Bet you think this is going to be about one of my kids, don’t ya?  Well, the truth is, they’re all good.  Unless you count yesterday, when #2 and #3 were acting up…  but it was another snow day, so I think they had cabin fever.  And luckily for me, my friend and neighbor called out of nowhere and asked if she could take the older 2 sledding with the kids she watches.  I was having a bad day, especially since the dogs were being needy about going outside constantly (with a new one, it’s not really a fun gamble to see if she’s “lying” about having to go potty!), and as I said, the kids were acting up, so I was very agreeable to the sledding plan!  It was like a miracle – I SOOO needed that break, and the kids needed to get out of the house, so in the words of my friend Morat – EVERYONE WINS!!!  THANK YOU SHELLEY!

Now, for what the post is really about:  The Jennifer Aniston movie, The Good Girl.  We watched it last night.  You’re probably thinking, wow, they watch lots of movies, and you’re right!  We have a lovely library system where you can search almost every Ohio library online for almost any movie you can think of, and they will ship it to our home library for free – you just have to wait a few days, sometimes longer if it’s a popular movie with a waiting list.  So, almost every night, hubby and I like to sit down with a movie during our “parent time”, providing the kids willingly go to bed, which of course is not always foolproof…  But most of the time, it works, so last night the movie was The Good Girl.  The movie started out kinda slow, but it did get better.  I would classify it as a dark comedy.  Jennifer Aniston plays a bored, depressed housewife who decides to have an affair with a co-worker, played by Jake Gyllenhaal.   Her morals (if she had any to begin with that is) and behavior spiral out of control from then on, and the movie is an entertaining look at modern day suburban life gone awry.  It is a good dark comedy, like I said, it takes some getting used to, but we liked it overall.  Jake Gyllenhaal probably stands out as the best actor in the movie (along with Mike White – more on him later); his character was just this crazy 22-year-old man-child.   Jennifer Aniston was ok, but it took me about 20 minutes to get past her just acting like Rachel from Friends with a southern accent.  Maybe an actress playing the same character for 10 yrs. in a hit sitcom clouds a viewer’s perception, I don’t know…  I did really like that show and have seen every episode at least once, some MANY times.  Once I got used to her in this movie, she did a good job of bringing her character to life, although none of the main characters in this movie were really all that likable.  That probably has to do with it being a dark comedy – more on those later.  You have to really feel sorry for her husband in the movie who is a real dip (not to mention a pothead), but comes nowhere close to deserving all the crap she makes him put up with, not that I know who would…  Zooey Deschanel is great in this movie; she doesn’t play a likable character as far as being a nice person, but she is hilarious and provides much of the movie’s comic relief.

I really only like to compare movies in the same genre, so it’d be difficult for me to rate this one compared to other movies I’ve watched lately, like Vantage Point, The Hitcher, or As Good as It Gets.  I can’t really remember the other dark comedies I’ve seen, but I know I liked them; Heathers and Drowning Mona come to mind, but I’ll have to watch them again cuz it’s been awhile.  Overall, I would say that if you like dark comedies, I recommend this one, but I don’t think dark comedies are for everyone.  The script is interesting, and some of the acting is pretty good.  Mike White wrote the movie, and I have to say, I like his work.  He is best known (to me anyway) as Ned Schneebly from The School of Rock, which he also wrote.  Maybe it’s because he writes the characters he plays that he is fun to watch, and this film is no exception – his character (a religiously religious security guard who moonlights as a minister) is actually quite likable, especially compared to all the other characters!  Also to Mike White’s writing credit is Nacho Libre, but I don’t think I was a big fan of that one.  Since we try to cram in so many movies, some are watched while we’re ultra-sleepy or being interrupted by kids, and Nacho Libre just might be one of those because I don’t really remember it.  Either that, or it was just bad.  Again, if you like dark comedies, go rent The Good Girl, it’s certainly “different” as far as comedies go…

One of the strangest trends in movies for the past several years has been to turn television shows of days gone by into big screen extravaganzas. For the most part, I do not see them as being over successful. Probably, the most profitable venture into this phenomenon has been the Star Trek series. This is primarily because there was a built-in audience of fans who wanted to see the further voyages of Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock, Dr. McCoy, and company. However, several other television shows have attempted to cross over and most have failed.

The Flintstones tried twice with live-action versions of the classic cartoon. While the first movie was relatively entertaining, The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas was a disaster. It featured a ridiculous looking computer generated version of the Great Gazoo (voiced by Alan Cummings). Even Ann-Margaret (reprising her role as Ann-Margrock from the original series) could not save the movie. Perhaps the Jetsons live-action movie (which has been in pre-production for about 5 years) will do better. Or maybe it is better to leave animated series as they are…. animated.

Several classic television comedies have also tried to become big screen movies. The Beverly Hillbillies, Leave It to Beaver, and Bewitched to name a few. Does anyone even remember them? Nicole Kidman attempted to portray Samantha in a movie whose plot was a convoluted mess. Beaver tried to be a movie centered around plot devices audiences could watch on TVLand reruns that were considerably better (for example, Beaver stuck in the giant coffee cup on top of a giant billboard). I think I have seen The Beverly Hillbillies once and remember NOT laughing at the hicks trying to integrate themselves into Beverly Hills life.

This summer audiences will be delight in two television comedies coming to the big screen.  Sex and the City will star Sarah Jessica Parker and the rest of the cast of the original series.  Get Smart brings the tremendous Steve Carell to the iconic role of Maxwell Smart, agent 86 of CONTROL.

Ok, I’m exaggerating just a tad on the number of snow days we’ve had, but that’s what it feels like by now!  I suppose with the new dog in the house, today was as good a day as any to have yet another snow day, but my poor husband is going to go crazy from shoveling all this snow!  It’s become almost a daily chore – just what he needed!  And, the weather guys are saying that they’re tracking ANOTHER system due here on Friday!  They won’t use the dreaded 4-letter “s” word though, it’s kinda funny.  They’ll just call it a “weather system” and “let’s see what it drops on us” – as if there’s any chance it will bring something other than snow (that dreaded 4-letter word!), yeah right.

Hubby and I braved the weather last night to venture out to a movie for date night.  Our date night is once a week on Tuesdays, and wouldn’t you know it, it’s snowed for the last like, 5 Tuesdays in a row, no exaggerating this time!  Last week,  our movie theater was CLOSED because of the snow – that stank.  Instead of having a nice dinner, we got snacks at KFC cuz we were running late for the movie, and then we got there, and they were closed!  So sick of this weather already!  What did that groundhog say again?!?  So anyway, we ventured to a neighboring town with a movie theater that’s a little bigger; that way we could be assured it would be open.  We saw Vantage Point, an action movie with Dennis Quaid, Forrest Whittaker, and Matthew Fox.  And speaking of Groundhog Day, if you’ve seen that movie, even though it’s a comedy, Vantage Point actually had something in common with it in that they kept showing the same scene over and over.  The point of the movie was to take the audience through an incident of terrorism, one persepective at a time.  Dennis Quaid and Matthew Fox played secret service agents, and Forrest Whittaker was a tourist bystander who happened to catch everything on video.  It was a satisfying action movie – MUCH better than Gone Baby Gone…  I might actually say it was kinda like Groundhog Day meets In the Line of Fire, if you’ve seen that movie, since Dennis Quaid’s character had been through an assassination attempt on the President before and was jumpy – just like Clint Eastwood’s character in In the Line of Fire.  If you like action movies, this one won’t disappoint.  I was actually surprised there wasn’t a little more to the plot, and I can’t believe the constant violence earned it only a PG13 rating.  But when I think about it, I suppose you could see the same type of violence on tv any given night or even on cable during the day – it’s just what has happened to entertainment these days, I guess.  Vantage Point has constant action, the movie is never slow, and seeing the action from the different people’s perspectives (vantage points 🙂  get it?) was interesting and not at all confusing like I was concerned about.  I found something at the end of the movie incredibly hokey, but then again, that’s common in action movies, you gotta appreciate them for what they are.

Announcing a new addition to the family: Beesley!  No, we didn’t have the baby early – Beesley is of the canine variety.  She is named for a character on what is quite possibly the best tv show ever, The Office (Pam Beesley).  Now that the writer’s strike is over, we can once again look forward to new episodes of this great show.  This way, if Pam and Jim get married, there is still a Beesley namesake 🙂

She is a cocker spaniel mix about 5 1/2 yrs. old.  She is black and white and really cute!  She’s great with kids, and we’ve had a bit of a rocky start with our other 2 dogs, but we think 3 dogs will be good company and not a crowd soon.  We got her from the humane society, which is always a crap-shoot, but well worth it if you do your research.  Get to know the breed of dog you’re considering (if possible, sometimes they don’t always know what a mutt is made of!), and spend a lot of time getting to know the potential pet and vice versa – bring your whole family to test the dog around kids and look at a bunch of dogs to get an idea of what kind of personality and habits you may or may not want in a new family member.  Remember, this pet will be living with you and your loved ones for hopefully a number of years, so it’s really important to find a good fit!  Giving a pet a home who needs one is so rewarding!  It’s really easy and fun to go puppy shopping at a pet store because let’s face it, puppies are some of the cutest things ever!  But remember, they grow out of the cute and teeny phase within MONTHS, sometimes even mere WEEKS!  Puppies are not potty-trained, and you will have no idea how easy (or difficult!) your new puppy will be to potty train.  Our first dog took years to potty-train, whereas our 2nd dog basically potty-trained herself even though she was a young puppy when she came into our home.  Beesley is already potty-trained, and she seems to have had a good home in the past.  She is used to being let out on a cable in the backyard, knows her way around the house, and basically seems to fit right in so far at least…  So, our crap-shoot seems to have paid off thus far!  I will keep you posted!

This morning I was woken up again at about 5:45 after failing to find an assignment before this. This definitely turned out to be a plus. Most sub jobs for me are a day at a time. The longest I have had in the past was five days, but that was the only one that long. This morning I was offered one for four days. Not record-breaking, but still nice as it fills in my week- and no phone ringing before 6AM! It is especially nice as this is testing time and so subs are not needed as much. The test of course blocks out a little more than an hour each morning where I have to do next to nothing as a regular teacher has to administer the test. A couple other lessons are taught by the other 3/4 teacher to a double-size class (the wall between the rooms is a folding wall). In fact, I really only had to teach one lesson today, math, though I don’t expect it to remain like that all week. Unfortunately the kids were quite chatty during math. That, coupled with only 40 minutes to teach an hour lesson means I didn’t finish- I’m not sure how the regular teacher expects one lesson to be taught each day with the shorter time slot. Well, I think she’s hoping for one a day in any event.  I expect tomorrow besides math I will be at least doing something during reading other than going around keeping kids on task even though I think it’s going to be a double-class activity again (though broken down into groups).   If this post is a little nonsensical it is because I am running on fumes right now as it were.  5:45AM wakeup + lack of sleep = one tired sub.  Signing off for now…

Today is finally our turn to vote in the primaries here in Ohio.  And of the candidates who are left, I only really like one!  A lot of people in this neck of the woods find it unfair that we don’t get much of a say earlier in the campaign, when all the candidates are left.  I just accept it for the way it is, and I enjoy being in the national spotlight now – it’s neat to turn on CNN and hear Ohio this and Ohio that.  So, I will be going to the polls later today when time permits to perform my duty as an American citizen and vote – though I hope it doesn’t land me in jury duty at a later time.  And I will vote for the candidate I would like to see lead our country, even though he doesn’t stand a chance and will most likely drop out of the race within a week.  Then tonight, I will watch all the news channels as the final numbers come in, and whether we like it or not, we can all enjoy being a part of history, since pretty soon it will be official – we will have a presidnetial candidate who does not fit the mold of the traditional American president: a white male.  Well, sometimes change is good, but for now, go Buckeyes!

We went roller skating tonight for the first time in…  well, ever, for most of us.  My husband and I have never been roller skating together, and we go back 11 years, so needless to say, none of the kids have tried it before tonight.  The kids had a great time, and I was surprised to see how well our 3-year-old picked it up!  It doesn’t surprise me too much though – she’s always been the “physical” one.  Our 8-year-old is more creative and into arts and crafts than physical stuff, but she did well too…  I was surprised that when she kept falling, she didn’t get frustrated or upset or cry (for the first hour anyway) because she is a perfectionist with a VERY low pain tolerance.  Sure enough, by the end of the night, Taylor (the 8-year-old) was “hurt” and crying.  It was still lots of fun though.  And, living in an area with a small population is where the title The Mayor and the Macerena comes in – The mayor is the owner of the skating rink, and was spinning the tunes tonight.  When he played Macarena, hilarity ensued – I think he has the skating rink so he has a place to blast his ’80’s and 90’s music. 

Subbing has traditionally been a waiting game, waiting for that call to come inviting you to take over someone’s classroom for a day or sometimes more. There is one district that for some reason last fall seems to have just stopped calling me altogether. Actually, that is not strictly true- the sub for the sub caller (yes, even they have ’em!) actually called me a couple of weeks ago, but the regular caller hasn’t called for over two months now. Well, at least I am blessed to work in an age where I can grab jobs off the internet (by the way, I refuse to capitalize this as if “internet” is the name of a town or country). Unfortunately, that doesn’t always work so I am left waiting until the morning of for some district to call (yes even the computer systems call) or for a last-minute bout before the day starts to at least find a half-day position on the online systems.

Well, this morning I indeed received a call from one of the districts. Enter password, this middle-school resource teacher needs a sub, yada-yada. However, when it got to the end and I selected “yes” for the job, the system said, “sorry, we are unable to assign to job- goodbye.” Nice- why did you call me then? Another district’s system locks the job when calling someone so someone can’t select the job on the online system when it is offering it to someone by phone; I guess this one doesn’t. Either that or the teacher canceled while I was listening to the instructions. Since I was then awake, I sat down at the computer and looked for a job. Fortunately I found one right away- and one I wouldn’t need to be at until after 8:30, so back to bed I went for another hour. As usual, I slept for only half that- I don’t know what it it, but I can’t get good sleep lately. I constantly wake up and fall back asleep throughout the night, sometimes laying awake or half-awake for a while before going to sleep. It seems I have picked up this problem from one of my parents…

The other was a bit too, um, lavender-y for my taste.  The title is a bit minimalistic but I’ll try it out for a bit.  I also didn’t like the comments line being by the post title and therefore harder to see.  Now it is quite obvious at the bottom when there are no comments and so you should click to leave one.  Please. 🙂

Today when I was putting away laundry, it occurred to me that it’s almost that time of year when I need to pack away winter clothes and see if I have enough spring / summer clothes for the kids in the right sizes.  And, since I’m going to have another little bundle of joy, I started thinking about what I already have in the way of baby clothes…  Since this is my 4th girl, I have plenty of pinks and purples.  However, I really do need to check if any of these clothes are fitting for a July baby – I’ve never had a summer baby before!  Come to think of it, my girls were born in December (winter), May (spring), October (fall), and now, July (summer) – giving me miracles for every season!  We are so blessed!

Since #3 arrived not even 2 years ago, I still have ALL of her baby clothes, and my friends at the time were so nice to throw me a baby shower, even though she was #3…  I think it had something to do with my friend Sue insisting baby #3 (Disney) was going to be a boy, but it was very thoughtful of her at any rate.  This next part is weird, I’m warning you…  The problem is, all of my baby clothes are in the basement, and I have put myself on strike from going in the basement for awhile…  It’s a long story, but I probably won’t be ready to go down there until the end of summer or fall – it’s just not something I want to deal with these days…  maybe I’ll go into it in another post.  So, I guess I’m going to have to bribe my husband to dig around in the basement to find all of our newborn baby clothes in time for me to wash them and see if there’s any shopping to do before our new arrival.  The good news is, since it will be July, I shouldn’t need too many clothes off the bat…  some onesies and blankets will do it until fall, and maybe by then I will be basement-ready!