Movies I Saw in 2009

So glad to have returned to the movies this year. I love, love, love movies, and even saw a few of these at the theater by myself (which I still say is a fun thing to do, even if others thing it is kind of pathetic). :)


1. Doubt
2. The X-Files: I Want to Believe (dvd)
3. The Women (dvd)
4. Last Chance Harvey
5. Leatherheads (dvd)
6. Slumdog Millionaire
7. He's Just Not That Into You
8. Revolutionary Road (tied for most depressing movie I've seen this year)
9. Twilight
10. Duplicity
11. Bride Wars (don't judge me)
12. 17 Again
13. Flash of Genius (dvd)
14. The Secret Life of Bees (dvd)
15. The Proposal
16. Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince
17. New In Town
18. Driving Lessons (dvd)
19. 500 Days of Summer
20. Waitress (dvd)
21. Rachel Getting Married (dvd)
22. Julie & Julia
23. Amelia
24. New Moon
25. Star Trek (dvd)
26. Everybody's Fine (sucked--other most depressing movie this year)
27. The Blind Side
28. Did You Hear About the Morgans?

Books I Read in 2009

After not reading for pleasure in simply ages, I decided last December that I was going to read 30 books in 2009. I have friends in blogland who post their year-end list of books read, and a couple of them are in the hundreds. So that inspired me to read, and to keep track of what I read this year. So here is my list.

1. Believing God by Beth Moore
2. Marley & Me by John Grogan
3. New Moon by Stephanie Meyer
4. On Becoming Preschool Wise by Gary Ezzo
5. Eclipse by Stephanie Meyer
6. Breaking Dawn by Stephanie Meyer
7. Raising Respectful Children In a Disrespectful World by Jill Rigby
8. Dream When You're Feeling Blue by Elizabeth Berg

At this point I saw Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince at the theater and decided to reread the series beginning, not at the beginning, but with that particular book. So the rest of my list has a bit of a theme.

9. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling
10. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
11. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling
12 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling

As you see, I came nowhere near my goal of reading 30 books this year. But you know, I've probably read a total of four or five non-Biblical books since I had Brynn (5 years ago), so this is a definite improvement for me. I love reading, and am so glad to be getting back into the swing of it, even if it's at a slow pace.

New goal: 20 books in 2010! (Care to have a guess what the first three will be?)

Another Giveaway

My friend Traci is out of control when it comes to give away lovely things. Check out her awesome blog for a chance to win. http://beneathmyheart.blogspot.com/

In other news, I plan to revive this blog by the weekend. Brace yourselves.

Giveaway

Check out my friend Traci's cool blog... decorating tips, Goodwill goldmines, and encouragement for your faith. Not to mention pictures of her adorable boys. Plus I might win an awesome shelf (made by Traci) for pimping out her blog here on Diaper Days. But the fact that I have an ulterior motive does not mean her blog isn't awesome. It rocks! Check it out at http://beneathmyheart.blogspot.com/ and enter to win the shelf yourself!

haiku #1

nothing, flat and cold
from shadows gray and darkness
truth awakens me

Barbie Rant: Long Time Coming?

I vaguely remember playing with Barbie as a child. I had a couple dolls myself, but mostly I played with them at my friend Vicki's house. Even then, I don't remember it being one of our favorite activities. Playing house with her little sister as the baby, or school with her little sister as our pupil, or vet with her little sister as.... poor Melanie.

Since then Barbie has catapulted herself into toy mega-stardom. She's a doll, she's a clothing line, she's got the house and the car and the pet shop and the doctor's office. Bottom line: she's become the metaphor for the physically-ideal woman. (Which means most of us are pretty much screwed, but that's another topic.) After early promises to ban her from the lives our girls, I heeded the advice of a wise friend (Hi Coleen!), and chose with Jim to filter the Barbie influence instead. We buy our girls Barbies, but they are the ballerinas and princesses and professionals, not the "hooker Barbies," as I like to call them. You know the ones I mean. Their clothes could have come from Julia Roberts' pre-Richard Gere Pretty Woman wardrobe. And our girls love the Barbies they have. I must face it: to them, its just a beloved toy, not a political statement. So in this way, we have loosened up some. We probably have 8-10 Barbies floating around the house these days.

Then this week a friend told me of her frustration in looking for a summertime Barbie for gift, but only finding tiny bikinis. Not surprising really. A couple of days later I was in Wal-Mart checking out Barbies for Brynn's upcoming birthday when I spotted this. Meet Pajama Party Barbie. What do you think? My question is, pajamas? or lingerie? I know she's got the cute bubble gum pink color and the fun accessories, but isn't this a teddy? I don't know about you, but none of the girls at the slumber parties I went to were wearing anything like this. Am I losing it? It looks like some twisted kids version of a Victoria's Secret ad. Am I over-reacting? Because people must be buying these for their kids if the Barbie folks keep cranking this stuff out, right? I have to wonder if the downward spiral of Barbie's wardrobe over the years is what paved the way for something like the Bratz dolls to be marketable at all. (Do not EVEN get me started Bratz.)

I guess it boils down to me being really frustrated with how quickly the world wants my babies to grow up! I am convinced that our society's desensitization to the sexing-up of our little girls is partly to blame for how little these children value themselves as they grow up. It scares me sometimes, but then it motivates me to get off my butt, put my game face on and really parent my girls. It's the hardest thing in the world, but its so worth the battle, right?

I welcome your thoughts about this... even if you think I'm a crazed Barbie-hater.

Houseguest?

There is a house centipede on the loose in our house right now. I believe this is the first time one has been spotted and escaped destruction on my watch, maybe in the whole 15 years of our marriage. My rule for spiders and house centipedes is that if one shows up in the house, no one sleeps until it is dead. Ask Jim about it sometime... the poor guy's got stories. But this morning, a critter (thankfully on the small side for centipedes) lumbered up by my shoe in the bathroom, causing Brynn to go three kinds of crazy. Her screams went supersonic as she did this prancy, freak-out-march with her feet, getting out of the bathroom as fast as possible. By the time I could understand her well enough to know there was "a bug," it had taken cover behind the toilet. I finally found him, but he managed to wedge himself under the baseboard and completely out of sight before I could do the deed. Frustrating. But not as much as knowing I would have to either let him live, or be late for preschool. Obviously, we went to school. (I'm not THAT bad.)

At this point, I have two concerns. One, Brynn may never sit on that toilet again, since she knows it did not die. Two, I know from experience when and where my little friend is going to show up again. It will be be in MY bathroom this time. And it will crawl out onto the shower wall while I am in there naked and vulnerable without glasses on. So not only will I have nothing to kill it with, but it will look like a tarantula to this blind lady. I have no choice but to plant one of Jim's sneakers in the bathroom next to a can of hairspray and wait for him to show up. I will be ready, and he will not get away this time.

I hope he shows his wriggly-legged self sometime today. If so, he's toast. Wish me luck.