Thursday, April 10, 2008

Surprise: the Man is still away



I wasted a couple of good hours on a movie last night. When I could have been doing something more productive... like sleeping.

It was "The Last Kiss". Don't ask me why I picked it out; perhaps it's because I usually like Zach Braff. I don't watch Scrubs, but I did like his quirky movie "Garden State". Unfortunately I was drawn in by some of the cast of this movie, which included Blythe Danner, Tom Wilkinson, Casey Affleck and the luminous Jacinda Barrett (don't know what it is about this girl, I think she's just so refreshingly pretty and likeable). Not a big fan of Rachel Bilson, but she did all right in this flick.

What was this supposed to be? A coming of age story? Well, the characters are turning 30 so it's friggin' about time that these boys grow up. And I think a couple of them do. A comedy? I could not STAND Zach's character. For such a seemingly "upstanding guy", he screwed up so royally, messing around with both his pregnant girlfriend's and a young college girl's emotions all while trying to prove that he really was just a mixed up but super nice guy.

My time was so much better spent watching "Away from Her" the night before. Very sad, but the portrayal of a love story that seemed so touchingly real.

Wow, that's a lot of movies in a couple of days, I know. Amazing what a difference an extra couple of hours makes once you get the kids to bed at a decent hour. Seems that the kids take full advantage of their Dad when he's home and puts them to bed. No messing around with Mom.

So, thirteen things I have either done or SHOULD have done in the last 24 hours:

1/ Did negotiate and bring the son to his swimming lesson whereupon he did swim.

2/ Did NOT sleep the extra two hours.

3/ Did NOT do any work.

4/ Tried again but again, did NOT do any work.

5/ Did make banana bread*.

6/ Did vacuum before 9 AM this morning.* Nothing like having a friend/colleague come over for coffee to make you notice all sorts of crap on the floor that you've been ignoring all week.

* Let's make note, shall we, that these items are NOT the natural order. Remember folks, the Anti-Martha here. This will come into play a little later down the list...


7/ Did bring the girl to preschool where she had tantrum number one.

8/ Did negotiate and bring the daughter to her swimming lesson after lunch, whereupon she threw a huge tear-soaked tantrum (#2) and only put her toes in the water. What a negative difference a week makes (grrrr!!!).

9/ Did take the girlie to the library to get more DVD's and for fun puzzle time before picking up her brother from school.

10/**Did sit in my van with my 7th coffee of the day, while my daughter slept. Watched as my son laughed with his friends on the playground, got on the swings, fell off onto his back, not get up, the crowd of kids and some parents gathered around him as his best friend ran to get me.

11/After making sure the friend's mom could watch the sleeping girl in the van, did tear up the path, heart in my throat, to see my screaming boy.

12/Did bring the boy to his doctor, got an Xray. Nothing broken, muscles bruised ... keep observing the next few days in case more bruising may indicate injury to the collarbone.

13/ Did get the kids to bed early again tonight.

I'm ready for bed too, but guess what? It's an Eli Stone night, so I'll let him take me away for the hour.

** This is what happens when I mess with the natural order. Note to self: DO NOT do the Martha while the man's away.

12 comments:

Laski said...

I wasn't thrilled with The Last Kiss either . . . haven't seen Away from Her--need to add that to my Must Watch list.

#9--the only way anything ever gets clean around here anymore is if we have visitors!

Family Adventure said...

Oh wow...I hope he's OK, Karen! That sounded scary!

Away from Her was excellent. I enjoyed it, too.

Hope Ian comes home today.

Heidi

1stopmom said...

I am so glad he is ok. That would have scared me too. Well hopefully this weekend is fun for you.

Blog hopping by..

dkuroiwa said...

My my my...so glad your son is okay...didn't that just feel like it all happened in slow motion?

It's a good thing I have some classes here at the house or my kitchen table would never get cleared off and the vacuum would only be run on Sundays!!

April said...

Ugh - Away From Her is so incredibly sad!! But you're right, it was really good and seemed very authentic!
I'm already regretting my latest NetFlix arrival; The Assassination of Jesse James, and I haven't even wasted the hours yet!

Anonymous said...

I hated The Last Kiss and I am a Zach Braff groupie. I adore Srubs and Garden State..but this movie was a flop-a-rooh.

PS. Vacuuming before 9:00 is against the law or something right?

MarĂ­a said...

Did you know that Jacinda got her start on the real world paris? Yup.

I thought she was AMAZING in The Last Kiss. Her reaction to finding out he cheated? It was so real I got goosebumps.

Unknown said...

Great post, Karen!

My Mom was telling me about "Away from Her". I saw that it was on TV the other night, but didn't get a chance to watch it. Hopefully soon. If it's the same movie my mom was talking about, I think it's Canadian...and they mention Tobermory and Manitoulin Island in the movie! LOL!

Unknown said...

P.S. Hope Liam is doing okay. XOXO

Kellan said...

Oh, I hope your son is okay today - poor baby.

Have a good weekend - see you soon - Kellan

Kamis Khlopchyk said...

Oh man! Poor kid! Glad nothing was broken but good call on keeping him home today. However, it sounds like he better go to school tomorrow so you can get some rest :-)

I ain't no Martha either, what the heck for, it just gets dirty, broken or eaten anyway? Why be a superstar.

Yes, and I am teaching my kids to be superstar underachievers too.
Aren't I great?

:-)

Anonymous said...

I hope Liam is doing well. Glad you were there and could get him to the Dr. quickly.

Love your list though, it seems like you got a lot accomplished, even if you felt like you didn't get much accomplished.

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