Five Things I love Friday

1. Coffee. Bogie and I did a juice fast this week and I've been without caffeine for 6 days (but who's counting?). I can't wait until tomorrow when I'm done exclusively juicing and can have some coffee! I'll go easy with some decaf because I have no desire to be jittery, but oh that taste! I miss it.

2. Cheesy sci-fi B movies. They crack me up, no lie. A guilty pleasure perhaps, but I can't help it. "Megashark vs. Giant Octopus" was hilarious. The acting was so heinous I was actually wincing during one conversation between 2 leads. Bad acting, cheesy effects, plot holes galore...it all adds up to some great entertainment. Prehistoric shark and octopus, both so huge that the shark can swallow submarines whole and the octopus can snap off an offshore oil rig like a doll's head. Oh, and the shark can leap out of the ocean so high that it can take out a plane flying high above the ocean. Come on, that's good stuff!

3. Books. While some are a chore to read through (coughcoughjamesjoycecoughcough) I adore books. I love the way they look, the smell, the feel of the pages in my hands. A good book sucks me in and makes me a part of its world, and I love that escape. I've always been a fast reader, and when I'm in the zone I can rip through a good book in a matter of hours and totally don't hear people when they're speaking to me. It's awesome.





4. HelloGiggles website. The brainchild of Zooey Deschanel, Sophia Rossi, and  Molly Mcaleer, this website is full of intelligent, funny, and amusing tidbits. Articles, videos, artwork, links, rants, raves...and all in good, clean fun! Go there!






5.  Magazines. I only subscribe to two, Real Simple and Martha Stewart Living (MSL was a promotional thingy, I got a year free for signing up for something...maybe it was a survey, I don't remember. Point being the magazine was free!) Real Simple just rocks my socks off, I love the organizing and cleaning tips they give. MSL is a little over-the-top, every time I see the cover I think "overachiever" but it was free and has just as many good organizing and cleaning tips, plus lots of decorating and food insights. Each day one of them comes in the mail is like a tiny Christmas morning at the mailbox!

Prayer Request

I had problems getting to sleep last night, I'm so stressed out.

We have come to the end of our stay here at the in-laws. Don't worry, there haven't been any blow-ups or burned bridges or anything, we're just ready to be back in our own place, and they're ready to be empty-nesters again and be able to visit their grandchildren. They've been more than generous through this whole thing, and we'd like to not wear out our welcome!
With that being said, we can't move into a new place without proving to the new landlord that we can afford it. Nobody wants to rent to somebody on unemployment, even if they have a good renter's history. So I need to find a job. I've been looking. I can't find a job. and without a job, I stay on unemployment. On unemployment, landlords get very squeamish about letting you rent their places. If we can't find a place to rent, we can't move out. and we need to move out. I need my own house again.

It's quite the vicious cycle and it's very depressing to be on. If you wouldn't mind, please pray that I find a job soon, and that we find a good deal on a house/apartment that's big enough to suit our needs! We had previously found a place that we loved, it was huge and totally would have worked but has since been rented, so we're dealing with the emotions of that too. Adding bummed out to stressed out does not make for a good mix.
Not to mention I was maintaining a pretty high level of stress to begin with, so we've just peaked into supersonic stress, which is not a good place to be when you're caring for a preschooler and toddler 24/7. Pretty sure I'd qualify for tranquilizers right now.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go write some poetry and wish that I had chocolate in the house.

You might be a mother if:

-you've ever gone somewhere by yourself and felt like you were forgetting something the whole time because you didn't have any kids with you
-your children's dirty laundry makes you wish they made washing machines with built-in garbage disposals
-you've ever stood with your head in the fridge so you could eat a snack unnoticed
-there are tiny little fingerprints all over your computer screen
-your dream vehicle* involves self-closing, sliding doors on BOTH sides of the vehicle
-your husband has never looked sexier than when he's reading "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" to your children
- at bathtime you wash your child's armpit just a liiiiiiiittle bit longer than is actually necessary
-you've ever had your finger bitten because it was in someone's mouth checking for teeth
-you've ever been dancing with a guy and not only did you have to lead but he was sitting on your hip
- you've ever taught your 1 year old how to fist-bump
-you don't mind having to wait at the bank/post office/ nail salon because you're alone and it's quiet
-your knuckles are all scraped up from too-short sidewalk chalk
-you've ever bought a 4-pound tub of peanut butter
-you've ever used baby shampoo to wash your hair because you ran out of your own and the kids' shampoo was your only option
-you've ever used one of your t-shirts for your child's finger-painting smock


*while it would be nice for our current van to have doors on both sides, that is NOT my dream vehicle.
This is.

July Movies

My movies for July were the original "King Kong" (that's right, baby!) and a Dick Van Dyke/Debbie Reynolds film called "Divorce, American Style".

King Kong was my black and white film, made in 1933 with two directors, Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack, although both were uncredited. Starring Fay Wray, Robert Armstrong, and Bruce Cabot, it is the original "beauty tames the beast". I have seen enough bits and pieces that I couldn't quite remember if I'd seen it or not, but after viewing it in its entirety I can safely say that I had not! I enjoyed it very much, although it helps if you maintain an attitude of "I'm watching a classic" because otherwise you'll get caught up in picking the film apart for the questionable acting and ancient animation. (I mean, it was made in 1933 for crying out loud!) I did get pretty tired of the screaming though. You'd think, even if this girl was actually in a gargantuan gorilla's hand, that she would eventually get tired of screaming. I mean, why keep screaming when you're clearly safe (albeit being carried around like a doll)? "Oh, no, I'm still in his hand! AH!" If anything, stop shrieking and yell for help, dingdong. That was really my only beef with this film, although there were some parts where you could clearly tell that falling "bodies" were dummies, but again, it was made in 1933. I would most definitely watch it again, I mean, it's a classic! You can't help but be sad when this poor gorilla meets his end, in the words of Carl Denham "It wasn't the airplanes. It was Beauty killed the Beast."


My color film was called "Divorce, American Style" (1967, directed by Bud Yorkin). I recorded it because I love Debbie Reynolds, and Dick Van Dyke is usually pretty funny, although it wasn't quite what I was expecting. It had too many serious moments to be a straight-up comedy, and too many weird, quirky parts to be a drama. It definitely leaned more towards comedy, though, but the whole film didn't really know what it wanted to be. It was rather depressing, actually. There were some lighthearted moments of "that's totally what marriage is like!" that were amusing, but in the end they get back together because they're "soulmates" and yet the film ends with them starting up an argument again like it's a good thing. "oh, look, they're back to their old tricks, life is just like it used to be!" but if these people were a real-life couple they would have some serious issues that needed to be dealt with in counseling. There wasn't enough of a hopeful foundation laid in the interest of the marriage continuing for it to end on an argument, it needed to end on a hopeful note with their reconciliation. Or if they really wanted it to end on an argument, then give us more substance on the reasons for the marriage to continue other than "it's easier than divorce". It's too bad really, because I like both of the main actors, but I won't be watching this one again any time soon.

 And that, my friends, marks the 6th month mark of my New Year's Resolution! I will be targeting some specific films now, that are the reason I started this resolution in the first place. "You haven't seen Blanketty Blank??? Where have you been?" so be expecting some weird combinations in the next couple months!

Wordless Wednesday