Movie Review

Anyone who knows me, knows how much I love the movies. In my family and close knit group of friends, I'm known (with envy) as the "Movie Queen". I remember lots of useless information about movies, those I've seen and some I haven't. The running game when seeing a movie for the first time is to name a movie the relatively unknown actor has been in. Whoever gets it first wins. It's usually a close contest between me and my nephew, Antonio.

Anyway, the last movie I saw was "Must Love Dogs" with Diane Lane and John Cusack. I wasn't sure if I really wanted to see it because I'm pretty tired of the old maid, bitter divorcee role, but I love both actors and thought I'd give it a chance. I invited my two best gal pals to join me, my sister, Bonnie, and my friend, Jayne. The humor was fabulous! You never think they can come up with something new, but I'm always amazed and impressed when they do. The movie starts out with a family gathering...an intervention actually...for Diane Lane's character, who is recently divorced. Her entire family converges on her, each with a picture of a potential suitor. Personally, I think it was the family and her relationship with each that was the basis of the movie's humor. That's also one of the reasons I loved My Big Fat Greek Wedding so much. Anyone who has a crazy, meddling, mean, loving, dysfunctional family can relate. And really, what's better than life to laugh at. We give it three thumbs up!!!

No more funk for me

Boy, have I been remiss in my posts lately. I guess it's because life hasn't been much of a dream lately. I've gotta get out of this rut (aka "the funk") I've been in the last few weeks. The following is a list of what's contributed to it:

1) I turned 35 last month. Truth is, I'm not quite sure how I feel about being 35, so I'll have to think on this one some more.

2) My truck blew a head gasket (among other things). Picked it up from the shop last night - had to pay a ransom to the tune of $2000. Ouch!

3) Money woes. What else is new...

4) I'm sick (bleck!).

Ok, now that I've got all that off my chest I must change my focus and look on the bright side of life:

1) I'm 35. Wow, what an accomplishment. For my birthday, I went out for a fabulous dinner with some of my favorite people!!

2) My truck is good as new (almost) and running like a champ, plus the shop threw in a full detail for free. Not only is it shiny and pretty now, but they also found the alarm remote control that I misplaced so many months ago :) Oh, and a special shout out to my sister who let me use her truck as a "loaner" while mine was out of commission. Thanks Bon!!

3) The financial situation is looking up. I've received lots of help from my family and friends in this tough time and starting with our next payday, our annual raise kicks in. I had a moment of misunderstanding when I received my evaluation information and it turns out that my increase was more than I'd originally thought. Wahoo!!

4) The good thing about being sick is that you get your rest. I've been getting an average of 8 hours the past few nights (my regular average is 6) and I'm actually not feeling too bad. I should be right as rain by the time the weekend rolls around.

I guess that just goes to show you (at least it does me) that if you look hard enough, you can always find good in every situation. If it weren't for the bad (or more truthfully, the tough) situations in life, would we ever appreciate all that's good? I wonder...

Well, here's wishing you find the good in all that's difficult in your life. Remember: "That which does not kill us, makes us stronger." (a quote from "Steel Magnolias", one of my favorite movies).

What a great weekend!

It was my pleasure to participate in a sleepover weekend with my girlfriends from the dance studio. It very well could be that I haven't been to a sleepover since I was a school girl. We had a fabulous time! We were at the house of a daughter of our gal pal, Edna. Not only is her home gorgeous, but the backyard is a virtual oasis, complete with palm trees, garden fountain, swimming pool with a diving board and slide, playscape and trampoline. Our favorite past time was lounging by the pool with our peach daiquiris and book du jour. We enjoyed good movies, good food, good drink, and great company for 48 hours. It has to be one of the best weekends I've had in a long time. I think the most interest thing is that the ages of the 6 ladies ranges from mid-20s to late 50s and we all got along marvelously. One of the gals is studying to become a massage therapist and was giving free massages. I didn't get to partake, but I know the other ladies enjoyed their free massages. We watched several movies (some I'd seen and some that were new to me) and I even got to go to a free play on Sunday afternoon at the McCullough Theater on the UT Campus. It was a new musical written by Larry Gatlin called "Quanah, the Parker Family Saga" and the celebrity attendee was Governor Perry himself.

This was the best weekend I've had in ages! Thanks ladies!!