Is Christmas Here Yet?

I don't like it when life leaves me no time to blog. It means it's way too crazy busy. You know it's bad if you have to wake up at 5:30 am to have time to sit on the computer.

Now that I average one or two blog posts a month, I feel like I need to really put some thought into what I blog and make it a good one, since I don't know when the next one might happen. I had a great post brewing in my head the last few weeks about the 12 Days of Christmas (or at least, my version of it), but that didn't happen. I was going to take a picture of my Charlie Brown Christmas tree that my wonderful sister Amy bought me that has become my absolute favorite Christmas decoration, but that didn't happen. I was going to do a very deep, pensive piece on my thoughts about Christmas, but that didn't happen. I was going to do another Christmas Wish List post like I did last year, but that didn't happen either.

So instead I'll brief you on the happenings of the last few weeks:

• lots of Christmas shopping
• worked on Christmas cards
• watched the "Holiday Program" at kids' school
• had a fun progressive dinner with my parents and siblings and their families
• hole in my garage door
• worked on Christmas cards
• got released as Primary Secretary (sniff), new calling TBA
• Christmas shopping
• big annual Mathews Family Christmas Dinner
• got early Christmas present in Yakima
• read my own words on a book in Barnes & Noble
• helped at school class parties
• more cards
• more shopping
• saw New Moon two more times
• finished and mailed cards (yippee!)

What is not on the list? Wrapping presents. I have yet to wrap a single one. Now you know what I'll be doing all day today.

T minus 2 days and counting!

Open Position for New Carpooler

So, apparently I hand out Mom Awards too freely. I guess I spoke too soon. I'm not sure I would have chosen someone for my list that was going to put my son in her car the next day and then promptly DRIVE INTO MY GARAGE DOOR!!!

Look closely at the left side.

Good thing I didn't need to go anywhere today. Or tomorrow. Or next week.

On the bright side, we've been looking for ways to go green. Natural light in our garage now. Perfect.

Rachael, all I'm sayin' is, you're just lucky I'm not handing out any Good Driver Awards!

True, Authentic Mom

I haven't been tagged in...I don't know how long, but this is one tag I am happy to do. My sister tagged me as a True Authentic Mom and I seriously feel so honored. This is what she said about me:

Alicia- She worries more than anyone I know that she isn't doing her best at being a mom. This alone makes her good at what she does. Often when I call in the middle of the day she is playing a board game with her kids or taking fun trips to McDonalds.

I don't know if taking my kids to a noisy, germ-infested playland to eat greasy, fatty food so I can sit and chat with friends qualifies me as a True Authentic Mom, but she'll never know what her words meant to me. Thanks, Amy!

I'm supposed to pick five things about myself that I think make me a True, Authentic Mom. (I think this is so great to force us moms to think about the good things we do instead of always focusing on our inadequacies, which I am a pro at.)



1. I am a TV/Movie Nazi. I am the strictest person I know when it comes to what I feel kids should watch. To the point of getting made fun of, which I am perfectly fine with. My kids are just now starting to watch "real people" kid movies instead of just cartoon ones, and only after I have scoured kidsinmind.com for every bit of content in it. So what if people raise their eyebrows when my kids announce they aren't allowed to watch Arthur or Spongebob. They have the rest of their lives to watch things with questionable content. They only keep this sweet innocence for a very, VERY short time.



2. I like my music LOUD. When me and the kids are driving anywhere, we are rocking out. They. Love. It. I think back to when I was growing up and the easy-listening music on the radio at barely-can-hear-it volume that played in our mini van and laugh. Not this chick. Music sounds better loud, and my kids agree.

3. Most of you know there's nothing on this earth that scares me more than throwing up. This was a big fear of mine about having kids: Kids throw up. But my kids' entire lives, I have been right there when they've gotten sick, cleaning up the mess and holding them when they needed Mommy, even knowing I was probably infecting myself. Personally, I think that deserves Mom of the Century award. (No picture for this one. You're welcome.)



4. Like Amy mentioned, I play games with my kids. Don't for a second think I'm this super mom who sits and plays with my kids all day. This is the beauty of board games. There is a start and a finish. I cannot do the playing dolls or action figures thing. Apparently I lost my ability to pretend when I gave birth. But I can play games with rules and concrete ideas, and I love it. Our games of choice are Chutes and Ladders, Candyland, Checkers, Macy'sopoly, and Go Fish (with Star Wars character cards of course.)


5. Like Amy also mentioned, I worry like it's going out of style, specifically that I'm not doing a good enough job for my kids. I worry I'm inadvertently causing some unseen damage that will come out later in their adult therapy sessions. I worry that we don't do enough fun things, like bake cookies together or do crafts. I worry that I haven't taught them enough about the gospel. I worry that they eat Top Ramen for dinner too often and don't get enough vegetables. But I am fully aware that the fact that I worry is because more than anything in this world, I want to be the best mom for these precious kids and raise them to be happy, healthy, spiritually strong adults. And that definitely makes me a True, Authentic Mom. Because every time I worry, I try a little bit harder the next day.

Thank you so much for this Amy. I needed it, big-time. Here are 5 women I think are True, Authentic Moms:

Rachael- Rachael comes instantly to mind because she does do all that fun stuff with her kids that most moms only dream about, like leaving little treasures from Leprechauns on St. Patricks Day and stringing popcorn at Christmas. She and her sisters are always taking their kids to the Children's Museum and other fun places and she is very, very protective of her kids.

Kim- Kim taught me about always being your child's advocate, no matter what. She always, always puts her kids' wants and needs and feelings first, even when it it's hard to do. She cares so much about her kids and always makes them her very first priority.

Shayla- Amongst the millions of things Shayla and I have in common, the thing we seem to share the most is how sometimes it seems like everything is harder for us than most, especially being a mom. But despite this, Shayla never ceases to amaze me at the wonderful mother that she is. Even when she is having a horrible, horrible week, she still gets her kids dressed and out the door with a homemade lunch, hair fixed, smiles on their faces. And she never lets anything stand in the way of making wonderful memories for them, taking them trick-or-treating or going on class field trips when she really didn't feel like leaving the house. She is such an example to me.

Alissa- Alissa is an amazing mom. If you asked her to tell you how she felt about her daughter, she would probably start to cry and admit there are no words to describe it. Alissa is totally that mom we all thought we'd be, sitting and reading to her toddler all day long, and playing games, and teaching her. Her little girl is the most important thing in the world to her and she definitely deserves an award for her mothering!

Brenda D.- Brenda is expecting her fifth child (another boy!) and does such a great job with the four she already has. She is the most laid back, easy-going mom I know. She doesn't get upset or worked up about the little things that don't matter, shrugging or laughing them off. She has raised her kids strong in the gospel and makes sure they are surrounded by good influences.

Okay moms, you've been tagged. You have to do this, because you all deserve to focus on why you're True, Authentic Moms!

Christmas Time Is Here

I always have the hardest time getting back into the swing of things after a holiday or vacation. I can never seem to pick up where I left off. Fortunately I have the excuse of the impending Christmas holiday that I need to prepare for, so this morning, instead of cleaning or paying bills, I am organizing my Christmas music and putting them on my iPod. Isn't it funny how doing those little things to get ready for Christmas give you such a thrill? Or is it just me?

My Christmas preparations began at exactly 4:45 am the day after Thanksgiving, and not a moment sooner. I am a one-holiday-at-a-time kind of girl. I refuse to think about Christmas until Thanksgiving is over. Otherwise, what's the point of Thanksgiving? Simply a precursor to Christmas? Somewhere a Pilgrim is crying. I won't even discuss or think about buying Christmas presents until after Thanksgiving, and you will NEVER hear a note of Christmas music coming from my house or car until at least the day after, maybe not even until December 1st.

But the second Thanksgiving is over, you can bet I'm raring to go, starting with Black Friday. I was undecided whether or not to go until about 11:00 Thanksgiving night, and I'm so glad I decided to. My sister and I went to The Mart at 5:00 and made a killing. (No, we didn't trample some poor guy to death.) It was awesome. There's just something about all those people being out Christmas shopping when it's still dark out. And I am always so impressed at the courtesy and patience that 99% of the shoppers have.

Tonight for FHE we decorate. Soon I will be starting my Christmas cards. Bring on the Holidays!
Oh, and, if you need a good laugh, go here. My cousin linked to this blog, and it is by far the funniest Twilight spoof I've seen since last year's Santa Clause.

A Night To Remember

The movie? Great. My night? Interesting.

It began at 4:00 when my posse and I arrived at the theater. After chatting with the manager and working out the details of how the evening would play out, my partner in crime (you may know her as Kim, or, "Myers"...of "Leppert/Myers") and I headed back out into the cold to wait with the masses. (Not the masses in lawn chairs wrapped in blankets waiting for the midnight showing, the other masses.) That's right, we stood out in the cold with the rest of our friends, even though we had been extended an invitation to wait inside in the warmth. We didn't want to use our newfound celebrity status to get special treatment, you know. Trying to stay humble and all. At 5:00 on the dot Kim and I did the honors of throwing open the doors ourselves and letting the mob inside. As soon as we were in the theater we saw this:

I can't begin to tell you how cool it was to see my name up there on the reader board. I felt like a freakin rock star. We had no idea they were going to do that. The theater staff kept saying to us, "Oh, you're Leppert/Myers, well, go on ahead" as if we were royalty. And people kept coming up to me and saying, "You're the one who put this whole thing together?" I don't want to brag, but...yeah.

Of course, we had to get pictures beneath our sign.

After our beloved tickets got ripped and we headed into the theater, we saw this:

We had our own theaters! Thank goodness for camera phones, I would have never recovered if I didn't get a picture of that.

Then we waited. The anticipation was killing me. But it was so fun.

Me and company
(from left to right: Amie, me, my SIL Kim, and Myers)
The rest of the posse extended outside of the picture. (And please don't judge me for my colossal bucket of popcorn. I'm actually not really a huge popcorn fan, I just really wanted the New Moon bucket of popcorn. I think I ate one inch down. Best $9 I ever spent. Not.)

FINALLY, the movie started. Young girls screamed, as did old ones. And you know what? I didn't care. A lot of people hate that, but I love it. I think it adds so much to the excitement of watching a movie you are all dying to see with a bunch of people that are as in love with it as you are. And it was awesome. And I loved it. And I've already gone back to see it with my hubby. And now I love it even more because the second time is ALWAYS better.

But what was not awesome? The migraine that started to come on 1/4 of the way into the movie. The pain I could deal with. I've learned to live life with pain in my head. The nausea? I could not. And lately my headaches have been 1 part pain, 3 parts nausea. I don't do well with nausea (newsflash).

So that was bad. And then on top of that, the arctic air blasting through the theater vents was giving my goose bumps goose bumps. I can't remember the last time I was that cold. I was literally rubbing my arms under my paper thin jacket to stay warm. At least that distracted me somewhat from the nausea.

By the time the credits rolled (and everyone bolted for the doors to go home and take cold showers) I was definitely not doing too well. I had reached my point of can't-fake-a-smile-anymore and already stressing out about what to do next. I had brought all these people in my car and we had plans to go to Red Robin afterward. But I knew then and there that Red Robin and I wouldn't be seeing each other that night.

My friends were gracious and understanding, as they are all well aware of my headache situation and more importantly, my shut-down mode when it comes to not feeling well. But I was still fighting back tears as I dropped them off outside the Robin. I couldn't believe it. This couldn't be happening. This was supposed to be my night, a night I had prepared for and waited for and anticipated for months.

The look on Bill's face when I walked through the door at 9:30 was as shocked as I was that the night had ended like this. I crawled into bed and cried. I waited to fall asleep like I always do at that point but I didn't. I guess my mind was too crazy. But my body relaxed and the nausea went away. When almost an hour had passed and I was still wide awake and feeling a lot better, I realized the night was not over. I hopped out of bed and told Bill I was leaving. He all but pushed me out the door. He so wanted me to have the night I had wanted. So I drove back to Red Robin, where the party was pretty much being wrapped up and the kitchen was closed but I didn't care. I sat down and Shayla graciously gave me her extra half of Whiskey River Chicken Wrap and I devoured it along with lukewarm french fries and poppy seed honey mustard. Yum. Friends filtered out but some of us sat and talked until the Red Robin staff made us leave (they had closed.)

And so I say the night was interesting. Equal parts awesome and crappy. I could have done without:

• The migraine (duh)
• forgetting to save someone a seat (still feeling sick about that one)
• The teenage girls sitting behind me commenting throughout the. entire. movie.
• Dealing with over-zealous, impatient fans
• The arctic air

LOVED

• All the other parts. Especially...
  
  
  

and, oh yeah, this.

The bottom line is, I don't do things like this. Ever.
And I did this.

And this.

And that's pretty cool.

For my New Moon Review, go here.
Check back here later for my review of my night last night.

New Moon

*WARNING* Read at your own risk if you haven't seen the movie yet (or read the book).

New Moon was pretty much exactly what I expected it to be--meaning, the parts I thought would still annoy me did, and the parts that I thought would be so much better were.

The movie was already better than its predecessor as soon as it began, with the absence of the bluish, grainy, indie filming style that Catherine Hardwicke used for Twilight. Don't get me wrong, I like those types of movies too, but I was super excited to see the more action-packed, special effect-enhanced New Moon in clean, vibrant colors, filmed the traditional way.

This is what new director Chris Weitz brought to the saga. And I loved it. I'm excited he stayed on for Eclipse too (which is also done filming, FYI). But despite the aesthetic changes to the film,
enough stayed the same so that we still had our beloved Twilight.

Like, the actors. Everyone portrayed their character exactly the same. Unfortunately this held true for Kristen Stewart. I'm sorry, but for me, personally, watching her act is the equivalent of watching cousins go out on a date--horribly awkward. Instead of crying, she breathes heavily. When she's overcome with...feelings about Edward, she breathes heavily. When she's in physical pain, she breathes heavily and screams (a scream that makes me want to cut my ears off). The interesting thing is, this isn't her acting. This is her. (Have you seen an interview with her? I've never seen someone look so uncomfortable just being...alive.) My favorite scene with her, that I actually liked her, was when she was yelling at Jacob in the rain about his hair and tattoo. Because she was yelling. And showing emotion. And looking normal. It was great.

Speaking of Jacob (cue screaming girls) I won't spend time on the obvious, i.e. smoking hot body. I will say that it made me uncomfortable when I realized I was in a room full of primarily married women over 30 or teenage girls under 18 and knew we were all thinking the same things every time they showed Jacob with his shirt off. Moving on.

What I will say about Jacob, Movie Jacob, that is, is that I. LOVE. HIM. Let it be known that I am officially and will forever be TEAM EDWARD. In my opinion, if you are basing it solely on the books, it's a no-brainer. Edward all the way. But in New Moon, I would be lying if I said I didn't think Bella was a little bit deranged for choosing a hairy-chested-sickly-looking-scrawny-in-comparison-to-the-hot-buff-werewolf vampire over, well, Jacob. I think there was actually steam coming off the screen every time it showed him. (If you don't believe me, you should have heard the teenage girls behind me. Yikes.) Taylor Lautner is an AMAZING Jacob, and single-handedly made me consider Team Switzerland. He was awesome. Funny, light-hearted, heart-breaking, emotional, and of course, the aforementioned HOT. So, yay Taylor.

But I still love me some Edward, especially Edward played by Robert Pattinson. I still think he is the perfect Edward, I still think he is gorgeous, I still swoon every time he does one of his intense, emotionally-charged scenes, the parts of the books that made me fall in love with him. (It's okay--my husband knows this. Fortunately for me he's not threatened by fictional characters.) He is still the meat of this franchise and the reason I love it. I would choose you over Jacob, Edward, I would!

However, I'm interested to learn why he looked like the true corpse that he is for most of the movie. Albeit very effective, the sickly pallor he took on after leaving Bella actually made me feel sick just looking at him (or was that my migraine? Hard to tell.) But I'm wondering if anyone informed the makeup artists that Edward is a vampire. As in, dead. As in, no blood. As in, he wouldn't look any different, no matter how broken his dormant heart is. I appreciate that he was so unable to live without her that he looked physically ill, but, come on, people, it's just not vampirely correct. Besides, he looked like death on a stick. I never dreamed I'd be wishing for the lipstick to be back.

The supporting characters were still fab. Chief Comic Relief as I fondly refer to him (aka Charlie, aka Bella's dad, aka Billy Burke) is back, witty as always. Jessica Stanley (Anna Kendrick) is even funnier this time around, if possible. My biggest laughs came from her, as well as Eric (Justin Chon) and Mike (Michael Welch). Hilarious. The Cullen clan weren't really around long enough to leave much of an impression on me, except for Jasper, who...what the heck?! It's seriously as if the director didn't think he was weird enough in the first movie, so thought that changing his wig to a mop would help cure that. Congratulations, Chris Weitz, it was a success. And did I detect a southern drawl at one point? Funny. I don't remember Jasper having a southern drawl in Twilight. (Yes, I realize his character is from the south but that still doesn't explain the sudden transformation between the two movies.)

Of course I wouldn't be a true Twilight fan if I didn't hate every time the movie strayed from the books. Like, Bella hopping on the motorcycle with the scary guy? And Edward immediately telling Bella he still loved her after she saves him? And Bella emailing Alice all the time? And Jane (Dakota Fanning) having to say "pain" to use her power? I know that is minor but for some reason it bugged me because it was completely unnecessary. And what is the deal with Edward's car?! First it's a hatchback, now it's a BLACK hatchback?! Have these people no respect for the most crucial details of the books? Apparently not.

But despite this, I loved it. Every second of it. I can't wait to see it again. There were definitely things I thought they could have adapted better, but all in all I thought it was better than Twilight and totally worth the astronomical chore of getting 312 people to go with me so I could see it 6 hours earlier. If you haven't seen it yet...why not?! I'll totally go with you.

Movie Queen's Rating: PG

*Check my other blog later today for my review of my night.

New Moon: The Movie Queen Weighs In

Less than thrilled to see...

Kristen Stewart still hasn't discovered that her facial muscles can be used for more than just looking angst-ridden, confused, and uncomfortable. (Although I gotta give the girl props--not many actors can pull off all three emotions at the same time.)



Jackson Rathbone is still not portraying Jasper as the hot, blonde movie-star-looking vampire that he is supposed to be, and is instead still channeling a certain appendage-challenged Johnny Depp character.

Curious to see...

Dakota as Jane

and why Bella is flashing gang signs as she runs to save Edward.

Hoping for less...


awkward meadow scenes

and monkey references.

Excited to see...


Some of this


Some of that


A little bit of this


And a WHOLE LOTTA that

T-29 hours and counting!!
Woot! Woot!

Better Late Than Never

ONE WEEK BABY!!!
I can hardly believe it.
New Moon is just around the corner and I couldn't be more excited!
Just a reminder to anyone who hasn't picked up their tickets...you need to. I will NOT be standing in the lobby before the movie starts, waiting for people to get there. Sorry if that sounds harsh, but, I'm just sayin' it how it is.

So I realized I never did a Halloween post. I realize it's just a tad belated, but, whatever. For some reason blogging and me lately have grown a bit distant. We're working on our relationship though, trying to close the gap. We had a long chat last night and decided we both got a little lazy, a little comfortable, and neither of us were doing our part to keep the relationship alive. Fortunately we realized this before it was too late, while we could still salvage the relationship.
Anywho....

Halloween 2009

Macy the Vampira
(She chose this completely on her own, no influence from me whatsoever, I swear. It was a proud moment.)

Payson as Optimus Prime

Bill and I dusted off our old hippie costumes for a Halloween party at the Myers.

Bill won Funniest Costume! He even got a golden mummy statue, just about the coolest award I've ever seen.

We have to brag a little bit. Bill had the idea to add a little "flair" to his pants to make them more groovy. He had the idea to cut four slits in each pant leg and sew in some flower power fabric triangles to widen the leg into more of a "bell."

(Here Macy is helping me create the "before" picture)

And the after.

I have only ever sewn one other thing in my life and I had no idea how it would turn out but it totally worked!! I was so thrilled with the end result, and Bill was ecstatic with his 36" circumference! It especially made it worth it after he won the award. I like to think he won it because of my superior sewing skills.

Right Now

Right now

I am still laughing about this:

"Oh girls, guess what? The devil called and said you guys were doing awesome."

Right now

I am loving the silence in my home and the fact that I have chosen to blog instead of clean.

Right now

I am officially headache-free, thanks to a little blue pill. Seriously. 20+ years of excruciating headaches, several doctors, multiple tests, one MRI, and all it took was a little old neurologist with a bad comb-over in Walla Walla to tell me to switch pain-killers. Life never ceases to amaze me.

Right now

I'm contemplating what to have for lunch. Do I go with tasty? (Corn dog) Or healthy? (Smart Ones) Decisions, decisions.

Right now

I'm thinking about this and smiling.

Newest New Moon Trailer

For those of you who haven't seen it yet...

Do You Have Any Cheese To Go With This Whine?

I'm attempting to post from my iPhone for the first time. I haven't been able to make it work before. If it's all crazy we'll know why. I'm posting from my bed, sick. I don't know what I have but I'm pretty sure it's not the swine flu. I don't have a fever, just stomach stuff. Oddly enough, I think my phobia has caused me to develop superhuman powers. I have literally willed away my ability to throw up. Although this may sound like a dream come true for me, it can actually be a curse.

I can't physically sleep anymore, my head hurts from laying in bed all day, and something I didn't think possible happened: I am sick to death of the games on my iPhone. I don't have a good book to read, which is just criminal when you're sick in bed. I don't have anything to watch, either. I tried watching the new New Moon trailer on YouTube but apparently 3 x 4 inch screens don't make for great video viewing. I am feeling very cut off from the outside world so this is my attempt to communicate with it, even if it's one-sided.

So I'm wishing I had something to entertain me while simultaneously speeding up the process of recovery. Don't they have an app for that?

Luna Nueva

I guess one more post about the New Moon tickets is in order. I was so ready to be done with the whole thing once I bought the tickets that I forgot to tell people how to get them. I am not going to have a set time for people to come get the tickets. Any time between now and November 18th, feel free to come by my house and pick them up. (Just call or email me first to make sure I'm home.)

For those who are interested, the final total of tickets we bought was 302!! I'll let you do the math to figure out just how much money we walked into Fairchild holding. A little bit scary. And don't worry about being squished into the theater like sardines. They gave us two theaters, and with only 302 people to fill them, no one should have to be in the break-neck rows.

Only one month to go! Disregard my countdown, that was taken from Stephenie Meyer's website for all the losers who have to wait until the 20th to see it! 29 days, baby!

Hooker Boots, iPhones, and Swine Flu, Oh My!

Don't die of shock, but I'm going to blog about something other than New Moon movie tickets. Now that they are in my possession I can start living my life again. It's weird to think about something other than money, tickets, email addresses, money, New Moon, deadlines, and money. I'm trying to remember what I did and thought about before taking this on.

So what else have I been up to?

--Taking a Love & Logic class at my kids' school, every Tuesday night. You know, in the hopes of becoming a better parent. Turns out the classes won't help you unless you actually try the techniques at home. Go figure.

--Joined a new club. The iPhone club. You can easily recognize the members by the rectangular object permanently affixed to one hand. Other characteristics are: Failure to engage in social conversation and obnoxious offers to provide any information someone may or may not need on the spot. Yeah, I'm "that" person now. Although I try very hard not to be. Okay, I don't really.

--Swine flu, swine flu here and there. Swine flu, swine flu everywhere. It is TAKING OVER THE WORLD. And despite my insistence that it would never infiltrate our home, it has happened. Well, I don't know for sure, Payson was not actually tested, but I'd bet my signed copy of Twilight that he has it, and Bill too. So far Macy and I have managed to avoid the filthy disease of pigs, but basically I am just biding my time and swabbing my inner nostrils with salt water. Oh yeah, I seriously just said that.

--I bought my first pair of hooker boots that I am insanely excited about. I got them on Thursday and I was seriously considering wearing a skirt and blouse on Friday as I collected money just so I could wear them. But I figured a steady stream of people coming to my house with wads of cash already looked sketchy enough to my neighbors, without adding hooker boots to the mix.

And that's basically it, summed up. It's good to be back.

Here

Just wanted to put it out there that I am home, I will be home all day, you can bring me money any time between now and 6:30. The sooner the better, to relieve some of my stress!
Thanks.

AT LAST!!!

Finally, Fairchild has given the go-ahead to get the tickets! They have also chosen a time for the screening: 6:15 pm. They want everyone in their seats by 6:00, they are closing the doors at 6:00 on the dot, no exceptions. You can arrive at the theater whatever time you want to get in line. (As long as it's not before me ;)

So, in order to retain my sanity and avoid complete and utter mayhem, this is what I have decided as far as collecting money goes:

• I will accept CASH ONLY.
  
• If you do not have the money to me by Friday at 11:00 am, you will not get a ticket. I will not be purchasing ANY tickets that I do not have money for.
• You can bring me the money at the following times that I will for sure be home:
  

- Tuesday morning between 9:00 and noon.
- Wednesday night between 6:00 and 9:00.
- Thursday afternoon between 3:30 and 6:30.

TICKETS ARE $9.00

If you claimed more than one ticket, I am leaving it up to you
to make sure this information gets to your other people.

If I have your email address, I will be emailing you my home address.
If not, email me for my address.

movie_queen15@msn.com

Thank you for your patience and accommodations in helping make this go as
smoothly as possible!

Final List

*I have made the changes that were mentioned. Thanks all!

Okay, I am officially not taking any more requests for tickets. If I told any more people yes, some of us would end up in another theater, and nobody wants that. I am STILL not collecting money yet, because I am STILL waiting to get the go ahead from Fairchild and trying not to lose patience in the meantime. Thank you for being patient with me. Hopefully I will have answers soon. Below is the list of names and number of tickets. (Forgive any misspellings of names.) PLEASE let me know if I have omitted anyone or have your number wrong. If you have NOT emailed me or left your email address on my blog PLEASE do so. It will make future updates and especially collecting money a whole lot easier for me if I have everyone's email address. Thanks!

Alicia Leppert
Alison Martin
Kim Billings
Kim Myers
Mindy Anderson(4)
Katie Sautter (8)
Michelle Bunger (7)
Starlie Mathews (8)
Amy Cazier
Jodi McDonald (2)
Janna Grossnickle
Andrea Tucker
Heather Hamm
Amy Meredith
Brenda Murray (6)
Shayla Trimble
Jenny Reed
Sara Spencer (4)
Vanessa Smith
Molly Collins (19)
Tiffany Child
Heather Young
Cambri Longaker
Nicole Zornes
Meredith Harker
Nichol Behrens
Christine Villarreal
Amy Christensen
Michelle Maughan
Lindsay Stoyan
Chelsea Bishop (11)
Kim Hatch (7)
Jennilyn Kent (6)
Kristen Gourley (13)
Kristen Hatch (2)
Andrea Hayes
Michael Scrimsher (10)
Jessica Thorne (42)
Danyelle Mathews
Lindsay Bates (4)
Stacia Rochfort (4)
Rachel Jensen (20)
Amie Hull
Cami Jenkins
Louise Jenkins (2)
Karen Jenkins (2)
Tami Mathews (3)
Nicole Brown
Kristin Andelin
Marisa Anderson (3)
Jennifer Flajole (3)
Nancie Mathews (2)
Natasha Woodward
Kendra Lybbert
Jessica Christensen (2)
Katie Rios (2)
Melissa Boneck (2)
Jill Tone (6)
Allison Smith (3)
Rochelle Bassett (3)

Yet Another Update

Okay. Still waiting on Fairchild,
who is still waiting on Summit.
But they (managers at Fairchild) have PROMISED,
sworn up and down
that this will ABSOLUTELY happen.

We have almost filled up an entire theater.
I will take up to 30 more tickets, give or take a few.
Then you are on your own to start a new group.

Still not collecting money yet,
until I have the official okay from Fairchild.
Sit tight, be patient, stay tuned.
And let me know if you want any of those last 30 tickets.

Thanks!!!
(email me if you have any questions.)

Pre-Release Screening Update!!

To learn about the New Moon Pre-Release Screening, see post below.
Our current count is 111!!

I called Fairchild this morning and talked to the manager. The good news is, there is no maximum and we can fill up multiple theaters if we need to! The bad news is, they (Fairchild) are still waiting to get permission from Summit!! (New Moon's production company) I wanted to say, "Shouldn't that have been something you got before advertising this?" but she said it was Summit's suggestion to do a pre-release screening in the first place, so they better agree to it!! She is expecting to hear back today. As soon as she does she will call me and I will begin collecting the money ASAP. (Not before then.)

Lots of people have asked me what they need to do. NOTHING YET, except keep spreading the word. I WILL LET YOU KNOW AS SOON AS I NEED YOUR MONEY!! Your name is on the list, if you have commented, called or emailed me, or had someone do it for you, I promise you that. Anyone that asked if it was too late, no, it wasn't, you are on the list. If you still have more people, keep 'em coming, I will keep adding.

Oh, and for those that have asked about time, the manager said it is looking like 8:00pm.

Any questions? Comment or email me at
movie_queen15@msn.com

SPREAD THE WORD!!!

*UPDATE: We are currently at 88 people!! Keep 'em coming! Rest assured if you have contacted me in any way at all, your name is on the list, even if you haven't heard back from me. I WILL be contacting you soon.

Hey all you locals!!
I NEED your help!!
See, I really really really really want to see New Moon
THE DAY BEFORE IT IS ACTUALLY RELEASED.
This is impossible, you might say.
No, it isn't, I say.
It is very possible.
All I need is 99 other people who will go with me!!
Fairchild Cinemas will do a pre-release screening to parties of 100 or more,
on Thursday, Nov. 19th at 7 or 9 pm.

Don't you want to see it BEFORE everyone else?!
At a decent hour instead of midnight?

PLEASE PLEASE help me!!
Comment, call, email, text, write me a letter if you are interested asap!!
(Leave your email address in your comment)
Spread the word, the more the better!!
Feel free to link to this post, in fact, PLEASE DO!
Tell all your local friends!!
There's no catch, the price of the ticket is the same,
and you get to watch it with friends, the day before anyone else.
Sounds like a win-win situation to me.

I'm hoping to get this done in the next few days, so hurry hurry hurry and let me know!
For now I am keeping a count, when it seems possible that I could get 100,
I will start collecting money to get the tickets.

The Secret Life of Bees

They say that bees can smell fear. I think this must be true, because there isn't much more in this world that scares Bill than bees (thanks to a childhood allergy that almost killed him) and our house has become a favorite place for bees to make their homes. If you walk along the perimeter of our house and look at our eaves, you will find a plethora of little honeycomb-shaped hives, with wasps, yellow jackets, and all varieties of bees swarming around. We buy bee killer spray in bulk.

Several weeks ago Bill was mowing the lawn and as he passed our irrigation pump box, out came an army of bees, going crazy. (He may or may not have run away screaming like a little girl.) We knew there had to be a good sized honeycomb hive in there, but we were not about to open it until those suckers were dead. Bill sprayed bee killer in the hole, then taped the hole up. (Imagine him rubbing his hands together and laughing, "Mwaaaaaa haaaaaa haaaaaa.")


Flash forward to Saturday. We had noticed that no bees had come out for a week or more. We decided it was safe to open it up. I was expecting maybe a fist-sized honeycomb hive (I don't really know if that's what they're called, but whatever), maybe a little bigger.

What we saw, instead, made our jaws drop.

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It was an...actual....BEEHIVE!!
Like, the basketball-sized ones you see in movies!!
Unfortunately, they had attached it to both the lid and the valve below, so when Bill opened the lid, it broke apart.

It was seriously one of THE COOLEST things I have ever seen in my life. I took a million pictures and we just couldn't stop staring at it, touching it, studying it. You can see how the actual hives are inside, stacked together, and the outer ball part is this feather-light, papery substance that protects it.

I had Bill hold it together so we could see what it looked like before it broke.



Look at the size of that sucker!! You should have seen how many dead bees were trapped inside it, and covering the floor of the irrigation box.

A bee apartment complex. How cool is that?
So cool that we can't bring ourselves to throw it away.
It's still sitting in our garage.
Anyone's kid need a good show and tell?

friend –noun 1. a person attached to another by feelings of affection or personal regard.

Thank you so much for all your kind words and empathy. Even though just expressing my troubles makes me feel considerably better, the comments that follow are definitely an added bonus.

Although my physical condition has not changed much, my emotional condition has, at least where my own suffering is concerned. The cause of the improvement? In a word, friends.

To be honest, I don't usually like "friends" posts. I'm not that kind of person. I don't even buy Kleenex, let alone use it when I'm feeling sentimental. I don't do fluff. But for the first time in my life, I am learning the definition of friends, and it is very real.

Here are the definitions in my personal dictionary of friends:

1. the one that never fails to make me laugh, is always up for a good time, brings a certain spark to life, making me love to be around her (for whatever reason); she always makes me feel good about myself, except for her perfect hair, which makes mine seem absolutely heinous in comparison.

2. the one that seems to be my clone, the only one who can truly relate to everything I go through. the one who loves me for all of me, and will never judge me; the only one who can rival me in my love for books.

3. the one who fills up my inbox, who surprises me every day with things we have in common that I would never guess; the one who can whoop any man on the planet at video games.

4. and then there is the one who knows all the little details about you that no one else deems important enough to notice, the one who knows exactly what you need before you realize you need it, who is on your side before she even knows what the other side is; the one who is always there, leaving your favorite flower on your doorstep just to put a smile on your face; the kind of friend I wish everyone had.

And then there are the happy, smiling, loving faces of other friends who always make me so happy. Laughing, eating, talking, playing, laughing some more.

Nothing is more important than family. But every girl needs good friends. I can't imagine my life without my mine.

broken.

I'm feeling broken. Broken in mind, body and spirit. If you talk to me, I probably seem the same, but inside, life is hard right now.

It begins with the physical aches and pains and general unwellness, which reaches its creeping, grabbing fingers into my soul and twists and wrenches.

My body hurts and my heart and mind are sad. The days are getting colder and darker and this makes it hard to tell my heart to feel happy. Instead it feels heavy. Very heavy.

It is weighed down with various life things, such as trying to be a better parent and failing every time.

It is weighed down by wanting to give advice and help but failing because I myself am in no position to give it.

It is weighed down by seeing people hurting and wanting to help but not knowing how because if I did I would cure myself.

It is weighed down by the pain in my head, the overall feeling inside my body, the fight to keep my eyes open at any given time.

I know it could be worse. I know people suffer far more than I do. I know that life can't always be sunshine and smiles. I know this.

But it still hurts, and today I'm not going to try and hide it.

This Week In Hollywood: Ripped From The Headlines

In celebration of my header being back, I thought I'd do a little TWIH.

Kate Gosselin Admits She Had a Meltdown This Weekend

Whew. I was getting nervous. It had been a whole five minutes
since we last heard how Kate was feeling.


Pink Begins Tour In Seattle

And wins the award for The Best Use of Masking Tape Since Making Scary Faces in the Mirror.


Michelle Obama Makes People's Top Ten Best Dressed List

Coldwater Creek employees everywhere are celebrating the exciting news.

George Clooney Prefers Prostate Exams over Facebook

Just one more thing we have in common, George.

Christina Applegate Misses Her Old Breasts

I hear ya, Christina. I miss my old ones, too.