Strange things are afoot at the Circle K!

Can you name the movie that headline is from?  If not, don't worry... I'll get to it eventually, but first I need to vent a little.  I am a product of the 80's and therefore... 80's movies.  I've always loved going to the movies.  It's an escape, a treat, and one of my favorite things to do when I get a few rare hours to myself.  My favorite movie genre is usually comedy, but lately I've been really disappointed.  When did the shift in comedy writing take place?  When did comedy writers stop thinking?  It seems to me that comedy nowadays has turned into one of 3 categories... where is the most absurd place you can throw in a swear word (or other shocking term), what is the raunchiest thing we could possibly film without getting an X-rating (oh and add obnoxious body noises to make it funny... wth?!?!), and what is the most politically incorrect comment we can make that will offend as many people as possible. 

Now, I'm pretty easy going.  I don't mind swearing or references to sex in movies and I don't get offended easily, but c'mon people.  I miss intelligent humor!  It doesn't really take a lot of thought to shock the public and make them giggle uncomfortably in their seats.  This isn't real laughter and certainly not intelligent humor.  In fact, I can feel the brain cells being sucked out of my head when I am forced to watch shows like South Park, Family Guy, The Simpsons, etc.  Movies are now starting to follow suit.  I understand it's probably much cheaper to make these kinds of movies... scripts are probably a dime a dozen.  Afterall, how much thought goes into having a woman say the word "cock" a couple times to get the cheap laugh (movie: The Ugly Truth).  It's not that I don't ever enjoy a little dumbed-down humor, but I'd like my smart humor, physical comedy, and comedy with a plot back too.  Another example of how stupid society has gotten... a bunch of people will soon be rushing out to see a movie where an old has-been wrestling star dresses up as the tooth fairy... how is that funny?!?!?!  Is it just me?

So, I've been increasing my selection of humorous old movies.  The problem is I've already seen them all.  I still enjoy watching them... especially with my kids, who haven't seen them before, but I long for some new, funny material.  In the meantime, here's a toast to movie's like Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure ("Strange things are afoot at the Circle K!")... which actually, despite being the 80's version of a dumbed-down movie, had some brilliant comedy and taught me quite a few things about history.  Then there are other favorites... Coming to America, The Blues Brothers, Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead, Pure Luck, Romancing the Stone and too many more to list.  Try rewatching some of these classics with a big bowl of popcorn ... after all, today is National Popcorn Day!  I'm going to be breaking out the new DVD copy of Pure Luck for us tonight!  I can't wait!  If you want to bulk up your DVD comedy selections, check out my favorites at Amazon! 

Post your own favorite comedy movies in the comment section and be sure to check out my new rating buttons which will be appearing at the end of each blog post.  Take a minute to rate this post... you can choose more than one if you need to.

Another long wintery week ahead

So it's back from a relaxing weekend with my honey and back to another week of work around the house.  At least the winter weather keeps me from wanting to venture outside much and I should be able to focus on what needs to be done. 

I worked out this morning to Richard Simmons.  It has been a while since I've worked out and it felt really good to get back to it.  I am usually so active during the warmer months that I don't think about it much.  When the weather gets colder I find myself getting lazier and lazier when it comes to physical activity.  Then all of a sudden I find myself moody and uninspired.  Often this can be fixed by getting up and getting moving... those endorphins are pretty darn powerful.  I almost always start with Richard Simmons because I know I can get through it and it gives me a sense of accomplishment and keeps me going.  If I tried to start with something more challenging, I likely wouldn't be able to get through it the first time and it would leave me feeling frustrated. and I'd be less likely to get up and do it again the next day.  I suppose I could join a gym, but who's got the money right now?  Plus, that means having to get dressed, go to the gym, stink up my car with my sweaty self before I get home to take a shower, and takes far too much time.  I can get up and do a dvd in my pjs, take a quick shower, and be off to my next task at home in less time than it would probably take me to get to the gym.

Subject change... despite my lack of job, my schedule seems to be filling up.  This is great because I love connecting with friends, but at the same time, takes away from the time I'd hoped to use to get the house ready to go on the market.  Well, people are definately more important, so I'll stick with the glass-half-full interpretation and say it's a good thing.  Besides, I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone again.  But now, I'm off to finish some chores around the house and get ready for Monday Movie Night with the kids.  I still have to decide on a movie and what to order for dinner... I'm thinking pizza?!?

What's for dinner?

Ok... this is a common question in most households.  With all the snow, the answer in our house tonight was whatever can be delivered.  No one was in the mood for pizza though, so we opted for Chinese.  I used to have a binder with all the local restaurant menus for just this occasion, but it is nowhere to be found at the moment.  So I resorted to hitting the internet.  I actually order online when we get Pizza Hut or Dominos Pizza, but Chinese food is apparently a lot more difficult to order.  I am really good at internet searches, and yet I still could not even come up with the phone number for the restaurant I wanted to order from... perhaps they've closed recently.  I did find my backup restaurant, but they dont have a website and there is no menu online.  I was told when I called the restaurant that the menu was available in the yellow pages.  I don't keep my yellow pages anymore.  They take up way too much room and I hardly ever use them.  Why wasn't the menu available online?   It was frustrating.  I think I need to create somewhere that people can post local menus so this doesn't happen again!  And so the lightbulb begins to glow... ah ha... a new project!  Don't know how it would be profitable, but it's a service that people like me and my family would definately use.  So now I've just got to figure out how to create it and make it work the way I want it to.... hmmm.... sounds like a few more late nights are coming up.  Wish me luck, and comment with any advice you may have for me on my new project.  Hopefully this one will prove to be easier than anticipated like creating the Facebook group was.  Well, for now I'm going to distract my brain with a movie... I tend to formulate ideas better that way and The Ugly Truth seems like it won't require too much brain usage and should leave plenty of cells left ot focus on my project. :)

Monday Movie Night

I have a weekly tradition with my kids called Monday Movie Night.  Every Monday we order pizza, pick out a movie (usually rented from one of the local Redboxes) and just hang out together.  We miss a few during the warmer months when the kids want to be out at the park with their friends soaking up all the daylight fun, but during the winter months Monday Movie Night is a much looked forward to staple.  I've talked to a lot of people with kids and found that most families don't do this kind of thing.  What happened to parents hanging out with their kids?

I can tell you as a mom that you accomplish the most with your kids during these "hang out" times.  If the only interaction you have with your kids is to tell them to do stuff and yell at them, you will find that you have no relationship left with your kids when they get to their teenage years and gain some freedom.  We've also done Thursday Game Night and the kids have recently suggested Tuesday Cleaning Night (you did not misread... my kids actually made that suggestion!).  We also turn on music and dance together while cleaning, cooking, etc.  All of these activities bond us as a family and keep us connected.  There are so many times when kids make you want to pull your hair out... shouldn't you spend as much time enjoying them?  After the house is cleaned, we're hoping to change Tuesday Cleaning Night into Tuesday Craft Night and work on lots of different, fun craft and household projects.  This way I get to teach them how to do things around the house without all the pressure that normally accompanies these lessons.  I also have each of the kids fix dinner for the family at least once a month.  It doesn't matter if they make something as easy as grilled cheese and soup, they learn how to plan a meal and make it and when they get into the real world at least I know they won't starve.  No guarantees that they won't turn in to a giant bowl of Mac 'n cheese though. :)

Our job as parents is to teach our kids how to function in the big, bad world once they leave home... that's it... that's all we have to do... YIKES!  There are many life skills to teach your kids, but one of the most undertaught (in my opinion) is how to kick back, relax, and have a good time. 

So, what was our Monday Movie Night movie last night?  We watched an old favorite... The Master of Disguise.  For my fellow 80's survivors, this movie highlights Dana Carvey doing a lot of his old SNL characters.  It's made for kids around age 10 (plus or minus a few years), but is a cute movie for a family to watch together.  It's rated PG and probably one of the only ways to let your younger kids enjoy Dana

Carvey's work... and then, once the kids are in bed, continue your Dana Carvey marathon with my personal favorite... Squatting Monkeys Tell No Lies.  BTW... I am sooo NOT the lemon!!! ;)

Still not quite a new year

Today has been another slow day around the house.  The constant snow outside is making it difficult to leave to get anything done.  Resting all day yesterday seems to have somehow left us all even more tired and lazy.  The girls put in one of their favorite DVDs... Mama Mia... and the boys were too lazy to go out into the snow to play football and ended up watching it too.  I'm slightly afraid of what permanent damage all the Meryl Streep chick flicks might do to them... lol! 

My weekends are usually spent a couple states away with the love of my life, but this weekend the combination of the holiday and the constant snow has made it impossible to go.... which is not improving my mood at all.  I've never liked winter, and not being able to make the drive because of weather makes me dislike it even more.  I suppose I should take advantage of the opportunity to get some things done around the house, but I can't seem to find the motivation.

So, maybe by posting some of the things I need to get done here I'll feel more pressure to actually do them... here goes...

I need to do a ton of laundry, do the weekly cleaning of my room and bathroom, scan 2 albums of photos my mom lent me so I can get the albums back to her, make a ton of scrapbook pages I promised someone I would finish a long time ago, catch up on organizing my finances, get through a mountain of paperwork and once that's all done... I need to clean and reorganize the entire rest of my house.  Hmmm... that doesn't sound so bad now, does it?  Can you hear the sarcasm oozing out my pores as I type that?!?!  Well, enough hiding behind the computer screen for today.  I'm going to at least get something done so I can feel a small sense of accomplishment when I fall asleep tonight.  Perhaps I might even tackle 2 things once I get started... hmmm... maybe this won't end up being such a lazy day after all?!?!

An almost new year

Today was the day after Christmas.  I always seem to need a day to recouperate after such an exhausting holiday.  So, today was pajama day.  I always love pajama day.  The kids join me in my room and we watch movies, snack and just veg out all day long.  Some of my fondest memories with my kids have taken place on pajama day.  Today, we decided to watch the movie Julie and Julia.  I had originally picked up this movie to watch on my own... I figured it was kind of a chick flick and definately not something my kids (who range in age from 11-14) would like.  But they wanted to see it, so the 5 of us hunkered down and watched it... then we watched it again... and then we even watched it again.  It was such a fun, cute movie.  The girls and I loved the story and I think the boys just loved seeing all the food.  I highly recommend watching it... at least once anyway.

For me the movie had a bigger message.  You see... much like the character Julie, I have not been finding my life very fulfilling lately,  I've been missing something I can't really put my finger on.  So while the movie was running I found myself reflecting on 2009...

I was laid off in the late spring.  I've never been laid off from a job before.  It has been frighteneing, interesting, sometimes fun, and ultimately very depressing.  I did have a lot more freedom throughout the second half of the year to spend time with my kids in a way I really haven't gotten to since I went back to work.  That part was great.  I learned about the unemployment system and found that although it is difficult, with a positive attitude it's not too bad.  But mostly, I learned a lot about myself.  Unfortunately, I still don't know quite what to do with all I learned.  For example, I learned that I hate the career path I've been on.  I've been working in the administrative field for years because I'm good at it.  The problem is that I really don't like it.  I like to be creative and spontaneous, not stuck behind a computer every day.  The only problem being that as a single mom with 4 kids who is 37 years old, I have no idea how to pursue the things I would enjoy and still care for my family financially.  At the end of a long year, this has left me exhausted and unhappy.  I feel as though I have no direction anymore.  So, taking a lesson from the movie, I am starting a blog.  I'm not going to try and cook my way through a cookbook (I'm already a pretty decent cook... was even a finalist in the Pillsbury Bake Off one year), but I am going to write my thoughts and send them out into the void that is the internet.  Perhaps there I will find the answers I need to find myself again.  To those of you joining me on this journey... hang on... it might be a bumpy ride.