One Week Anniversary

So maybe I can be a little sappy...

Since getting married and such is quite a big milestone in life, I thought if might be of some value to chronicle in some way how I felt/feel about it.  Thus, here I am at 8am on Saturday morning, chronicling...

I grew up in a tough environment.  I would not describe my childhood years as normal, happy, well-adjusted.  I had my little brother and any happy times I had as a kid involved him.  Otherwise, it was not a good time.  I spent my younger adult years sort of wandering.  I had good relationships and bad ones.   At some points, I just wasn't ready for the good relationships to become marriage and the bad ones just made me want to give up entirely.  Before I met Brian, I was ready to just give up and accept my life as the crazy cat lady.  I was wondering if life would ever just ease up and if the bullshit quota would ever be met.  It was a joke i had.  I had convinced myself that everyone's life had a bullshit quote: the amount of bullshit that we each had to put up with before we could just have a regular normal life.  I was wondering if i just had a particularly high quota to meet.  I mean, even by 32 years old, I'd had a long life. Growing up with my mom, my father's death, the fire, taking care of Aunt Laura and her death...that's a lot to pack into the first third of one's life.  So, I wasn't feeling sorry for myself, but I was wondering if this was how it would always be or if maybe there would be a break thrown in at some point.  And that's when I met Brian.  Funny how that works.

I woke up this morning and I looked around me.  There's the dog, passed out on the floor in that way that only dogs can sleep. Like she just spent a hard night out running the streets and she's exhausted so every part of her body looks flopped on the ground, passed out.  One cat is nestled down at the bottom of the bed, one is dangling over the edge of the sugar glider's cage and playing, one is curled up on the dresser, and the fourth is lying on Brian's chest and staring at him.  Brian is asleep on his back but, thankfully, his mouth is closed so he's not snoring and he looks so young.  When he sleeps, his whole face relaxes and he's like 25.

I woke up and i surveyed this scene around me and I thought "This is my life. My happy, normal, well-adjusted life." I thought about the wedding and Brian's family and how a few months ago my brother had asked me why I wanted to marry Brian. He was trying to elicit some sort of emotion out of me, which is not really how I roll.  I think I said something like "mumble, mumble, because I love him or whatever, shut up, don't be cheesey." No one can accuse me of being adept at expressing my emotions.
 
Brian is an amazing person.  I know this not just because I think so but because of the way the people around him think so, as well.  He has this huge extended family.  There are 3 sisters, 1 brother, two sets of parents, 6 neices and nephews, 6 grandneices and nephews, and uncles and aunts.  Except for his mother, father, and half-brother, non of these people are actually blood related to him, but there are all LOVE related to him.  It's amazing, really, because put all these people in a room together and I think the single thing they could all 100% agree on is that they love and respect and like Brian.  Plus, he has like a million friends.  My own brother loved him from like the second they met.  That's just the kind of guy Brian is.  He requires a lot of attention, can never find anything (seriously, what's up with that), and gets cranky if not fed and watered frequently, but he's the kind of person that everyone loves.  He's smart and responsible and funny and dependable and energetic and a bit ADD. He's never cruel or hurtful and he almost always does what he says. He calls to say he'll be late, he's open about every aspect of his life, he's never sketchy or secretive.  He's the kind of person you just trust immediately without question because minutes after meeting him you can tell he has this grounded morality that doesn't allow him to be dishonest.  Obviously, he's not perfect, but his flaws are things like, he's a bit sloppy and sometimes he gets pouty.  These are not tragic flaws and his good qualities far outweigh any flaws he has. 

Beyond just Brian, though, there is his family and friends.  These are amazing people.  They love him and respect him and they support him in the things he wants to do in life.  And all of these people have made me feel like part of all that. 

So, the wedding...This is where it was reinforced in my head that not only was I marrying the right person, but I was marrying into a great and wonderful family.  Brian's family (which to me includes Vince and Kristina) like banded together as this cohesive unit to help pull the whole thing together. Not to take anything away from my brother, his girlfriend, my best friend and her boyfriend because they all came together as part of this giant gang to help bring it all together.  It was just amazing to see all these people working to help make our wedding (the whole weekend, really) awesome.

This is how amazing everyone is:

1. Friday, his entire family cam over for the rehearsal dinner. They helped with food, and clean-up and last minute wedding stuff.  And when i slam dunked his sister's birthday cake onto the floor (in a most embarrassing display of non-balance ever), she was 100% gracious and everyone laughed and we cleaned it up and the kids ate floor cake.

2.  When we needed people to help us set up on Saturday morning, this massive gang of people came over to the Speak Easy at like 8am and just got it done!  His dads, his sister, his brother-in-laws, his best friends, their wives, my best friend and her boyfriend, the kids, my brother and his girlfriend, it was amazing, and they all did an amazing job.  My favorite picture from that:

Brian's dads, Rich and Phil, and his brother-in-law, Jeff, making bouquets!

3.  Brian's sister, Teri, and his niece, Andrea, putting together the greatest flash mob ever to dance at the wedding.  OMG. It's the only moment of the entire wedding that I felt regret over not having a videographer.  The entire Fergie clan, Teri, JR, Brian's minions, Karen's minions all dancing to Gangnam Style. It was truely amazing and probably my favorite part of the whole night.

4. While Kristy and I were getting ready, her boyfriend helped iron all the minions dress shirts.  He just came by to drop something off and we roped him in but without his help, it would not have gotten done.  And it may seem like a small thing, but it wasn't because those shirts were in a tragic state.

5. Kristy and Eric and Noah and Adam coming by Sunday morning and helping me and the little minions get the Speak Easy back to normal and cleaning.  Brian had to take Gavin to soccer and I could not have done it without them.

6. Just everyone having a good time and dancing and laughing and taking mustache (I provided each guest with a fake mustache) photos in the photobooth. 

Overall, it was just a great weekend and a great reminder of the fact that I'm lucky. I sometimes don't really know or understand how I got here to this place of happy normalcy, but I know that I'm lucky. 

Jenn daSilva Rowe Warhammer

My blog is practically as rare as seeing Big Foot these days...

If memory serves...

Unbelievably, Blogger is one of the few sites that my work does not block like the evil internet nazis that they are.  And today is NOT the day that I smell like chicken soup! Darn it, how do I always end up with food on my clothes?!?

This blog is brought to you by the realization that I have a crappy memory and blogging is the only way for me to have any idea what went on in my life.

Seriously, it's a sad sad state that my mind is in.  I am trying to put together a memory book for Brian as a sort of wedding present, and I can't remember ANYTHING.  Like, I know we went on a cruise in Jan 2011 and I know it was in the Caribbean, but hell if i can remember where it stopped.  I remember the bike ride to Hell (the town, not the burning inferno) but I have no idea where Hell is. I remember some ruins and well rehearsed iguanas, but not what country we were in.  It's a little scary.  This of course downward spiraled into the realization that if I don't blog about it, then how will i know it happened?  Facebook is worthless for any long term chronicle.  It's more a chronicle of my ADD thoughts. Profound thoughts, like, "I could sleep for 20+ hours" and "I need a clone".  Not that my blog is much more profound, but it does feel more substantial. Anyway....

The Capture....

All this wedding stuff is starting to take it's toll. I'm pretty sure I've developed a twitch.  Like in my whole body.  Is it normal that whenever anyone says the word "wedding", I immediately start looking for the nearest exit? Literally, not metaphorically.  I'm still me and my psychological responses are pretty straightforward. Impending wedding = nervous = flight instinct = look for actual door.  I still have a list of To Dos to get done before next Saturday.  Nothing big like "book caterer" or anything, but enough details that when I found out yesterday that the best man didn't have his suit yet, I nearly had a nervous breakdown.  It's not helping that as a result of a go cart meets wall crash at his bachelor party, my betrothed can barely walk. Awesome.  I feel like I"m much more suited to be a wedding planner, rather than a wedding participant.  I enjoy the planning parts, but i'm such a control freak, I'm wondering how I'm going to be able to hand over the reigns to my coordinator on the day of.  Meh.

It's funny how I'm at work and they think that I can actually focus on anything work related.  That's the problem with working with a group of dudes.  They just don't get that my mind is filled with other things right now.  Usually, I'm pretty good at compartmentalizing things but in 11 days I'm going to commit my vagina to one person for the rest of my life, so I guess I'm a little distracted.  Side Note: I don't know why but I keep thinking how the only things a person commits their entire life to is marriage and imprisonment by law enforcement.  Oh, and I guess God. Just saying.  So, I guess I'm a little nervous.  I mean, I would have probably stayed with Brian until the end of days anyway.  I mean, it's not like dating is my favorite thing, I'm also kind of lazy, and Brian doesn't suck.  But I guess the idea that it's like documented and I'm all changing my name and stuff makes it seem so official.  I mean, I guess it actually will be official or whatever.  Speaking of official, why is the paperwork for name change so ridiculous.  OMG.  I tried to convince Brian that we should both change our last name to something new, like Rowsilva or Warhammer.  He didn't go for it.  You can't tell me, though, that Brian and Jenn Warhammer doesn't sound awesome.  "Hello, we are the Warhammers." "Oh, them? Those are the Warhammers and they are AWESOME!"

Ok, so hopefully I'll have like 1 million photos to post from this wedding. I have photos from all sorts of stuff but I'm sucky about posting them.  I really need to get better at this.

Trying to remember everything you've done with someone in the last 3 years is hard.  Wow, I really need to keep up with stuff so that I don't forget my whole life!  Now to reconstruct it all via Facebook, Blogger, and Xanga!

Jenn - 11 days and I will be Jennifer daSilva Rowe.

Facebook has ruined me...

Every time I come back to my blog to write something, I can't help but wonder what has happened to impact the amount of blogging I no longer do. There was once a time when I blogged on a regular, almost frequent basis.  I've considered the fact that I may have ran out of things to say, but that's laughable in the sense that, um, have you met me, it's unlikely I'd EVER run out of something to say. 

I suppose I could blame life and work and the almost husband and step-minions for taking up so much time that I just don't find the time to sit down and get my thoughts together.  But that would be a stinking lie, because if I have time to sit around watching all 2 1/4 seasons of Pretty Little Liars, I could certainly find a moment to blog.  I can't even blame wedding planning, because other than the invites that I've procrastinated completing, I'm pretty much all set on the wedding front.  So, really, what is it that keeps me from blogging?

1. Laziness - really, if I'm honest with myself, this would be the number one reason I don't blog.  All the other reasons just feed into this one.
2. Facebook - Though I curse it on a daily basis for it's constantly changing interface and impossible web of navigation and for the fact that it makes very bad decisions on my behalf, it feeds my laziness by allowing me to purge my thoughts in bit size chucks at the moment they flit through my brain. It's the ultimate ADD brain tool. I don't even have to make any sense because my random snippet of thought will be lost in a sea of nonsense within minutes anyway.  

Really, those are the only two reasons.  I've got plenty to blog about, what with having done Tough Mudder, Zombie Race, wedding planning, vacation in texas and other stuff this summer.  But laziness rears it's ugly head and entire months of my life go undocumented. Heck, my training blog would be considered pathetic.  It's not like we've stopped working out.  Mr. Crazypants has me running every other day and now he wants to start Insanity.  The workout, not the state of mind, though i could see how one could get the two confused. 

Eventually, I need to post the engagement photos just so that people who don't want to log into pictage can see them.  Meh. I'll get around to it.  hopefully...

Jenn

Boys are gross...

List of Things That Boys Ages 10-16 Like...

1. Wearing the same tee shirt every day
2. Farting
3. Cereal
4. Video Games
5. Being Dirty
6. Making a mess 4 seconds after I've cleaned

List of Things That Boys Ages 10-16 Don't Like...

1. Changing their underwear
2. Showering
3. Anything I make for dinner
4. Using their indoor voice
5. Soap
6.Anything I suggest (that's is until they actually do what I've suggested or watch what I've suggested. then    i'm like a genius. it's the battle up until that point that gets me)
7. Vegetables
8. Working
9. Helping around the house


Soon, I Can Call Them Step-Minions...

So, the minions are gross.  Like totally disgusting.  I'm pretty sure that if I wasn't there, they would go the entire 4 days of their weekend visits without changing clothes, underwear, and/or showering.  Of course, I can't totally blame them.  It's not like Betrothed (formally known as Boyfriend) remembers to tell them to shower.  Beyond that, they are still gross.  When I ask them to shower, it's like I've asked them to shower using flesh eating acid. Oh, the horrified looks.  After they shower, I have to ask if they've changed their underwear because they will put the same gross pair right back on. Seriously, is this normal boy behavior? I'm at a disadvantage, never having been a teenage boy.  I showered regularly without being asked. It was sort of my thing, being clean and all.  And no one had to remind me to change my underwear because I actually like wearing clean underwear.

And Then They Are Fashionistas...

The same boys who want to wear the same clothes every day and not change their underwear are remarkably fashion conscious.  Like last week, Minion 2 liked red, but this week he doesn't. Or the cut of the jeans that fit him. And he won't wear shorts because he doesn't like showing his knees. The oldest (15) will pretty much only wear super hero tee shirts. As opposed to last year, when while at Old Navy I said he should get a Superman Tee because it was cool. But maybe i was just a year ahead of fashion.  I personally didn't think super hero tees ever went out of style.

Perhaps I Should Just Be Happy...

I guess I should appreciate the fact that they *mostly* use utensils at the table and that they don't fling feces at me. 

Jenn - They are animals, I tell you...

Welcome to 2012 and stuff...

Quote of the Day: "Better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt."

Right, Right, I'm still in this world of blogging...

It's not my fault I have an average life of averageness and little to say about it. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!  Like I need something to say to blog.  Really, I'm just lazy.  And...nope, no other reason. Lazy pretty much covers it.

2011: The Best Cupcake

Most likely, no one knows this (because I don't think I really mentioned it to anyone) but I was on a quest last year.  A quest that took me to bakeries and bakery counters throughout the greater Indianapolis area.  I was determined to find the most delicious cupcake (not baked by me) in the area. It was tough, all those cupcakes I had to eat, most of them only medium.  Some were terrible.  This one place, a new bakery that had opened up practically walking distance from my house, had the WORST cupcakes.  How do you mess up a cupcake? I'll tell you: Bad frosting.  It was like wax.  And there was way too much.  Which sounds crazy, because how can there be TOO much frosting, but when it's bad frosting, there can be too much.  I tried all the local bakeries that the Indianer folks had raved about.  Meh. Not impressed.  Finally, sometime in November, I went to a new Play It Again Sports that had just opened up down the road from work to see if they had any wetsuits (so it must have been before Tough Mudder), and next door was a place called Pat-A-Cakes and Cookies Too.  Not being someone who can pass up the chance at a cupcake, I walked in and got a mint chocolate cupcake.  OMG. It was sooooo freaking good.  The cupcake was slightly larger than a normal sized cupcake.  The chocolate cake was soft and moist and delightful. The mint frosting was creamy and there was just the right amount.  I think a feel a tear sliding down my cheek just thinking about it.  So, best cupcakes in Indianapolis area goes to: Pat-A-Cakes and Cookies Too.

Right, I probably have more time on my hands than I should. 


2012: The Best Meatball Sub

2012 brings me to the Quest for the Best Meatball Sub Sandwich.  So far, FAIL.  We got meatball sandwiches from a place called Goodfella's last night.  They were so gross.  The failure was of epic proportions.  Allow me to start with the bread.  It was a freaking hamburger bun. FAIL.  The Meatball was all mushy and tasted of soggy dishtowel.  The sauce was watery and flavorless.  I couldn't have been more disappointed with this sandwich if I tried.  I believe that Boyfriend's exact response to the horribleness was "I want to wash my mouth out with poison to get the taste of this sandwich out of it." 

I'm not sure who the 90% are that like Goodfella's are, but I'll assume a couple of things that may be affecting the rating. 1. They are liking the one in NY, not the one in Fishers, Indiana.  2. People in Indiana have no clue. 3. People are mostly having the pizza and maybe the pizza doesn't suck as much as all the other food.

So, Goodfells's Fishers, FAIL.  We also had a sampler from the place.  It included fried raviolis (meh, they were ok), their version of fried mozzarella (which tasted like mozzarella on white bread and the whole thing then being deep fried. It was gross. And I LOVE fried cheese), Garlic bread (how do you mess up GARLIC BREAD? Well, they did. It was soggy, and not really garlicy), Chicken fingers (worst breading award goes to...) and wings. The wings didn't make me want to punch babies, but I tried those last, so pretty much anything would have been good to me at that point.  I normally don't flame places this bad, but the amount of disappointment that I suffered from their TERRIBLE meatball sub has motivated me.  Plus, this is like the third time we've gotten food from there and it's been awful every time.  Apparently, we are not good at learning lessons.

New Year's Resolutions

I don't think that I normally  make resolutions.  If I do, I guess I forget them since I can't remember any. Oh, wait, I have a blog! I'll take a look...yup, since the start of my blogging, no resolutions.  Except for  2008, when I apparently decided that resolutions were needed.  And 2005, there was no resolutions but a story that makes me seem a bit trashy.  What can I say? I was a player once upon a time before I became this suburban step-Jenn that you all now know. 

Basement Renovations

Well, the basement renovations begin in a couple of weeks.  Once completed, there will be an addition bathroom, two bedrooms (one will be used as a family/workout room), a storage room, a wet bar, an area where we will eventually put something pool table like, a laundry area and some closets.  Um, our basement is huge it would seem.  It will be nice to be able to use the downstairs and actually walk out the basement doors into the back yard.  Though, people are questioning my choice to have the laundry be in the basement.  Right now it's in a small room coming in from the garage and it's cramped.  I'll leave the hook-ups that are there for future residents, but I don't really mind walking laundry up from the basement.  I've been doing that for most of my life (when I wasn't doing laundry at a laundry mat).  I guess the new trend is to have first floor laundry to go with the first floor master bedroom.  Meh.  A few extra flights of stairs per week aren't going to kill me.  I should take some before pictures.  So I can remember the world before a finished basement.

Mostly, I'm just excited for an excuse to go to IKEA this weekend to get the bathroom sink and cabinet.  I love a good IKEA trip.

That's all I got for now...
Jenn- I got a keyboard for my iPad for Christmas so I may actually make more of a blogging effort...but don't hold me to that...

A few words on technology...

Quote of the Day: "Fighting for peace is like screwing for virginity" - George Carlin

iPad, Android, Fire...It's a battle and I'm in the fray...

So, those of you who know me (by "know" I mean, "have read my blog, spoken to me on at least one occasion, and/or stalk me quietly on the internet") probably have noticed that I'm a bit obsessed with the technology.  To be more specific, I'm obsessed with gadgets.  In an effort to bring my views to the larger (like 5 people) audience, here are a few things that I'd like to share:

1. Kindle Fire:  Let's just be honest about what the Kindle Fire really is...another way for Amazon to collect information about you so that they can do more focused targeted marketing.  Don't let the Fire trick you into thinking it's anything more than fancy spyware. The Silk browser funnels all of your web browsing thru the Amazon data center under the guise of making browsing faster by caching frequently visited sites, blah blah.  The reality is that it may save you a few milliseconds here and there but the trade off is that Amazon will know everything you do while surfing the web on that thing.  I love Amazon as much as any 30-something year old girl with a obsessive love for shopping via one-click could, but I feel that Amazon knows enough about my interests based on all the other ways they track my every move. That is the only reason I can see for why Amazon would bother with making the Fire.   I mean, sure, I guess they are afraid that people will use the iPad and start buying books from Apple, but I can tell you from experience that Apple doesn't have nearly close to the selection of books and there is a Kindle App, so it's pretty much like having a Kindle but that can do other stuff. I mean, Amazon has already put Borders out of business, what more do they want from this world? If I was Amazon, until the day that Apple suddenly decides to get into the business of selling diapers and other stuff, I would focus more on making deals with publishers to ensure that Amazon keeps the largest selection of ebooks.  The Fire is also significantly inferior to other non-iPad tablets on the market.  Read the reviews.  I'm not just making this stuff up.  Again, don't get me wrong, I LOVE AMAZON.  I just don't need them tracking me all the time. Some of the time is enough for me.

2. Windows based phones: hahahahahhahahahahahaha...I'm sorry, but it's just funny to think that these still exist.  In all fairness, I have never even seen one of the newer ones in real life.  I'm sure that they work perfectly fine, if you ignore the fact that the best Windows device is 2 years behind the current iPhone and Android devices.  My last windows phone was over two years ago and I practically threw it into a fire after getting my first Droid.  It crashed all the time and basically made me crazy.  I guess Samsung, HTC, and Nokia are hedging their bets by making Windows based phone devices or maybe they have to because they signed some crazy deal with Microsoft years ago that forces them to continue making Windows phones.  The reality is that Microsoft should just continue collecting the money on it's patents (pretty much EVERYONE pays Microsoft since they've managed to patent everything) and get out of the mobile OS business. 

3. Android: I think most everyone knows that I heart my Android Phone.  I won't bother doing an Android vs. iPhone comparison.  They are two different devices, both with their pros and cons, and are geared toward different user types.  There is reason the iPhone is so popular. It's great. I can't say that it isn't without being a stinking liar.  It's probably the best phone for someone who has never used a smart phone before, someone who has always used other Apple products, someone who isn't tech savvy, and/or someone who enjoys mind control (hahahahahaha...just kidding...a little).  I love my Android phone because I feel like I have more control over it.  I can mold it to suit my own vision of how it should work.  But, Android still has it's bugs and it does help to have some tech savvieness up ones sleeve and a few googling skills for the times of need.  Not that there are a lot of those.  I don't have issues all that often and the ones I do have are probably more due to me messing with my phone than anything else.  Android based phones are also good for those who do not want to potentially drink the Apple kool-aid and submit to the evil empire.  I have an iPad, so I could really swing either way. 

4. Droid Bionic and 4G: The Droid Bionic is the greatest phone ever in my opionion. Duel core processors, 1GB of Ram, dedicated graphics processing unit, 4G...it's like my heaven phone.  Of course the Motorola Razr is going to be slightly more ninja-rific with it's Kevlar cover, Super AMOLED screen, and a little bit faster duel processors, but it's basically just a skinnier version of the Bionic.  The Bionic is a fine piece of phone.  It's fast and responsive and will softly sing you to sleep at night.  Sometimes I just stare at it in disbelief. It's like a computer in a phone.  It's awesome. Also, if you have not experienced the speeds of 4G, then you have no idea. I'm going to go full on Nerd (like I already haven't...) for a moment...Sitting at my desk at work, I just did a speed test.  I am getting 20.78Mbps download speeds, 13.81Mbps upload speeds. ON MY PHONE.  I used my phone as a wifi hotspot in the car with the kids a few weeks ago.  All three connected their iPods and streamed tv shows.  It was re-donk-u-lous.  It's faster than my internet at home.  To be fair, we need to get a new wireless router because the one we have can only push 12Mbps even though our wired connection is like 18Mbps.  But even at Max (which with Uverse can be a crapshoot), the Uverse is only 18Mbps download and like 2Mbps upload, whereas my phone at home gets 25Mbps download and like 20Mbps upload, which means that they are not capping upload speeds which is INSANE.  4G is no freaking joke.  It's still new, though, so it doesn't have the traffic that 3G does, so I guess we'll see how it goes over the next year or two, as more phones jump onto the 4G bandwagon.  But if you like to be able to, like, watch movies from Netflix while waiting in line at the grocery store, 4G is the way to go.  Assuming you have unlimited data. Without unlimited data, you are totally effed.  Last month, I used 5GBs of data. This month, I'm on track to use just as much.  Also, the battery life isn't awesome when on 4G.  It's easy to switch to 3G on the phone for when I'm not surfing or need an lightening fast internet connection, but on 4G I get about 4 hours of continuous use.  This is why Apple did not go 4G on their new iPhone 4S.  They couldn't figure out the battery life issue, either.  I live with it, though, because sometimes you learn to make sacrifices for the things you love.

5. OverDrive Media Console: My new favorite phone app.  I love listening to audiobooks, but buying audiobooks can be quite costly.  Seriously, they are like $20-40.  It's nuts.  My local library (of which I am a member) offers audiobooks (and ebooks).  The OverDrive Media Console app connects to my library and allows me to check out books and download them directly to my phone.  It's so freaking great.  There is also a desktop version.  The only con is that Android does not support .wma file playback at this time, so I can only download books that are in mp3 format (the app doesn't even show the wma files when I search my library).  Any book I want to listen to that is only available in .wma format, I have to download via the desktop application and then use other software to convert the file to mp3 and then load on my phone.  This is not an issue for iPhone users.  I belive that iPhone will play wma files, but i'm not sure. I've never tested it out.  Maybe I'll see if Boyfriend will let me try on his fancy new iPhone...

6. iPad: I admit it, I love the darn thing.  It does everything I could ever dream of. I can watch Netflix, read books, play angry birds, check email, save the world from alien invasion...anything.  There is a reason people are willing to pay more for the iPad than for any other tablet device. Because it's worth it.  I hate saying it, I am actually feeling pain from saying it.  It's just that good.  Since I got the iPad, I almost never bust out my laptop at night. Just to make you understand how huge that is, I used to sleep with my laptop.  Now I really only bust it out at night if I want to play a game or I have to do work or other typing intensive activity.  Or watch something in Flash.  I guess there's that.  Otherwise, I use my iPad for most things.  It's just that awesome.

7. Mark Bittman How to Cook Everything: This is my new favorite iPad App.  It's a cookbook but so much more.  It's got like a billion recipes, plus instructions and explanations of all the basics, like the differences between types of knives and pots and pans, basic ingredients to always have stocked, etc.  Also, when you find a recipe you like, you can click a little shopping cart and create shopping lists.  So, you could plan out all your dinners for the week, make a list, and check things off as you get them at the store.  It's got timers for when you cook and all sorts of functions I have yet to discover.  It's amazing.

Ok, so I think I've nerd bombed everyone enough for one day...


Jenn - Don't judge me...

All it really takes is a good german bakery to make me blog...

I know, I know, there is a chance that I am now dead to you...

I fear that none of my friends will ever see this blog, since my main source of informing folks of a new blog is via Facebook.  As we all know, Facebook has decided that IT will decide what is and is not important in our lives, so if it's has determined that my blog is unimportant, none of my friends will ever see it in the status updates. Of course, we all think we'd like to figure out how we can take the power back, but to navigate the complexity that is Facebook these days requires an advanced degree in Chaos Theory, which I fear not so many of us have.  Alas, I will blog on in hopes that someone someday will be able to see my ramblings once again.

Mmmmm...Cake...

So, there is this awesome German Bakery not to far from us.  I believe it's called Evil German Delights.  Or The Heidelberg Haus. It was even on Food Network.  The cakes from this place make my cakes seem like the sad attempts of a two year old to bake in an Easy Bake Oven.  Omg.  It's ridiculous.  We took the kids there this weekend and everyone got a different type of cake and each one was unbelievable.  Of course, the slices are small, but that's mostly because there is only some much butter any one person can eat in one sitting.  I had this Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Cake and there's a good chance that I saw Jesus.  It was cake AND cheesecake. Together. In one cake.  I'm just saying, Germans know how to throw down when it comes to cake.

Rocketman...

Matt (11) is doing Rocket Club at school right now.  I'm not sure who was more excited about it, him or me.  This is the third (and last) week of Rocket Club.  He's built all sort of rockets: bottle rocket, straw rocket, foam rocket, water rocket, one that seems to be made of duct tape.  I believe the goal is for the kids to learn about physics in a fun way.  I'm all about it.  This weekend, I got to help him build his model rocket that we got him, which will use solid (model) rocket fuel.  It was fun.  I may be encouraging this sort of thing in the future.  Any excuse to build a rocket!  I'm terrible at memorializing these moments, though, because I totally forgot to take a picture.  Arg!

Replacing an iPod Touch 4th Gen Screen...

Gavin (15) smashed his ipod screen a few weeks back in a fit of glee.  Or he dropped it on the ground. I've heard it both ways.  Whatever the scenario, kid's iPod was in a bad way.  We got a replacement screen thing on Amazon to do the fix at home.  It was like $10 vs. whatever Apple Store would have charged.  Brian thought it would be pretty straight forward, since he had done it on his iPhone 3gs not so long ago. Hahahahahahahahahaha....fast forward 3 hours later, iPod is in a bunch of pieces, and he actually asks me to take a look at it.  I had stayed far far away from the situation, because, well, he's him and I'm me and we are both a little pig headed. But after a few hours of hearing him muttering, I asked if he would like me to take a look at it and he said yes.  It was a momentous moment.  So, now I'm looking at this iPod all take apart, without actually having been the one to take it apart. That's always fun, because then you have no idea what parts go back in what order. It's like a $200 puzzle. Turns out, replacing the screen on an iPod touch 4th Gen is NOT AT ALL like replacing the screen on an iPhone 3gs.  iPhone 3gs screen replacement took like 30 minutes.  iPod touch took like 5 hours. I think the main issue for Brian was that there are 4 tiny little circuit things that need to be connected and three of them are underneath the main circuit board, which can't be totally lifted out without ripping some fragile connections to shreds and Brian has giant man hands.  Fortunately, I have small child hands and enough McGuyver like thinking to bust out the tweezers.  We got everything connected and back together, turned it on and...the screen would blink on white and then shut off almost immediately.  UHHHHH!!!!  I look the darn thing apart and rechecked the connections 3 times before i had to give up.  I just could not figure out what was wrong.  Everything looked connected.  At this point it's 10:30pm, Gavin is massively bummed and we are thinking that we may just have to replace the darn thing. Brian had not done a back up, so he plugged it into the computer and that part was working.  iTunes recognized the iPod and started to do the back up.  About 15 minutes later, he looks at it and goes "OMG IT'S WORKING!!!".  Turns out the damn thing just needed to be charged!  So, SUCCESS.  We did it.  Future screen replacement endeavors will be significantly easier now that I know what's what.  And with three boys and three iPods, there is a pretty good chance that I'll need that skill in the future. Heck, we even got a hug from Gavin, he was so happy.  That was a momentous occasion. First, he's 15, so he doesn't really do the whole hugging thing with his dad so much anymore.  Second, I've known the kid 2 years now and that's the first time I've been permitted a hug.  It was nice.  It's like having a family.  I'm almost like a real person now!

I'm sure I have other stories to tell, but I can't think of them at the moment.  Until next time...

Jenn - Oh, so electronics require power...who knew...

Dear General Hospital...

Dear General Hospital,

The last few weeks, I've been trying to catch up with episodes dating back to April.  So, I'm wondering, GH, what the heck is going on?  After 75 years or so of Luke being the awesome fun-loving lush we all love, you decide NOW is the time to get all up in his grill and intervene? Really?  Who's dumbass idea was that?  Sure, you got to show Anthony Geary's range of emotions and stuff, but seriously?  He wasn't even drunk the night of Jake's death.  It's all so stupid.  But then, after you decide to commit to this horrible storyline and have the intervention, you totally blow the opportunity to show some awesome old footage.  I mean, really?  You've got the original Lucky.  What's the point if not to be able to bust out some awesome old school footage every chance you get?  Ugh. 

Thank you for getting rid of Brenda.  I know that once upon a time we all LOVED Brenda, but that time has passed and she's just sort of annoying now.

The whole Sonny running around with his gun all willy nilly is also getting old.  Like I just saw the episode where he bursts into Robin's house and "accidentally" grazes her with a bullet meant to shoot Jax.  How is Sonny not in jail?  Seriously?  It's not like he's this criminal mastermind.  He runs around, waving his gun at anyone who annoys him, and now he's just shooting people in front of witnesses?  What the heck?  Though, the best moment ever was Robin and Patrick's kid, Emma, telling daddy that "mommy got shot" when he walks into his house.  I don't know why, but it was funny.  Though, when did that kid get old enough to start talking?

Next, is this whole Jackel PI bullshit.  Well, I'll admit, occasionally it's amusing.  But mostly it's just annoying.  Move on already. 

Lulu and Maxie need more screen time together.  Those two can pull off some great, funny dialogue if anyone would ever give them the chance.

Speaking of Lulu, following her dad to Florida and working at a whore house? REALLY?!?!?  Thankfully, something tragic happened with my DVR and like a week or two of episodes were gone or not recorded so I missed most of that story line.  She was there, then suddenly her and Dante were chillin' at Helena's mansion. I never want to see Lulu working at a whore house again. it's dumb.

Since I already mentioned Helena...please bring her back.  It's been so long since there has been some good old fashioned Cassadine mischief.  At this point, I would accept them resurrecting Stavros somehow if it meant some crazy Cassadine fun. 

I remarked about this on facebook, but I'll say it again.  The farewell scene between Nik and Lucky was AWESOME.  Nik has been annoying the crud out of me but that was one of the best scenes I've seen on that show in a while.  Though, I guess they are bringing Nik back, so it was for naught, but it was still awesome.  I do wish they had busted out some old footage, though, since both the original actors were in the scene.

GH, have you run out of all imagination?  The whole "tragic storm car accident" story every 6 months is getting old.  I yearn for a good hospital fire, hotel hostage situation...anything but another car accident.

Which leads me to...how many friggin head injuries can Jason suffer from in one life time?  I mean, seriously, is there NO ONE ELSE in Port Charles (other than stupid Siohban, who's looking to break Jason's record) that can get hit in the head?  I mean, when was the last time someone had really good amnesia?  Even Micheal woke up from his gun shot wound to the head with his memory more or less intact.  Maybe you could give Carly or Sonny amnesia.  Turn them into sane people who don't run around being stupid all the time.  There's a thought.

I never used to like Sam and Jason together, but this time around I guess I sort of do.  Who knew?  And I totally want a lug nut necklace.  I wonder if that will become a fashion now.

Let's see...what else...oh, are they trying to set Carly up with Shawn?  Cause they have ZERO chemistry and it would just be weird.  Oh, Siobhan needs to go.  They basically keep trying to kill her anyway, all she seems to do is follow Liz around and yell at her, and she's annoying.  I mean, she's borderline psycho about the way she's up in Liz's face constantly.  Also, I wish they had shown more old Liz and Lucky flashbacks during Lucky's 17 thousand hour drug high.  I think I just love flashbacks. 

I don't know why, but the teen drama lover in me would LOVE to see Kristina with Ethan.  I just think it would be fun.  They keep saying how he's soooo much older than her but...hmmm...Abby is like 40 years older than Micheal.  Ethan is like 4 years older than Kristina (at least in real life).  Also, he's all "i've lived this hard life, i'm an old soul". Um, Kristina was kidnapped as a child by Faith, has a mobster father who nearly blew her up last year when she was fake dating Johnny, had a crazy girl hitting boyfriend almost kill her, her brother was shot in the head, hmmm...I don't think she's quite the sheltered little lamb everyone keeps trying to say she is. Anyway, I think they would be good for each other.

I kind of miss crazy Dr. Lisa.  I guess she's in a coma so they can bring her back at anytime.  Oh, and Robin as Chief-of-Staff is a bit on the unrealistic side. She's like 34.  Come on.  Monica still works at the hospital.  What about her? I realize that she has had so much botex that her face doesn't move at all, but that's ok.  We can infer her emotions from the look in her eyes.

Dante...don't care...Olivia...don't care....Johnny...don't care....Anthony...don't care...Steve...don't care....that's about it, I think. Anyway, I still have like the last few weeks to watch, so we'll see what happens!

Jenn

I'm here....

Quote of the Day: "Veronica and I trying this new fad called uh, jogging. I believe it's jogging or yogging. it might be a soft j. I'm not sure but apparently you just run for an extended period of time. It's supposed to be wild." - Ron Burgundy


In case anyone is wondering....

I'm still here stalking all of your blogs for updates.  I'm just being lazy about my updates.  But since I was awoken at 5am by work for a production issue and I am now awake, I thought I'd bust out a quick update.

A few things have been going on.  I've been training (http://itrainthereforeiaminpain.blogspot.com/). Well, I use that term loosely these days.  It's more like I've been applying excessive force to the bones in my feet, thus causing microfractures in my heel.  I suppose it could be called "training" by some. I mean, it's not like I purposefully set out to break my heel. It was just a fantastic side effect of this yogging thing. So, the Darth Boot has made a fantastical comeback.

Some of you may recognize the Darth Boot (See: http://jpnkn.xanga.com/566565494/things-i-didnt-know/).  It made it's first appearance in 2007 when I tore the ligament in my ankle.  Fortunately (well, i'm not sure if "fortunately" is the appropriate word but...), I had the foresight to keep the boot after I was done using it circa 2007.  It cost me $500, making it one of my most valuable possessions at the time, so I kept it.  I figured that I'm me and that meant there were reasonably good odds that I would require it's use again at some point.  I'm not going to sugar coat it, I'm a total spasm, possibly a klutz, and it was not unlikely that I would do something to injure myself again in the future.  Plus, did I mention the darn thing cost $500?  For that much money, I was going to make it a new family heirloom.  I'm fortunate that walking cast technology hasn't improved so dramatically in the last 4 years, so when the doctor said that I would need the boot for my cracked heel and I was like "funny, you should say that cause I just happen to have one in my trunk...", he thought of that as good news and didn't make me buy another one. 


Getting to the story of the injury...

I'd started having some massive pain in my heel (and what I thought was the lower part of my ankle) while running in Chicago a few weeks ago. We were there for Lollapalooza (oh, yeah, I went to that this year).  Being there for Lolla did not stop us from our training.  Noooooo, not us because we are serious athletes.  So, I started to have pain during running which only got worse from all the walking around the city and at Lolla.  By the middle of the week following Lolla, I couldn't run at all and by the week after that, I was not walking so well.  The pain was getting worse, things were swelling, and I was in tears by the end of each day.  So, I went to the doctor.  He initially tried taping a pad to the bottom of my foot to provide more arch support to see if that would relieve things, but after a few days of trying that out, I was like "um, NO".  So, step two was yesterday.  That involved a bright pink soft cast and the Darth Boot. He'll take the cast off monday to see if the swelling is down and we'll see what happens from there.  This could dramatically affect my time in the triathlon in three weeks...assuming he doesn't put a complete halt on that.  He sort of has already but I've yet to accept defeat.  I can still swim and bike without pain, and assuming the Darth Boot doesn't disqualify me, I really have no problem hobbling the 3 miles to finish.  If I still have a cast of any sort, though, that will put a stop to things, since I can't bike with a cast.  We'll see.

In other news...

Let's see...what have I been up to? Well, I'm pretty sure I owe like 15 thousand pictures of the day.  I'll have to see about that at some point.  I've also become slightly obsessed with Republicans.  Not to say that I'm becoming a Republican.  I'm just obsessed, fascinated, and slightly scared of them. Except Ron Paul.  I sort of love him. But he's not really a Republican, so I think it's ok for me to love him. Apparently, there are a few others who are loving him, because recent polls are showing him to be the only Republican candidate who could beat Obama in the election.  But polls are polls and who knows how accurate they are. I've never been polled.  How does one even get polled?  That came out wrong...I meant, how does one get involved in polling...wait...that also didn't sound right...nevermind. 

I watched the Republican debates August 11.  They were...entertaining.  I'm a bit annoyed with Fox though.  They like to say how fair they are but I think they are stinking liars.  Or maybe I just don't watch enough news to have realized that sensationalism and obvious bias have become truth these days.  I did not like the fact that they displayed each candidate's religion as part of their stats.  I feel that it's irrelevant and potentially prejudicial.  Wasn't one of the reasons this country was like created so that folks could have some religious freedom?  Thus, telling me that Mitt is Mormon or Cain is Southern Baptist is just a way to potentially bias me for or against them but otherwise irrelevant.  I don't know.  I just think it's not cool.  Also, I'm so sick of the abortion and gay marriage topics being brought up.  Neither have anything to do with the running of the government.  Actually, gay marriage would potentially benefit the federal government.  Based on my understanding of the tax rates shown here: http://www.consumerismcommentary.com/federal-income-tax-brackets-and-marginal-rates/, married people get totally ganked.  "Ganked" meaning, taxed more than single people.  Thus, the more marriages there are, the more federal income tax the government gets to collect.  The more taxes collected by the Federal government, the more opportunity for them to totally abuse funds, er, I mean catch up with debt.  So, fiscally speaking, gay marriage across the national would be financially beneficial to the country.  Other than that, it's none of the federal governments damn business.  I'm just saying.  I like Ron Paul's view.  He's all "doesn't matter what my personal view is on the matter. Marriage shouldn't be the business of the federal government". He goes even further to say that he doesn't understand why anyone needs a license to get married.  My view is that marriage is a contract between people.  That contract entitles people to certain things (like benefits, property, decision making rights, etc).  It shouldn't matter who's a part of the contract.  Heck, if 5 people want to all marry each other, it should just require a more complicated contract to clearly define who's got what rights as part of that contractual agreement.  Beyond that, I don't think ANY of us has the right to judge or try to force our own moral beliefs on others as long as those others are not inflicting violence or physical harm or trying to take my personal property.

Freedom, people, it's called Freedom.  And I'm told this country was built on it. I did a little research (I occationally do that) and guess what word is NOT in the constitution (you know, that document that this country is based on)?  Marriage.  It's not mentioned one single time.  Not even to define that people could get married at all. One could argue that any type of Marriage recognized by the federal government is unconstitutional.  I'm just saying.  I get pretty fired up about this because the reality is that the politicians LOVE bringing up these sorts of inflammatory "morality" topics at election time.  Heck, they are even talking about ADDING a marriage amendment.  And though the likeliness of that ever happening is low, talk of it is enough to swing votes and it's stupid.  Because, BTW, whether you support gay marriage or not, the moment you support there being any kind of constitutional amendment that defines something like marriage, which is a personal act and shouldn't be the business of the FEDERAL government, you open up the door to all sorts of ways that the government can start setting about rules that limit everyone's personal liberties.  And at some point, one of those rules could affect you and then you'll be all "crap, I should really have given a little more thought to that whole Marriage amendment thing because now I'm not allowed to have more than one child because the Federal government decided that morally, multiple children per household is not good for the overall welfare of the country."  That might seem like a ridiculous example, but is it really? See also: China.  Anyway, I've gone off on this rant because I just think that instead of focusing on these "moral" issues, the candidates should be focused on things that are a little more relevent, like, hmmmmm, I hear there's a problem with people getting jobs and that the US owes money to a few people.  I wonder if that could be important?!

Speaking of freedom being taken away...

I was listening to the radio the other day and the song You Found Me by The Fray was on.  So, one of the lyrics goes like this:

"I found God on the corner of 1st and Amistad
Where the West was all but won
All alone, smoking his last cigarette
I said, 'Where you been?" He said, 'Ask anything.' "

Except that the line "all alone, smoking his last cigarette" was bleeped out of the song.  Well, not bleeped out but cut out.  So there was like this weird empty space.  They edited it out.  I was like "what?!?!"  Now they edit out references to smoking? Or was this specifically edited to remove the reference to God smoking?  Either way, when did that start happening?  When did "smoking" become a curse word?  I find this level of censorship a bit alarming.  I mean, if people think that editing out that line is going to keep a kid from running out and smoking a cigarette or that keeping the verse would cause a kid to run out and smoke a cigarette, I fear that the collective has it's head up it's ass.  I mean, seriously, I found it disturbing.


Jenn - I believe I've ranted enough for one morning...

A work filled weekend...

“I use the word totally too much. I need to change it up and use a word that is different but has the same meaning. Mitch do you like submarine sandwhiches? All-encompassingly...” - Mitch Hedberg  

We finally paint a room...  

So, it's been over a year since we bought the house and we've only managed to get the kids rooms, the upstairs family room, and the kids bathroom painted.  The rest of the house is still the beige color it was at time of purchase.  I finally couldn't take it anymore, so we decided to paint the master bedroom.  We've been randomly picking paint color samples over the past 6 or so months and putting blocks of color on the walls to see what we like.  We made a decision about 2 months ago but couldn't find a good weekend to get it done.  So, I put it on the schedule.     Saturday: We did our bike and swim workouts (see: http://itrainthereforeiaminpain.blogspot.com/ for an update on that).  We then head out to buy the paint at about noon. Of course, we picked Glidden colors, which is sold at Walmart and I guess there was like a paint buying frenzy last week or Saturday morning, because all the local Walmarts where out of the type of paint we wanted to use. We went home and cleared out the room, while trying to come up with how to solve this dilema.    Fortunately, I had the color chips and Lowes was able to match them.  We were determined to get those colors! Glidden Blue-Grey Slate and Pale Jade.  We also got it into our head that we wanted a ceiling fan for the bedroom.  We always like a fan on and there was already wiring for it. So, trip to Lowes ended up being a few hours of us looking at ceiling fans, trying to decide which one we liked best.  We ended up with this one:

 

By the time we got home, there was only enough time to get one wall prepped and painted (the dark wall).  Boyfriend started putting the ceiling fan together, only to realize halfway through that the glass for the light was broken.  So, he gave up on that for the night, and I got the dark wall painted.

Sunday: We got up at 9am and got started.  I started taping off for the other three walls, while Boyfriend went back to Lowes to get a replacement for the broken part of the fan and to bring me some breakfast.  He's such a good hunter/gatherer when he puts his mind to it.  He got back and got the light together and up while I painted the other three walls. We hung around for a bit while paint dried and then he went out to scare us up some dinner while I painted the second coat on the light colored walls.  We finally got everything done and the room put together at like 11:30pm.  That was rough, because not only did we not have time to do our workout, but he had to get up at 4:30am for his flight to Boston for work.  I'm sure he's very tired!

Pictures....

Boyfriend doing something manly in preparation.

I forgot to take the before pictures while the furniture was still in there.

Don't look at the bad picture in the Bathroom. It came with the house.

All the primed spots are where there were random paint color samples.

I love the door to the deck, even though we barely use it right now.

Ceiling fan is up!

Art and pictures on the walls is Phase 2.

The dark wall.

That's closer to what the color looks like in real life.

TV will be moving out to the living room but I'm not ready yet!

I really like those colors together.

Lucy is all confused about the changes.

Domo is art!

Now I just have to catch up on my working out!

Jenn - Very busy weekend!!!

And there as even a guy in a half shirt...

Quote of the day: "Don't put your wand there , boy!" roared Moody. "What if it ignited? Better wizards than you have lost buttocks, you know!"
"Who d'you know who's lost a buttock?" the violet-haired woman asked Mad-Eye interestedly.
"Never you mind, you just keep your wand out of your back pocket!" growled Mad-Eye. "Elementary wand safety, nobody bothers about it anymore...." He stumped off toward the kitchen. "And I saw that," he added irritably, as the woman rolled her eyes at the ceiling. - Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Pictures of the Day...

Picture of the Day #57:  This is what one would see at a Yes/Styx concert. I didn't think anyone would believe me if I just told you about it.

Picture of the Day #58:  Here we are, having the fun.

Picture of the Day #59:  Boyfriend is a wild and crazy guy!

Picture of the Day #59:  I had to get a desert plant so that I could finally have flowers that can survive this heat!

Picture of the Day #60:  Treebeard seems to be doing well in this hot humid land of Indiana.

Picture of the Day #61: Boyfriend is totally rocking out in this picture. It's hard to tell his "totally rocking out face" from his "what the hell are we doing here" face.

 

Um, so we went to see Yes/Styx last night...

I don't know if I find it more alarming that my Boyfriend is old enough to remember Yes and Styx or that he actually knows all their songs.  Just saying...

I guess you could say that the evening was, er, interesting.  I knew it would be, so I made sure to take notes.  To begin, last week Boyfriend and were IMing during the day when he asked if I would like to go see Yes/Styx.  He was offered free tickets.  Before I could respond with "who are they", he IM'd me that he had taken the tickets and that we were going.  Um, sweet?

We didn't have an evening workout, so it was our night to do whatever we wanted and we chose to go to the concert.  I figured I would find entertainment at some level.  Well, when we got there, the evening started off a bit awkward.  We bumped into a friend of ours who was there with someone we used to be friends with (someone I used to be very good friends with until he totally stabbed me repeatedly in the back and I refuse to be friends with someone I can't trust), so that was slightly uncomfortable.  But we moved past that and got inside and found ourselves a spot on the lawn.

We got there just in time for Yes to start.  I had no idea who this band was and upon seeing them wondered exactly how old the members were.  The guitar player looked to be about 75 years old.  If you look Yes up in wikipedia, the picture is from 1977.  That also happens to be the year I was born.  So they are pretty old. They are all in their 60s.  So, anyway, I didn't know any of the songs until they sang Owner of a Lonely Heart, which I recognized from very early childhood.  The guitar player could still jam out, but the lead singer had seen better days, for sure.

My favorite part of the event is that it takes place in the middle of a cornfield.  The Verizon Wireless Music Center in Noblesville, IN is literally in the middle of a corn field.  I took a picture of it with Boyfriend's phone, but he has yet to figure out how to use the complicated technology that involves uploading pictures to shared albums, so I don't have the picture yet.  Perhaps, one day, my Boyfriend, who owns an IT company will actually figure out how to use technology.  He hates when I say that.  Hahahahahahaha...anyway, It was in the middle of a corn field.

The other highlight was the spotting of the two guys in their cut off jean shorts, home made half shirts, bandannas, and work boots, dancing with each other at the concert.  They are pictured about in Picture #57.  I just can't make this shit up.  It's real!

Styx was not going to be on until 9:30pm, and based on our inside intel, Mr. Roboto was not on the set list, so we left after Yes.  There is only so much early 80's nostalgia I can take before enough is enough.  I couldn't name any Styx songs either.   So, we went home and read and slept because I'm a totally wild person who likes to be in bed by 10pm.

Jenn - Gotta love the 80s...NOT.

And so it ends...

The books...
I still remember the first time I saw a Harry Potter book.  It was Christmas break 1998 and I was back in NJ visiting. I was 21. I walked into the Borders near the Bridgewater Commons Mall.  This was a time when I still walked into real Bookstores and would spend hours just looking at books.  At the time The Hobbit was my favorite book (still is), and I had just had a class in Children's literature at college.  I was an Elementary Ed major at that time, a time before computers would become the central focus in my life, and I was on the look out for a new children's book in the fantasy realm.  And there it was.  Harry Potter and the Sorcer's Stone, sitting on that first table of books they have right as you walk in.  It had been out for a few months by then and I had never heard of it, but the cover art by Mary GrandPre got my attention.  That was it.  The cover art is what drew me into something that would become bigger than any of could have imagined.

June 1999 - 22 years old, living in Michigan, I spent an entire Saturday afternoon reading Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets on my couch.

September 1999 - 22 years old, still in Michigan, another Saturday afternoon spent reading Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban on my couch

July 2000 - 23 years old, back in NJ, living in Ewing, another Saturday, same couch, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. First time Harry Potter book made me cry (Cedric).

June 2003 - 26 years old, Bridgewater, NJ, on a cruise, Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix. Second time Harry Potter book made me cry (Sirius)

July 2005 - 28 years old, Neptune, NJ, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.  I couldn't wait to read it so I was reading it on the train each day back and forth from NYC.  I had to take the dust jacket off because everyone who saw me reading kept almost giving away the big secret.  I avoided all media so as not to know what the big reveal was.  Third time Harry Potter book made me cry (Dumbledore).  I think I also threw the book.

July 2007 - 30 years old, Asbury Park, NJ. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I spent an entire weekend shut in my house reading this book.  I cried a bunch of times, since Rowlings was just killing things off all over the place.  When I was finished, I remember feeling sad.  10 years I'd been reading those books, most of them more than once, and that was it.  There were still movies to come, though.

The Movies...
We've watched these kids grown up, some have grown up with them.  10 years.  That's a long time.  These characters are so real to me.  Through the books and movies, they are living, breathing beings that for over a third of my life have been part of my life. 

I saw Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 last night. ***SPOILER ALERT***If you do not wish to know about the movie, stop reading!!!

I'd like to start by saying that I think they did a great job with all of the movies.  It's easy to sit back and say "I would have done this differently or that differently".  It can't be an easy task to take something with such a rabid following and put it out there as a film, knowing that every frame, every word, every decision will be scrutinized.  That being said...

The Good

The two main parts that I was looking for in this movie was the visit to Gringott's and the redemption of Severus Snape.  Of course I expected to see the battle at Hogwart's but I couldn't imagine they would skip that, so I was assuming it would be there.  I figured they wouldn't skip Gringott's because they had to get the Hufflepuff horcrux, but I wasn't sure how they were going to do it.  It was pretty well done.  Of course, watching it, it became obvious that they would never have skipped such a great opportunity for parts that would look great in 3D.  I did not see the movie in 3D, but I could imagine that when all the treasure started multiplying and the curses where blowing up rock, and the dragon was flying, I bet it looked great in 3D.  (Special Applause goes to Helena Bonham Carter for some of this.  Hermione has to drink the polly juice potion to look like Bellatrix Lestrange and so Helena Bonham Carter had to act like Hermione acting like Bellatrix.  She was AWESOME.)

Snape.  I honestly believe that Alan Rickman deserves an Oscar.  He has spent 10 years on this character, making us hate Snape and wonder who's side he's really on, the way that Rowlings meant it to be.  10 years and in a matter of moments, turning it around perfectly to make you understand that he's the real hero in all of this.  The knowledge of who he really was and his motivations and why he did all the things he did and what it all cost him was one of the greatest parts written by Rowlings.  Alan Rickman conveyed all of it so convincingly and perfectly, it was almost as if he was actually Severus Snape and that Rowlings simply wrote about him.  I love Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint, but Alan Rickman steals the show for me.  I was very pleased that they kept this key part in the movie and really did it justice.

"Not my daughter, YOU BITCH!" - The crowd went friggin' WILD when Mrs. Weasley opened up a can of Whoop Ass on Bellatrix Lestrange.  It was great.

Neville (the actor looks about 35 in this movie) has his moment.

Ron in the epilogue part.  It's too funny how they aged him.

The Medium

They changed some of the Hogwarts stuff.  Like not showing how Hagrid gets captured by Voldemort.  You don't even see Hagrid until suddenly there he is, tied up in the woods with the Death Eaters.

There is no woo-hoo moment when Harry defeats Voldemort.  They battle alone, Harry wins, and then he's walking around the great hall in Hogwarts and it's obvious everyone knows it's over because they are drinking coffee but no one really says anything. It was sort of weird.  I sort of got it, but still sort of strange.

I think they changed the part a bit about how Harry figures out where the Ravenclaw tiara thing is but it was ok.

The very dramatic things that happen each time they destroyed a horcrux was obviously for the benefit of 3D and not for any other real purpose.  If you remember, when they destroyed Tom Riddle's journal with the Basilisk fang in Chamber of Secrets, only a bunch of ink poured out.  In the last two movies, everytime they destroy a horcrux, craziness ensues.

The Unfortunate

Not a single thing about Kreecher (the Black's house elf) becoming all good and happy and leading the house elves to help defend Hogwarts is  included.

No Neville's grandmother. I really wanted to see that.

Barely any Aberforth Dumbledore stuff.  He's in it (and played by a reletively big actor), but there's nothing to tell us why him and Albus were at odds at all.  Just him helping them into Hogwarts then showing up to help fight.

No Teddy Tonks snogging with Bill and Fleur's daughter on the train at the end.

So what's my opionion...

Near the end of the movie, after the battle of Hogwarts is over, Voldemort has been defeated and it's just Harry, Hermione, and Ron standing in the ruins of the stone open hallway/bridge place that they seem to end up at in the end of many of the movies, the three of them are looking out.  I have to assume they are looking out at the ruins of Hogwarts because the scene never actually shows what they are looking at.  The camera is on the three of them, standing together as they always do.  It could be my imagination, but it's like you can see the sadness on their faces as they look at maybe the Hogwarts set or whatever, like they are actually realizing that not only is this the last time the characters will be looking out over Hogwarts, but also the last time they as actors would be together in this place that they have spent half their lives.  It's got to be an odd feeling for them.  I feel like that's what got conveyed in that moment.  Again, I could have been imagining things.

I think they did a great job with this movie.  I was moved by all the parts that were supposed to move me, which is always a tough thing to do when I already know what's going to happen.  Though this movie was by far the most graphically violent and sad (Rowlings went on a killing spree, as any who have read the book knows), it was also the one with the most moments of laugh out loud humor.  I felt that balanced things out well, so as not to drag the whole thing down into some very dark sad place. It was sad to walk out of the theater, knowing this would be the last time.

The world of Harry Potter is not the first world created for those who wish for magic, nor will it likely be the last.  From Norse Mythology, to Tolkien's Middle Earth, to Rowlings Harry Potter, there have been writings all throughout time that impact our imaginations and open our eyes to wonders that don't exist in the real world.   Tolkien brought us the world of Middle Earth with his words.  He brought alive in our imaginations the hobbits, and elves, and trolls, etc. It was Peter Jackson who brought a vision to middle earth.  For Harry Potter, we have JK Rowlings to thank for a rich world of magic, brought into our minds with words, old and new. But Chris Columbus, Alfonso Cuaron, Mike Newell, and David Yates brought that world alive in ways that went beyond my imagination.  And I'm sure it was not simple job for Steve Kloves to cobble together from so much, screenplays that made sense while being limited by screen time.  I think he deserves an award for that task.  And then there is every single person cast in those movies that made the character real.  Gary Oldman's Sirius Black, Emma Thompson's Professor Trelawny, David Thewlis as Remus Lupin, Alan Rickman, Maggie Smith as McGonagall, Ralph Fienes as Voldemort, Robbie Coltrane as Hagrid, etc.  The list is long and I honestly believe that every single person played their part perfectly.  I can't think of a single member of the cast that I thought "Why did they pick this guy/girl? They totally don't make sense for this part." Just great.  I can't imagine them going back in time and doing it all again and getting it more right.

And so it ends...

Jenn - He'll always be The Boy Who Lived...

I'm sure there are stories to tell...

Quote of the Day: "The road to success is always under construction." -  Someone wise and funny

When last we met...
It was like a month ago. I'm a lazy lazy person.  Well, and I've been busy.  I hate being busy because it cuts into my blogging time!  A month ago I was battling against my harddrive for my soul (I lost) and not remembering things.


Pictures of the days...
I am so far behind, but I am trying to catch up!

Picture of the Day #40:  The hard drive that won my soul.

Picture of the Day #41:  Every child's dream, every parents nightmare!

Picture of the Day #42:  My new love, OsKar

Picture of the Day #43:  These flowers used to be in front of my house...that is until the evil rabbits ate them down to the ground while I was on vacation...stupid rabbits.

Picture of the Day #44:  Trixie being all cute.

Picture of the Day #45:  This was from Father's Day. I wrapped the present in plain white paper and had the kids decorate it themselves.

 Picture of the Day #46:  My front garden only allows one flower to bloom at a time, it would seem.  I really like this one. It lasted like a day since it's either pouring rain or desert hot in Indianapolis.

 Picture of the Day #47:  This one is my new favorite.

Picture of the Day #48:  Against Me! at Vans Warped Tour.

Picture of the Day #49:  I couldn't resist taking my picture with THE Justin Beber. 

Picture of the Day #50:  The Rowe boys on the steps behind the Museum of Natural History in NYC.

Picture of the Day #51:  OH NO!  Will Brian be able to save Matt from the mouth of this dangerous predator?

Picture of the Day #52:  Gavin in my ridiculous sunglasses.

Picture of the Day #53:  Only at the NJ Shore boardwalk could one get a crepe the size of my head.

Picture of the Day #54:  Still trying to get him out.

Picture of the Day #55:  The only bear I will ever see is a stuffed one.

Picture of the Day #56:  The most flowers to bloom at one time!

I'm still like 20 photos behind, but i have a ton from vacation that I still have to upload.

Vacation is less then restful...
We went to the beach, we got yelled at by old guys, I drove around the state of NJ visiting with old friends, and we almost missed the fireworks in NY because Macy's decided to change tradition.  All that and more...tomorrow...

Jenn - I'm still recovering from my vacation...