Double Feature Week-end

Christmas is over, family is gone, decorations are still up, but it is time for a little down time for the honorary elf and her lifetime "roadie". I spent most of yesterday playing with my new computer. I still have some things to do and some new software to order before it is fully functional, but there are a lot of things I like about it and a few minor faults that I find annoying. My wife spent the day shopping with a couple of friends. Last night we decided we would go to see two movies this week-end.

We began Friday night with August Rush. This is a semi-chick flick, but since I like romantic comedies and human interest movies the choice was ok with me. This movie has been out for several weeks which means it has been moved to one of the smaller screening rooms in a multi-screen theatre. We had to sit a little closer than either of us care to but it wasn't all that bad. The previews run and then the movie starts...except it's the wrong movie!!! The projection room has qued up Mr. Mangorium's Wonder Emporium. After running through most of the intro graphics, they get it straightened out. August Rush is a very good and probably under rated movie. It starts out a little slow, actually very slow. About a half hour into the story the movie picks up the pace and things get much, much better. The story line is based on a young boy who was separated from his mother at birth. He has spent his entire life in an orphanage (and has no desire to be adopted) and claims he can hear his parents through the music of nature around him. He believes that the music will bring them all back together. He is the product of a one-night-stand between a budding rock musician and a concert cellist. The boy turns out to be a musical prodigy. Robin Williams plays a rather dark character that takes in run aways, that have musical talent, and then places them as street musicians around New York City. The whole group splits the take at the end of the day and live in a commune environment at the abandoned Filmore East theatre. That's all I'm going to say here. I would encourage you to see this movie. There is nothing so overpowering that it must be seen on the big screen, but the acting and music are outstanding.

Saturday afternoon we went to see National Treasure, Book of Secrets. If you like Indiana Jones (a new one is due out in May '08), Jewel of the Nile, or The Mummy, then this movie is for you. It is apparently for a lot of people because it is showing on two screens and one of them was sold out this afternoon. This movie has more action and less puzzle solving or clue chasing than the first National Treasure. This movie introduces us to one new character, Nicholas Cage's mother/Jon Voights wife. I believe it also sets the premise for a third movie. You'll have to turn to page 47 to find out more.

Well that pretty much sums up our week-end. New Years day will see me in front of the TV for the Cotton Bowl game between Arkansas and Missouri. WOOOOOOOOOOOO Pig Soooie!!! Later that day we may go back to the movies to see The Great Debaters, starring Denzel Washington.

Happy New Year Everyone!

HO, Ho,...Oh No-o-o-o!!!

Let me begin by saying that Christmas was great this year. My dad, who is eighty-seven, joined the grand kids, the honorary elf and myself at our home on Christmas Eve. We had dinner, the two oldest grand daughters read the Christmas story from Luke 2:1-14 and we opened the presents. It was a perfect evening. It just almost wasn't going to be that way, which is what brings me to this post.
The youngest grand daughter loves to draw, paint, color, etc. So, the honorary elf (alias Nana) and myself decide to get her a drawing/craft desk for Christmas. Just after Thanksgiving I ordered the item from Wal-Mart.com. A week later the box arrives and I carefully put it in the garage to assemble later. Later was Christmas eve day. Around 1:00 p.m. I began assembly of the table. Since I am an architect and have dismantled and assembled more full size drafting tables than I care to count, this project is no-brainer. The frame goes together relatively quickly. I am now ready to put the tilting mechanism on the table top and attach it to the frame. I pull the top out of the box and it is damaged!!! Remember, it is now 2:00 p.m. Christmas eve and we are going to open presents in about four hours! You can't give a six-year-old damaged goods. You just can't. And you can't explain to them that you will return it and get them a brand new one in a couple of weeks, after the crowds thin out at the customer service desk. So, I remember that we saw a similar desk at Hobby Lobby (at twice the price), so I called to ask if they still had one and what time would they be closing. They were going to be open until 5:30 and yes they still had a craft desk. WoooooooHooooooo!
It is a 14 mile drive to Hobby Lobby and it is now 2:30 p.m. I'm not panicked, but I am not really happy either. When I get to Hobby Lobby, they actually didn't have a new desk in a box like the one I was looking for. They did still have the floor sample, which had a little tape residue on it. We got it cleaned up and I bought it....no assembly required!!! Christmas is saved!!!
Yes, had I opened the box three weeks earlier when it arrived, I would have discovered the damaged goods and had plenty of time to correct the problem. So readers and lurkers, learn from my experience. Anything that you order and must be shipped to you should be carefully inspected immediately upon arrival. Otherwise, you may find yourself saying Ho, Ho...Oh, NO!!!

Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen Reasons I Celebrate the New Year!

This may be very quickly put together, therefore, not terribly well thought out or original and certainly not as serious as my previous Thursday Thirteen but here it is, for what it's worth. And, there won't be any photos to accompany this.

1. I made it through another year. That may be all the reason I need to celebrate.

2. I'm one year closer to retirement. I don't want to work this hard for this long and miss out on the best part of life.

3. We're taking the grand kids to Disney World in 2008. This could be the best vacation ever! I can't wait to see the reactions of the two youngest. We haven't told any of them where we are going. In fact, we may not tell them until we board the plane.

4. At work, we will move into our new office building in May. You have no idea how much this will help productivity and staff morale. Currently we are scattered in seven different buildings across a five block area and it can be a nightmare to manage staff.

5. The Arkansas Razorbacks got rid of Houston Nutt. At least for a little while the local sports talk show call in fans will quit whinning about all of the problems with the football program. Of course Nutt left the recruiting cubboard bear so Bobby Patrino will have nothing to work with when he gets here. I can almost hear the whinning again.

6. The Oklahoma Sooners will be ranked preseason No. 1. Now if they can just keep from tripping over Colorado or Texas Tech, they could win the National Championship in '08.

7. All of the holiday food will be gone and I can get back to seriously trying to lose weight and exercise. Seriously!

8. American Idol starts in a few weeks. WooooooooooooHooooooooooooooo!!!!

9. My annual trout fishing trip is coming up during spring break. This is just four or five guys fishing, eating, and sittin' around a campfire for a couple of days in March. It may not sound like great fun to a lot of you, but I look forward to it every year.

10. Mrs. DrillerAA (the honorary elf) and I will celebrate thirty-four years of wedded bliss in May. WOOOOOOOOOOO-HOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

11. '08 could be the year of the big screen TV in our house! I passed up an opportunity to get one this year at half price. That won't happen again.

12. I will have my new computer set up by the beginning of '08...I hope. Actually, I will probably start that process this afternoon or in the morning....or not. After all, I am on vacation.

13. I will look forward to making it to 2009, with the understanding that time is flying by at much too rapid a pace.

Happy New Year All!!!

We are the Champions!

Last night one of my three fantasy football teams clinched first place. Going into the game between San Diego and Denver I was behind by two points, but I had Ladanian Tomlinson, game, set match. I've been playing fantasy football for about five years now and I've played in as many as five different leagues in one season. That became just too much trouble to keep track of, so this year I backed down to three leagues. One league was an automatic draft public league, one league was a live draft public league, and the last league was a live draft and private. It was my public, auto-draft team that won the championship. As you can probably tell, this is my first league championship. I have placed first once, second once, and third a couple of times. I really don't know what it is about this game that I like, but it is addicting. I guess that's why I had five different teams one year. Now that the fantasy season is over, I can go back to following the Cowboys closely and hope they win it all. Oh yeah, I can start setting up that new computer I told you about several posts back. I also have a Christmas close call you need to hear about. Merry Christmas all!

It's Good to be the Baby Brother

Mason doesn't need mistletoe to get the attention of his sisters. Most of the time they find him to be the annoying little brother and he plays the part very well. He bounces from one sister to the other to see what they are doing and if he can help make their day. Right now, everyone is in the Christmas spirit, so peace reigns in the house. You may notice that the two youngers sisters are about to burst out laughing at their youngest sibling. I'm tellin' ya folks, grand kids are just the greatest! Ya gotta get ya some of these!

Yo, Merry Chrismuz All!

Emily is the closet clown in the family. While she may not be the most outgoing grand child, she has a funny sense of humor and her mother has a great eye for a photo. Put Em' in a costume and give her a part to play and she is in her element. She loves singing, and dance and almost anything that involves theatre.

I'm Done !!!

I finished my Christmas shopping! WoooooooooHoooooo!!! Of course I only have to buy one gift that really matters and that is for the honorary elf and my partner for life. I have input and I go shopping with her during the season, but I'm generally not responsible for actually purchasing any additional gifts. I am sure the recipients of those gifts are thrilled that I have minimal involvement in the selection process.
Now all I have to do is sit back and enjoy the remainder of the Holidays. I will be on vacation next week and we will have family in for a few days, we will traveling for a day, and I will be watching a few bowl games and setting up my new computer (see earlier post). All of this means that I may or may not find the time to post next week. So to the one or two of you out there that actually read this blog from time to time, may God bless you and your family. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.