Wordless Wednesday - December 26, 2012

Currently feeling: hungry

Merry Christmas 2012

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all! I wish you peace and joy during whatever holidays you celebrate this season and throughout the coming year. And now, for the annual posting of my favorite holiday poem.



Believe
Believe in Christmas Magic
Believe in Ancient Lore
Believe in a hundred impossible things
The New Year may hold in store

Believe in Heavenly Angels
In Santas and Elves by the score
Believe in a hundred impossible things
In Flying Reindeer and more

Believe in a Babe in a manger
In Wise Men and gifts galore
Believe in a million impossible things
You've never believed before

-Author Unknown

Currently feeling: merry and bright

Movie Musings - The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Hmm, I'm not quite sure what to say about The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (but since when has that ever stopped me?). It was good, but not great, IMO. Keep in mind that I have never actually read any Tolkien at all (despite repeated attempts, I never seem to get very far; I just don't like his writing style). However, from talking to my friends who have read it, that did not seem to affect how good (or not) they thought the film was. In fact, as is often the case for readers of the book that a film is based on, they were probably more frustrated with some of the aspects than I was. The story is a very wide ranging adventure, and I am enjoying the expansion of the scope of Middle Earth. Learning a bit more about the various races and how some of the animosity between dwarves and elves came to be is great (I'm a sucker for backstory!). All of the information being provided is quite interesting. But I do think the tone and pacing of the film is very uneven. A friend (whose favorite book ever is The Hobbit) believes that it is the parts of the film that are NOT from the book that cause the clash. Scenes actually from The Hobbit are generally much more lighthearted (relatively speaking) than those that use additional material (either from other Tolkien books or that were completely made up) which is more in keeping with the Lord of the Rings films, thus they clash tonally. With that thought in mind, I could probably tell you exactly what was in the book and what wasn't, without having actually read it. The parts that (I suspect) were from the book flowed quite well.

I do feel I should mention that it is rated PG-13 for a reason. I had originally hoped it would be rated PG and that we might be able to take Luke, but the PG-13 rating killed that. Given that this is supposedly based on a children's novel, I thought that perhaps it was more of a "soft" PG-13, but no. I think my friend Leah described it best: the level of violence is more in keeping with Two Towers or Return of the King than Fellowship. In terms of whether or not to take my son, Gollum made that an automatic no for me, but even without any Gollum scenes, the violence is still a no go for him at age 8.

I don't think the humor was handled as deftly as it was in Lord of the Rings. There were several lines and moments that you could tell were supposed to be funny but just sort of fell flat. I don't know if it was the delivery or simply the placement of the jokes (i.e. how it was edited). Some worked, but most did not. I do quite like the dwarves, though I also find them a bit uneven. Some seem to be mere cartoons or caricatures in both action and appearance, while others seem almost human. There are 13 of them, though I can really only uniquely identify 6 or 7, and even then, I don't know the names of all 6-7, which is sad after spending nearly 3 hours with them. I do find the leader (Thorin; see, I know his name!) quite compelling; his presence on screen is amazing. Watching the dwarves fight together is wonderful. It is approaching Cirque du Soleil in its artistry and choreography, definitely a well oiled machine. It makes me wish there was perhaps another dwarf or two in Lord of the Rings; I think that would have made things interesting. I am a bit confused with the timing of the "original" (I suppose) battle at Moria vs what happens later in Fellowship. Supposedly only 60 years have elapsed between the beginning of The Hobbit and the beginning of Fellowship, but I can't quite make it all work. Again, according to friends who have read the book, the timeline is quite compressed, so maybe that's part of the problem. (I'm thinking about it too hard! LOL)

My biggest complaint about the film is that it is far too long. I should not be looking at my "watch" every 30-45 minutes, which equates to 5-6 times during a film of this length. Fellowship of the Ring is equally long, and that movie just flies by, to me. (It is far and away my favorite LOTR film.) But here is the even scarier part: I know a little of the story of The Hobbit. I did see the animated version eons and ages ago. In this three hour film, they've hit all of the bits that I remember, except for the final showdown. I mean, logically based on where this film ended (after the eagles, and they can see the peak far off in the distance), they have to actually *get* to the mountain, which I imagine is the majority of film 2. They've also set a few pieces in motion, but they are not bits of the story that I remember (though I admit my memory is likely quite faulty in that respect). I'm just not quite sure what's left for them to do in two more films and another 5-6 hours before we get to the dragon, and I'm really not sure I want to sit through it. I will, of course, because I'm curious and a fan, but I also foresee it being a somewhat tedious journey. Smaug looks absolutely breathtaking in the teensy snippets I've seen, though, so I am truly looking forward to that. So, pack your lambas bread, and let's go! I hope the end of the journey is worth it.
Currently feeling: ready for second breakfast

Lights and Bows

Though we usually put up some sort of decorations for Christmas, we have never decorated the outside of the house. Well, I take that back. Last year, I think, we hung a single 18 foot garland strung with a single string of colored lights around the front door. It looked a bit sad, but it did hold off the whining from the child asking for lights on the house. I've known since we moved in that our white brick house would look dazzling decked out in white lights at Christmas, but we've been lacking either in time or money to do something about it. When I found strands of white lights on sale at Big Lots, I snapped them up. I wanted to go with something easy for my first attempt, so we put a strand around the inside of each window and around the outside of the front door.



Well, okay, not bad, but they look a little... empty. Like they're empty frames waiting for something. I know what I would ultimately like to do (wreaths hanging in each window, lit with spot lights from the outside), but I'd spent most of my decorating budget already on the lights. What about bows? I priced them at various stores, and the ones that were large enough ranged in price from $5-$15. Given that I needed at least 7 of them, that was still more than I wanted to spend. I checked out the Dollar Store to see what they had, and I found spools of wired ribbon. Surely I am smart enough to figure out how to make a wired bow myself (with the help of YouTube, if need be) that's cheaper than the $8-$12 that Michael's is charging? So home I went with about 10 spools of ribbon (wanted to practice with a couple first).



Not bad, especially for my first try and a total of 2 hours of work. The red ones took one 9-foot spool each, and the white one took two (which is why it has four tails instead of just two). I think they're marvelous, if I do say so myself. (I'm suddenly having to resist "bowing" everything in sight, and I'm not even really a bow person!) Add lights, and you get this!



I couldn't be more thrilled with how they turned out. I'm sure I'll get to my "dream decorations" one day, but for now, these are merry and bright enough to make me smile each and every time I see them.


Currently feeling: shiny and bright

Wordless Wednesday - December 19, 2012

Currently feeling: ready for Christmas to get here (even if everything isn't ready)

Sandy Hook Elementary Shooting

(I've been told this post should come with a tissue warning, so you might want to grab a couple before you start reading.)

I debated for quite a while whether or not I was going to post anything on my blog about the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, CT. Documenting things like this is not really why I keep a blog. However, it has had an extremely profound effect on me in the last couple of days. I didn't know anything about what had happened until I got in my car to drive home from work on Friday just after 4PM. We don't have TVs or radios on the floor (they're not forbidden, just no one has them that I know of), I don't check Facebook or Twitter while I'm at work (generally speaking), and there were even fewer people than usual in the office on Friday, so there wasn't much "news" from the outside coming into or out of the floor. When I did finally hear, I was in tears most of the way home, which combined with a horrible fluttery feeling in my chest that I knew would not subside until I had my own child in my sight. DH waited until I got home to pick up Luke from after school care, but that probably wasn't a bad thing, since it gave me several minutes to compose myself.

Luke was his usual oblivious self, which I didn't mind in this particular case. I don't know if he had heard anything about it on Friday or not, but if he had, he didn't mention it. We kept the television off all weekend, at least while he was awake (well, off cable; there were plenty of video games and DVDs). We did have a small moment of levity on Saturday. They had the news on at the restaurant where we ate lunch, though the sound was not on. I had positioned Luke so that he could not see the TV, because I had no idea what they might show. When they flashed a picture of the guns involved, I just shook my head and commented to my husband, "who really *needs* an assault rifle?" Luke looked at me, very puzzled. "What is assault rifle? That means it fires salt??!!" If only that were the case! We couldn't help but laugh, though the overall situation is very much not funny.

I spent most of the weekend pondering whether or not to tell him what happened. My protective instinct said no. If someone coming to his school and killing kids was something that had never occurred to him, it was not a concept I wanted to introduce. Why scare him about something he hasn't even thought of? On the other hand, I certainly didn't want him finding out at school from the other kids. Goodness knows what wild versions of the story they'll have by tomorrow (not in any malicious way, just in the way that many young children don't truly grasp what is going on, so they start making up their own details). I decided I would rather him hear it from me, though I was quite vague on the details beyond a man came to the school and shot some teachers and some students, but that it happened far away. He was largely unphased by the conversation. He didn't have any questions or seem afraid. We'll see if he has any questions or concerns when he gets home tomorrow.

I, on the other hand, am still quite shaken even after two days. That is unusual for me, especially for something that happened so far away. I actually remember the last time I cried about something like this: September 11. I've been very sad about things that have happened since then, but it was sadness for the people involved. This? It rocked me. I'm still tearing up about it two days later. The smallest things start them flowing down my cheeks. Like this:



Before Friday, I would have walked into *my* bathroom and found Luke's socks laying there on *my* bathmat and been a bit annoyed, perhaps with a touch of humor but probably not. "He has his own bathroom," I would have thought to myself on any other day, "it is part of the reason we bought this house. I don't understand why he doesn't use that one and leave his dirty socks there. Or better yet, put them in his dirty clothes hamper!" But Friday night? I both smiled and started bawling. My 8 year old son left these socks there. My son, who was home that night to leave his socks there. In Connecticut, there are 20 families where a child is not home, and never will be again; 20 homes where parents will never again see little socks haphazardly left laying about. I've had plenty of similar moments all weekend. Mere glimpses of the stash of Christmas presents for him in my closet, the toys scattered all over the den floor, his stocking hanging in the den (that one is particularly bad), the coughing coming from behind his bedroom door late at night.... all of these things have started a fresh onslaught of tears. He's here, he's home, he's safe, and I've never been more grateful.

But there is something else mingled with the tears of gratitude: a touch of fear. More than a touch, if I'm being completely honest, and that is terribly unusual for me. Call me strong or call me naive, but even when things have happened in other places in the US, I'm not generally fearful. Sad, of course; concerned, yes, perhaps wary even, but not afraid. After the daycare shooting, I was of course concerned about him, but I wasn't truly scared. We went to the movie theater to see The Dark Knight Rises the same day as the Aurora shooting. I was on guard for anything suspicious, much more alert to my surroundings than usual, but I wasn't afraid. I'm always concerned for my son, even occasionally worried for him. I know there is no promise of tomorrow. But for some reason, this is different. There's knowing that, and then there's being slapped in the face with that knowledge, especially the realization that even if I am with him, I cannot necessarily protect him. Worrying for him is one thing; suddenly being afraid for him every waking moment is quite another. The fear is lessening some each day, but it is still there, an icy patch behind my heart. Putting Luke on the bus tomorrow is going to be one of the hardest things I've ever done. But I don't want him to be afraid, so I will also try not to be. That said, I'm betting that fluttery feeling comes back and sticks around all day until we pick him up after work.

I'm not forgetting the teachers and administrators, who gave their lives trying to protect those children. They couldn't protect those kids, though they literally gave everything in the attempt. That only overlays another level of fear. My father teaches middle school. Is the day coming where he will have to make that decision? That he may have to choose between seeing his own children and grandchild again or to protect the lives of someone else's children in that moment? I have no doubt what his choice would be, and I'm proud of that, but it also scares me silly. No one should ever have to make that choice.

Y'all know I don't usually post anything even vaguely political or religious on my blog. I also hope you know that I love you all, no matter what your religious or political views are. So I hope what I am about to post does not offend any of you. My cousin Joe married a lovely woman named Amy. She and Joe have two beautiful children, both younger than Luke. She moved me to tears with her thoughts on Friday's events, which she posted on Facebook. It actually brought me great comfort on Friday evening when I really needed to hear it. I will leave you with her words:

"Today has shaken me to the core, which is a very rare thing for me. I don't think it was even the atrocity of what that man did, because in our history, worse has been done. I think I realized that I have nurtured, loved and protected my children since they were in the womb, and I will do that until my last breath. They are my joy, my light and my heart. But today it really hit home that no matter what I do and how careful I am, I cannot truly protect them. It was not mine to say when they would be born and I will not say when they die. It is very unnerving, and yet oddly comforting, to know that I am not the one in control of my children. I want nothing more than to protect and shelter them from everything bad, but at the end of the day, I know that the One who holds their lives and their forever is the only one who loves them more than me." -Amy C.

Currently feeling: sadness almost beyond words

Christmas 2012 To Do List

Sorry there haven't been many updates this month. We've been very very busy! I seem to be adding things to my to do list faster than I'm knocking them off (note: the list above is just a representative sample). I did come to the realization a few days ago that everything will not get done, and I'm (mostly) okay with that. A few things are getting done: decorating, crafting (L is doing a great job with the gifts he is making, but I can't share those on the blog yet), and working. I cannot believe how much less I get done going into the office instead of working at home. It is staggering. Really didn't think it would make *that* much difference, but it does.

House is (mostly) decorated, tree in living room (still never undecorated from last year or the year before), working on stockings (long story), Christmas cards done. Finished shopping for three people, still two people to go (for whom I have essentially nothing; so hard to buy for!). This coming week starts the food cycle, and then people will be here on Friday! Are you ready?

Currently feeling: on the run