Long time since I posted anything....

And much has happened! In the past few months I cut bangs, we adopted a rescue dog who we named Jasper, celebrated various holidays (and a much needed inauguration!), went to Hawaii, I started working out with a trainer on a regular basis and much more. After several months of limited computer access and various problems it is great to have my laptop fully functional and working normally again so I plan to do much more in the way of documenting my life and what I am reading and watching and doing.

Happy New Year!

2008 was a good year but a hard year in many ways. From the worst moments (losing our Abe in June) to the best (adopting Jasper in November) it was mainly an emotional one for us. Here's to hoping 2009 brings more positive and happy moments than sad ones!

Happy Halloween!!!!!

It is Friday October 31, 2008 and I am very happy it is Halloween. Tonight I plan to hand out candy wearing my green feathered witch hat and relax.

I've been watching horror movies over the past couple of weeks in honor of Halloween and here are my reviews:

Catacombs - This one gets a big D minus from me. It is fun at first (the concept of a movie set in the catacombs below Paris is awesome) but then it just becomes an endless boring loop of watching the main character running around lost and freaked out and then it gets a little nonsensical. The ending was a bit of a surprise to me, but didn't make up for the rest at all. The singer Pink costars and in case you were wondering, yes, her character was annoying and she is a terrible actress. Not recommended.

The Messengers - Family moves to scary old house in the country and the teenage daughter and toddler son see scary stuff. The little boy in this movie was extremely cute and the acting was okay but the plot was predictable and and despite a couple of "jump" moments it just wasn't scary. Not recommended.

Grindhouse - Super fun! I really liked the seventies feel of the whole thing from the opening credits to the scratched footage to the "previews" in between. The movies had their weak points but were still lots of fun to watch and the ending of Death Proof was horrible yet also awesome. Recommended.

Waxwork - I remember loving this movie in the late eighties and when I saw it was on On Demand I had to see it again. It is way cheesier than I remember (and looks so dated now!) but it is still a pretty neat movie all the same. The concept of all the scary waxwork scenes coming to life and characters being able to enter into those vignettes is still really appealing and this movie still has lots of fans twenty years after it was released. Recommended.

October Surprise

Sometimes there are days when nothing good happens and it feels like doom...other days make you feel like there are such things as good omens. We went to Home Depot and bought a shed last Saturday and then Jeff put it together and filled it with most of our stored stuff in the garage. It freed up a lot of space and made us feel a lot better. I think it really was a good omen too - Jeff found his missing wedding ring last Sunday while going through and cleaning! He'd lost it on his big trip this past summer and went crazy going through his stuff trying to find it and we'd given up hope. It was hiding in a bag with his AAA guidebooks! We'd even gone and bought a replacement for it two weeks ago that he hadn't even gotten around to wearing yet. So I was able to return the replacement ring to the store we'd bought it at last night. YAY!

Book Signing

Last night I went to MOA to a book signing by Vicki Myron for her book Dewey: the small town library cat who touched the world. I got a copy for myself signed and also one to give to my mom for Christmas. Vicki was nice and very gracious. I'll post a picture here of it once I get them downloaded.

Good News!

I just found out my brother is coming home for Thanksgiving! I am so excited! It is going to be the best Thanksgiving ever, I just know it. Here he is with a very suspicious looking Miss Lucy the last time he visited us.

Sweetie is the cuteness...

It's been a while since I last posted. Lots going on, most of it good. But I just discovered something that I HAD to post about.

I occasionally visit the site Cute Overload because I love animals and it is fun to see all the cuteness. I clicked on a Youtube video called "Scottish Fold" not really understanding what that meant, but now I think it refers to kitties with ears folded over forward because there was a kitten with ears like that playing.

I was sitting on the little couch with the laptop and Sweetie napping on the backrest behind me and after I watched that first video I clicked on another Scottish Fold one to see another cat. This one had a black and white kitten that looked a lot like Sweetie probably did when she was a baby. I looked over my shoulder at my little cat to compare and discovered she had woken up and was staring at the video INTENTLY. When the kitten on the screen meowed Sweetie loomed toward the screen in surprise. She couldn't believe it, especially since she doesn't get exposure to cats very much (except when her doppelganger with the missing tail sneaks into our yard) so it is always a BIG deal for her to see another cat. It was really cute to see Sweetie's reaction. We watched a couple more videos together and then when I turned them off Sweetie turned around, curled in a ball and went to sleep.

Yay for the Powderhorn Park Art Fair

Last Saturday I went to the art fair in Powderhorn Park with my mom. We had a really good time. It was a hot but nice sunny day. I think this art fair is so much better than the Uptown one, and I'll definitely try to visit it again next year. The layout is nice - you just walk around the lake and visit the booths along the lake side - and not overwhelming because it isn't too big and crowded. I think the quality of artists' work was better too. I found lots of things I liked and even got a few things, including some magnets, a gold squiggly ring (only ten bucks!) and best of all, a small Brenna Busse doll for my wall as a present from my mom for my upcoming birthday. (I'll post a photo here soon.) I love her work and it is fun to see how it evolves and changes over time.