madameblogalot

The Red Baron: This movie seemed a bit disjointed. Even my son said after a few minutes that the movie was poorly made. It was so-so. I did enjoy the brief bios at the end of the movie. I think this movie was mostly a MISS with us.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame: It took me nearly three months to get through this book. I wanted to finish it as it is apparently the inspiration behind the writing of the Phantom of the Opera. The story was gruesome and not “enjoyable”. All I kept wondering is how Disney made this into a movie for children. This was a MISS for me.

Death of a Salesman: An easy to read script I read in one day. While it is more of a MISS in the sense of “enjoying” the story, in the sense of the depressing accuracy of life it is HIT on the head.

Be Kind Rewind: While not a great show, it had just enough silly/stupid humor and enough “goodness” to make it pretty much a HIT with us. (My son did wish they had done more “remakes”; I wished they had done Star Wars.)

Ivanhoe: I enjoyed the story of Ivanhoe (though I thought he was no more the hero of the story than several others.) I was able to figure out the identity of the Black Knight only a few pages before he was revealed. I also enjoyed Robin Hood being a part of the story (I’m not sure if his identity was supposed to be a surprise or not.) I do wish I had read a version of the story that was not so “King James”; it would have been a little easier to read then! I also don’t like how the author kept referring to the reader. This really detracts from the story for me. I want to get lost in the story, not be reminded that I am outside the story reading it! (I guess this must have something to do w/ the time period or style as I noticed it a bit in Hunchback and my daughter said it is also like that in Jane Eyre.) Even so, I will still call this book a HIT.

Jane Eyre: I only read this book because my daughter wanted me to. Not because she enjoyed it, but something more akin to “misery loves company” (it was required reading for her.) While I did not share her hatred of the book, I did not love it either. While I found some good messages (be true to yourself, avoid temptation) I don’t really find this a book for kids, especially not Freshmen. The one thing I especially did not like is how the author addresses the reader-that drove me crazy! I was surprised by a few things in the story, others found to be too similar to other stories (say Oliver Twist for example.) I would rate this book as neither a HIT or MISS.

Saturday evening my son was on his way from his girlfriend’s house to a football game. On his way, I asked him to stop and get some baking soda (for the stinky refrigerator!) He said no problem. He stopped at a CVS pharmacy to get it for me as it was on the way and convenient. After looking around a bit, he called me and asked if I knew where in the store the baking soda was, but I did not, and was not 100% sure they even had any. So he asked the manager where it was.

While in the midst of his shopping, he saw a guy that he knew from high school. He said hello to the kid and met the kid’s friend. My son paid for the baking soda (.69 cents) and went out to his car. As he went out the door, the kid that my son had just met caught up to him and wanted to “wait out here with him for his friend.” My son being the social, trusting, good kid he is said no problem.

My son got in the car, threw the baking soda in the back seat. Meanwhile the “new” kid got in the passenger side of my son’s car. He asked my son if he wanted some gummy worms. My son said no. Just then two cop cars screeched up on either side of my son’s car. My son’s new “acquaintance” let out a cuss word and jumped out. While he did so, he threw the gummy worms in my son’s lap (which my son did not realize just yet.)

My son was thoroughly confused, but it was dawning on him what was happening. He got out, with gummy worms falling out of his lap, and immediately started saying he was not with the two other boys, he was running an errand for his mother…but all the while he said he could hear himself and it sounded lame even to him.

All in all, after being detained nearly an hour, having the manager vouch for him and seeing the store surveillance tape, my son was free to go. He came straight home after that, forgoing the football game. As he walked in and said “I am so mad. You will never believe….” I KNEW something was not right!

Even though he was cleared, it certainly was not worth the .69 cents! We had to laugh when we heard him tell my husband that he was nearly arrested over baking soda!

I have done isometric exercises before, without knowing the proper term for them. But over the weekend I found an isometric exercise workout, using only four moves. I thought I would give that a try! For each move, you are to hold the position for one minute, then rest for 30 seconds. Doesn’t sound too bad right? Repeat this for three to five times. Still doesn’t sound too bad. And really, it’s not too bad.

I was able to do the first move five times, one minute each. The second move, I did three times, went and did something else and came back for a fourth minute. The third move (which I had to do w/ a bent arm) I held 45 seconds, 50 seconds, 60 seconds, then went back to the arms, and then back to the third move for one more minute. The last move, I was tired. The first minute, ok. Second, my legs were shaking. The third minute, I asked some guy who was resting from his exercise to talk to me! That’s all I could do on that last move.

While I did not sweat profusely nor did I feel like I’d had a hard workout, my muscles were a bit shaky when I got home. If you want to try a challenging, easy routine, try these four isometric moves. Maybe I am just weak, but I hope to be able to build up on these. I will definitely be adding this routine to my rotations.

My refrigerator stinks! No, it works fine (amazingly since it’s ten years old! That is good in this day and age for newer appliances!) But it literally stinks. I have thrown out everything that I can think of that might be causing the stink-y-ness. I have taken everything out of it and cleaned the shelves and drawers. I have put in new baking soda. That usually does the trick. But not this time.

I read some other tricks that I am in the process of trying now. One, place apple slices in the refrigerator. Another idea is to put in an open container of white vinegar. I also read that using wet paper towels can help absorb the odor. So now I am trying all of those at once. There was also the idea to put in an open container of fresh coffee grounds, but since I don’t drink coffee, I don’t have any. But I am even thinking about going to get some coffee. I sure hope these ideas work and work quickly!

I don’t know what it is about odors building up in american style fridge freezers, but I know that I am willing to try anything to keep it smelling fresh!

Spark notes is like Cliff’s notes for the 21st Century. I have heard the kids talk about it. Today I visited the website. It is definitely set up for today’s kids! It is full of information floating all around the page with everything from blogs, to video notes to apps for your iPhone/iPad! So you can get Shakespeare on your iPhone or learn MacBeth in less than ten minutes! I am not sure how helpful all the info is as I did not stay on the site for a full ten minutes, but I am sure there are things there that will help today’s teen get by and hopefully succeed in today’s educational setting.

After a few weeks of our newest educational endeavors, my dad asked my kids how their “educational experiments” were going.

The Good:
son-likes going to college
daughter-school is fun…

The Bad:
son-homeschool co-op
daughter-fun…til I come home

The Ugly:
son-probably the homework
daughter-probably the lack of sleep and her mother’s (over)reactions to everything!
(this last set are my answers for them, not their own words)

My daughter had early release from school today. This is unusual for the high school; they usually get late arrival instead of early release. So we wanted to take advantage of the afternoon and do something fun together. Since she had to be back at school in just a few hours for a game, we had lunch at a Mexican food place we’d never been to. Then we had a game of bowling (which I won!!) Then a quick stop by the mall and back to school. Though it was just a few hours, it turned out to be a pleasant afternoon.

I wear a watch every day, rarely taking it off. I always wear a sports watch and am mostly never conscious about it. From time to time however, I think I might like a watch that is a little more dressy. Since I don’t dress up that often though, I would not want to spend a great deal of money on a nice, dressy watch.

I just heard about GK Scott who is a big name in selling pre-owned Rolex watches. I don’t know how inclined I would be to purchase a pre-owned Rolex, but I do know that if I ever did decide to purchase one, that I would want to be sure that the work was certified, which GK Scott assures.

In getting back to my running, I am taking it super slow. I have actually inverted my intervals, which my doctor was ok with. I started last week with a 5:1 interval. Only now, I walk for five minutes and jog for one. I did this for 30-40 minutes. This was fine and will be a good way to get my body used to the impact and the endurance needed for longer runs. It will take a while, but I can already see that it won’t take too long. If I up the running minutes a week or so at a time, then very soon I will be running more than I am walking. After I can do that for thirty minutes, then I will work on adding more distance. It’s a start!

I went Thursday to try cycling with my clip pedals. I had only done this a couple of weeks before I had surgery and so am not completely used to them. Even so, I was determined never to fall, even though my husband has warned me that it would happen.

I left late morning for a short ride, but started getting sprinkled on within three miles. As I did not want to be out and caught in the rain, I came back and decided to wait until the afternoon. Even though it was still cloudy, I thought it was no worse than the morning, which turned out to be no rain at all. As I got about seven miles in, I felt it begin to sprinkle again. I turned a corner and could see it was raining hard at the end of the street. So I turned around and headed back to a community pool I had just passed, hoping there would be somewhere to take cover. There was a small awning covering three steps with the upper step being the most sheltered from the rain. That is, until the wind started blowing in that direction!

After nearly thirty minutes, the rain had almost stopped and the sun came out. I figured that at the other end of the street, it was probably now clear. So I got back on the bike taking a much slower pace. As I was going through one neighborhood, I came to a stop sign. At an intersection, a car was coming, so I knew I would have to stop. If s/he was turning my way, I could have just taken a right turn and not had to stop. As it was, I could not get unclipped and went down on the pavement. Just as s/he turned right next to me! S/he did not even stop to see if I was ok!! I fell his/her direction and s/he just went right past! I was mad and embarrassed and disappointed. And it all could have been prevented. But now I know I only have about one second to get unclipped before going down. I guess I have now been initiated.