Step 1: Panic.

If you're not living in Oklahoma, you may be unaware that we're about under a state of emergency and was upgraded to blizzard warnings for this evening, even though there was no snow on the ground yet. Our weathermen are having a heyday. Historic Blizzard. Major, Major Storm. Travel Impossible.

That being said, it is sleeting outside now and has been plunking along for awhile now. Also, I heard/saw thunder snow for the first time, which I was pretty excited about. We're supposedly going to receive blizzard conditions tonight and throughout tomorrow morning and potentially receive 8" - 12" of snow depending on which way the wind blows.

So, if all that happens, we're hunkered down pretty well here. My tank is filled, we've got ice scrapers and blankets, food, cat food... My boss told us not to rush to work tomorrow, that we'd call each other and figure it out. If they're still going in, they can pick me up. And I'm pretty excited about the storm, just because I like the crazy weather for a change.

We did manage to rescue our paper early though (read: just now), which made my grandma very happy. (note: freezing rain hurts ears.) So thank you to our awesome paper thrower.

I'd be remiss if I let this day go by with no mention: today is my mother's birthday! She would have been 52. :) Love you momma!



Okay, so not the greatest pic of my dad, but I love that one of mom, so it wins out anyway. ;) Besides, I love that it looks like they took it themselves. :)

You're my sunshine, oo...

Today was a gorgeous, slightly breezy 75 degrees. Tomorrow has a high of 44 plus a wind chill. Tuesday we're being told to expect a major winter storm. Some forecasters have Wednesday & Thursday morning with a high of 6. 6. Bemusement, bemusement.

Anyway.

It's been a weekend of seeing friends.

Last night (Friday) Julie, Jenny & I celebrated Christina's birthday with her in the city. We munched down at Chilis and then wandered over to the Blazers rink for some ice skating. I've been ice skating before - only twice, but both times I succeeded slightly better than I expected so I assumed this time would go about the same.
This time I barely made it three laps and only by clinging to the wall on the third lap, falling onto the bench as my ankles gave way. Hm.
I did finally make it another round on Julie's skates which were three sizes smaller and fit much, much better. Oh, and Christina kept me from falling, which was awesome. I enjoyed it though and really think that if there was a rink within 15 minutes driving distance I would probably take a session of lessons. Nonetheless, I was terrible at skating this night. :)

Today was so beautiful that Regina & I soaked up some beautiful sunshine walking over to Holly & Sam's house. The three girls chatted while Sam worked off his cold playing video games, and then off to Pizza Hut where Philip, Eric & Brad joined us. And then Regina & I left for ice cream and a movie (Tangled) while a game of DnD commenced. A mini movie review is below, if you're interested.

A lovely weekend as we launch into....Valentine's Day.

Yes, it's true, we're two weeks out from the big day so if anyone's ordering flowers, order now. We'll be starting our main set of preparations this week. The weather may be an issue this week - no, it's not the big delivery day, but it's the week a huge chunk of our flowers arrive. Freezing weather during shipment? Hm.
All this to say, posting may be sporadic, but it's already that way, so you probably won't notice a difference. :)


Tangled
What I Knew Going In: The trailer, which leans heavily on the male character of Flynn Rider, and a lot of commentary on how Disney had marketed the movie so heavily towards boys.
The Movie: Was super cute. But I can see now how heavily it really did play to boys, because this movie was not what I expected from the trailer. This movie is a very traditional Disney princess movie. Sure, there are times when it's stretching it a bit, but it's forgivable over the great characters and fun lines. And Maximus, the horse, who is beautifully done. Personally, there were several scenes "borrowing" from Little Mermaid and Beauty & The Beast and at times felt like it was a smashup of the two.
Simply put: it's a Disney princess movie. If you like that, you'll love the movie. If you don't like singing princesses, don't go.


For those interested in the situation in Egypt, there is this live feed constantly running footage and information. They are also rerunning segments at times for people just tuning in to catch up.

Watching

I wasn't keeping up with the situation in Egypt at first. Mostly because it seemed to come out of nowhere and I guess I suspected it would stop as quick as it came. Then I saw where their internet access had been shut down and suddenly realized this was getting much larger than what I expected.
And when it came to the earlier protests in Tunisia, I had no information, period. This article actually clarified a lot of my questions about Tunisia and Egypt and their similarities and differences.

I can't offer comments on either, because I know absolutely nothing about the whole situation, except what I learned sifting through articles and commentary tonight. My mind can't even fathom the protests that have been occurring and I am at a loss about what it may be causing across the rest of the world.

Personally, my eyes have been on Sudan for the past few weeks during their voting. The residents were voting on whether to continue as one country or split into two, creating Africa's new country. But the government is shaky and despite their agreements there's an uncertainty that the President will allow the country to split even if voted for. (Results from the vote are expected in early February, with the latest date for an announcement being Valentine's Day.)
Sudan's north and south regions have been at war for years, and their President is wanted for war crimes for the mass killings and rape in Darfur.
If the south splits, their going to have to not only figure out their leadership, but also potentially deal with the thousands of displaced people that may return. (Current estimates say 2.5 million people are displaced due to the Darfur conflict.) There is also the large issue with the oil wells - the oil is in the South, but flows through pipes in the North for exporting.

As always with the Mideast, there is more going on here than meets the eye. Please keep all these thoughts, countries and people in your prayers this week.

This article is being continuously updated about Egypt if anyone wants to keep up.

Even my henchmen think I'm crazy.

Oh wow. I have discovered Jonathan Coulton. This is wonderful.

The ponies. Oh the ponies.

Watch.

I still remember Mole.

Yes! Hero Squad is officially published! This is wonderful news!

Hero Squad, of course, is a children's play written by my near and dear brother and I'm super excited for him. This is such a great script, full of beautiful characters and I'm so glad to see it out there for theaters (and kids!)

Congrats William!! I'm so happy for you!

You know what, bro? Sometimes you're just really cool. :)

Three weeks out

I would love to stay and chat, but I'd also like to take advantage of this sleepiness. This is the beginning of another very full week, not to mention three weeks out from Valentine's Day. Must finish displays. Must finish displays.

So I leave you with some links:

I love that they use Princess Leia as their test pilot.
MIT's Kinect-Powered Real-Time Hologram System Could Bring Holographic Video Chat Home

For my Megaman friends: The MegaMan Coffee Mug

This documentary sounds intriguing if you have any interest in puppetry or Jim Henson, even if you're not an Elmo fan. It's a Sundance film about the man behind Elmo, Kevin Clash, who worked with Jim Henson before becoming Elmo on Sesame Street.

Goodnight.

Oh, oh and you're Mary Tyler Moore.

Have you all sufficiently recovered from the fantastic Batman news? I'm still excited. I'm so curious how they'll tailor all that in.

So to complete our last discussion about the insane number of funerals happening so early in January, our final count of the rush was 37. 37 services happened between January 3rd and January 17th (and that's not including a few that didn't have services). And then we hit last Monday and not a single service has happened in the past three days and business has hit a brick wall. Ah well, at least it opens up time for us to prepare for Valentine's. (Boo.) Which we'll probably begin focusing on next week. (Boo.)

On a completely different note, have you heard scientists are trying to resurrect the Mammoth? Within five years?

Hey, I've seen more movies!
A-Team
Going In: I knew nothing about the A-Team. All I knew was that Mr. T was in the tv show. That's it. I was only vaguely interested in the movie because my friends were, but I never saw it.
The Review: I loved this movie. I really didn't expect to, but when Brad found out I hadn't seen it we had to watch it. I was shocked at how well it was done, how good the story was, how fun and interesting the characters were and what a great action flick it was. I loved all four guys (you can't help it) but Murdock was hands down my favorite. You spin me right round...
Go watch this movie.

Megamind
Going In: I had seen the trailer several times and was interested but missed it when it was showing. Yay dollar movie theatre!
The Review: If you've seen the trailer, then you've seen the first twenty minutes of the movie and that gets old fast. But if you stick around, it turns into a pretty cute movie. It doesn't say anything necessarily new to the superhero world, but it's cute, has some fun lines and makes you smile at the end. The relationships between Roxanne, Megamind and MetroMan are really well done and lots of fun. I enjoyed it.

July 20-12! July 20-12!

I have no idea how all this is going to come into play, but I'm wildly excited. Characters announced!!

Anne Hathaway & Tom Hardy Join Dark Knight Rises

Turn off the what?

Beware. Spoilers abound in all articles about Turn Off the Dark. Flee now if you're avoiding them. Or just don't click on the articles. Heh.

Sorry. I know its old now, but sometimes I still get this urge to make fun of the name.

So what's been going with Broadway's most expensive musical ever?

In case anyone's interested, here is MTV's (unofficial) review of Spiderman: Turn off the Dark

Part 1: Things they enjoyed....

...aaaand Part 2: things they didn't.

There's lots of interesting tidbits in there if you're interested.

Also, it's considered "unofficial" only because its still in previews and technically critics aren't supposed to give official thoughts yet (although now that its in its third delay they're starting to get antsy).

Hm, most interesting piece from that last article:
Although producers are charging full price for tickets, the musical is still selling out the 1,930-seat Foxwoods Theatre in Times Square almost every night.

I'm impressed they're still selling out, but full price for preview tickets? That's what you should read in that. Preview means the show is not even guaranteed to finish (especially with all the technical issues like this one). So I went and played on their website. It looks like cheap seats are $75 while premium orchestra seats are $275. Without fees.

So, average price is $145. For a show in previews.

So how expensive is the most expensive Broadway show ever? Reportedly $65 million. Also in the article above it mentions the previous holder of that title, Shrek the Musical which came in at $25 million.

More viewer reviews if you're interested.

You may be right, I may be crazy.

Random thoughts.

First, this article about how people in Japan are donating gifts to orphans in the name of superheroes makes me smile.

Second, work has been wild. Twenty-two services have either happened or are in the process of happening since January 3rd. It's January 11th. Let that sink in for a moment.

Third, did you know you could make thin mints using a Ritz Cracker? Dip the cracker in melted mint chocolate chips (or chocolate chips with mint extract) and add crushed peppermints on top. Delicious. I don't even like traditional thin mints and I scarfed these down. Yum. You would never know it was a cracker inside.

Fourth, there's a Muppets movie coming out in November? I can't decide whether I'm excited or not. Images of Scarecrow Kermit being ripped to shreds keep flashing through my mind. Thoughts?

And finally, awwww.... look at this cute guy.


I love that picture. That's a good note to end on. Thanks Shannon!

Starting 2011 off with a Bang: At the Movies

Wait, did I just say in my previous post that I saw very few movies in 2010?

I guess they were all waiting for the tail end of 2010 or 2011 to come out. Which I was expecting to some extent seeing that Deathly Hallows: Part 2 and Thor were both coming out this year. I also knew that in 2011 more info on Dark Knight Rises would be coming out seeing as it currently is set for a 2012 release.

But I didn't expect to see four movies in one week.

So, although three were actually released in 2010, here is my opening movie list for 2011:

Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

The Setup: While I have read synopsis' and bits and pieces of the book in various commentaries- no, I haven't read the whole thing. Not even close.

The Review: But I loved this movie. Loved, loved, loved. And considering how disappointed I was in Prince Caspian that really surprised me. The visuals are still gorgeous, the characters were beautiful (Eustace was perfect.) I know a lot depended on how well this movie did to determine whether more will be made. And after Caspian I was on the fence, but after this one I sincerely hope they continue them in this vein. Although sadly, I suspect it didn't do well enough at the box office.
(In case you're wondering, I also loved the movie form of The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe.)

Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows: Part 1
The Setup: Yes, I have read all seven books. And while I've only read the 7th once, I have read the rest multiple times.

The Review: I was a little anxious about this one because honestly I was pretty disappointed in the book. I think a lot of my initial disappointment came after I had lived off of intense hype for months by the time the book came out. And it went in such a different direction than any of us expected, there was no room for anything but disappointment. I need to go back and reread it.
But the movie was wonderful! I'm so excited for Part 2 now. I felt the movie did a good job of shaking up so much of the book's middle section that I struggled through and loved the section at the Ministry. The animation for the reading of Tales... is gorgeous. I was so pleased and will hopefully see Part 2 much earlier than I saw Part 1.

True Grit
The Setup: No. I have not seen the original. Honestly, I didn't even know there was an original until someone mentioned it in reference to the new movie just recently. The more you know.

The Review: I thoroughly enjoyed this movie, though admittedly not as much as the two just mentioned. Its worth going alone for the Western visuals, the girl playing Maddie Ross (who is outstanding) and Jeff Bridges who is so fun to watch on the screen as Rooster. My only real issue is that by the end of the movie I was sick of hearing Leaning on the Everlasting Arms, but that's about it. Also, I can't envision John Wayne as Rooster, so I guess I will have to see the original someday.

Unstoppable
The Setup: Inspired by a true story that I had also never heard of.

The Review: I'm not disappointed I saw this movie, but I'm also glad I didn't pay more than a dollar fifty for it either. Unstoppable does feature Denzel Washington, which is a plus, but it also takes forever to get moving (no pun intended). If you don't remember the trailers its essentially about a runaway train. Its based on an actual runaway train from 2001 in Ohio, but of course the movie adds in ten times worth of "inspiration" to the actual tale. Nonetheless, when it finally gets going you do enjoy watching Denzel and the other guy try to stop it (that's not a spoiler- you know it's going that direction from the get go not to mention the title) but that's about it. Also, I can't remember the estranged wife saying anything other than her husbands name as her only line placed here and there throughout the movie. Hm.

2010 in review.

I've been avoiding a 2010 year end post. In fact, I keep writing and unwriting it.

I thought it was a great idea at first - I love year end lists, I love recaps, I've been scouring through all the top news or top gadgets or top whatever to remember the year. My friends have summed up their year well.

But for me this is what I don't want to admit: I feel like a lot of 2010 was spent running in place.

Overall, for me 2010 was the year of unmet expectations.
I want to be oh so careful saying that because please understand: This was not a bad year. This was not a year that shook me to my core. I have friends that really hit rough seas this year and I am very aware of that. And when I say unmet expectations its not a complaint. But that's simply what it was. Where I expected to be at this point in my life and where I actually was did not add up. And instead of dealing with it properly with God I ran around wildly. I was constantly busy with something. And it left me socially depleted.
It's not to say that I didn't enjoy times with those people, because I really did. But it wasn't helping the real problem. (Which to be entirely honest I'm still not sure what that is. Maybe at the end of 2011, I'll have that answer.)

Now for the other side of the coin.
2010 was not wasted entirely. I did gain some ground on all I just talked about. I realized ultimately I was telling myself (and everyone else and God Himself) that I was open to Him, but really I was telling Him exactly how I wanted it to go. And that was the crux of all the unmet expectations. I let go of Africa, for now. That was enormous. I have to let go of it for now. And honestly, that's the only one I'm willing to talk about on a blog yet. ;)

Enough. Let's talk about the fun stuff. Because hey, I was busy, so there was a lot of that! :)
The Awesome:
* In March (March 10th! I still have my calendar) Holly, Sam & I ventured up to Kansas, stayed with her parents, ate extremely fantastic pasta at Martinellis all to see Great Big Sea in concert for the first time. Which was awesome. They pulled songs from all their albums (which seems really rare now at concerts) and even played "Chemical Workers Song" which I never even dreamed they would play. I would travel again to see them in a heartbeat. They were wonderful. They are one of my favorite bands, but I had only heard them via cd's. I can assure you they are even better live. I loved them. You should go see them. They also played "Yankee Sailor." Swoon.
* We celebrated my grandfather's 80th birthday with a surprise bluegrass get together.
* Zoo with the Holly, Julie & the Ledesmas. Eating Chick Fil A. Playing in the park with Robbie. Staying up late with friends. Not counting getting lost in OKC cause that was really stressful.
* Zoo with the Nickersons, Philip & Eric. And the Meerkat King. Hysterical. I so wished I had had a video camera.
* VBS!
* Summertime with my cousins!
* Getting to go to Sulphur with the Plumbs & Pucketts!
* Rock Band 2 at Eric's with everyone. Singing with Brad and Philip really tops the list because it was oh so much fun.
* I finally read Till We Have Faces and Enders Game, both of which were outstanding and changed my top 5 list. I want to read more about Ender & Valentine please!
* Getting to enjoy Thanksgiving with my Oregonian family for the very first time. Traveling with grandma. Wii with Amanda. Eating Diane's fabulous cooking. Pestering Brian. The golden goblets. Flowers with Brent. Zoolights. The whole trip was phenomenal. All of it.
* My kids. All of them. The way their faces light up. The way they play. Their hugs. Little Khloe dressed up as Tinkerbell at her birthday. Amy & Kylie, growing up so fast and lovely. Holding Jace at the sleepover. Ashlyn & Carson being Ashlyn & Carson. :) Anna Banana is not Anna Orange and loves knock knock jokes. Videos of Robbie that always make me grin. Lexie in her 1st tutu. Ashia teaching me how to play WiiSports and watching her run. Video games & Alien with Kaden. Holding Tate for the very first time.
* The entire celebration of Tate gets its own mention. Taaaaaaate!
* Little Women with Phyllis & Amy.
* Christmas was really lovely this year. This year had that touch of magic over the whole week and I feel like I actually got to spend time with each set of family and friends. And the stocking with my name embroidered topped it off. ;)
* The very last week of December I settled over a year's worth of debating and pierced my ears. I'm really happy I did.

I know I'm missing things.

Work:
Whoa. Can you believe 2011 will be my fifth Valentine's Day?
I really developed a lot at work this year and I'm glad of it. Sure, May was chaos and the new computer system still makes me twitch at times, but its no longer making me tear my hair out. I also completed my very first wedding from start to finish and have strengthened my casket pieces. A few weeks ago a lady come in and asked if I was Sherri when I went to help her. I told her I was, but there was obviously no recognition on my face. She smiled. I didn't think much of it- this happens a lot and they either knew my parents or grandparents but when she left I asked my boss. He remembered that I had helped her pick out her son's casket piece. My heart melted. Whether that was the only reason she knew me or not may forever remain unknown, but that continues to sum up why I love my job. That moment was priceless.
Another lady came in, much earlier in the year (either this year or late last 2009). She knew exactly what she wanted and was having trouble conveying it and was very concerned that it wouldn't be what was in her mind. I was also afraid of getting it wrong. Even when you don't build a piece (which in this case I didn't), whoever does build it has to talk with the person who helped the family to ensure it's done right. A few days after the service the same lady came back in, approached me, grabbed my hands and thanked me extensively for understanding her. She had tears in her eyes. I practically had tears in mine. Can I use heart melting again? Heart melting. Butter.

Movies:
There wasn't a lot of movies I really wanted to see this year, but for the most part I really enjoyed the ones I saw. How to Train... is probably my top pick.
Alice in Wonderland , w/ Kris & Kylie
How To Train Your Dragon
Iron Man 2 , for Julie's party
Robin Hood, w/ Philip, Kelly, Brad, Regina, Holly, Sam, Eric, Cambria
Toy Story 3, w/ grandma!
Despicable Me , um. See Robin Hood list.
Inception w/ Holly & Sam
Scott Pilgrim vs.The World w/ Jesse
You Again w/ Amy & Phyllis
Red See Robin Hood list.
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader w/ Regina

Really? I feel like there was more than that. Am I missing something?

Alright. That's it. Sweet dreams 2010. You were real. You were great. You were really great. But now it's goodbye. It's not goodbye. It's just goodbye. (Thanks Elizabethtown, you summed that up nicely for me.)

Hellooo 2011!