Happy Star Wars Day!!!

This Blog Post is Based on a True Story

Life has a way of throwing you for a loop and sometimes all you're left with is the question,"What the hell just happened?!"

Frequently, it's life occurences:

Receiving test results that are anything but positive

Dealing with the aftermath of a car turning the wrong way down a one-way street

Finding out that til death do us part was only until something better came along

Other times, it's walking into the gym and glancing up at the TVs and seeing nothing but smoke and police cars and headlines about a bombing at the Boston Marathon.

As these stories unfold, it's become pretty standard to question when the movie is going to be made. You know somewhere, someone is already working on the screenplay and subconsciously wondering if Daniel Day-Lewis would be interested in playing an FBI agent. While ex-cop Christopher Dorner's relatively short reign-of-terror was consuming Los Angeles, I couldn't help but think that if this had been a novel-turned-movie that it would be number one at the box office.

There are some stories that I think are importatnt to preserve as a movie, Hollywood poetic license notwithstanding. I thought Argo was very-well done and captured a small, albeit significant, chapter in our country's history. Last weekend, I had the immense pleasure of hearing movie-goers clapping in the theater as Jackie Robinson's story unfolded on the big screen.

But where do you draw the line? Nobody is going to applaud a movie showing Timothy McVeigh as a hard-working, misunderstood schmuck. I don't think that I would be quite so enthralled with the true story of the LA cop and what made him seek his form of revenge on innocent people. As a work of fiction where you're allowed to feel sympathy for what makes the antagonist tick, sure. Bring it on. As a piece that tries to offer insight into why someone would want to turn 26.2 miles of sweat and perserverance into a bloodbath, not so much. And that brings me to a rather perplexing situation I found myself in earlier.

Pain and Gain: Based on a true story. We're told that twice while we're watching it, just in case the insanity of it all made us forget. I left the theater feeling guilty.

It's a movie. Why should I feel guilty?

Because signifcant parts of this movie were very, very true. Others had some liberties taken with them. But ultimately, bad things happened to people. Their lives were changed forever. And this movie was entertaining. And at times, comedic. And number one at the box office.

I'm still struggling with how I feel about that.

Clickety-click here, here, and here to read the original source material. It's fairly long. Or you can click on the book to buy it from Amazon.

Twenty-Five Random Things About Me

I was cleaning up my Facebook page earlier and came across this. Remember when we all did these "notes"? And then you tagged people and they were supposed to answer the same questions. Well, I thought this was fun and decided that I didn't want to let it die completely, so here it is! These were my answers from January 2009. The majority of this stuff is still true. If anything has changed significantly, my updated randomness is next to the old randomosity in bold text.

Rules: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. I cheated... I don't think I picked 25 people... I'm such a rule-breaker. Ha.

*****
1. I am an obsessive sports fan. (I guess that's not so random... I think everyone already knew that!!)

2. I'm a foodie but I'm also a junk food junkie. I love to cook, I love to bake, and I'm obsessed with the Food Network. BUT.. I'm just as happy eating McDonalds.

3. French fries are my favorite food.

4. I would love to go to cooking school. I'm a recipe cooker/baker and would love to learn how to come up with my own recipes.

5. I have a nephew and five nieces but no kids of my own. The thought of such a thing terrifies me. I now have two nephews.

6. There is nothing more important to me than my family.

7. I have a cat named Kenobi.

8. I'm a major Star Wars geek and have been since I was about eleven years old.

9. I was a nanny in the DC area after I graduated from college.

10. I ♥ Jake Ryan. (Sixteen Candles)

11. I think Jessie's girl was a fool.

12. Perhaps I'm a little 80's crazed :)

13. I love to scrapbook... it's my creative outlet and my entire ktichen table is covered with scrapbook supplies. Haven't done much scrapbooking lately.

14. I carry a camera in my purse... 'cause you never know when you might run into someone famous.

15. Awards shows make me happy. On Oscar Sunday, I watch E! all day long for the pre-Oscar coverage and then stay up and watch the entire ceremony, regardless of how it lasts.

16. I'm pulling for Robert Downey Jr to win the Best Supporting Actor award, even though I know Heath Ledger is a shoo-in.

17. I fell asleep in the theater watching The Spirit...

18. I walked out of the theater during Talladega Nights...

19. But I thought the worst movie I've ever seen was The Break-Up.

20. I'm really pretty boring... and having a hard time thinking of 25 things!

21. I love hair bands and entertained the thought of going on Rock of Love. Okay, maybe not. But I still love hair bands.

22. I've seen Loverboy in concert more than any other band. I think at this point, I've ssen Poison more than Loverboy

23. I've only seen Bon Jovi twice. Isn't that sad???

24. This may surprise some of the people I tagged, but I hated high school with a fiery passion. You couldn't pay me to go back.

25. I'm kinda sensitive and my feelings get hurt easily. Yeah, yeah, I know. I'm working on it :)

My Lightbulb Moment

"So often times it happens that we live our lives in chains, and we never even know we have the key."

At some point last month, I had an epiphany. I rely too much on other people to make me happy and the majority of those people aren't nearly as invested in my happiness as I thought they were. I believe they care about me; I truly do. But they aren't giving me the support I so desperately crave.

On the other hand, I have a couple of really amazing people in my life who support me strongly and fiercly. Why was I wasting my energy being hurt by the people who can't be bothered when I should be focusing my time on myself and the people who are there for me? And when this epiphany took place, I think it may have changed my life. At least for one small speck in time, I decided that I am in control. Of MY happiness.

It's gonna be a great life!

Heartbroken and Shattered

I should be getting my house ready for company tomorrow, but I can't focus on anything except the thoughts of everyone impacted by the shooting in Newton, CT. My heart aches so badly for everyone. Thinking of those little lives lost is tearing me apart. And if this is how I feel, I can't even imagine how the families of those sweet babies are coping.

Mini Road Trip

All I want is to see some Christmas decorations... which means I'm dreaming of going to New York City. A place, I'd like to point out, that I've never visited. Disney World would work as well. I've never been there at Christmas time and it's something I'd really like to do.

So... I hopped in the car this morning and took a trip to Niagara-on-the-Lake. It's only about an hour from here, depending on how long you have to wait at the border crossing. My trip into Canada was quick, but the border agent was cranky. The trip back had a lovely long line, but the agent was a lot friendlier!

This was my third trip to this charming little town. I went several years ago with some friends and then I just went back this summer. I would have gone more often, but I dragged my feet on the concept of an enhanced license. I finally got one this year, so I figure I should get my money's worth!

Several of the shops had decorated Christmas trees which were on display in the Court House. They were really creative!

I had lunch at Taste, the same place I went in the summer. It's a colorful little bistro with sandwiches, soups, bakery items, and general yumminess. It was wicked crowded when I was there in July, but I guess I was the only hungry person today. I had a bowl of chicken and wild rice soup (no comparison to Panera, but still good) and a delicious half sandwich (which reminds of Sheldon asking Penny what happens to the other half of the sandwich on BBT). They have several standard sandwiches, or you can create your own. I made my own creation... turkey and smoked gouda with cranberry salsa on pumpernickel bread. Yummy.

I was also able to pick up some Christmas gifts. There are some really cute shops and I was glad I made it back to be able to get some awesome presents that weren't your run-of-the-mill candle and gift card option. Can't wait to give them!!

I'll admit that I was hoping for a huge Christmas tree... but most of the shops and restaurants had decorations and some of the window displays were beautiful. It was a quick little trip but it enhanced my Christmas spirit immensely.

December Daily

So I'm curious. When does this whole "my family moved away to a place they knew I wouldn't follow them to" thing get any easier?? Because I think the last six months have been harder than the first six months. I don't understand it.

Blah.

I'm waiting for my friends to get sick of me. Of course I know that isn't going to happen. Blessedly, my friends realize that even when I'm being emotional, it's genuine. But I'm starting to get sick of me! Isn't that fun?

All right. Pity party over.

It's been a really long time since I've actually scrapbooked. I've sort of switched over to creating photobooks on Snapfish and just uploading pics to Facebook. Recently I've started getting the itch to start scrapping again, though. I think a lot of that has to do with Pinterest. As I was pinning, I came upon the December Daily idea on Ali Edwards's blog. Since Christmas is my favorite time of year, I thought this might be fun. I also knew that I wasn't going to have a bazillion fun things planned like I assume most of the DD particants would. Of course, it doesn't help that my decorating is done! But I thought it might give me some incentive to at least search for some fun things to do. I decided to keep it VERY simple and just used one of those cheap little photo albums that you get at Michaels for $2. I took out the cover and created my own with some cute scrapbook paper I found. This way I'll be able to document each day in December leading up to Christmas and I will have some room for photos... but I won't feel bad about myself if I don't have a photo for each day!

I know I'll be doing a lot of baking and I have friends coming over one day, so I'll be able to document that. I thought this was a great idea and I'm excited to record 25 days worth of memories, even if some of the days are fairly routine (which I expect will be the case on the days I'm at work!) I'm using the daily overlays that Ali created for this year. For most days I'll just print out the day and journal on it. {And I'm pretty proud of myself for figuring out how to use her blank page to document a super cute story that was Christmas-related but outside of the December timeframe.} I'm hoping that I'll be able to use some of the overlays with pictures as well, though. I love the way it looks on her blog and I'm hoping to be able to do something similar. I just know ahead of time that I won't have a picture for each day. We'll see what the coming 20-ish days brings.

At any rate, this is my absolute favorite time of year and I'm looking forward to a great Christmas season! It prompted me to come up with a new phrase, which I'm hoping to work into conversation:

Your Bah Humbug is Not Welcome Here!

Special Delivery!

I really, really love Christmas cards. I wish more people sent them because I get giddy when I open my mailbox and there's a Christmas card in it. I always get mine sent out early... I like being the first card that people get.

This year, I decided that I was going to do them even earlier than usual. The child in me wanted to sent them to the North Pole and have them postmarked that way. So I wrote up all my cards, stuck 'em in an envelope, and sent them off to Santa the North Pole postmarking station. (Click here for the address and instructions. You still have some time if you want to do this, too!)

Every year I save one of the cards I sent. I like looking back at them and seeing what design I chose each year. I love the one from this year. Are those birds not absolutely adorable? Not only did I keep a copy for myself this year, I *mailed* it to myself! I wanted to see the postmark that everyone else would be getting! And to make it even more fun, on the inside of the card I put the year and listed all of the people I sent cards to.

I think I may have started a new tradition! Here is what the postmark looks like:

And I think I'm kind of in love with those stamps! They're perfect.

Easily Amused

Oh the joys of adulthood.

I noticed that my front tire was losing air, so I was a good girl and made an appointment to get that baby patched up. So I showed up for my appointment and I waited.

And I waited.

And I waited.

And then I was told that it couldn't be patched and that I need a new tire.

So I said okay.

And then they told me that they didn't have the tire in stock and would have to order it.

So I said okay again.

So they told me they were going to put the little fake donut on and that I shouldn't really drive it.

So I cried.

*eyeroll*

I'm not a big fan of cars. I think the main reason is that I don't like things that I can't fix myself. I told a friend today that's also the reason why I hate teeth. Ah yes, the lost art of self-dentistry.

When I came home I decided to do some blog-hopping and was happy to see that there was a new post on one of my favorite new blogs, Positively Present. There were some great links, including an article titled "19 Signs You're Doing Better Than You Think". Soundsd like something I *really* needed to read after my little meltdown.

So I clicked.

And I giggled:

Losing friends. A sure sign that life is going smoothly. Haha. Yep, told ya I was easily amused!

The article is good... you should read it! After you figure out who ditched you!

Channeling Sheldon

Soft kitty, warm kitty, little ball of fur.

Happy kitty, sleepy kitty, purr, purr, purr.