What I did this weekend

Now, for something completely different. I'm a homemaker. Jason got me a really neat gingerbread house kit this weekend. So, I made our gingerbread dream home. Okay, I really just made the only house you can make from that kit. Check it out!



Pictures without flash, too dark, with strangely bright. Ugh.


We also went to see the Liesure Kings again this weekend. It was teh awesome, as usual. And hilarious.

State Farm

You all know I was in an accident earlier this year. What you may not know, is that my husband, car enthusiast, has a perfect driving record. Not one speeding ticket, never an accident (okay, a woman rear ended him once, but it wasn't his fault) and the only claim he's ever filed is for a windshield.

Me, not so much. I'm a reformed speeder, and I've been in accidents. I think I may have expressed my extreme pleasure with my insurance company, Progressive. They not only took great care of me after the accident, they gave me more for my car than I was expecting, and they didn't raise my rate one penny. This is because (I guess) I've been a customer for a measly six years. I am very happy with them.

So, can anyone explain to me, within reason, why Jason's insurance rates went up? He's been charged a surcharge and lost his good driver discount for MY accident. I know they want me on there just to make sure it's all good. But this is ridiculous. He's been a customer of theirs for longer than I have been with Progressive. I dont' think he's EVER had insurance elsewhere. I called to discuss this with them on Thursday, and very nicely, they informed me that they were taking my risk into account. I'm expecting a call back from the head agent, but I'm not holding my breath.

There's no word for what they're doing. It's immoral, it's not fair, and it's making me really angry.

Plus, we've suffered through at least 3 letters a week from that office that are thinly veiled insults. Bumper stickers that say "please don't hit me, I'm not sure about my coverage". Not to mention the trees they waste sending Jason a billion statements each month. You know what? State Farm? I'm more sure of my coverage with Progressive now than I ever have been before.

Camcorder!

Check over at I never grew up for a great camcorder giveaway. I sure want to win! Check it out and cross your fingers! The contest ends Jan 2nd.

What does a pirate say?

Christmas Present

That one sanctuary? For me, it's books. Look over there to the left. I'm a librarian by profession and I love it. I think one reason I love it so, is that I know the wonder of books. When I'm reading, I can be completely transported to somewhere else.

When I started writing that last entry, I was feeling down about losing a child-like aspect of myself. I never really thought I'd grow up, and I guess it snuck up on me. I think what I still miss is being so easily pleased. The feeling of utter joy in those $1 surprise bags that really held some junk and a yo-yo.

I think that much of this IS in fact something that's it's appropriate to let go of. I don't need those things to make me happy anymore, I have more important things, like my husband, that make me even happier.

And those books, well, they'll never let me down.

Christmas Past

Do you know what I miss? Probably not, unless you're inside my head. It's something that I never thought I'd be parted from. It's something that we've all had. It's something that you may be able to fuzzily guess from the title of this post. I miss.....

Toys. I don't really miss particular toys, though, I'd like to still have some of my My Little Ponies, or the kitchen set. I don't miss having toys to play with, if I wanted to, I could go out and get anything I really wanted. What I miss is the concept of toys. I miss seeing a commercial for something simple (say, a water gun, or a new doll) and seeing in that moment the potential for fun. Thinking, WOW! I miss playtime. Getting so lost in a fantasy about something so minor that you don't hear your parents calling you for dinner, or see the street lights go on.

You see, I miss the promise of toys more than I do the actuality of them. There was a time in each of our lives that some piece of plastic, or metal, or wood, something simple held so much. They were to be sought after, shown off, and shared. These real, physical, easily attainable things were goals for us. They were huge parts of our lives. They were what we wanted instead of a house, or a new car, or an iphone. As we grew, so did the costs of our desires.

I guess what it really gets down to, is that I miss pretending. I miss the time when my imagination was rich enough to turn a sneaker into a car. The water from a garden hose into a river, or my crossed ankles into a mermaid's tail. I think that the real shame is that adults don't pretend as much. We're not allowed to. It's childish. Some adults turn to things like drugs and alcohol to achieve this kind of escape. I want it back. I want to pretend, but somehow, now it seems difficult. Like I'm trapped now in the real world, and my way out shrank to a hole that I can't fit through anymore. It seems life is so complicated now that nothing comes without strings. If you want that new house, there's maintainance. iPhone? Contract. Huge TV? Satellite. Even our hobbies carry strings like that. If I want to take up knitting, I have to buy all of these supplies. If I decided to play golf? Clubs, green fees, etc. Maybe this is something only temporarily gone. Maybe this is nothing that I should mourn the loss of, maybe it's simple materialism.

I want a toy. One, simple thing that I can make into a thousand complicated ones. I want to be able to turn the cubby under the stairs into a castle again, and the swings into airplanes. I want to be the childlike empress with a pearl necklace around my head, and it to be fun, not hard. I want to toboggan.

p.s.
I've decided something while I've been writing this. There is one sanctuary of pretend left for us adults. Know what it is? Post it in a comment, and I'll let slip soon.

r

Australia

This weekend's movie of choice was Australia starring Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman. Directed by Baz Luhrman, this film has been getting a lot of hype as an Oscar contender. I had seen the previews and I was interested even before I knew who was directing, but once I saw his name, I was really excited. If you like sweeping, and over the top and sometimes strange, Baz is your guy. Strictly Ballroom, Romeo + Juliet, Moulin Rouge, all great movies in my opinion. So, with an almost 3 hour running time, I settled into the theater for something I knew I was going to like. I was not disappointed.

The movie is set just before the US entered WWII, in, obviously, Australia. Lady Sarah Ashley (Kidman) is going to Australia to force her husband to sell a failing business venture, a cattle ranch in central Australia. She arrives just as he is killed, apparently by an aboriginal man named King George. She is ready to sell the place when she meets Nullah, a half Aborigine child fathered by her husband's ranch manager, who is also a really bad guy. Nullah tells "Miss Boss" (Lady Ashley, Kidman) that the manager has been stealing cattle. The manager of course denies it, and tries to take it out on Nullah. Lady Ashley strikes him with a horse whip and he leaves, vowing revenge.

Miss Boss decides to drive the cattle to sell herself. She hires the Drover (Jackman) to help her push cattle. Romance ensues. I'm not going to go any farther, because if I did, I wouldn't stop until the end, and this post would take 3 hours to read.

The cinematography for this film is nothing short of epic. The land is beautiful, and plays a starring role. This film readily calls to mind others like Gone With the Wind, or, forgive me, Titanic. The CGI was, in my opinion, seamless. There were many times that we wondered how much was real and how much was computer.

The acting was wonderful on all sides but Brandon Walters (Nullah) really stole the show. He was so charming, it was heartbreaking. He played perfectly the mixture of wild and cultured Australia that his character embodied. Plus, he has eyes the size of dinner plates.

Last, but not least, if anyone out there disagreed with the appointment of Hugh Jackman as the sexiest man alive, they had not seen this movie. They need to.

This film was a western, an action flick, a war movie, a comedy, a romance and more. Despite the long running time, I didn't want it to end. The costumes were also superb. Lady Sarah Ashley was impeccably dressed throughout the film, and her dress really represented her character. In the beginning, her clothes were tight fitted, neutral colors, and very stuffy. The look changed and developed through the film and evolved as her character did.

I could go on for hours, but I'll leave you with this tacky cliche. I laughed, I cried, I grabbed Jason's hand really tight.

I give this movie a raging 10 out of 10 fat cheeky bulls.

_____________R_______________

Asleep at the keyboard

Thanksgiving was great, but I'm a failure. Not because I screwed up the food, not because I broke all the china, not because I got into a knock down drag out argument with another shopper on black Friday, I didn't do any of those things. I'm a failure, because I promised you pictures of everything, and I didn't do it! I forgot to take pictures and it looked gorgeous. Dagnabit! I'm sooo tired, I feel like I need to sleep for a week. We did Thanksgiving up big!

We got to the 'rents at around 9 and put the turkey in. We have pictures of this, but who knows when I can post them, because they were taken on Mom's camera, and that's all still over there. In about an hour it was already brown and on it's way. We chilled for a while, and then Jason's sister and her Husband arrived.

They brought their adorable dog, Edmund. I could probably find you a picture of him, but it wouldn't do him justice. He was really fun. Jason's Dad and Step mom arrived moments later. We took Edmund to the park, and when we got back, the turkey was ready! Okay, so I promised you pictures, I didn't have the camera, so once again, we have these artist's (not necessarily a good artist's) renderings of the food.



It has black on it because that's what color it turned on the grill. It sure tasted good. I then set about making the rest of the food. I did the acorn squash first because it takes longest. As I was cutting them in half, I ran the knife into my finger. So yeah, there was "special flavor" in those, okay not really, I didn't get any blood on there. There's butter, brown sugar and salt in there. Isn't the representation lifelike?

I sliced potatoes next. Miraculously, I didn't cut my finger on the mandolin. Anyone out there know if I pronounce the cooking tool the same way as the instrument? These potatoes were far from healthy, but delicious. Thanks, P Dub!

Mom made the green bean casserole. mmmmmmmm. The mystery artist must know of my love for this dish, as you can see by the lines of yummy emanating from it.

Jason's Sister brought stuffing. It was great! Very flavorful, and a really good texture. I don't really know why the artist decided to draw this one from the side.


I also made rolls, if you can call smearing butter on frozen bread and throwing it in the over making. The artist seems to have great love for spider man.

We also had cranberry relish, mmm, apple and banana salad, yum, and other boring things the artist didn't have time for. BUT, after dinner we had blackberry cobbler and pumpkin pie.

With vanilla ice cream or cool whip. It was very good, and didn't look nearly as sketchy as what this obviously horrible amateur artist did here. In fact, I think he's lost his chances at any further illustration for this blog. No wonder he's starving. I'll try to dig up some actual pictures, I promise. Now I've got to go teach that artist a lesson.