February 27

Sunday – Got up early enough to take one more review of my paper and fix the things that turned up on Turn It In. We went to Sue’s for dinner for a February birthday celebration. I made lasagna and took that out. Lots of good food and a good time had by all. Jamie was excited about her DS game, and hopefully excited about the book once she got her fill of the new game.

Happy 9th Birthday Jamie!

With a little help from Justin

And the DS game was quite a hit

We were home by late afternoon, and I was trying to get online and had some computer issues with the router. I called the help line and after 15 frustrating minutes of help the problem was not resolved but a while later it did start working again. I get very nervous when the help desk is telling me to make changes to the settings on my computer. I guess I don’t trust the unknown voice on the line to help me undo, undo, undo, if the need arises.

It was OSCAR NIGHT. I tried to talk Sue into coming in to watch them at my house, but she was too smart to fall for that and the reality of having to go out in the cold at 10:30 to go home. It was a pretty predictable outcome and in fact one of my 5 ballots at the Lindo had all the correct answers so I hope to hear from them that I won a pair of free tickets, if not free tickets for a whole year. Sue also thought she was a winner – I think there is probably a glut of them.

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February 5

Saturday. Started by finishing my class reading and taking the quiz. 30/30. It’s not hard to get them all right – the answers are in the book, albeit a bit hard to find at times and sometimes I think the questions are poorly written. I think there is an art to writing test questions that can’t be misinterpreted and most instructors haven’t mastered the art. Although the good news is if you ask her about a question and make a good case, she’ll give you the points anyway.

Party preps continue. I started the pulled pork to cooking at about 9 a.m. and got the cream cheese thawing for the cheesecake. Ran errands to the hardware store (recycle batteries and buy cheese — just love that the hardware store sells cheese!) and to the grocery store to buy buns (the shelves in Freeport were empty on Friday night!). Sue finally made it out from the snowy country so stopped in for a cup of tea and a recipe. Paul was alternately running the vacuum and playing guitar. I made some cookies in the afternoon, made the wings dip, and must have done something else of value as the day flew by.

I watched Nowhere Boy, a movie about John Lennon at night. It was OK – not great, maybe 3 out of 5 stars. He had an odd situation growing up, raised by his Aunt Mimi and Uncle George (he died early in the movie so wasn’t a key character), with a mother around, but not able to be his mother. And then, just as it all seemed to be working itself out, she was killed in a car accident. At the end, he stopped to tell Aunt Mimi he was taking the band to Hamburg, and his Aunt Mimi said ‘call me when you get there’. Then the credits started and it said he did call her, and continued to call her every week of his life. I love that.

Netflix Movie of the Week - Nowhere Boy

For February, I am posting photos of Things I Love for the 365 Photo Challenge when nothing else of note is going on. Today, I love Barb and my Dubuque Telegraph Herald, delivered to my door every morning long before I wake up.

February Love - Morning Newspaper and an awesome "paper woman".

 

 

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Tuesday Night TV – Jan 12

I resisted until 7 p.m. but now I’m sucked into the Tuesday night TV line-up. It started with a coin toss between the Biggest Loser and the kick-off to American Idol. Of course Idol won, even though it was only the audition cities. It didn’t disappoint. Some truly amazing singers, some truly clueless also (how could the not know they cannot sing), and super enthusiastic winners moving onto Hollywood. While it was playing, I continued to undecorate the living room. The walls are definitely looking bare now.

I planned to switch to a tape of the Biggest Loser at 9, but instead got sucked into a movie on PBS called Young at Heart. It could be titled full of heart. It is about a chorus of elderly people who sing modern, and very unexpected songs. I loved it. Although these people are very elderly, it was still and surprise and very sad when two members of the chorus passed away one week before their new show opened. I think that these people are testaments that doing what you love to do, keeps you young. They may not be the best performers of these songs, but they sure have heart and that just brings out the smiles in the audience. And the standing ovations. I say BRAVO!

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January 2 – Movie Day

Love the movies, and especially love it when I can have a “two-fer” movie day and go to movies back-to-back. Sue, Leslie and I went to Dubuque today for just such a day. We saw ‘Up in the Air‘ with George Clooney and ‘Nine‘ with Daniel Day Lewis and a cast of many. None of us were happy with the ending of Up in the Air, but I suppose it was more true to life than what we were hoping for. NINE was confusing in the beginning as to what was happening. But I did enjoy it because it gave you stunning visuals and a lot to think about. I loved the Kate Hudson dance, Leslie thought her moves were simple and easy. Penelope Cruz had a great roll in the film and did an outstanding job. Overall, of the three theater movies I saw already this year, I’d rate them #1 – Sherlock Holmes, #2 – Nine, #3 – Up in the Air, but I liked them all and think they were all worth seeing. Rather than watching SNL, we decided to watch the movie Chicago – and discovered that Rob Marshall, the director of Nine, also directed Chicago. One could definitely see the similarities. All in all – starting out the year with lots of movies is a wonderful way to begin the New Year. After a hectic December, it is nice to start off being lazy and unproductive and taking a some “me time”, instead of always tackling a list of things that “has to be done”. That will have to start happening on Sunday in preparation for going back to work on Monday.

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