Weekend Adventures

This weekend held one of those opportunities. You know, the kind that come around once or twice a lifetime. Now, it wasn’t that big of a deal to me, but it was for my friend, so I’m appreciating it for her.

Laurie called me on Saturday afternoon and left a voicemail that said “Call me back as soon as you get this.” She also texted and said “call me ASAP!” So of course I think something’s happened, except she sounded really calm in the message. So I called her back, and lo and behold, the Women’s Figure Skating Championships are happening in just a few hours in our very own Frozen Tundra city. And what has been Laurie’s dream since childhood? To see a figure skating competition. So off we went, flying through the parking lot to buy our tickets and then walk in a circle before going upstairs to our seats. They were actually decent seats, and we were in the same room {across the ice from} the one and only Kristi Yamaguchi! Seriously, how many times does that happen in your life?!

So yeah. We voted on the prettiest costumes, discussed the skaters’ form, and laughed about how much neither of us knew about figure skating. It was a great time, and I’m glad we went.

If you happen to see it on t.v., know that we are the crazy girls sitting across the ice from where they interviewed the skaters afterwards. We were the ones with no posters and somewhat blank looks on our faces. But we had a great time! :)

Funny Friday

Although my grandparents are hysterical, I will try and supply variety today and implement my sister's funny words, as well as my dad's. But we gotta start with the grandparents, because it's practically tradition now :)

Scene: Grammie and I are coming home from Wal-Mart. It is "cold" outside, and we are commenting on how we had to run from the store to the car.

Grammie: Well, the Frozen Tundra isn't so bad, right?
Me: I don't know, Grams. It's pretty darn cold.
Grammie: Well, we don't have it that bad. Other people up north have it worse than we do.
Me: It's still pretty stinking cold!
Grammie: {pause} Well, want some ice cream tonight?


Oh, Grammie.

Here's the sister story. Sister J is the blonde sister, and although she is totally smart {totes a brain}, sometimes she does play the part of a blonde, and she does it rather well ;)
Today I got a text from her that starts off a joke that we both know and laugh at:

J: What's idk mean?

The answer, of course, is "I don't know" and then the punchline is "OMG no one knows!" Since we've both heard it before, we modified our answers to be more original. It just cracked me up that out of the blue J would text that.

If you don't find it funny, then you probably don't know Sister J very well. And that is your loss.

My dad texted me earlier this week and his text said:
Facebook is like ancient Egypt. People write on walls and worship cats.

I said, Dad, what do cats have anything to do with it? His response:
People have pictures of their stupid cats everywhere!

Haha! That's my dad :)

Anyway, I just got a letter from my BFF :) huzzah!

The Cold Scale and Snow in the Morning

Before we jump into this tale of Tuesday, I should probably give you the Cold Scale.
In my mind, this is the Cold Scale {to be qualified with appropriate descriptors depending on the effect from the wind chill}:

• "cold" = below 40*
• "cold" = actually below 32*
• "cold" = single digits
• "COLD" = below 0*
beyond that, the Cold Scale breaks

As you may remember, Tuesday is the day I go work out on The Farm Office. My boss usually picks me up since a) he's coming from the same direction and b) it's almost an hour-long drive. So this morning I woke up to my alarm {the rooster one, in case you were wondering} and started getting ready. You know, clothes, hair, make-up. Normal things.

Last night, the weatherman had said that it was going to be cold today. And I think, of course it's cold. This is the Frozen Tundra. Little did I know...

So I finish the hair, make-up, clothes, etc., and head upstairs for breakfast. As I come up the stairs, Grams says "Did you see the snow?"
Snow? What snow?

Friends, it had snowed... a couple of inches. That's all. It was "cold" and there was snow on the ground. It was not really a Winter Wonderland, but it was pretty.

One good thing: I don't feel so bad for my NW homies who can't drive in snow, because the news this morning was reporting accident after accident after accident of people in the Big City. Don't be ashamed, Northwesterners! Snow is common here, and people still wreck! {I'm probably being too gleeful about this, but I am appreciating the irony.}

Anyway, that happened.

Funny Friday

You guys probably think that I spend all day sitting at the feet of my grandparents, laughing at them. Well, close. They let me have a stool. {AJ- insert CJ’s stool song here! LOL}

Today we were driving home from lunch, and Grandpa pointed to a really ugly car in the parking lot and said “That’s the next car we’re gonna get.”

Grammie immediately protests and says “I’m not getting that!”

Grandpa retorts “Oh yes you are. At our age, you gotta take what you can get. In a few years, we’ll be hitchhiking!”

As we leave the parking lot and turn onto the main road that is bathed with sunshine {sweet sunshine, where have you been!?!?}, Grandpa gets out his sunglasses. I quote:

”Gotta put my sunglasses on so no one will recognize me and think I’m a movie star.”

Yes, my grandparents are hysterical and adorable. Be jealous.

Sisters, Gal Pals, and Bosom Friends, or more accurately, a sales pitch for Skype

Can we just all give a hallelujah shout out for sisters, gal pals, and bosom friends? I mean for real. They are the best.

I got to Skype with my baby sister last night...so fun. We gave each other tours of our rooms, made "the face", compared schedules, and laughed. It was good to see her face and hear her voice {another shout out is in order for Skype- can I get a witness!?}.

Then a gal-pal and I started chatting online. It's so great to be able to catch up and then go deep, or in our case, go deep and then catch up. :) We even set up another date so we can utilize Skype {helloooo, did you say hallelujah yet!?!?}.

And then my bosom friend AJ. I'm pretty sure that we laugh more than talk, but isn't that what bosom friends are for?? She showed me their new dartboard, which meant that she carried "me" up the stairs into the dart area. What a bestie. And she's learned to crochet, so holla! Oh, and we're gonna try to get her kids on Skype {if you're not praising Jesus yet, something is wrong with you!} for my birthday, so hooray!

anyway, this is a demonstration of the love i have for the above-mentioned people. let the ones you love know that you love them.....i give you permission to steal my idea and use Skype ;)

Hooray for Les Mis!

Just gotta say, congratulations to Les Miserables for 3 Golden Globe wins!

And now I gotta say, I usually do not watch award shows, but my grandma does, and I think this is a way of bonding with her, so last night we watched the awards together {I did re-read Catching Fire during the commercials, but we were on the couch together, so it counts}. Anyway, well done Les Mis!

Birthday Week!

My birthday is this week! :) Hey, if my sister gets the milk the ENTIRE month of August as her birthday month, then I certainly can celebrate the week of. Fair’s fair {and my parents’ voices chime together in my head “Life is not fair!”}. Anywho. Moving right along.

So I was thinking about past birthdays, and I had a deep and startling revelation. My parents gave me a purity ring on my 14th birthday, so this birthday will make this ring TEN YEARS OLD. Wow. Excuse me, I need to go shave the long white beard that has sprung from my freaking old face.

Anyway, that was my revelation. I’m getting old. And by old, I mean…perhaps too old to…actually, I can’t think of anything I’m too old to do. Except stay up all night, and even then there are exceptions. Guess I’m not that old. Beard, you can go back to the place from whence you came.

In other news, Davi wrote a post about getting back into loving reading and her favorite characters and fictional couples, etc. While I don’t think I’ve ever stopped reading or loving it {this is the pre-children Bek speaking; things might be different in a few years}, her post definitely made me think about my favorite literary couples. Click on Davi’s name to see her list, and keep reading to see mine :) clever, I know.

1. Anne Shirley and Gilbert Blythe.
2. Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy
3. Anne Elliot and Captain Wentworth
4. Katniss and Peeta
5. ??? help! I can’t think of 5! but I did think of…

Fictional couples who were wrong for each other! I’ve only got two, and you may disagree {in fact, I’m sure that some of you hardcore lit fans out there will be shocked and offended} but here goes, a short list of couples who should have chosen differently.

1. Jo March + Teddy Laurence were meant to be together, but no. Alcott had to bring in an old professor and a younger sister. Bleh. I’ve been bitter about this one since like 7th grade.
2. Lucy Manette, Charles Darnay, and Sydney Carton…the saddest love triangle ever. Sydney was SO the better man, even with his roughness. Charles didn’t DO anything; Sydney was passionate and had depth. But it’s Lucy’s own fault for choosing the lame guy and then benefiting from Sydney’s great sacrifice. Augh. Kills me.

Alright, that’s all I thought of. What are your literary faves?

The Best of Times, The Worst of Times

Friends, my paternal grandpa will not be on this earth much longer. As some of you may know, he has lived with Alzheimer's disease for the past few years, and while that affects the mind, his physical self was not doing so well either. The weekend before I came back to the Frozen Tundra, I went to visit Grandma and Grandpa, and Grandpa was...in a bad spot. I had never seen him like that, and I'm so grateful that Grandma and I could call for the nurse and make sure nothing was wrong.

He has gone up and down since then {has it really only been a couple of weeks???} and my mom keeps me updated, and from what I can tell, Grandpa is ready to meet Jesus face to face, and his body agrees. He could last a few more days, or he could be with us for a few more months. It just seems like the time is closer rather than farther, so I ask for prayer.

Please pray for my family, especially my parents and my grandma. Please pray that every step of this journey will be peaceful and that the pain will be eased by the knowledge that we will see Grandpa again in Heaven. That's what makes this season the best of times and the worst of times. It's so, so wonderful to know that even when Grandpa dies, we will see him again in Heaven, that he will really be himself without the horrid Alzheimer's disease, and that he will not be in pain; his hip won't bother him and he won't have to take pills. But it's awful to think that Grandpa probably won't meet my husband or kids; it's hard to think of family gatherings without him. And it's worst of all to think of my dad losing his dad. So please pray for my family in this journey of letting go of Grandpa, of rejoicing with him and grieving with each other. We are at peace, we are happy for him, and we are sad for us. Thank you for your prayers.

Funny Friday

An on-going joke that my grandpa and I have is that I need to be home by the time the streetlights come on. That's the time, according to Grandpa, that my mom had to come home when she lived at home, and now it's the time that I must come home, too. So this morning, our dialogue went like this...

Me: L and I are going to a party thing tonight, so I don't know if I'll be home in between or just after or what.
Grammie: Ok, that's fine. You've got a key.
Grandpa: Hey! Remember- be home by the time the streetlights come on!


Other funny items that happened this week: we went for a drive around the lake and saw people ice fishing. Ice fishing. Hello, are there not better things to be doing with your time, like living in a cave or or picking your nose or I don't know, cleaning your carpet with a toothbrush or something!!! WHY on earth would you want to spend your time sitting on the ice freezing your hindquarters off, waiting for a stupid fish to swim by and bite your {did I mention this!?} PLASTIC worm!?!?!? There are some habits of the Frozen Tundra {the new name for my current residence-thanks, AJ!} that I will never understand, and I hope that you find some amusement in my bewilderment.

Enjoy your Friday!

After Seeing Les Mis a Second Time…

Like I mentioned, my friend L and I went to see Les Mis for her birthday {January birthdays holla!} and here are some more thoughts. {Note: read my first impressions here first-they’re more complete.}

Javert

So the biggest change is my attitude about Javert. I think because I was SO disappointed the first time, my expectations were not high at all for the second round, and then I was pleasantly surprised. Not all the time… I didn't think wow, that was a completely different performance and I was so wrong before. Nah. I thought this song isn't as bad as I thought…neither is this one…oh, that one still is bad. The first few songs I really liked him; from “Stars” on I think he flopped. I don’t know if the order of filming had anything to do with it or what, but this is my adjusted opinion.

Thenardiers in the Inn

Several people have commented and said that they liked the movie except for the scene at the inn with the Thenardiers. I agree. That part is realllly raunchy and gross and not attractive at all. And I think that’s the point. They’re not redeemed characters; they’re deceitful and thieving and manipulative and selfish. And gross. Definitely gross. But you’re not supposed to like them.

In the theater performances I've seen, the inn scene is about 1/3 of the movie on the raunchiness scale. It’s portrayed as an awful place for Cosette and as a horrible inn, and it is limited by what can be shown on the theater stage. The movie directors just took it where it couldn't go on a stage, I think. Did they add more sexual things? Yes. Does the theater have those things to an extent? Yes.

The prostitution scene{s} with Fantine were also more graphic in the movie compared to the theater, simply because of what you can do in the movies. But people aren't complaining about that. I think it’s because Fantine prostituting herself a) is not glorified and b) she is rescued out of it. I think people have a problem with the inn scene because the Thenardiers embrace and celebrate their way of life.

Confession: I think the movie does that because the theater does that, and I think the theater puts it in to make just one scene of the performance something to be laughed about; otherwise, it’s a mostly sad or serious theater. Think about it! We go from prison to his redemption, from prostitution and death to a duel and escape, insert laughter at the inn here, then some love songs that are tainted because of Eponine and the upcoming revolution, shooting shooting death, escape, suicide, redemption and then death. If we didn't laugh with and at the Thenardiers, we would be crying THE WHOLE TIME. And in case you didn't hear, it’s a three-hour-long musical.

Am I condoning the perversion in the scene? No. Am I glad the filmmakers put it in? No, I think they could have left out quite a few things and still made the audience feel grimy after watching. So I think they should show us how twisted the Thenardiers’ lifestyle was without subjecting us to everything that they did.

One Last Note

After watching it the first time, my dad pointed out that the man who wrote the lyrics to Les Miserables was an atheist, yet practically every other song he wrote was a prayer to God. And as several writers have pointed out, everyone who went to see this movie also saw the Gospel. Can’t complain about that.
Here is a great post about the movie, God, and the arts. It’s short, I promise!

Final Thoughts

As I finish this post, I’m listening to a recording of Anne Hathaway’s “I Dreamed a Dream” and I have to say, if I didn't know this was her singing, I wouldn't think it was her singing because it’s so good. Well done, Anne, well done.

If you want to argue debate discuss this, welcome! I’d love to hear your thoughts. Please share, and I promise not to bite. I can’t promise not to break into song, though. Consider yourselves warned.
Peace out!

New Year

As you saw in my last post, I'm back in the Midwest chilling with the grandparents. Totes awesome. I hope your Christmas and New Year's celebrations were all fabulous and wonderful. Mine were.

And now, on to business.
You might remember my blogging goals for 2012 and I think that overall I accomplished these goals! Woot! Pat on the back for Bek! So now I want to make some new ones for 2013, and I want to advance, not retreat. So here they are, and these are not just blogging goals. There are also some life updates thrown in here for good measure. So here goes.

Blogging Goals

1. Blog at least twice a week. One will be funny {I'm trying to institute Funny Friday, but I'm not promising that a) funny things only happen on Friday or b) that I can remember funny things until Friday. So we'll go for one funny a week.} and one will have more depth. 
2. I'd like to spend some time writing down different experiences, different stories that have happened and that I will want to remember sometime. These might be humorous, but they won't count as the funny post. There are just some cool, random, odd, etc. things that have happened & I want to document them. Nothing big or serious that I can think of right now, but I want to give y'all a head's up. So there. Keep your head up. 
3. Do you have any ideas? I'm willing to try new ideas, so if you got em, share em! Have questions for me? I'll answer them as best I can. 

Life...Updates:

• Two of my favorite people ever are joining me in a Made to Crave journey. Made to Crave is a book by Lysa TerKeurst {check out her blog here} about craving God more than we crave food. AJ read this book first, then I read it, and now AJ's sis Tisa is in on it. The three of us are holding each other accountable to a new way of eating and to our personal exercise plans. It's pretty awesome. So far, so good! I'll probably be posting updates about this, so you guys can hold me accountable too! Keep it positive; we're here for encouragement. 
• Fun goal for this year? Go on a trip with my friend Dahlia! We've been planning a trip to Prince Edward Island for almost two years, and we're hoping that this summer is the time to go. Any suggestions for our trip? Have you been there? Is there some thing or place that we MUST see? Let us know, pretty please! 

Well, I think that's all. Stay tuned for updated & revised comments on Les Miserables since my friend L and I saw it for her birthday. 

Peace out, readers. 

Grandparent Hysterics

Scene: dinner is over and Grammie is doing the dishes. She loads the last dish and then sets the empty, rinsed-out milk carton on the floor. Then she steps on it, with both feet, to squish it for recycling. It is garbage night.

Grandpa, to me as an aside: “She gets a kick outta that.”
Me: “It’s the tallest she’s been all day.”
Grammie: “I get a kick out of it?! I’m the only one who does it!”
Grandpa: “We save them for you because we know you get a kick out of doing it!”

Later, after the milk carton is sufficiently squished…
Grammie: “Well, are you going to take the garbage out?”
Grandpa: “I was gonna pay you 50 cents to do it.”
Grammie: “Let’s see your money.”
Grandpa: “Does it have to be cash?”
Grammie: “Are you going to write me a check?!”

 

Oh yes. I’m back with the grandparents. Let the laughter commence.