It's Always Something...

Ever notice when you get something behind you that you've been dreading, life throws you something new?  Well, I hate that!  I think we need a mandatory 1 week "down time" before the next, "are you kidding me" type deal arrives that your mind fixates on.

As you might have guessed, I have been worrying about something (small by the weight of the world standards) but it was troubling.  I hate stress.  I think it should be outlawed.  I bet Obama will claim he can do that in his re-election bid!  (And make all of Paula Deene's recipes fat free without removing any of her fabulous ingredients!  He should really claim that one!  It would go a LONG way with the Southern states! Just saying!)

Anyway, the issues got resolved today with mostly excellent results!  YIPPIE!  I see myself pulling right off of the stress interstate and into calmville when WHAM!, hit by the stress bus I didn't see coming!  Why?  Oh...yeah...that's life! 

It really isn't even stress but those things that I let bother me.  We've all got 'em.  Those nagging little things that tell you what a bad person you are!  The real deal is we are all bad people without grace and forgiveness!  But, we rank the bad, don't we? 

Here's the deal, I am divorced.  I was married for 7 months (yes, I said months) and then I...yes, me...made the decision to end the marriage.  I take full responsibility for my actions.  I was stupid.  Some people judge me based on that fact.  Some don't even know they are doing it but they do it just the same...because it isn't what they would have done.  They would never have done that!  Well, you sure didn't walk that mile in my shoes.  The shoes I still have to wear and feel bad about every time it comes to mind.  I know that divorce is something that God hates.  I know that if you remarry, as I have, then you commit adultry.  All of these are truths.  I acknowledge my mistakes.  Thank goodness there are people so much better than me. 

BUT, are they?  Of course not.  We are all sinners saved by grace.  Before my divorce (besides being young and stupid) I looked down on people and thought of myself as better many times because I hadn't made in "big mistakes."  Afterwards, I looked at myself for what I am...a worthless sinner in need of Jesus!  I knew I needed Him before, but that divorce opened my heart to knowing that we all walk this road of life and make mistakes.  We all need forgiveness from our Lord.  A litttle compassion from each other is also a really good thing!

So, next time I start to stand on a "I would never have done that" type moment, I hope I remember how I felt when someone did it to me.  It sure doesn't feel good.

(I promise that one of these days I will get back to writing about movies and more fun stuff.  I just needed to purge this before I let it bother me and send me heading 100 mph down that stress interstate!)

Countdown...

I am on the countdown to my 40th birthday. Yippie...right? Actually, who cares? Another number. Another birthday. I wish I had done things by now that I haven't and I have regrets. That's life...right? Maybe.

The last couple of years have been...um...less than great. That happens. Life isn't a promise of the easy. However, it has made me into a person who doesn't want to expect anything good because disappointment seems to follow me around. Am I doing this to myself by expecting too much? More than likely. But, don't we all do that from time to time? I think so. We all grow up expecting fairytales and those don't exist outside of the movies.

I have much to be thankful for and I hope I can focus on those things as I move forward instead of the things that I can't change. Unhappiness can pull us all under if we let it. We just have to start each day telling ourselves that we will not go quietly into that goodnight. Attitude is everything! Having a sense of humor sure doesn't hurt either!

Of course, when all this goes wrong, I am for running away! Location suggestions and willling parties to join me are welcome!

Can't Stop Singing It...

If you read the previous post, you will see how I went on and on about Damon finally kissing Elena on The Vampire Diaries.  You might also remember me mentioning the song that was playing and that it matched up so very nicely.  OK.  I have that song stuck in my head and I find myself singing it all the time.  In meetings, in the elevator, in my office.  Thankfully, that last one is usually only heard by me but those other times are a bit awkward!  (BTW - I was not blessed with the ability to sing well.  See that post about Adele for more on that fact!)

Anyway, I can't get the tune out of my head so I thought I might pass it along.  Perhaps, just by blogging about it, I can transfer it from my head to yours.  It's worth a shot.  People are starting to complain.

So, here is my latest song obsession.  I even found one of those (usually horrible) fan made videos with the song.  This one is good so I am using it instead of the video with the lyrics which really needed some help to even approach being good.  Anyway, enjoy...

So, there you go.  If you hear me singing this one, join in!

Vampires...CW Version and Depp Version

I really thought that the whole vampire fad would have faded by now.  Was I ever wrong!  They are more popular than ever and in a good way.  In fact, I think they are getting cooler.  (Goodbye Edward, it is time to kick you out of this party!)

First up, The Vampire Diaries.  This is my guilty pleasure.  I have written about it before so I won't go into details about the show except to say that it revolves around a love triangle.  Two brothers, frozen in time due to being vampires, are both in love with the same girl.  (Look back at that other post for how they have sorta loved her before because she looks exactly like the vampire that turned them over a hundred years ago!)  Elena is the beautiful girl next door.  Stefan is the "good" brother while Damon is the "bad" brother.  OR...so it was up until recently.  Now Stefan is all about his villain status and Damon is all about saving those he loves.  Of course, he loves Elena who, up until he went nuts, was in love with Stefan.  Now, Stefan isn't in love with her (or so he claims) and Elena is boyfriendless.  Whew!  Got it?  Good!  Last week, Damon and Elena finally kissed.  I am usually yelling at him to kiss her (I also do this with Richard Castle who also never listens!!) and this time he did!  AWWW!  Let's take a look and then I'll break it down....

This scene is awesome!  Why?  Thanks for asking!  First, Damon could allow Elena to believe Stefan to be worse than he is but he tells her the truth.  Then he tells her exactly what he wants...her.  He looks like he is going to do the good guy thing and walk away but, in great Damon fashion, he walks back up to kiss her.  I LOVE the way he grabs her head then slides his hands into her hair!  He had me with that move.  (OK...he had me when he showed up on screen three years ago.)  Then Elena, instead of pushing him away, puts her hands over his wrists.  I have actually written a kiss similar to this and I got it so right because this was hot and sweet all wrapped together!  Catch the music?  "One door swinging open and one door swinging closed."  How wonderful is that?  You can never overestimate the power of the right music!  Then there is that great pull back that is so slow you think one of them might lean in again.  Finally, the "Goodnight" delivered by Damon is the sexiest Goodnight I have ever heard!  Way to rock this scene Ian and Nina!  (In case you don't know, these two are an item outside of their work on the show and I think we get a nice look at that chemistry!)

Now, to the newest vampire on the block.  Well, he has actually been around for years but someone near and dear to my heart is reviving him.  Welcome back, Barnabas Collins!  Johnny Depp will bring the vampire off the 1960/1970s Dark Shadows to life (or death...not sure) this year!  I remember the show...total early 70s creepy...and I can think of no better team than Depp and Tim Burton to bring it to the big screen.  Take a look at what Johnny looks like on the set.

Creepy?  Check!  Scary?  Check?  Still sexy?  Call me crazy, but check!  Don't get me wrong, he looks totally weird.  However, it is the crazy, creative side of him that I really love.  He disappears right into a character and that rocks!  See you at the movies, Johnny!  (Oh...I also saw where you finally broke up with the French chick.  Does that mean you are offically back on the market?  Why?  Oh...um...just asking for a friend...)

Crazy, Stupid, Love

In case you missed it, that blog title is the name of a really funny movie that came out earlier this year.  I was talking to a coworker (actually one of our pastors that works with me) and he mentioned that he had seen a movie where the girl in the movie (Emma Stone, as it turns out) had my exact personality.  OH NO was my first thought!  He described the movie and I asked him if it was Crazy, Stupid, Love.  He said yes and I told him I heard it was great but I hadn't seen it.  I told him I would check it out.  Of course, I HAD to check it out to see this character that he thought was my personality!  You really never know what people think of you so I was curious to see what he thought of me.  Honestly, based on the movie, I'm fairly goofy!  Yep, just as I suspected! 

Anyway, that comment made me rent the movie but it turned out to be a real winner!  It was laugh out loud funny!  I appreciate a clever movie that can make me laugh so I give this one two thumbs up!  In case you haven't seen it, here is the trailer. 

So, it follows Steve Carell's character who is going through a divorce from his wife played by Julianne Moore.  Carell meet a "ladies man" who schools him on how to pick up women.  That would be the ever gorgeous Ryan Gosling (Remember The Notebook?  Remember that scene in the rain?  Yeah, I thought so!).  Then poor Ryan gets the rug pulled out from under him when a girl he tried to hit on and failed shows up and changes his world.  The plot has more going on but I don't want to spoil it all.

I will go ahead and spoil one part.  SO...SPOILER ALERT!  Don't read past this part.  OK...still with me?  One of my favorite parts is when Hannah (Emma Stone) thinks that her boyfriend is going to ask her to marry him.  She is a lawyer and has just passed the Bar Exam.  Instead, he asks her to join his law firm.  She snaps and heads off to find the hot guy who hit on her in the bar.  Before I let you take a look at that scene, please know that I don't drink, pick up guys in bars or throw the f-bomb around like she is about to.  The goofy part?  Yep, probably me!  (Oh...sorry for the stupid subtitles but this is the only version I could find.)

Let me just say, he would have had me after that move too!  (The single version of me!  Geez folks!)  Anyway, Ryan can actually do the Dirty Dancing lift!  I just saw a "year in review" deal and he pulled that move off with Al Roker on The Today Show while he was promoting the movie!  AL ROKER!  Not only can he really do the move, he really looks like he is Photoshopped! 

So, what happens next?  Well, I think that is the best part.  Check it out.

I won't give anything else away.  Go rent this one for yourself and enjoy a good movie!

A Good Book and a Warm Bath

In the movie Jerry MaGuire, Renée Zellweger's character Dorothy utters this line, "I've had three lovers in the past four years, and they all ran a distant second to a good book and a warm bath."  I guarantee that Dorothy was talking about a Nora Robert's book.

I have a theory that I think holds true for all women.  Here it is.  No matter how bad your day has been, if you light some candles, fill a tub with hot water and read a Nora Robert's book, your outlook on life will change for the better.  Your problems will look smaller, your sadness will be less and your anxiety level will be lowered when you get around to pulling the plug on the tub. 

For those of you who have never read a Nora book, you are missing out.  She is hands down the best writer of women's fiction EVER.  Yep, I said EVER!  Why?  I'll tell you.  Even though she has more than a hundred books to her name, her characters are always fresh, funny, and relatable.  She does however follow a pattern that works, at least for me, everytime.  The men are, without fail, handsome, successful and intelligent gentlemen!  They can be lawyers, writers, architects, artists, or professors.  Just when I think I have met my favorite one, she writes another one!  (I am leaving out the JD Robb books which Nora writes under the aforementioned pen name.  I have to leave those out because it isn't fair to the other guys.  Roarke rocks both on and off planet.  Read one and you will know what I mean!)

This has been a hard week.  Heck, this has been a hard year.  The holidays haven't helped because, like most other women, I have presents to buy (I actually have a color coded Excel spreadsheet for gifts...it's a sickness), presents to wrap, trees (yes, multiple) to decorate, housework to do, cooking (have I mentioned I hate cooking?) and what seems like a million other things on a never ending to do list!  Add to that a couple of months of stress levels that have made my Fibromyalgia go into hyperdrive and I am tense, ticked, and tired.  So, tonight I decided to throw my responsiblities to the wind and take a bath.  I didn't even have a new Nora book.  I dug an old one out and started reading!  Amazingly enough, the books even work on second, third or fourth reads! 

As I really relaxed for the first time in what seemed like weeks, that quote from Jerry MaGuire popped to mind.  Yeah, it is probably because Nora can write sex like no one else.  There, I said it.  She writes amazing sex and that is why I think Dorothy was talking about a Nora Roberts book in her famous quote.  Is it because she is such an awesome writer?  Yes and not really.  I think any woman, if she could articulate well enough, could come up with similar.  And, let's be honest, women writers know what women really want.  That is why I tell all my guy friends to pick up a Nora book and learn a thing or two about wooing a woman!

How about just a small sample of Nora's magic?  One of her recent novels was about a woman who had, years before, been the lone survivor of a serial killer.  She rebuilt her life and now trains dogs...both pets and search and rescue dogs.  I know what you are thinking.  Serial killer survior who trains dogs?!  What?! How can this be a "romance novel" setting?!  Well, Nora isn't the typical romance novelist and that is why I called her a women's fiction writer.  She can write murder, mystery, suspense and sex all at the same time.  Sometimes she skips the murder and it is just pretty people in cool jobs falling in love.  That works too.  Anyway, her book about the dog trainer is titled, The Search.  The love interst in this one is an artist.  I liked him immediately.  He is tempermental, says what he means even if he steps on toes and, as always, is handsome, successful and an intelligent gentleman.  The two "leads" are equally matched and they verbally battle right up until they move the battle to...well...read the book and see for yourself!  Oh, did I mention a copy cat serial killer is out to finish the job on the woman?  Yep, Nora keeps you on your toes.

There you have it.  The cure for the crappy day.  A good book...I obviously recommend Nora Roberts...and a warm bath.  I promise it will not disappoint!  Ask Dorothy!

Breaking Dawn ~ Part 1

I finally went to see the much anticipated first part of Breaking Dawn.  (No lunch and a 4 o'clock showing was too much to pass up!)  The second part of the movie comes out next November.  I think it is a big mistake.  It is my belief that Twilight has ran its course.  This time next year we will be wanting the next Hunger Games movie.  Just saying.

Anyway, this one stays close to the book and actually moves fast for a two hour movie.  It starts with the wedding.  Finally, Bella and Edward are going to have their dream wedding.  Well, it is really Alice's dream wedding but they play the leading roles.  Oh...I should say right now that this is going to have SPOILERS, SPOILERS, and more SPOILERS.  I am not kidding.  I already told you they had a wedding! 

OK.  Still with me?  Good!  So, the wedding is lovely.  Very Cullen...read overboard.  Bella's hair bothers me in this part because she is described in the book as being gorgeous at the wedding.  Well, she is not!  Her hair has these pieces hanging down and it just looks half done.  Can someone get a better hair person on the set?!  Guess not! 

As much as I criticize Kristen Stewart, I think this movie was her best.  She really looked nervous as she started down the aisle and that exactly ties into the book.  As soon as she locks eyes with Edwards, she makes you believe that she loves him (not hard since Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson a.k.a. Edward really are a couple!).  BUT...she does a good job.  I had a silly smile on my face throughout the entire wedding.  Part of it was that they filmed the kiss with the camera rotating around them and the crowd was gone.  It was just like the first movie when they danced at the prom.  The best part was they used the same song and it was great!  I like full circle and this was great full circle. 

Anyway, then there were these hysterical toasts.  Anna Kendrick talks about the famous "Edward hair" to which I laughed out loud and Bella's father says he knows Edward will be a good husband because he is in law enforcement (the dad, not Edward) and he knows how to hunt people and use a gun!  Love that Billy Burke!  Shortly thereafter the newlyweds leave on their honeymoon.  Bella says goodbye (AGAIN) to Jacob and they fight.  He discovers that Bella and Edward plan on having a real honeymoon and he fears Bella will be killed.  She says it's none of his business, blah, blah, blah.  Honestly, I think Taylor Lautner is sick of playing Jacob.  He didn't seem to be even trying during part of the movie.  Robert Pattinson was worse too at times or the make up was just bad.  Again...hair and make up!  Who hired these folks?!

So, they arrive at the big honeymoon!  Yep, we have all waited for it!  The book doesn't go into much detail.  The movie shows some "love scenes" but they are tame and I thought nicely done.  Not too much.  I always disliked the part of the book where Edward goes on and on about hurting Bella and they downplayed that part.  For those who haven't read the books, Edward is super strong and he is very hesitant to have sex with Bella while she is still human for fear he will hurt her.  As it turns out, he bruises her shoulder and arms a little.  SO WHAT?!  Anyway, he is grief stricken by this fact and refuses to touch her again.  (Funny part - he totally trashes the bedroom...way more than in the book.  The bed is broken as is other furniture and the feather pillows are toast..hence the picture which was the first image released for the movie.) 

Edward sets off to entertain Bella by playing chess and going swimming.  Yep, playing chess is going to turn her right off.  However, we women are sneaky and men are easy (usually) when it comes to sex so she brings him around to her line of thinking.  Then she gets sick.  No worries, she'll just take some meds she brought with her.  Then she spies the Tampax box and things click up.  Uh oh...she's late and, although she didn't notice before, she has a tiny belly and something is kicking her from the inside!  Edward freaks out and tells her he will have Carlisle (his adopted vampire father who is a doctor) get rid of the thing.  Bella freaks out at him calling the baby a thing and decides to protect the baby. 

Fast forward a couple of weeks and Bella is now hugely pregnant and looking horrible!  Kristen Stewart rocks this part!  It is pretty much every picture of her you see in People magazine when she is at the airport, grocery store, etc!  Stringy hair, pale skin, yucky clothes.  So, the Cullen clan all just sit and watch her like a ticking time bomb!  Let me stop here again to say that their hair and make up is getting crazy looking.  Poor Jasper looks worse in each movie.  Can someone get that guy a decent wig?! 

All this time the wolf pack that Jacob belongs to are running around fighting because part of them think Bella's demon baby is a threat and they want to kill her.  Jacob, although upset with her, isn't going to hurt Bella.  So, the wolf pack is at odds and Jacob and his posse join up with the Cullens. 

Bella continues to waste away until Jacob comes up with a thought that Edward reads out of his head.  (Yes, Edward can read every one's mind except Bella,  Go figure!)  The idea is that the baby, being half vamp, wants blood.  Bella agrees to try to drink some blood and the day is saved!  Well, maybe not.   That baby still has to get out and it is getting stronger by the day.  Edward can read the baby's mind and he bonds with it.  That part was actually very sweet and I think the actors pulled it off very well.  It is the first moment Bella and Edward are on the same page with the baby being a miracle and a blessing.  Again, sappy smile was on my face.

As fate would have it, the doctor is out when Bella goes into labor.  It is actually more like Bella's back breaks or something and then really bad things start happening.  Kristen Stewart can really bring the painful looks so she is again good in the birthing scene.  She also plays dead well!  I think they took the "Bella didn't make it" part too far because it isn't like that in the book.  Once Edward injects his venom into her heart, she starts to transform more quickly. 

I will have to give kudos to the special effects folks for making Kristen look so bad then transforming her as she is becoming a vampire.  It is very cool to see her go from ghastly to beautiful and then...wait for it...her eyes to pop open and be blood red.  CUT TO BLACK!  Wait a year and see what happens.  I'll let you in on something now, it has its ups and downs but they have their happily ever after.

Recap...wedding, sex, pregnancy gone wrong, birth gone really wrong, cute baby vamp/girl, vampire Bella.

Join me next year as we finally put a steak in this one and call it done.  I, for one, am really to see Katniss bring it in The Hunger Games!  Sorry, Bella, I am kinda over you.