Marley & Me!!!

All I can say is "Wow". And *sniff sniff*. And *tear tear*. And *sigh*.

Marley & Me is hands-down the BEST movie I have seen in a long time. You laugh, you cry, you reminisce, you scowl, you shake your head, you have sympathy, you rejoice, you feel the character's pain, you hope that you are never in those situations, you wish you could have what they have. It is simply a 'whole' movie, if you will.

If you have not read the book this movie was based on, READ IT! If you have ever owned, petted, walked, talked to, held, or even seen a dog from across a field, this movie and/or book will tug at every heart string you have. Do not, however, come crying to me if one of those heart strings breaks.

Oh yeah, and Owen Wilson is pretty cute in this movie too, so that helps :)

So, 2009, and all that Jazz

You know what I love about New Years? I feel like it is a total fresh slate and we get to start all over. Isn't that strange though? Tomorrow morning I will not wake up not knowing what I did today. If I was an awful person today, I will likely be an awful person tomorrow. I am reminded though of a Quote from one of my all-time favorite mini-series. It is Anne of Green Gables. Strangely enough, I have never read all the books. Can that be a resolution? Anyway, Marilla and Anne are speaking about one of Anne's many mistakes and Marilla says "Tomorrow is always fresh, with no mistakes in it." How great is that. Even on your worst day, there is still tomorrow and tomorrow can be great. AMEN! So, that applies to the New Year too. 2009, here I come!
So I guess when it comes to my resolutions here goes:

1) I am going to *try* to read all of the "Anne" books. I know that my mom had the entire series all of my life and I walked by them nearly every day without giving them a second thought. Literally- they were on a bookshelf next to our bedroom door. I never got past book #2, so this year, I will try. I will NOT, however, try to read Pride and Prejudice again- sorry Tara Jean, I just cannot do it!

2) I am going to strive to be a better Mom, Wife, and person in general. I will limit my computer time but not limit the time I spend playing with Kyle. Dishes be damned! I will hold Larabee's hand more often just so he knows I love that he is there beside me. I will not yell at stupid people on the road, even if they are not good drivers who are risking my life and my child's just by being on the road. I don't believe in flipping people off to begin with, so I don't need to stop doing that, I just need to stop doing it mentally. Yes, I admit, I think dirty thoughts-well, OK mean thoughts, but dirty ones too ;)

3) I will play with my dogs more. I have two now and they need to be played with more. The darlings, all they want is attention and love- which they do get, don't get me wrong- but I will strive to give them more. Even if that means being in the middle of a rope tug of war, with one in each hand because they refuse to play tug of war with each other.

4) I will be more organized. I do pretty well, but some things always slip through the cracks. Like washing the sheets. Gross, i know. I did write it on the calender though so that i would not have an excuse next week. Ha! I am already doing better! I will update you in a week to let you know if I stuck by that resolution LOL

5) I will quit saying I will do things only to put them off. Instead I will just do them. I need to be more accountable to myself. If I don't take care of the things that I am supposed to in a timely manner than I will have to go to bed. For the rest of the day. While Kyle is at Grandma's. Oh wait, that isn't punishment. Dang it!

OK, well, that is 5. I am sure there are more things I could work on but lets not get ahead of ourselves. Besides, all I really want to do is be a better person and learn and grow (not in size, but in spirit- unless I get pregnant, than size is OK too). Last year was nowhere close to perfect, so I hope that this year will sort of give us a break. Last year was wonderful too, so I hope that this year will be more wonderful! Do I ask too much? Luck is when preparation meets opportunity so hopefully we have some of that this year! And hopefully you all do to! Happy New Year everyone!

"Father Hood"-Patrick Swayze circa 1993

We have Netflix. The reason we have Netflix is to be able to watch the latest movies as soon as they come out. Well, except for this one. Now, I am not the biggest P.S. fan- I do LOVE Dirty Dancing and he was alright in Black Dog, but other than that I can take him or leave him. Of course, I will totally take him if I got to play Baby on Dirty Dancing- fun fun!

Anyhow- that was off topic!

A few months ago we went to Cascade Caverns, which is just West of San Antonio. It was a quaint little family owned joint that was pretty podunk, but that was part of it's charm. When we were taking the tour the guide told us that this movie called "Father Hood" had scenes that were filmed there. We put it on our Netflix list as soon as we got home. But we are high-graders. We kept bumping it down the list so that we could satisfy our need to have the newest thing available.

Last week I noticed that it had crept back up to the top of the list, like the proverbial tortoise, slowly overtaking the hare. The hare being all the cool new movies that everyone has to see first so they can be the 'cool' person. I was going to bump it back down, you know, put it in it's place. I think that I was, however, in a mood that made me really feel for the underdog. I probably just got done watching Oprah- that will make you want to go buy every bum on the street dinner at a five star restaurant(which would get expensive in San Antonio!). Damn Oprah.

I let "Father Hood" remain at the #1 position. I let the underdog be top dog. I put the second string in for the big game. I am heading toward sainthood I tell ya!

Turns out this movie was really pretty good. With the exception of the corny fighting and bad stunts and special effects that are pretty much part of any movie from the 80's and early 90's. And with the exception of Patrick's hair. Gross and oily. Bleh.

It was pretty neat to see the park the way it was in the movie and the way it was when we were there too. Sort of like being able to say, "Hey, I knew that girl and now she is on TV". I feel a connection with the movie. Especially the dinosaur at the entrance to the park (which is now located by the old gift shop amid a huge prickly pear cactus). So, if you get a chance, watch it!

Holiday Bliss

So much for posting every day. I will try to get better though, I promise!

Our Christmas was wonderful, as usual. Well, I guess this one was more wonderful because Kyle is big enough to participate. He got lots of fun presents and had a great time opening them. He got some books, toys, golf balls, etc. He loved the tradition of eating cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning and ate almost a whole one by himself (bad Mommy!). We got some good video of him and lots of pictures.

For Christmas dinner we went to the RV lodge and did a potluck with everyone in the park. There was a ton of good food and, best of all, very little clean-up for us! Yay! After dinner there was karaoke and Mom and I stayed down there and sang a few songs. It was pretty fun.

The day after Christmas we headed up to Northern Texas to spend a few days with a friend's family. They live in the country and have about 47 acres, so it was great to get away from it all. We have spent most of our lives 'away from it all', so it was a great little mini-vacation for us. The dogs got to spend a lot of time just running and exploring. Kyle got to do the same, though he cannot quite run yet. It was great to spend time with Wayne and Sage, getting to meet Al, Gail, and Wendy, and getting to recharge our souls. If we cannot spend Christmas at home at least we got to spend Christmas around family and friends. We had a lot of fun, Kyle had a blast, and the dogs were in heaven. What more could we ask for!