Monday, May 28, 2007
POTC 3
The three of us went to the theater this afternoon for an early matinee and watched Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End. The net is full of reviews so I won’t add another.
The only profanity I can recall is “bloody hell” spoken by Lord Cutler Beckett.
I feel that this movie was dark…especially for a Disney offering. A child is hung, a frozen toe is broken off and there is much death, of course, that naturally accompanies massive explosions, cannonfire, gunfire and swordfights. In addition, two people are impaled with something other than swords and one person is killed when Davy Jones shoves his tentacles into the man’s mouth and down his throat. That was a little nasty but Eliana never flinched.
On a positive note, the action and especially the CGI are amazing. The final battle sequence in the maelstrom is jaw-dropping. Definitely some of the best work I’ve seen from George Lucas’ Industrial Light and Magic.
Oh yes…the door was left open for another sequel.
{extended}Friday, May 25, 2007
A long time ago…
Do you ever have days when it feels as though time is slipping away like sand between your fingers? I had a reality check this morning as to just how old I’m getting.
30 years ago today - May 25, 1977 - the movie Star Wars was released in theaters nationwide. At that time, a gallon of gas only cost around 64 cents, the minimum wage was $2.30 an hour and Elvis Presley, who turned 42 that year, had less than three months to live.
I didn’t catch the movie on opening day but this then-14-year-old with an insatiable thirst for anything science fiction did view the cinematic marvel on a big screen.
Yep, I do own a copy of the original and have watched it many times over the years. I have not yet introduced Eliana to Luke and Princess Leia although we have watched Revenge of the Sith together. On a side note and in my most humble and personal opinion, the three latest movies don’t hold a candle to the original trilogy.
Recently, we were traveling in the car and I made a reference to Darth Vader. From the back seat, Eliana asked, “Did you say ‘dark mater’?” Carmi and I laughed so much about her mispronunciation that there’s no way she’ll say it correctly now.
So fess up. Did you see Star Wars in the theater when it was originally released?
{extended}Thursday, May 24, 2007
43” tall
We measured Eliana this morning before leaving for preschool and work. She has grown 3/4” since the last measurement back in February and she now stands 43” tall.
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
DadBloggers v3.0 launches
Back in November of 2005, I founded and launched a community site for parents called DadBloggers. DadBloggers is a collaborative blog by Dads who are active in the life of their child(ren). We have a diverse team of 29 regular contributors who give the male perspective on parenting and family relationships.
The previous design was online for one year so it was time for an overhaul. I launched v3.0 today! Come over and check us out.
Friday, May 18, 2007
Suzie homemaker
Serious multitasking
At the end of March, I created a private online community site for families adopting through our agency.
One of the site’s features is a chat room. For the past few Thursday nights at 8:30 pm, several ladies have been using the chat room for an online Bible study and Carmi has been a participant.
Tonight we had a late supper and didn’t sit down to the kitchen table until right at 8:30. Carmi was just about to take her first bite when she realized that it was time for their weekly
chat. I just brought my laptop over to the kitchen table and set it up for her to log in while she ate. She was doing some serious multitasking.
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Survivor China
I’ve never watched any of the Survivor series after the first season but that might change in the Fall. During the Survivor Fiji reunion on May 13, Jeff Probst officially announced the 15th season, which will be called Survivor China. He claimed that this will be the first full American television series to be filmed entirely within that country.
Saturday, May 12, 2007
Cat survives trip from China to North Carolina in cargo crate
Source article from FOXNews...
China the cat got her name after being delivered in a crate holding motorcycle gear that a North Carolina man had ordered to be shipped from Shanghai.
{extended}Friday, May 11, 2007
Bad things come in threes
You may have heard the saying, “bad things come in threes”? Tonight was proof-positive that what your grandmother said was true.
We went out to eat at our regular Mexican restaurant this evening. Our table was next to a family with a couple of younger guys. We had not been seated for long when someone at this family’s table knocked a beverage glass onto the floor.
A few minutes later, little server dude comes walking through the dining area towards this family’s table. He has his left arm - which is covered with some form of heat-resistant pad from his wrist to his shoulder - stretched completely out, palm down. Balanced on his arm are 4 plates full of food. I thought that was an amazing trick and told Carmi to look. As he approached their table, he reached over with his right hand to grab the plate closest to his shoulder and I saw the plate tip. This was one of those surreal moments when it seems like everything is moving in slow motion. With a very loud clatter, server dude lost all 4 plates and they went crashing to the floor.
In a flash, several employees were on the situation and soon had the mess cleaned up and the floor mopped.
Then came waiter dude. He had a tall glass of beverage in each hand and on his way to the table next to the family who was next to us. Poor guy must have been on the other side of the restaurant during all the earlier commotion. He breezed past our table. As soon as a foot touched mop water, his legs flew out from under him and his butt hit the floor with a thunderous crash.
I glanced incredulously at Carmi with a “do we dare stay?” look. Fortunately, third time was the charm and the rest of the evening went without a hitch.
{extended}Wednesday, May 09, 2007
Treasure hunter
Armed with her “pinchy thing” and a pink Princess flashlight, Eliana transformed into a treasure hunter earlier this evening. She was on a mission to find any items that Tommi the naughty cat may have hidden.
If you ever come to our house, don’t you dare look under the couch or entertainment center in the living room or the dresser in our bedroom. We could practically have a yard sale with all the goodies she pulled out. There was money and small toys and candy and craft scraps and…socks! There were s-e-v-e-r-a-l pairs of Eliana’s socks that we had given up for dead. As far as we knew, the washing machine monster ate them when in reality, Tommi’s fetish drove her to steal them from who-knows-where.
Guess we’ll need to keep a closer eye on the laundry basket.
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
Carmi’s first plan of action
Carmi made a valid point at supper tonight. She said, “You know…most of the ‘stuff’ that we do around the house is done on the weekends.”
She was referring to cleaning, projects, etc.
“If we have any hope of being prepared for China by the Fall, we better start now and do some ‘stuff’ during the week.”
I’m surprised you didn’t hear me groan but deep down I knew that what she said was true. A wise woman my wife is.
Carmi’s first plan of action was to get all of Eliana’s clothing from her younger years out of the attic and sort the clothing by size. Karys will be at least 2-1/2 by the time we go to China so anything 24 months and below was relegated to the ‘yard sale’ heap.
It was rather fun going through the piles and there were quite a few nostalgic moments. There were lots of “Awww…this was SO cute on Eliana” followed by “My gosh, I can’t believe she could ever wear this”!
Monday, May 07, 2007
LOI is outta here!
Carmi called Virginia, our case manager, this afternoon about the status of our forms that were mailed back to them last week.
The ‘Letter of Intent’ was translated into Chinese and shipped off to China on Friday, May 4th.
{extended}This great plan
I had this great plan for the early evening.
Eliana and I stopped by the grocery store on the way home from afternooncare to pick something up for supper. We were going to the house, grabbing a quick snack and drink and heading over to a ball field to watch my homies from church play softball until Carmi came in from work. The weather is luscious…blue skies and 70 degrees. Seems like a perfect Fall day.
That’s what we WERE going to do but our plans changed because…
I didn’t have the heart to try and wake that sweet little girl up.
{extended}Saturday, May 05, 2007
2007 Riverbanks Zoo
I was the last one out of the sack by 9:00 am this morning but there was a good excuse for sleeping so late. You see, a Little Empress came into our room and jumped into bed around 6:00 am. She was so excited, we thought it was Christmas morning.
Once everyone was dressed, we took a detour by the local IHop for breakfast and then it was on to the animals.
The day was just about perfect. It was cloudy which kept the temperature at a very tolerable level and the rain actually held off until we were exiting the park.
We had a great day at the Riverbanks Zoo with my sister and brother-in-law. I’ve got several pictures up in the photo gallery so take a look at some of the day’s activities.
Friday, May 04, 2007
Riverbanks Eve
We’re taking a roadtrip down to Columbia, SC later this evening. One of my sisters lives there. The Hendersons will crash at her house overnight and then we’re all paying a visit to the Riverbanks Zoo tomorrow.
I’m sure we’ll come back with a stuffed animal. Actually I’m hoping that’s the ONLY thing we return home with. If Eliana had her way, she would probably find a snake and stick it in her pocket.
The last time we went, we bought Eliana a stuffed Red Panda. That one lasted a short while until she took it to school one day and it hasn’t been seen since.
Praying for decent weather!
{extended}