Return of the Movie Review...

Yes, that's right. These movies were so impressive that I had to publicly praise them. They all pleasantly surprised me! I had a busy 2 days...



AVATAR



Wow. James Cameron did me proud, once again. And once again he did great with an almost 3-hour movie. Full and intense, exciting, nail-biting, and well-rounded. Great cast, especially newcomer (to me) Sam Worthington. I wasn't sure I was going to enjoy the story, thought it might be strange. No. I loved it. I won't say much else because I think everyone should go see for themselves. I don't know anyone who wouldn't love this. But this should be viewed in the theaters. It was epic.



IT'S COMPLICATED



I knew this would be cute and funny, but I was impressed. The story was not predictable, the acting and cast were fabulous. Nancy Meyers directed it, as she did with "Somethings Gotta Give" and it definitely has the feel. It's a story of a woman (Meryl Streep) who's ex husband (Alec Baldwin) somewhat comes back into the picture, and the struggles and laughter that come with it, including her 3 kids, a love interest (Steve Martin-always the best), and her ex's new wife. I especially loved John Krasinski of course, who plays one of the daughter's fiance. He is so funny and it was great to see him in a movie with a great cast. I laughed aloud many times, I would definitely recommend seeing it!



P.S. I LOVE YOU



I know this is older, but I just discovered it. I hadn't planned on seeing it, I get "vibes" about movies and don't really pay attention to reviews unless they are from friends. But I found it on Netflix, and the user rating was 4 stars so I decided to give it a shot. It was a wonderful movie, heartbreaking and funny and hopeful. Unfortunately having the experience of astounding sadness a couple times in my life, I give a lot of credit when movies or television shows get it right. The list is short. The movie is about a recent widow (Hilary Swank) grieving so realistically throughout the movie, and who's deceased husband had planned out this letter situation before he died for his wife that takes her all over the place, holds surprises and gives us a look at the love they had. I was very moved by this movie, and it gave me a new appreciation for Hilary Swank. I haven't been interested in many of her past movies, but I now understand perfectly why she has 2 Oscars. Her performance was perfect throughout, playing all the emotions just as I would have hoped. Lisa Kudrow gives a refreshingly real but comedic performance as one of her best friends. There is also plenty of man-candy, with cute accents and rugged looks. Harry Connick Jr., Gerard Butler, and the adorable Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Grey's Anatomy Denny cutie). Great movie, feel-good ending!

When You Become A Mom...

* Sleep becomes expendable, as do showers and makeup.
* The words "stinky" and "disgusting" take on a whole new meaning, like when your child poops in the bathtub.
* You become more protective than a mama bear.
* The greatest gift in the world can be a box of diapers.
* You learn to eat last and fast.
* Unless you love laundry, like me, you're in trouble.
* EVERYTHING your child does is cute, even if he just mumbles something unintelligible. And that's okay.
* You pray for new things, like 30 more minutes of sleep, or that you didn't forget a second change of clothes for the baby.
* Preparedness is expected. If you forgot the change of clothes, you can't go home when your baby has had a blowout. You have to go to Old Navy or wrap him in your coat. True story.
* You can never bring enough diapers.
* You don't get embarrassed in public. At least not until he's 3. Until then, it's just funny.
* You get to relive parts of your childhood, and to me, that's one of the greatest gifts about kids.
* You always have an excuse to leave.
* There's nothing like having your child say, "Cuddle?" and climbing up to snuggle you. That happened today.
* When you get to hold him those first few hours, you just feel like, Mom. Even though you've only held him for a few hours.
* You have a whole new set of knowledge. You know everything about humidifiers, Diaper Genies, car seat regulations, developmental goals, which diaper and diaper cream is best, what foods they can and can't have at what age. You learn to count their age in weeks, and then months, and then when they're 2, you sigh with relief.
* You miss them while they sleep and can't imagine living in a world without them.
* You thank God EVERYDAY for his most wonderful blessing.

Hate.

Lets just get it out there.

Things I hate.

1. When it's freezing but the sun is out. Don't ask. It's like an oxymoron to me.
2. How the news is always SO dramatic with weather that we have every year. Like, "Winter Storm 2009" and "Heat Wave 2009". It's either too cold or too hot. God must be giggling and shaking his head saying, "I can't make you happy!"
3. Medical insurance and insurance companies in general. My sister recently took her son to the ER for a gash in his lip. ALL they did was put super glue on it, no tests, nothing. They are personally being charged I think about $3,000.00. I don't get it.
4. Rudeness. I have been blessed enough not to have experienced it publicly for a while, but we all have had a time where you want to shake someone who is just plain rude to service employees or people on the street. Have some manners!
5. Christmas overkill before Thanksgiving. It's like the other fall holidays don't even matter.
6. People who aren't thankful for anything. Shallow, angry, selfish people who don't realize they have it so much better than probably 85% of people on the planet. I try to remember everything I have been blessed with, despite the hard things I have endured. It occurs to me that it's nothing compared with having no home, no food for your babies, or sickness. I am blessed.
7. I hate what happened to the many law enforcement officers and countless people, where their lives are taken without a second thought. No appreciation for the life they had built, or the family they would leave behind. It breaks my heart to hear so many stories of awful things that happen everyday, and I just wish there was more compassion in the world.

Sorry for the rant, I promise next post will be more positive. But I am thankful for all I have.

Funny Story...

This will make you smile. So, Tristan got up from his nap the other day, and I gave him a piece of cheese as a snack. He asked for another, so I said, "Okay, but that's it." Of course he replies, "Okay, thank you Mommy." So polite. So I leaned down and asked him if I could have a bite. Of course he says yes and I take a bite. Then he looks at me all serious and says, "That's it, Mommy." LOL Oh really?

It has been a recent problem that T likes to "feed the dog" when he's eating by dropping his food on the floor. Now I have learned to put Sebastian in the other room. But he did it yesterday, and when I scolded him, he said, "It's okay Mommy, Bastian's hungry. I feed him." LOL It's hard to argue with, isn't it?

Sadness.

So, you know when something profound and life-changing happens to you, and you don't know how you will get through the day, but somehow you do? That is what I am experiencing. Only I've realized I am much stronger than I thought and it amazes me how many great friends and family members I have. Despite the pain I have gone through lately, they have been there for me and I would just like to thank each and every one of them. I love you. You know who you are.

As for the issue, I have not been blogging (sorry!) because I really didn't know what to write. It does feel good to write something, and I really couldn't blog about anything normal right now. At least not until I wrote about the truth. The truth is, my husband Chris moved out. I don't want to discuss specifics, some of you know so I don't really need to. At least not yet. I am sad, and heartbroken, and am taking small steps to pull myself together and move forward.

That's all for now.