Great Halloween movies, Fringe & a little bit of Sanford & Son

Part of the reason I love this time of year is because there is an overload of scary movies. I LOVE scary movies.

When 30 Days of Night was released in theaters, I thought it would be cool to watch it on the big screen. But we didn't. We waited, as per our usual, to watch it on DVD. This Saturday, during Kyle's sleepover, it premiered on Starz. We watched it again (we being me & Kyle - none of the other kids had seen it. My niece & nephew love scary movies & apparently Kyle's friends do, too) - the kids who didn't want to watch had the option to go play downstairs.

The first time I sat through the movie, I wasn't all that impressed. Sometimes it takes a few viewings to make me realize how cool a movie is to me. I've watched it 2 more times since Saturday & I LOVE it.

For those of you who haven't seen it, I won't ruin any surprises for you. All I will say is that I enjoy the creepy way in which the creatures are featured. It's almost realistic in the way the story is told. It has an abundance of gore - true gore, so if you're not a fan of blood & uber nasty scenes of death, don't watch.

My niece & I call one of the creatures "Hey" because every time we see him in the movie he hisses that. We loved him for that.

The ending was AWESOME - though it does leave a few lingering questions. I love what had to be done & the fact that Josh Hartnett is in this film makes it that much more watchable for me. I know that critics may not have loved this film, but as I've mentioned several times, I am indiscriminate when it comes to movies. If I watch it & love it, I do - even if it's crap to other people.

Speaking of Halloween movies - what are some of your favorites? I love 13 Ghosts (the recent version). That is one of my all time favorite movies - ever! I love the ghosts - the special effects & cinematography are awesome. When I first saw previews of that, I thought it was going to be stupid & they made the mistake of promoting the fact that Shannon Elizabeth was in it, thus leading people to believe it was mostly about her. So untrue. If you love ghost movies with some humor mixed in and great special effects - see it! You shouldn't be disappointed. "Where's the lawyer?"..."I dunno, I guess he split.." Humor.

We recently rented Prom Night - thinking it might be a wicked remake of a fairly decent slasher film (at the time the original was made, it wasn't too terrible - just a little). No dice. It was one of the dumbest movies I've ever seen. There was no suspense & when I think of slasher film, I think blood & stuff. This didn't have that, not at all.

*******************************************

Fringe is the Xfiles of the new millenium. For me, anyhow. I watch House & usually I'd just stop watching tv after it. This new show has me watching it, instead of shutting down the tube. At times, it seems too mysterious & misleading, not to mention confusing (once in a while) and I really hope that this mystery eventually leads to a nice finish. I'm also a little worried that it will be too much. That things won't fall into place quickly enough to keep me interested & watching. It's got ideas pointing to aliens & the paranormal, plus wickedly different things happening in each episode. For now, it's pretty interesting television - to me.

*******************************************

Yesterday, I was taking the boys to school & my neighbors a few houses down had this wicker outdoor set with a sign that said "free" sitting on the sidewalk. Normally, I don't do this, but I don't have any furniture on my deck & Tony doesn't think it's a necessity, so we haven't yet bought any. On the way back, I grabbed it.

Why don't I do this more often, well, for one, I don't want to be known as "the garbage collector" (and that is what will happen in this house). I always feel weird if I take something that someone else is throwing out. I did that once with another neighbor, only they were close to us, so I called to ask first. Isn't that silly? The desk they were throwing out was in pristine shape, repainted & we still have it in Kyle's room. He helped me with that project & loves that he has a desk. We did this over 5 years ago.

This wicker set has 2 chairs, a table & a loveseat. I think the set has pretty much been weathered by the outdoors. Even so, the cushions are still in very good shape. I will probably replace those anyway. The table needs to have it's top redone. That will be something for next summer. Overall, the set isn't in too shabby shape. The paint is wearing off the wicker, so I can repaint it. It's dark brown right now & I'm trying to decide if I want a lighter color or if I want to stay dark. I'll do before & after shots once I've gotten it done.

In the meantime, everytime Dock man goes out & sees it, he calls me Fred Sanford. We're Sanford & Son now because I picked up someone's garbage. Plus, everytime I leave the kids toys in the yard, I am Fred then, too. Yeah, he's a dork. Really.

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday, Kyle!

I know you had school & all, but we did have a buttload of fun on Saturday and we still have some ice cream left! I love you so much & hope you are having fun even though I made you go to school on your birthday! We all had to do it!

Two more years til he's driving...yikes!

And Kyle...

He happened upon us while we were planning the wedding. Yeah, happened because sex is always a surprise...heh. We got fairly lucky & he was born 3 weeks before our wedding. We couldn't change the date because the hall Dock man's mom chose gets booked up pretty early. Plans were set in place, so we ran with them.

I was pretty happy during my pregnancies, lucky that I never had morning sickness. Not once. During my pregnancy with Kyle I was jubilant through the whole thing. It was very odd to me, with hormones raging, nothing pissed me off - I could get there, but it was very difficult to do so. Happy during all my pregnancies and very long labors. Kyle's was the hardest labor I dealt with. I have this problem. My kids don't want to enter the world, they want to stay inside. Each one of them was induced. Kyle was induced the longest & finally Dr. just broke my water. I'm betting the world record (not really, but 3 10 hour days worth is much) amount of pitocin used in this induction had something to do with why it was the hardest labor. I called for an epidural! Regrettably, I just couldn't handle the intensity of it. I had both front & back labor with Kyle. Hard, hard labor.

Dock man & I had argued about his name, still hadn't agreed on which we were going with and he wanted his way - always does. I wanted Kyle Nicholas & he wanted Nicholas Kyle. "I think Nick is a more manly name..." his words. When he was finally delivered, the nurse asked Dock man what his name was and Dock man said "Kyle". Kyle's was the first & only labor & delivery Dock man could be an active part of. After he saw it all, he couldn't do it again. I feel for him & I understand. He almost fainted and I knew he didn't have the stomach for it even before we went in.

This beautiful boy entered our lives. He was a quiet baby and excellent baby (again, luck I had with all of them). He slept long hours early on. He was supremely alert. Because he was like my second first child, I revelled in being a new mommy & actually experiencing it first hand. I used to read to him all the time. In the pic above on the right, that will always be one of my favorite things he did as a baby. I used to call his name from all parts of the house & he would dash his head around to find where I was. Then he'd answer with that baby "uh?" kinda like he's saying "Yeah? You want something?". Then I'd make him grin.

As he got older, he got a little serious. He was very attached to me but he wasn't afraid of other people. From all the reading I did, at 18 months he could name all the letters of the alphabet on sight. That still amazes me - had I continued at that pace he prolly would've been reading at 3. I had to go back to work, though, among other things. Back to his seriousness. I've mentioned that Dock man is sarcastic. Dock man also like to mess with little kids. So does my older brother J. Kyle woudn't have that. He used to get angry. No joking with the boy. He had his share of fits. He liked to be a solitary child. If other kids came over, he would share everything with them but end up playing alone. It didn't bother him to play alone, I think he preferred it.

While we still lived in Illinois and even after we moved to Indiana, we used to head on out to Grandma's tavern at least once a month. I know from Kyle those were some great times for him. I'm not a drinker, so we'd have RC colas together at the bar when only a few old regulars were in there. Grandma always gave Kyle some chips to bring home & we'd get cases of RC to take with us, too. Kyle & I used to spend a lot of time hanging out with Grandma.




When he started school, that was really hard for me. I'd gotten so used to having him around all day, I knew I would miss him (when we moved to Indiana, I didn't have to work any more). He was happy to go, he'd looked forward to it. He did well until we moved from there. I think it was more to do with the age & transition rather than just the transition. We moved a lot when I was a kid, so I understand how hard it can be to start over. So, now he is an underachiever in school. I hope he gets that what I tell him is true - things for him now are supremely easy compared to what life truly is. It's work and it always will be. A good life is worth the long hours we put in, though. There are so many things I hope I can remember for a very long time, forever, even. Like the way he used to say "pertick" (perfect). When he was younger than 2, my mom had a voice mail (not anymore, sadly) that had him talking about getting sockem' boppers (member those? heh). Santa clAUs? was going to bring him sockEM BOPperS? The statements were questions then. And the stresses on the words, well, they were just adorable.




Kyle was in a play in 3rd grade & I am so glad we got a video tape of it. This drama program from one of the nearby universities went to different schools & would put on a play, training the students within the school system. They did this in one week. It was an amazing thing. I do have one regret about this, I went into labor with my daughter the weekend of the play. I had to miss his acting debut live. & the boy was incredible! He had the best time, too. It was a rewrite of the classic Rumplestiltskin. Kyle played the King, King Whatzat - the king was rather hard of hearing. Because of the individual attention they got, all of the kids were spot on in this, after only a week of learning lines & rehearsals. One week! It still baffles me how it was done & done so well. He's been a fan of drama since then. He was stage crew in another play, in choir & will probably be in more plays as time goes on. I look forward to the rest of his performances. In choir this year, he was one of the Jackson 5 for their Spring concert - if I can ever get the dang video uploaded, I will post it for you to enjoy!



The boy loves computer games & any gaming system in general. Sometimes I wish he loved to read (and I hope I instilled a love of books) as much as he loved to play. He still has toys & plays with them (not as often as he used to). He has gotten better at being responsible for himself. He's gotten better at doing things without being told. He has moments of utmost respect. I think we are lucky to have a 13 year old who is still really a kid, even if he thinks he's smarter than we are. I hope I helped him to remain one. When I mentioned I tried to instill a love of books, I used to read him kid novels before he could read them himself. We love the Harry Potter series & after we saw The Sorcerer's Stone, we got the next book. I read him those until the early middle of the Goblet of Fire, then he could read them himself. I've read him many short stories and we always enjoyed talking about the books we read. He still likes it when I read to him (them all, actually).



I always said he was going to be my good boy in highschool. I still believe that. He asked about college a few weeks back & I reminded him that he would have to help in the grades department. I hope that part catches on soon. He wants to chase storms when he's old enough, much to my horror. I can just imagine him getting sucked up by a twister - one of my big fears. He's talked about going on to meteorolgy, but who knows. Impressionable young minds change their options on the turn of a dime.

Trees in the Fall

I told my friend Amanda that I would post some pretty tree pictures for her today. She has a thing for trees and how nature brings her peace.

Last Fall (and it was late fall, November 13th - we didn't start seeing major color change til mid October! That's quite late for where I live) I took my baby girl for a walk & took some photos. I don't often go out & take pictures of trees, but for a while they had been calling me to do it. The colors of Fall have always been moving to me. I was lucky & did manage to take some lovely pictures. Now, I'm looking forward to this years changing of season. I miss the smell of Autumn.

I did enhance these a bit in PSP. It makes them even prettier. ;)

**************************************************************

I'm normally not a movie or tv crier. I have to also confess that I missed the season ender of House back in May. You know, the 2 part with House's Head & Wilson's Heart? I watched those last night on the net and OMG! OMFG! That is some of the most moving tv writing EVER! I had to watch them because I started watching this season & although I know your best friend may hate you after you get his girlfriend killed (House really didn't, but the set of circumstances would have left me with much guilt, if it were me), I didn't understand all of it.

I meant to watch these 2 episodes at the end of the season, but to watch on Fox online, you have to wait 8 DAYS after they air! Stupid...so I forgot.

I'm watching these & I often laugh during the show & I did - during both episodes. Robert Sean Leonard did a sensational acting job with the death of his Amber - from the Wilson's Heart ep. I couldn't help but feel as crushed as he did when he was going through all of his stuff. The tears didn't come for me until they woke her up for him to say goodbye. Moving tv, I tell you, very moving.

The House's Head ep was a wonderful mystery, especially if you didn't know the answer. If you want to check them out you can here - House's Head and Wilson's Heart. Amazing tv writing! The acting isn't too bad, either.

***************************************************

I almost forgot (well, I did, but I'm back becauase I remembered). A very cool woman bestowed another award upon my blog! I actually recieved this from another cool lady a long time ago, Jaci, the raving mad housewife - but I forgot to post it then, too. Yes, I gave myself a V8 slap - twice.


Huge thanks to MamaHut & Jaci for thinking my blog was worthy!

To pay it forward - I give it to:

Billie my boo!

Amber - cause she rocks!

That O'Neal woman in charge, cause I found another fabulously funny & honest blog I love and just like with Amber people will probably cower away from her honesty! I love it and I'm a reader for life!

The recipients are free to do with the award what they wish (but please don't blog about that...). It'd be cool to see it payed forward, though to - to some of your favorite blogs!