost had to go get a jack out of the garage just to lift the bed long enough to get the sliders underneath!!  Fortunately, mom and I are stronger than we look.  It took a couple of hours and enough sweat to fill the swimming pool, but we got it accomplished!

Quick break for lunch and checked the progress of Papa and Mr. T and they were close… so I went out and helped.  Now, I have been welding a hammer since I was little and it was embarrassing. I messed up in four different places… Ugh.  Oh well, I was too worn out to do more than just grab another nail! Then we were able to put up some chicken wire and voila! Cassius should not be able to escape!

Please, cross your fingers he doesn’t escape.

Mr. T and I made it home and I saw him sit on the couch and I was like “get your butt off my couch!! Go shower!!”  He giggled and goes “Look at my ankles.”  “Oh my goodness!! Get off my couch!! You have a dirt line that is five shades darker than your skin – GET OFF MY COUCH!!!”

In an effort to put a good spin on things, during the drive home I told Mr. T “It’s a good kinda sore, it’s a sore than comes from having fun and working hard!  Shows we really participated this weekend!”

Yup, that totally happened, I tried to convince myself and T that these sore muscles were a good thing!  I think he was too tired to call my bluff!

Oh – he walked through the room so I asked him what we did on Friday night:

We rented GI Joe 2 and had an at home movie night!

One for the Jar

A great weekend was had – great enough that T and I put it in our memory jar (have you seen these on Pinterest? You create a jar and throughout the year you put in memories and good times that you’ve had and you read them at the end of the year.  My Diva’s are all doing this and we will read them at the NYE party this year.  It should be awesome!)

Anyway, it was one for the memory jar.  Friday night Mr. T had his theatre banquet and won two awards! YAY!  Excellence in Acting and Excellence in Tech.  I’m so proud of my guy!

We did get together with the family and celebrated my sister’s birthday and Father’s Day.  There was an odd moment when mom said she wanted to go through Lee’s items.  Neither my sis nor I had any idea this was planned, and it surprised both of us, cause as you know, my mom doesn’t get rid of things.  We did expect that a few sentimental items would be doled out, but never expected, especially so soon, that we’d go through his items.  Well, my sister had a meltdown.  I really thought that I caused it, that I was going through things too quickly and it upset her.  She says it wasn’t me, and after talking to her, I kinda believe her.  She’s just still emotional, and being weeks away from having a baby, a bit more hormonal, too.  Ask how much fun it was to celebrate her birthday after she’s been crying… yeah.

We did survive!  We did not go through the items, though.  And that is okay!

This has no relevance to the story. I just haven’t shared my love of Dean Winchester lately. That is all.

Sunday was a crappy morning, we were running late for church and ended up forgetting a couple of things… and church just drove me nuts.  I’m so struggling there – but working on it and praying about it – and really, T is happy, and that’s all that matters.  We didn’t stay for service, but left and drove through Micky D’s for breakfast and then over to a friends house for a pool party.  So totally worth it! We had so much fun!  Mr. T got lots of compliments, which makes us both glow!

Monday we asked mom and dad if they wanted to meet us for a movie.  Star Trek baby!!  We met at the movie bistro and ordered lunch and watched the movie.  It was awesome! It really made my inner nerd happy!

Today I’m back at work and actually being productive! It helped that my boss is out of town, so I was able to get caught up on a lot of things without his interruptions.  I’m ready for the rest of the week to fly by – and only 5-1/2 more days of school left! Yay!

And now, just cause I love you and we can all use a break, I present a You Tube video that I just love of Jensen and Misha (Dean and Castiel) doing a panel.  Someone from the audience brought an old headshot of Misha… and actually, as I type this, I think I might have shared it with you before… Huh.  Have I blogged so much that I can’t remember what I’ve shared OR do I just love this clip so much that I have to keep sharing?  You be the judge! If I was a good blogger, I’d go back and look and see if I’ve ever titled a blog called “Acting on Camera”.   Well crap, I am a good blogger and I went back and checked, and yes, I have shared this before – but I have some new readers, so I’m sharing it again!  (I’ve had issues with it embedding properly, so if you can’t click to watch, feel free to do the hard work and copy/paste in your browser!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yj4kn-RADME

 

Lessons from the Movies: The Bucket List

My eyes are a little swollen and red rimmed.  I just finished watching The Bucket List.  No one told me that the guy died.  I get that it’s better for the story, it’s more realistic, whatever you want to throw my way as a reason; however, I don’t like when people die.  Now I know why I love Disney type movies.  People don’t die in them; at least, not any characters that I’m emotionally invested in.

The Bucket List

None of that was the point.  The point is that watching that movie has been on my to-do list.  I’m all about adventure and making sure that we live our lives instead of just existing on this plane of existence.  We are here to enjoy, to make the best of, to help others and to enrich.

Short of the part where I cried, it was a great movie.  I loved how two people could come together over a common bond, and it really exemplifies that sometimes our greatest friends are not like us, but in fact, totally different from us.  It shows that there are lessons to be learned everywhere you look and that sometimes, it’s the simplest things that make all of the difference.

This got me thinking – I love my bucket list – I should share it!  So, in honor of this – instead of boring you with the lessons I learned from the movies, I’m sharing my bucket list with you!

My bucket list is ever changing, and I hope it always does!  I read something the other day (could have been on Yahoo!, could have been another blog and it could have been in a book, it’s hard to keep straight everything I’ve read!) the point is, I read it, and it mentioned, if you have a bucket list, get to working on it!  If you don’t, then start one, and then get to working on it!

Yes, I know, there are tons of blogs, websites and countless suggestions when it comes to a bucket list.  This is not one of them.  I’m just narcissistic and assume that you want to know all of the details about my life! It’s not in a specific order, as I rearrange it every time I write it!

Catching a game in the new stadium, view from the suite.

1. See Meatloaf in concert – CHECK
2. Visit a haunted house (I swear I lived in a haunted apartment, but that doesn’t count)
3. Ride in a hot air balloon
4. Go skydiving – CHECK
5. See Cowboy game in new stadium – CHECK
6. See the Northern Lights
7. Plant a tree (technically I’ve done this, but it died… so it doesn’t count!)
8. Go snorkeling
9. Fly in a helicopter
10. Ride The Titan at Six Flags – CHECK
11. Ride The Texas Giant at Six Flags – CHECK
12. Visit a castle
13. Fly a kite, again
14. Visit Statue of Liberty
15. Have dinner in a location that overlooks the city
16. Swim in an ocean – CHECK
17. Go on a camping trip – CHECK
18. Make homemade jam
19. Dance in the rain – CHECK
20. Get in a taxi and yell “follow that car!”
21. Taste fried ice cream
22. Kiss in the rain
23. Zipline down the old Vegas Strip (scheduled for 2014!!)
24. Spend the night in a haunted house

Here’s my favorite shot from when I went to the Meatloaf concert. I’m really hoping his farewell tour comes close enough that I can go again!

It’s not a lot, and there are some simple things on my list, but the point is, I have a list and I am checking it twice.  Oh, wait, wrong list!  I have a list; it’s a list of what I want to do, not what the world thinks I should do.  My list has some seemingly simple items on it, and some that you’ll be surprised to discover that I’m scared to do (fried ice cream, really, it just doesn’t make sense.) I will do them, though.  Eventually.  And, occasionally, I’ll add more items.  And, sometimes I’ll do something that is bucket list worthy, so I’ll add it – just to cross it off.  Just to say “I DID IT!”

If you don’t have a bucket list, I highly recommend you start one.  And then get started on it! It’s way too much fun!

Lessons from the Movies: Lord of the Rings

I love movies.  I mean, really love movies.  I prefer action and comedy, I’ve been known to watch a chick flick or two and I still love cartoons and animation.  I’m dying for Despicable Me 2 and I want my own minions – I’m just saying.

Anyway, Mr. T and I went and watched The Hobbit the other day.  It was awesome!  I’m a big Sci Fi and Fantasy lover – and Mr. T has been good about indulging my Sci Fi addiction, but he was never really interested in Fantasy (apparently vampires don’t count, cause that dude loves the series Angel more than I do!  When Christian Kane comes up in conversation, Mr. T doesn’t mention his latest series, Leverage, he always mentions Angel!  Ladies, seriously, go Google Christian Kane… trust me!)

Squirrel!!  We saw The Hobbit and it was awesome.  When we left the theatre I suggested that we borrow the Lord of the Rings trilogy from his uncle and watch that.  We did.  Now, since Mr. T won’t indulge my Fantasy cravings (and boy, does that sound wrong!!) I’ve never seen these movies.  We sat down on a Sunday night and made it through the first two, and finished up on Monday night with the third.  I really enjoyed them.

Now, I have not searched this, refused to find any other blogs related to this, so if I’m covering old material and someone else has made this point, please forgive me.  Also, I get that I should be talking about the book, but unlike The Hobbit, I’ve never read the Lord of the Ring books, so we have to go with the movie version.

I liked Frodo, and as the “main” character, I could see why people talked about him; however, I LOVED Sam, the best friend character played by Sean Astin.  Sam was there, every step of the way, always treated Mr. Frodo with respect and never seemed to mind that Frodo was going to get all of the attention.  Sam put up with tons of crap, from the other characters, from that Gollum and from Frodo himself.  Towards the end of the third movie, he impressed me most.  They are on the volcano and Frodo just can’t walk any further and Sam says “I can’t carry it for you, but I can carry you”.

This resonated with me.  I’m a big believer that everyone has their own journey, their path to walk and that I should be here to help them along the way.  I’ve told my friends how pleased I am to be part of their journey and tried to be there for them during the flowers blooming stages and there when they stumbled and needed help over the uneven ground.

One does not simply walk into Mordor.

I’m not a patient person.  Now, I will so very gladly admit that I am a lot more patient now than I was 15 years ago.  Having a kid can do that to you.  I have no choice but to slow down.  To let him tie his own shoes, dress himself and figure things out on his own.  But do I apply this to the rest of my life?  As I was watching the movie, I was pissed at Sam.  The end result is that the ring has to be destroyed (oh, oops, spoiler alert) and that is all that will save Middle Earth.  So, when Frodo stumbled and fell, I could picture myself there, and seriously, I’m not sure that I would be as wise as Sam was.  I wanted Sam to just grab the ring and go toss it in the fire.  I mean, really, they’ve made it that far; the ring has to be destroyed.  It’s a no-brainer.  In the back of my brain, I understood what Sam was doing – he was letting Frodo walk his own path, continue his own journey – but my overwhelming feeling was for Sam to just get the ring and destroy it.

Instead, with much wisdom, Sam told Frodo “I can’t carry it, but I can carry you”. I hope that I can be the friend, mother, sister, aunt and daughter that will allow people to walk their own path and carry them when they can’t go on instead of getting frustrated and doing it for them. I hope that I can be the type of person that is okay standing in the background while others get the spotlight.  I hope that I gain the wisdom to see and act as Sam did.

Of course, Frodo irritated me even further when he couldn’t go back to living his life again after that adventure and took off – but, that’s for another time.

Lessons Learned from the Movies: 50/50

When I get a free weekend from my cable provider for the premium channels, Mr. T and I go through and record everything that we want to watch.  He gets to his movies pretty darn fast; it takes me much longer to watch mine! Mr. T goes camping every year between Christmas and New Year with his grandparents and I always take one day during that time for me.  This year I chose to catch up on my DVR.  I watched several movies that day, Hangover 2, Horrible Bosses (which I realized at the end I had already seen), a movie I’ve already forgotten, and 50/50.

50/50

My aunt had cancer, and though she lived in Alabama, she came in every 3 weeks and stayed with my parents and did her treatments here in Texas.  Towards the end of her life, she moved down here and bought a house a few blocks away from my parents.  I knew that the movie 50/50 would hit some sore spots, so I had put off watching it.  If you have ever gone through cancer with a loved one, then several parts of this movie will seem familiar to you.  The bonding time over the treatments, the finding a driver to take you to and from your appointments, and, just like in the movie, my aunt shaved her head before her hair could fall out.  As far as accuracy goes, it was very similar to what we went through a few years ago.

Adam has cancer and it’s not good.  He’s going through this journey with his best friend Kyle, his mom, a crappy girlfriend and his therapist.  Adam’s girlfriend ends up cheating on him (which, is not uncommon in this situation.) so that cuts down on his support system.  At one point, Adam has just had enough.  No one could understand, no one cared like he did, no one could admit that he was going to die, no one was being there for him like he felt they should be.

Wow!  Haven’t we all been there?  Not to that extreme, thank you God, but had moments where we have felt isolated, alone, on an island all by ourselves.  I’ve had moments like that where I would swear that there isn’t a single person out there looking out for me.  I’m sure you’ve felt it, when all your friends and family call for help with their problems, but don’t even bother to ask about yours.  When you’ve been struggling and your friend texts about an inane subject, not giving any consideration to what you are going through.

We’ve all had those moments when we feel utterly hopeless, isolated and alone and Adam hit that point in the movie, too.  He felt insular, removed from everyone in his life.  I think that feeling actually closes us off to what is around us, and it was illustrated in the movie.  When Adam was at his worst, feeling so very alone, there was a moment when his eyes and his heart were opened.  Once he stopped being so upset at everyone else, he was able to see them more clearly.  What he saw was that his mom was going to a cancer support group.  That she was doing what she could to help him, and that she had others to be there for her to help support her so that she in turn could be there for him.  Adam saw that his best friend was reading a book about going through cancer together.  Not only was his best friend reading the book, but had dog eared and underlined and highlighted pages.  Kyle wasn’t being a total dope, but was doing what he could to learn how to be there for Adam.

When that feeling of hopelessness settles in, it is easy to close our heart and minds off to those around us.  I think that if we stop for a moment, and allow our hearts to open, we might really see the good in those around us.  We might see that despite what it originally looked like, their hearts are there for us.  They are willing to support us and be there for us, if we will only let them.  And, with an open heart, we should let them.  Let people in, let them help!

Of course, there are those that just don’t care and will text you about inane subjects with no consideration to what you are going through! They still will exist, no matter how open your heart is! Just like you have those in your life to help you; maybe you were put in their life to help them.  Just a thought.

Here’s a group of my friends (support group!!), all of which I’m sure would help me shave my head!

Standard disclaimer: Just my thoughts, pictures used by permission (except the one of me and my friends, they’ll just be surprised when they see it – hi Karaboo!), I wasn’t paid to talk about this movie, but if you want to pay me to watch and talk about movies, leave a comment below!

Growth

Did you read my Facebook post?  Are you aware that my wonderful son created a secondary FB page in order to hide his activity from me?  Have you read any other post by me and realized that he was never going to get away with it?  LOL.

It’s been several days since I took away his iPod, Xbox, computer and removed the internet from his phone.  It’s been a weekend of growth.

I took him to his grandparents on Friday, as he was spending the night with them so I could go spend the night with my Amy.  It was worth it!  Pam joined us and the three of us went and got tattoos.  Took forever, but, alas, I don’t pick from a book anymore, I tell Bailey what I want and he has to draw it for me.  But, he’s done great on the past couple of tattoos, and I trust him.  We planned this trip because he’s leaving the shop where he currently works.  I wanted one more by him before he left.  Yes, I have multiple tattoos – judge away! 

No Worries! I’ve worked very hard on this for many years. I’ve earned this one!

It was fun hanging out and just having some girl time.  We all needed it.  

I picked T up Saturday morning, I needed to run to Target and T needed some new jeans, so we also hit Kohl’s.  It was a good trip and even though we were running errands, we had fun together. T decided, since I had plans with another friend, he could just stay at Grammy and Papa’s again.  

Twist my arm… So, I left T behind and then took off to spend the afternoon with Karaboo.  We had no plans; we just had free time and wanted to do something!  Well, Joann’s Fabric was having their pattern sale… $15 patterns for $1.  You can’t beat that!  Plus, I had asked Karaboo to help me make a Halloween costume!  She’s a talented seamstress.  I really wish I could sew.  I think that it’s mainly the fact that I run out of patience.  We had fun picking patterns and fabric, and we got a good start on my costume.  It’s cool to see it all come together! We ended the night having dinner together with her husband.  It was a great night!

Sunday, I spent the day alone nursing a toothache. We’ll skip that day!

Today is Monday, and it is a school holiday.  T and I slept in.  We made waffles together for breakfast.  I warmed up some left overs for lunch.  We ran to 7-Eleven for movies and munchies.  When it was time to return the movies, well, I decided I could afford to pick up burgers!  I’ve told you before, but time in the car with T has its benefits.  On the drive T told me that it was weird to drop Facebook cold turkey! He had just started really using it and then he had to stop.  

I told him that I have a specific time frame in mind for his punishment, and after that time frame, it’s up to him.

He knows that I’m waiting for the admission of wrong-doing and an apology.  Today in the car he admitted that he knew I was waiting on that and he told me “I thought about just saying I was sorry, and that I understand, but, I don’t know that I’m ready to say it.  I want to make sure I mean it before I say it.”  I told him that I didn’t think he was ready to say it yet.  That he needed to fully process it and understand what he did was wrong.

I was so proud of him.  He isn’t willing to just give me lip service to get his privileges back. He’s working on being a better person.  I had this weekend to reconnect with my friends on an individual level and was able to celebrate the progress I’ve made in my life. 

I hope that we both keep growing and keep counting our blessings.  And I hope that I will always have moments with T that blow me away and leave me wondering “did that just happen?”