2008 Faves

Some of my favorite things from 2008-
*Tina Fey!
*BBC America original sci-fi programming
*David Tennant as Dr. Who
*Rachel Maddow
*Fringe (best new show on network TV)
*Olympics
*Jack Johnson (best CD of the year)
*Taylor Swift (why would Nashville execs think middle aged women wouldn't like this great, creative kid?)
*Iron Man
*Tropic Thunder (one of the funniest movies ever)
*Twilight - the movie
*Cloris Leachman (cool again and the only decent thing about a dismal DWTS season)

And there have been some irritants this year -
*Jonas Brothers (I know some critics say they are talented, but right now they just dress like poser alt artists, and why on earth did they attempt to remake Aha's perfection of Take on Me?)
*Breaking Dawn - the book (characters should evolve, but not change the essence of who they are - and just a weird story line)
*Katy Perry (overmerchandized, overplayed, and are all the bells and whistles to cover up a lack of talent?)
*Jennifer Aniston (yes, you are hot to be almost 40 - but please cover it up, shut up about the ex (we all know he was in the wrong), find a grown up to date, and be the powerful, talented grown up woman you should be instead of trying to act like you are half your age - too many women half your age look up to you and need to know you can be single and proud of who you are at age 38 without trying to act like you're in your 20s again) - yes, working with college aged women gets me fired up on this subject!

I live with three piggies

Yes, I live with three piggies. These people are eating me out of house and home. One would expect that from teenage Sonny Boy. Yet, tiny (but out of this world metabolism) little gymnast Princess out eats him most days. And how does a 54 year old man keep eating like he is half his age and not gain weight? It blows my mind.

Mom was down the other day and she is always kind enough to cook when she visits. Any cooking or cleaning is always greatly appreciated. She made a large pot of mashed potatoes, and full skillet of green beans, bread, and a huge crockpot of 10 chicken breasts with cream soup. Princess had 3rds that night. Sonny Boy and Hubby had huge heaping plates. Mom thought it would last for a couple days for leftovers - yeah, right. The last of it was in tupperware last night about 9:30 when I went to bed. I was in bed, sound machine going, lights out, thinking about my favorite tennis shot. Hubby comes in and says he just needs to get some socks. He leaves. He is back in a few minutes for something else, and then starts discussing what final present we should get Princess for Christmas. I also remind him he has less than 24 hours to give me a viable suggestion of what he wants or he has no say-so. He keeps talking, but at least the lights were out and he couldn't see that I was ignoring him, had my eyes closed, and was trying to sleep.

Our bedroom door was open, and the hall light was turned on. Then Sonny Boy is in the room, turning on the overhead light, and holding the tupperware with the last part of the leftover chicken. He asks if he can have it. "Go away, both of you!" I say. Then Hubby says, "No, that's my lunch for tomorrow." "But I'm starving and there is nothing to eat in this house!" (even though the pantry, cabinets, freezer and refrigerator are all full) They continue to stand beside my bed, lights on, pulling the tupperware between them and arguing over who can eat it. It's 10pm by now.

"Both of you go away now! I don't care what you eat - just turn out the light, close the door and let me go to sleep!!"

My life...

Ridin' Dirty

Here I am in front of my beloved Nissan - purchased right out of grad school and lovingly driven for 16 years. I've never had a ticket (knock on wood), but apparently my car has been attracting attention lately. Two weeks ago, I was two blocks from home, on my way to work. I stopped (or thought I did) at a stop sign, right in front of a police car. I wondered why he was there - thought he might be visiting someone in the home. He followed me after I turned left and then flashed his lights after a couple blocks. I couldn't imagine why. Then the nice young man proceeded to ask me if I knew what a Missouri stop was - I had no idea. I guess in a stick shift, one does start to roll through stop signs and not realize it. I only received a warning (with my clean record), but it took a couple hours for my heart rate to go down.

Then last night, I was heading back from a tennis match in a different part of town and saw two police cars stopped. After I drove by (definitely under the limit), one car turned and followed me a couple blocks. Then the lights flashed. I guess I am becoming so experienced at this that my heart was used to it and the beats didn't increase at all. Another nice young man - turned out one of my headlights was out. I had no idea, but thanked him and he sent me on my way.

Now Hubby hasn't been that helpful. I called him after the first incident, to let him know that the police were really watching in our neighborhood and to make sure he didn't speed or pause at stop signs. He asked if I'd been pulled, and when I muttered "yes," he started laughing. I hung up the cell immediately. And then last night I called and said I needed him to go immediately to the auto parts store and purchase a right headlamp. He asked why, and I told him, and he started laughing again. I won't print what I said, but I said it, and then hung up on him again.

Sonny Boy thinks my car looks like I'm a wild teenager and that's why they're pulling me. I just hope this is the end. Guess I should drive the hated minivan more often.

Alternate Life?

Sonny Boy has really been on it lately. He feels he is not meant to be an average teenage boy living in the Southern flatlands. He is meant to live in the mountains with snow from October - May. He is in reality a cool snowboarding dude. Life is so unfair - if only his father and I would find jobs in some appropriate place, he could live the true snowboarding life. He could be the next Shaun White. He could have enough money that he could totally forget school, and then he could ship me off to Spain or Scotland so that I would totally stay out of his unruly hair. It's so unfair!

Life's not fair, I tell him. No need to mince words in the attempt to be a smothering mother. If my life had been different, I would be a globe traveling tennis commentator after a rather successful tennis career (consistent top 20 player), and Carlos Moya would be inviting me to come to Majorca with him.

Another fantasy bites the dust...

Any follower of this blog knows that Princess and I are avid watchers of Dancing with the Stars. She and I recently ran across a workout DVD (only $9!) for DWTS. Professional dancers Maks, Kym, and Ashley lead the workouts and they focus on 4 dances. One of them is the Paso Doble.

I normally don't go straight to sleep when my head hits the pillow at night. To keep myself from thinking about work or housecleaning that needs to be done, I try to think of fun, relaxing or enjoyable things. Numerous nights I imagined Maks teaching me to dance the Paso Doble. I would always be in a beautiful black and red dress with a huge flowing skirt. I owned that dance.

Well, instead of this workout video bringing to life one small fantasy, it's destroyed it. I stink at the Paso Doble. Then I thought I can at least move my hips (unlike Shannon Elizabeth), so perhaps the Cha Cha was my dance. Well, my right hip hurt a fair bit the next day.

I am even all the more impressed with Cloris Leachman now.

Twilight - the Movie

I haven't been sure what to make about the huge fuss over the new Twilight movie. I enjoyed the series (well, at least until the last book when the character development got really skewed), and I was looking forward to the movie. Wow - has it created a stir.

Let's get this out of the way first - Catherine Hardwicke took a rather thin (but interesting) story line with little action and gave it gravitas. And instead of some bubblegum kids to star, she found real actors. This director and the two leads made all the difference in the world. This could have been as painful as A Cinderella Story, but it definitely was not. The visuals, pacing, interaction of characters, and intensity was very well done. It was a fun and intense ride. One could connect with the characters (even the vampires - I particularly liked Rosalie!). Okay - maybe the highly sought teen boy demo can't connect - but Sonny Boy can just keep seeing all the Adam Sandler movies he wants.

For the next movie (yes, there will be one after the first two weeks' take), let's hope they get more money for the FX. That could have been improved. And I am all for the story line being ramped up a bit. Overall, definitely a movie worth seeing, even if you have not read the books. My grade - B.