Friday, June 22, 2007

Movies To Avoid

Unless you like being depressed.
Now this is your warning, I'm going to totally blow any suprise, twist, "didn't see that coming", or whatever talking about these movies. So if you haven't yet seen The Dead Girl or Bridge to Terabithia and plan on seeing them, consider yourself warned. Don't come complaining to me that I ruined the movie for you, I'm just saying.

The Dead Girl. Now I didn't expect some lighthearted whimsical cute romantic comedy from a title like The Dead Girl, but this movie was just depressing. Yes, it was interesting, and yes, it was well acted. But it was so depressing. It was just too real. I kept thinking that things like this happen in real life. There really are people out there that are that pathetic, stupid, messed up. And I'm not talking about one character, but several characters in this movie. And I got angry and fustrated that this stupid woman, who was the wife of the murderer. She went and burned all the evidence! Completely destroyed any evidence from the victims that she found her husband was hiding. And maybe, just maybe, if she had this wonderful marriage and he was sweet and good to her, maybe I could see her trying to protect him. Maybe. But he was a complete ass, and she was a total nag, and they so were not happy. What exactly was she doing? Saving her miserable life? Ugh. She just made herself an accomplice. And what about the families of the victims that would never get closure? Did she even stop to think about them? Probably not. The only good part about the movie was that the daughter of the dead girl was saved by the mother of the deal girl. Then it made me sad to think that there are children out there that are totally lost in the system. Taken very poor care of by their "foster" homes. Neglected, malnourished, etc. It was just too sad. And very depressing.

The Bridge to Terabithia. So the next day, Vince and I sat down to watch this movie he rented for the kids. We thought something more fun and lighthearted would be nice. I never read the book, and only slightly knew what the story was about. I read the back of the DVD case and thought all was good. It has a little boy who befriends a cute little girl who is new to town. And she's so cute, and spunky, and a nice person. And I'm really liking this movie, and thinking it was a good choice for the kids. So the movie is well on its way, we're about 2/3rds through it, and it was cute and enjoyable. . . then . . . the little girl dies. She dies! She drowned trying to cross the creek to get to "Terebithia"! Why didn't I see this coming? There were clues, how could I be so dim? Vince looks at me and says he now has a knot in his stomach. I'm crying. Sophia is crying. And I don't care that the movie ended with the little boy being nice to his little sister, and letting her in on his secret place. Because, well, the little girl dies! And little girls do die. It happens all the time. It's been raining here just about every night, and there have been floods. And just the day before I heard that the floods washed out this trailer house, and the mother was fine but they found the body of her five year-olddaughter, but her two year-old daughter was still missing. Then the news woman went on to report that another trailer house was washed out and a woman had her two year-old daughter swept right out of her arms. I can't even imagine. And this is why I usually don't watch the news. Or watch depressing movies.

Monday, June 18, 2007

Happy Father's Day

Since I'm a foodie, and I show my love and appreciation by cooking for those I love and appreciate that's how I spent my Father's Day. In the kitchen. I did have time to watch Jumanji with Vince and the kids before dinner, but the rest of the time was spent prepping and cooking. I'm not complaining, I'm just explaining my lack of Father's Day details. The day started with Mass, followed by a quick brunch of grilled porterhouse (one shared by all of us), fried eggs, hash browns and toast. After cleaning up brunch, I started my foccacia, then the prepping of our dinner. Now first of all, I'm not much of a photographer, and second, I'm really missing my Macy's Cellar bistro white dinnerware that was stolen when we moved out here. We're using plates a friend of a friend gave us to use when we moved in here. And while I'm appreciative and they get the job done, they're just not my taste. But whatever, the dinner menu consisted of fresh baking foccacia. Yes, I know, baking in the summer, but it was Father's Day so I made what was requested. Also we had . . .
Ahi Poke


Arugula and Warm Scallop Salad with Spicy Pecan Praline

Crab and Avocado Towers


Blackened Ahi with Soy-Mustard Sauce

We also had individual Chocolate Souffle cakes with Vanilla-Bean Ice Cream for dessert. No pictures though. I was too busy eating.

Of course I woke up hungry this morning after stretching out my stomach with copious amounts of food yesterday. But back on that Weight Watchers wagon today.

And what did we do for Mother's Day? Took the kids to Cold Stone for ice cream and picked up a pizza on the way home. Ah, the good life!



Monday, June 11, 2007

It's a Buyers Market

I have three friends, in three different states, and each are in a selling-their-house nightmare. Well, maybe not a nightmare, but definetly not having a good time. My friends in Oregon have already missed out on one house they had a contingent offer on and very few lookers on theirs. My friends in Washington are playing the "show the house and wait" game, and with a two year old and a four month old. And our friends in Texas are expecting their sixth (SIXTH!) child in October, and have missed out on one expired contingent offer while they wait for prospective buyers for their house. And the bummer is that they have a beautiful big house, and are downsizing for financial reasons. And all I can think is "better them than me", because the experience from selling our house in California is still too raw for me. Not that I don't feel bad for them, because I certainly do. I know exactly what each of them are going through. I was pregnant when we put our house on the market, we were still showing the house when being "pregnant" became "post-partum", and selling the house very much became about financial reasons towards the end. I was saying prayers every day for seven months that our house would sell. First I would ask that our house sell "soon", then "by the end of this month", then "by the end of this week". Every day, a prayer to St. Joseph, a prayer to St. Anthony (I figured our buyer must be lost), and a prayer to St. Jude (for helpless cases). Now I'm saying prayers to the same saints, but this time for Vince to find good employment. We're in our sixth month here, and my prayers have gone from "soon", to "by the end of this month", to "by the end of this week", to "Now!". And if my prayers would be answered, we'd be able to take advantage of this buyer's market.