C-E-L-E-B-R-A-T-I-O-N

There is just so much to celebrate right now.
#1. President-elect Barack Obama. The LT actually said, "I finally feel hope." This is HUGE coming from the LT. I am really excited to have an intelligent, well-spoken President again. I have a lot of hopes, but I'm trying to keep my expectations down. Let's face it, he's got a lot of people to work with and a lot of work to do.
#2. There is, in fact, a baby growing in my belly. I had my 12-week checkup yesterday and finally heard the beautiful "lub-dub" going 148 times a minute. Almost thought I felt the little bean move last night, too, but that would have been awfully early.
#3. Wedding this weekend! On Thursday we're dropping off 3 of the dogs with the LT's younger brother, the 4th dog with our neighbor, and heading to my parents' house. We'll spend the night there with my youngest brother and then bright and early Friday morning we'll be driving to Indiana for my sister's nuptials. While none of us are particularly thrilled about driving for 12 hours with a toddler in a small car with possibly lousy winter weather, we're all really, really excited for the wedding. And the party afterwards. It sounds like my future BIL's family is pulling out the stops for us to stay with them on Friday night, which is really, really nice of them. The LT is going to preside over the wedding. He's not actually marrying them; they're having a civil ceremony Friday morning. But they'll say their vows, have Scripture verses, etc, on Saturday in front of the friends and family, and the LT is going to sort of run the show. Oh, it's going to be so much fun!
Ahhh, life is good.

Vote or Don't Complain

That's right. If you don't care enough to get out during the 13 hours the polls are open tomorrow and exercise your right to choose your leader, then you don't get to complain about the leadership.
People in this world are still dying, trying to obtain the right to vote. Some countries let you vote, but there's no real election. The United States has existed for over 232 years because of the right to choose our leaders. We may not like the results, but we still get a say.
The LT and I are heading out to our township hall completely in the middle of nowhere (thank God for the Garmin) and we're taking Cee with us to demonstrate the reason why we've endured nearly 2 years of political ads.
So get out and vote. I don't much care who you vote for (really). But please, vote or don't complain later.

Blah

I've been extremely lame on the blogging front of late. That's what comes of being almost 8 weeks pregnant with #2 and having morning sickness that really doesn't abate AT ALL. It's been requiring effort to even READ the blogs I follow these days. MJ's going to dump me off her blogroll soon if I don't try to be slightly more interesting, or at least try more often.
Most of my & the LT's family is excited we're pregnant with #2. Cee got a new Tshirt that says on the front "I'm going to be a big sister!" and the back has "But the crown is still mine!" The LT's family loved it. My family would have, too, but Cee puked on it (she gets carsick) as we were driving down to visit my folks. I should have known better than to have her actually WEAR the thing in the car.
Speaking of Cee's carsickness, if anyone has any ideas for how to survive a 12-hour drive to my sister's wedding in November, I'm all ears. Or whatever you'd call "all ears" in cyberspace. I'm planning on a sippy cup of ginger ale, Cheerios, and lots of paper towels. I'm going to call the doctor to see if Dramamine can be given to a not-quite-2-year-old, but I doubt it.
I'm tired.

Another blog

It occurred to me after looking at Dine & Dash that since I love to cook and bake, I should have a food blog. Here it is: Flour is Fun.
It's still somewhat under construction, but I'm hoping to put up some of my favorite recipes and food links.

More ways to enjoy your picture show

Found this at The Laundry is Never Done. Looked cool, so I put it here.

This is Entertainment Weekly's list of the top movies of the last 25 years. Go through their list and * the ones you have seen and + the ones you own on video or DVD.

*+1. Pulp Fiction (1994)
*+2. The Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001-03)
*+3. Titanic (1997)
4. Blue Velvet (1986)
*+5. Toy Story (1995)
*+6. Saving Private Ryan (1998)
7. Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)
*8. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
9. Die Hard (1988)
10. Moulin Rouge (2001)
11. This Is Spinal Tap (1984)
*+12. The Matrix (1999)
*+13. GoodFellas (1990)
14. Crumb (1995)
*15. Edward Scissorhands (1990)
*+16. Boogie Nights (1997)
*+17. Jerry Maguire (1996)
18. Do the Right Thing (1989)
*+19. Casino Royale (2006)
*+20. The Lion King (1994)
*+21. Schindler's List (1993)
*22. Rushmore (1998)
*23. Momento (2001)
24. A Room With a View (1986)
*+25. Shrek (2001)
26. Hoop Dreams (1994)
*27. Aliens (1986)
28. Wings of Desire (1988)
*+29. The Bourne Supremacy (2004)
*30. When Harry Met Sally (1989)
31. Brokeback Mountain (2005)
*32. Fight Club (1999)
33. The Breakfast Club (1985)
34. Fargo (1996)
35. The Incredibles (2004)
*+36. Spider-Man 2 (2004)
*37. Pretty Woman (1990)
*+38. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
*+39. The Sixth Sense (1999)
*40. Speed (1994)
*41. Dazed and Confused (1993)
*+42. Clueless (1995)
*+43. Gladiator (2000)
44. The Player (1992)
45. Rain Man (1988)
46. Children of Men (2006)
*+47. Men in Black (1997)
*+48. Scarface (1983)
*49. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)
50. The Piano (1993)
51. There Will Be Blood (2007)
52. The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad (1988)
*+53. The Truman Show (1998)
54. Fatal Attraction (1987)
55. Risky Business (1983)
56. The Lives of Others (2006)
*57. There’s Something About Mary (1998)
*58. Ghostbusters (1984)
*+59. L.A. Confidential (1997)
*60. Scream (1996)
61. Beverly Hills Cop (1984)
62. sex, lies and videotape (1989)
63. Big (1988)
*+64. No Country For Old Men (2007)
*+65. Dirty Dancing (1987)
*66. Natural Born Killers (1994)
67. Donnie Brasco (1997)
68. Witness (1985)
69. All About My Mother (1999)
70. Broadcast News (1987)
71. Unforgiven (1992)
72. Thelma & Louise (1991)
*73. Office Space (1999)
74. Drugstore Cowboy (1989)
75. Out of Africa (1985)
*+76. The Departed (2006)
77. Sid and Nancy (1986)
78. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
79. Waiting for Guffman (1996)
80. Michael Clayton (2007)
81. Moonstruck (1987)
82. Lost in Translation (2003)
*83. Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn (1987)
*+84. Sideways (2004)
*+85. The 40 Year-Old Virgin (2005)
86. Y Tu Mamá También (2002)
*+87. Swingers (1996)
*+88. Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997)
89. Breaking the Waves (1996)
*+90. Napoleon Dynamite (2004)
*91. Back to the Future (1985)
92. Menace II Society (1993)
93. Ed Wood (1994)
*+94. Full Metal Jacket (1987)
95. In the Mood for Love (2001)
96. Far From Heaven (2002)
*97. Glory (1989)
98. The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)
*99. The Blair Witch Project (1999)
*+100. South Park: Bigger Longer & Uncut (1999)

Now, seriously, the South Park movie is on the list? WTH? As opposed to other great animated films such as Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and The Little Mermaid? I mean, it was hysterically funny and all, but I don't think it was one of the greats of the last 25 years. That's probably why I don't work for Entertainment Weekly.
And wow, the LT and I certainly have an extensive film collection. How about you guys?

Life happens

Wow, I only posted twice in August. Shame on me.
There has been a lot of excitement in our family.
My married sister, Lala, just annouced she is pregnant.
My other sister, Ems, is engaged, as is one of my brothers, A.
The little sister is officially potty-trained.
Cee is going to sleep without being rocked.
Youngest brother E is in his last year of college.
The LT saved a guy's life a couple of weeks ago by pulling his drunken ass out of the river, and once he was treated at the hospital, arrested him for a felony terroristic threats warrant.
I myself have not done much that's blog-worthy, although I watched The Sound of Music 3 times this weekend while the LT's been at work. It's one of my favorite love stories and so I was feeling all goopy and singing along with the movie. (No, mom, I'm not pregnant.)

A few things I've learned this week

1.Okay, peanut butter doesn't always cure hiccups.
Cee had a good case of them last night. I gave her PB twice, but she likes to hoard food in her mouth, so the effort was completely wasted. I sang to her as we rocked to sleep and that knocked her (and her hiccups) out.
2. Younger brothers can make really good relationship decisions.
We met my brother's fiancee's family this weekend. Cee and I had gone down to see the folks for a few days. It was my little sister's 3rd birthday too. My brother is 21 and getting married to a girl who's a few years older next August. The LT and I, and maybe Cee, are all in this ginormous wedding. It's going to be a hoot. Especially if my married sister and I are pregnant or have newborns at the time. Anyway I got to see my brother and his fiancee together and they are really great. It's kind of weird seeing a girl look at your brother with total love and devotion, especially since I changed his diapers and gave him baths and bottles, but it was really great too.
3. I can't remember what else I've learned, but there's probably a ton. Mothering a toddler is good for learning, even if you can't always remember what you've learned.

A spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down

And a spoonful of peanut butter makes the hiccups go away. I have no idea how.
Cee isn't really bothered when she gets the hiccups, but she gets them a lot at bedtime, where they understandably interfere with falling asleep. A couple of months ago, we were rocking for almost half an hour with hiccups when I remembered the peanut butter cure. Sure enough, a toddler-size spoonful of PB and Cee was asleep within minutes. I've used it several more times, including today right before naptime.
Wikihow.com has many methods of curing hiccups and puts the peanut butter cure at #44. The instructions are simple and has appropriate warnings included so people who have peanut allergies and those who aren't used to swallowing peanut butter without choking are forewarned about the risks inherent in this cure.
And speaking about being forewarned, evidently 16 adults need to be told that riding motorcycles in driving rain, cloud-to-ground lightning, and gale-force winds is a stupid idea. But we did it anyway and miraculously survived, although many brain cells were killed in the partying that ensued once we reached the hotel later that afternoon.

Babysitting is a dangerous job

But I hope it won't be when Grandma Debbie is here to take care of Cee for a few days while the LT and I take a little vacation. Grandma Debbie offered to watch Cee and the 3 dogs at our house, which was really nice of her. I suppose the only danger will be the fact that 18-month-olds don't sit still, and GD hasn't chased one around for 3 days at a stretch in several years. Cee can be tiring.
I've got lists of everything typed up (in a large font to GD won't have to put on her reading glasses). Cee's routine, how to make her cheesy bread, the fact that since she's GRANDMA, it's okay to spoil Cee. I mean, come on, an extra sippy cup of juice won't make Cee obese. Also how to care for the dogs and my plants and the fact that it's OKAY to run the air conditioner. The air's practically solid this week.
I've never been away from Cee overnight before, so this will be something new. We'll be gone 2 nights. I'm not at all worried about Cee. She just adores Grandma Debbie. Cee has also begun realizing that when Mommy goes away, she comes back. We've left her for a few hours with different people, and she doesn't really cry when we leave anymore. The only thing that might be tricky is bed time. Cee's never been put to bed by anyone but me. Also, she's not the most reliable sleeper in this world, even though she'll be 18 months old this week. But I know they'll muddle through, and it is only for 2 nights.
I'm really looking forward to 3 days and 2 nights with the LT. We haven't had much "us" time since Cee was born, so this will be fun.

Help Wanted

MJ over at Note to Self is part of a blogathon (boy, what a world we live in) this Saturday to raise money for HUGS (Helping Uplift Grieving Survivors) which helps families of police officers killed in the line of duty.
She has more details on her blog, including how to donate, so please check her out.

We thank Thee for Thy bounty

So said Pa (Charles Ingalls) at the end of The Long Winter when the family sat down to Christmas dinner in May. They were thankful for having enough food after almost starving during the winter.
I really try to remain thankful for everything I've got, even though I've never come close to starving. Cee and I went for a walk this morning, since it was so gorgeous out. I was telling Cee that she was a lucky girl to live in the country where we could take long walks and hear the birds and the bugs and smell the fresh air and not have to worry (much) about our safety.
We're also really lucky that even though gas and food prices are rising, we're still managing to get by on just the LT's salary. I'm spending almost $10 a week just on milk, which is enough to make you want to get your own cow.
We've also got an incredible family on both my and the LT's sides. Cee has great-grandparents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, dogs, and me and the LT. I hope she never has to wonder if she's loved.
We live in a really nice community with a fantastic school and a great church with our fantastic pastor. Cee is the darling of our congregation, and she runs around our church as if she owns the place.
We have our nice home that we are making various small, inexpensive improvements on, like new flooring, paint, and our sunporch (which was kind of expensive, I guess). Our home owner's policy covered getting a new roof and gutters after a massive hailstorm last August, and we had absolutely no problems with the insurance company.
We always have plenty of food on the table and no one ever comes to our house and goes hungry.
We're very blessed and I hope to always remember to thank God for His bounty.

Floored

We're finally getting rid of most of the carpet in our house. I personally don't like carpet. It's really hard to keep clean when you've got 3 dogs, an 18-month-old, and a husband.
The dogs like to eat strange things outside and then cannot properly digest them, and then I have to clean weird brown stains off carpet. And dogs shed. Lots. Even the ones with short hair.
Toddlers spill things. Lots.
The LT is actually fairly good about carpets. He doesn't throw up on them or spill his sippy cup all over. But he also hates cleaning up weird brown stains.
So we're ripping up all the carpet and putting down laminate. And by we, I mean he. I'll help pull up staples and carpet tacks and vacuum up dust and dog hair. But he's installing the flooring. He even watched the video this morning.
I'm actually pretty sure it'll turn out great. The LT is extremely anal and not afraid to call his dad for help, so while it might take awhile, it'll be completely great when it's done.

Also, thanks to MJ of Note to Self for the mention of little ol' me on her blogroll.

One does not love breathing

Ahh, yes, Emily, your Aubrey did blow this thing out of the water.

The Reading List
The Big Read is an NEA program designed to encourage community reading initiatives. They've come up with this list of the top 100 books, using criteria they don't explain, and they estimate that the average adult has only read 6 of these.
So, we are encouraged to:
1) Look at the list and bold those we have read.
2) Italicize those we intend to read.
3) Underline the books we LOVE
4) Reprint this list in our own blogs

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6 The Bible
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12 Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveler's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34 Emma - Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli's Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66 On the Road- Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones's Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte's Web - EB White
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

So what do you think?

Dogs rule and cats drool

Or is it the other way around? I got this in an email from a friend and thought it was just hilarious. Enjoy!
Excerpts from a Dog's Diary
8:00 am - Dog food! My favorite thing!
9:30 am - A car ride! My favorite thing!
9:40 am - A walk in the park! My favorite thing!
10:30 am - Got rubbed and petted! My favorite thing!
12:00 pm - Lunch! My favorite thing!
1:00 pm - Played in the yard! My favorite thing!
3:00 pm - Wagged my tail! My favorite thing!
5:00 pm - Milk bones! My favorite thing!
7:00 pm - Got to play ball! My favorite thing!
8:00 pm - Wow! Watched TV with the people! My favorite thing!
11:00 pm - Sleeping on the bed! My favorite thing!

Excerpts from a Cat's Daily Diary
Day 983 of my captivity
My captors continue to taunt me with bizarre little dangling objects.
They dine lavishly on fresh meat, while the other inmates and I are fed hash or some sort of dry nuggets. Although I make my contempt for the rations perfectly clear, I nevertheless must eat something in order to keep up my strength.
The only thing that keeps me going is my dream of escape. In an attempt to disgust them, I once again vomit on the carpet.
Today I decapitated a mouse and dropped its headless body at their feet. I had hoped this wo uld strike fear into their hearts, since it clearly demonstrates what I am capable of. However, they merely made condescending comments about what a 'good little hunter' I am. Bastards.
There was some sort of assembly of their accomplices tonight. I was placed in solitary confinement for the duration of the event. However, I could hear the noises and smell the food. I overheard that my confinement was due to the power of 'allergies.' I must learn what this means and how to use it to my advantage.
Today I was almost successful in an attempt to assassinate one of my tormentors by weaving around his feet as he was walking. I must try this again tomorrow -- but at the top of the stairs.
I am convinced that the other prisoners here are flunkies and snitches. The dog receives special privileges. He is regularly released - and seems to be more than willing to return. He is obviously retarded.
The bird has got to be an informant. I observe him communicating with the guards regularly. I am certain that he reports my every move. My captors have arranged protective custody for him in an elevated cell, so he is safe. For now..............

Happy Independence Day, Daddy

And to the rest of you too. Thank your favorite soldier today for giving us the chance to celebrate our independence for the 232nd year in a row.
I'm looking forward to taking Cee to the 4th of July fireworks and parades in a couple years, once she's old enough to enjoy it and not be scared of the fireworks. I'm also looking forward to explaining to her that her daddy is one of the brave soldiers (I hate the word "hero", so I don't use it) who helps keep our country safe.
The LT has been in the Army for almost 11 years and so has a little more than 9 to go before he can retire with a pension. He's had 2 deployments, neither of which involved children. At least, not where they were old enough to realize what was happening. But I'm a little nervous about when he gets deployed again. Because we'll have Cee, who will most certainly be old enough to realize that Daddy's gone, even if she doesn't really understand it. She realizes when he's gone now. And we'll probably have a 2nd child by that time, too. I know tons of moms have done this before me, and unfortunately, tons will do it after me, too.
I do believe that our soldiers are keeping our country safe. It's hard when they're overseas, but I can't even imagine what it would be like to have a war fought here, at home. I like knowing that when we go to bed at night, our little home is safe, or at least as safe as it can be. It must be hard raising kids in a place where bombs go off and foreign soldiers, or not foreign soldiers, can just come up to your house and search it.
Ugh. Too much gloom and doom for a happy holiday. Enjoy your fireworks and picnics. And pray for our soldiers, that we can celebrate for 232 years more.

Bibbity-Bobbity-Boo

There was magic this weekend. At least according to the guys.
My whole family except one brother spent the weekend at one sister's house while cheering another sister on in the Grandma's Marathon in Duluth. It was craziness. There were my parents, the running sister, her (almost) fiance and his mom, the hostess sister and her husband, my youngest brother, my youngest sister, me, the LT, and Cee. And 5 dogs. Uff-da.
We all showed up on Friday. Half of us stayed with the hostess sister, the other half at the hotel in Duluth. There wasn't as much magic on Friday night. There were screaming giggles from my overtired sister who's almost 3 and my overtired daughter at the restaurant. There were gutblasting laughs as those of us who stayed with the hostess watched Old School. But not much magic.
The magic arrived Saturday. We watched the runner sister cross the finish line. There was a 73-year-old woman who finished the marathon. I can hardly run 26.2 feet, and this woman ran 26.2 miles. Wow. Then we went back to the house where the hostess sister's husband spit a turkey (boy, that sounds funny when you first read it) and the wine/beer/other alcohol started flowing. And holy cow, did we have too much food. I ate so much junk that I couldn't eat the spitted turkey. After I put Cee to bed and my dad had also gone to bed, I found that the guys had pretty much banished the girls to the house so they (the guys) could drink beer, eat s'mores, tell obnoxious jokes, and pass gas. The guys ranged in age from 19-30, but under those circumstances, they were really all about 12. Evidently the girls ruined the "magic" or "mystique" in the words of the LT. So my sisters, mom, the almost-fiance's mom, and I crashed in the living room, joking about guys and their "magic" and talking about feet. Yes, it was just as weird as that sounds.
The next morning, the guys were telling us about the unicorns and pixie dust and how the wizard arrived just as one of the little dogs was humping a dwarf, and then the wizard turned the dog into a real boy, but only until midnight.
This is my family.

Enjoy Your Picture Show

Last night was the AFI's 10 Top 10. They had the top 10 movies in 10 different genres. It was really kind of cool. It should come as no surprise that the Animation category had Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs taking the top spot, or that 2001: A Space Odyssey was the #1 Sci-Fi film. What I thought was neat was a Charlie Chaplin film called City Lights was the best romantic comedy.
There are so many films I want to see, not only that are out now, but oldies and classics. My husband, the LT, likes to tease me about the movies I haven't seen. I remind him that I grew up with 4 younger siblings and am thus well-versed in such genres as Disney and the Muppets. My sisters and I can recite whole scenes from Beauty and the Beast and The Great Muppet Caper.
Actually, we can recite the whole movies from start to finish, songs included.
The LT and I love to watch movies. We've been subscribed to Netflix almost since it started and we've seen all kinds of films that you can't find at Blockbuster or your local convenience store. We've found that foreign films are best if they're subtitled instead of dubbed. You actually forget that you're "reading" the movie, but you just can't get around the lips moving out of sync with the audio. Quirky, independent movies are our favorites, like The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou and I Heart Huckabees. But you can't go wrong with a gut-blasting comedy like Anchorman and Knocked Up.
We got a PS3 a few weeks ago, which has a Blu-Ray player. With the PS3 we got 6 Blu-Ray movies. We watched Swordfish with Halle Berry, John Travolta, and Hugh Jackman. NOT the greatest movie ever, and since we have a really great TV, we couldn't actually see the improvement on graphics.
But that's okay. We got a couple of hours cuddling on the sofa and Cee actually stayed asleep the whole time, so it was kind of like our movie nights of pre-Cee which don't happen very often anymore. Hopefully we'll get more movie nights this summer, since Cee is sleeping better at night these days.

Truly Wonderful the Mind of a Child is

Boy, if anyone wants proof that kids watch and learn from their parents, all they've got to do is have a toddler. Cee emulates us in so many ways these days, it's incredible and a little scary to realize what responsibility we have in what she learns.
For example, ever since Cee learned to crawl, I've fed the dogs while she was in her high chair so she'd stay out of their food. They would eat and then I'd pick up the dishes, stack them together, and put the dishes up on the fridge. Well, a few weeks ago, Cee started going around and picking up each dish, handing it to me, and pointing up at the top of the fridge to tell me where it went. (She doesn't have many words yet, but she's fluent in "point and grunt.")
She also helps me unload the dishwasher, and lately she's noticed when dishes are dirty as I'm loading the dishwasher, and she now leaves them alone. She can also say "dirty" since I've been drilling it into her head for a few months now.
But the best one was this evening. Daddy came home from work (he's working weird hours this week) and was sitting down on the sofa relaxing before going to bed, as he's going back in to work at 1am. She walks over to our entertainment center, picks up the PS3 controller, and hands it to Daddy. She's OBVIOUSLY observed how much Daddy enjoys his video games.
As the wise Yoda said, "Truly wonderful the mind of a child is."

So It Begins

Hi, everyone.
I'm not entirely sure what this blog will be about. Probably a little bit of everything. I have a lot of interests and a lot of things to say about them. People who know me know I talk A LOT. This way, I can say what I have to say without boring the pants off people who don't want to listen to me.
I hope you find this blog interesting. I certainly think the things I have to say are interesting, DUH!