Wassssup!?

Hello, friends!

So.....

Yeah.

I really suck at this nowadays.

Let's see....

Well, I'll just show you what I've been up to...

Back in August, I auditioned for the show Noises Off, at the Harlequin Dinner Theatre here at Fort Sam. It was totally on a whim. I haven't been IN a show in ages.... really... ages. Most of the last 10 years worth of theatre has been either teaching, directing, or stage managing. My audition was a disaster. :D I forgot my lines halfway through my monologue and my cold reading was .... well, we'll just say that my cockney accent was something else! But two weeks later, I got a call from the director asking me to be in the cast!

This show is a hoot. It's basically a play within a play. There is a movie version of it as well with Michael Caine... watch this... (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oetWZow7HHM&feature=related) I played the Marilu Henner character, Belinda.

The show ran every weekend, for 5 weeks, Sep. 1st till last night, Oct. 1st. The most fun I've had in such a long time. I am so lucky N was so supportive and took care of the munchkins in the evening so I could do this. Such amazing people to work with, truly talented. I am so sad it's over, but hopefully we'll be able to work together again!

And now that this is over, I get to focus on the Cub Scout fundraiser.... Oi Vey. I am the pack's Popcorn Kernel ( I know, I know.) so I am in charge of the whole thing. It is so much work and so stressful!!! .... that's all I'm gonna say about that right now, except that I will be glad when I can reclaim my house from the 100+ cases of popcorn in my dining room!

Cheers!

A collage created by my friend and castmate. I love it!

The End.

This week was our long awaitedHP Midnight showing and Pre-party. We had the pre-party at our house on thursday, complete with SO MUCH FOOD. Everything from acid pops, chocolate frogs and licorice wands to cottage pie, branbury tarts and pumpkin pasties.... so much food! It was a blast! There were about 25 people in our group and every single person dressed up! Here's a few pics from the madness!

The Order of the Phoenix. Only Kingsley wasn't actually with our group, but he looked so awesome! (Lupin, Molly, Hagrid, Mad Eye, Kingsley, Tonks)

My bestie, Melinda, as Umbridge, and me!

Luna, Hagrid, Trelawney, Sprout (complete with baby mandrake) and Pettigrew

Acid Pops!

No, Auntie Bella, don't kill me!! :D (No, I'm not a theatre major...)

Our group minus a handful of folks who hadn't yet arrived. SO many people took pictures of us. This was during the main photo shoot. LOL! So many Flashes!!

We had 3 Lunas and a Xenophilius! :D

Walburga Black!!! She shrieked and scared half the crowd when she showed up at the theatre. Brilliant! (Yeah, I made that costume. But she totally rocked it!)

Me and my Werewolf.

Tonks and MadEye. My pregnant friend, Heather, was SUCH an awesome sport and let me dress her up!!!! LOL!

Hagrid and Maxime! LOL!

Snape showed up later, not a member of our group. I told my friends that they couldn't be Snape, cause then I'd have to be attracted to them and that would be weird. Heehee! Then this guy showed up, and I nearly peed myself. LOL!! I know I'm a spaz. (My fave part of this pic is actually my friend, "Umbridge"'s face... she gets me. LOL! Go, girl!)

My friends are so awesome.

So, here's my (LONG) review of the film.... There are spoilers. And I've already discussed this with some of you! :)

First let me say, I really, thoroughly enjoyed the movie and did more than a little bouncing in my seat. The pace of the movie seemed off, with them rushing through some crucial moments. Shell Cottage felt rushed, and I get that some people thought that was a tedious part of the book... it just felt like "Hey, let's break in to Gringotts!" WhAM! Hermione is Bellatrix just like that. The Gringotts scene was super awesome!!!!! Poor dragon. :( Hogsmeade.... another RUSH moment. I know, I know, we don;t need to hear all the Dumbledore backstory, but I thought it was a little rude of the producers to make a statement about it by having Harry say, "I don't care about what went on with your brother and sister blah blah blah." Ok, smartass... (BTW... I LOVE Ciarin Hinds and was so thrilled to see him as Aberforth! He did amazing! The patronus scene at the end was one of my favorite add-ons to the film!)

Where is the flipping cloak? This seems to be a common occurance in the movies... I know, nobody wants to "see" an invisible figure for half the movie and Daniel probably needs more screentime whatever... I just had moments where I thought, if I hadn't read the books, I'd be like, "Why the flip aren't they just using that cloak of his?!" Whatever. Harry's introduction to the R of Requirement. Again, awesome. I can even handle the fact that he actually confronts Snape and Magonagal steps in. Great. That's ok. Fine. Luna showing Harry to the Grey Lady. Awesome. I love Kelly Macdonald and was so excited to see her in this film!!! The Room of Requirement scene was, next to Snape Scenes, my favorite in the movie. Very well done and I appreciated the choice of having Harry stab the Horcrux and Ron kick it back in the fire. That worked for me. The Chamber scene between Ron and Hermione was alright. A nice, cinematic addition. Tho I do wish Harry had been there to give his little jabs when they kissed. There's a time and a place, and all that... :)

Unfortunate that Fred's death and Remus and Tonks' deaths sort of just happened. It's not essential to actually see them happen, and that's ok. Just so sad.

Snape.

SO. Stinking. Perfect. I even LOVED the CGI on Alan's face. I love Alan Rickman. Brilliant actor, hands down, but I have never been a fan of him as Snape. Not that he doesn't do it justice, just that he is really too old, jowly, slightly pudgy for the part. However, I must say.... WOW. I was SO GLAD they CGI-d him to be younger. It made it seem as if... not that they chose the wrong older man for the part, but that the years have taken their toll on Snape. These scenes reaffirmed my belief in Alan Rickman as Snape. Yes, you could tell he was CGI-d, but THAT is what I picture him looking like. SO Stinking Brilliant. AND... they did him justice. His death... WOW.... Holy CRAP. Hands on my face. Brilliant. It wasn't in the Shrieking Shack, who gives a fart. It was GREAT... Guh! I wanna see it again RIGHT NOW.

*sigh*

Ok, where was I...

Harry in the Forest. This is where I teared up the most. So well done.

Harry in Kings Cross... Also well done.

Neville.

Oh, MAN. Don't get me started.

Too late, I'm started.

Neville... UGH!!!!!!

Even my husband, who is much more cinematically forgiving than I am, said, "Oh, Brother." Dagit. I don't understand why they had to mess with that. It was fantastic and would have been FINE if they had left it alone. I get that they wanted him to be heroic, but... He kills the snake in FRONT of Voldy, he doesn't get simply cast aside by Voldemort.... i'm about to tangent...

In book 5, we learn what the prophecy is all about... we also learn that it technically could have been referring to Neville OR Harry. Obviously, Voldy MADE it so that it meant Harry when he went to Godric's Hollow... but it could have meant Neville on, er, some level. So when I read that moment in the book, Neville heroically yanking the sorting hat off, pulling out the sword, and doing the deed right there... It was like he helped to fulfill the prophecy and vanquish the Dark Lord also.... and they just didn't make it feel ... yeah. So what? He stands up to the Dark Lord and he gets the sword? WHY does he get the sword? He gets the sword at THAT moment to slay the snake.... That's why. Not because in 5 minutes he's gonna have to save Ron and Hermione's tail. Yeah, it was nice to have the moment between Ron, Herms, and Harry when he was going off "to die", but there's no reason he couldn't have come across Neville at some point as well.... Kill the Snake, Neville. But Nooooo, they had Voldy just cast him aside. There's nothing heroic about that... All he had to do was KILL THE DANG SNAKE! I didn't like the way they changed it. Voldy wasn't even there when it happened. He wouldn't have let the Snake out of his sight if Harry was, obviously, still alive...

&^*$%$%^

Next to Snape, the moment I was most excited about seeing. :/

The Fight.

First, Molly Weasley is Da Bomb.

Second, *sigh* I don't have the right words so I am gonna steal from my friend Kelly. I am using her words, because they sum up my feelings... hopefully, she won't mind. :D

"Enough with the superflous cliff jumping, hollywood! AND why did Harry and Voldemort fight out in the courtyard alone? What about in the Great Hall in the middle of everyone? Wait! Because of that, we totally missed the all important theme of the entire series!!! Just as Lily's sacrifice protected Harry, Harry's sacrifice--his willingness to die--protected everyone he died for. That was why Voldemort's spells wouldn't work on anyone (which we saw none of since they were out jumping off towers).

...As it stands now: Harry sacrifices himself to kill off that piece of Voldemort, and then he's able to defeat him because he happens to know where the Elder Wand's allegiance truly lies. So, in essence, it's luck. Whereas in the book, Harry defeats Voldemort because Harry is a more powerful wizard BECAUSE he understands the most powerful magic of all: LOVE. (the theme of the entire series! HELLO!) So when he confronts Voldemort in the Great Hall (in front of EVERYONE, please, so they can see Voldemort for what he truly is), he explains to Voldemort why his spells aren't working on anyone (because of Harry's sacrifice...the magic Voldemort discounted before when Lily sacrificed herself) AND then when Voldemort is angry and frustrated, Harry tells him "why not try for a little remorse, Tom?" Again, a knowledge of a deeper, more powerful magic. And then he finishes him off with the knowledge of the Elder wand's allegiance question, Voldemort's spell rebounds, end of story."

Amen.

I'm having hot flashes just thinking about it all... seriously.

Epilogue. Kinda funny CGI, but I enjoyed it, mostly. As with any book come movie, I was sad with the minor details that were left out, but understand that they are not essential to the heart of the story.

And that is my two cents. For now. Till I think of something else.

Anyhow, it was a blast! Definitely memorable, and I am sad to see the whole movie thing done.

On another note, the kids are great and we are enjoying our summer. We haven't killed each other yet! :) I'll post more family related business another time... I'm still high on Harry.

Another day, another... no, wait.

Summer drags on like a saggy diaper...

warm and humid...

ok, gross.

But, it does...

The boys have been out of school for about 2 weeks now and we've been having The Fun. Usually, that consists of screaming at each other, making messes (or cleaning messes), playing Wii, and the occasional field trip.

It all began with a graduation... I have come to the belief that they will have a dang graduation for ANYthing anymore. Seriously. Now, My Ike graduted Kinder.
I am a fan of the kinder graduation. It's sort of a ... moving away from babyhood, you mastered the basics kind of a thing. (Their school totally went all out, too! A DJ, balloon arches and balloons everywhere! A huge reception. Pretty cool!) But... 5th grade graduation... 8th grade graduation... PRE-K Graduation?! Srsly? Let's all celebrate mediocrity so none of it is important...

Oh well. Whatev.

We bought a small pool, which was promptly tossed in the garage onto a pile of wood, once the man saw it deflated in the yard and figured it had a hole in it. Yes, Yes, it NOW has a hole... *sigh* And it was such a good babysitter...

Gheez, I am coming off really grumpy. Maybe I should come back to this later! :D

But before I go... one more school related thingy...

Big D won 1st place (First?!) in his school's Science Fair and was able to move on to District. It was very exciting for him. Although, he now feels like he has to WIN at everything. Not bad in some cases, however, when he "only" got Honorable Mention and Best Display at the district level, he was all kinds if upset.

Mom and Dad: "You got a trophy, D!"

Big D: "Look how little it is!"

:) Heehee! That's my boy. Competitive little nerd.

Okay... I have chica petita (don't mind my frenish-ish) fussing at me and yanking my arm...

Perhaps, another time....

But for now, a vampire, a snailface, a zombie, and a mommy monster... (the princessa was sleeping)

:)

Helloooooo!!!! (Spoken like Mrs. Doubtfire)

All three of you who read this blog!!!! LOL!!

So...

how've you been?

Me? Oh, good. Thanks. Just been busy. You know, the usual... closed on our house, moved, got another dog, found out I was pregnant. Hahaha!!! That last one is a joke. A joke!!!!! Not really pregnant. (Thank Heaven.)

So, not a lot of time to update. But, we are in the house. We love it! Hate the scorpions. Love the house. :/

And we adopted a homeless girl. Her name is Roxy. She is the sweetest thing. She is not house-trained. She likes to wake up at 4:30 am to play. At these moments I think I would rather not have another dog. At these moments I think I would rather have another baby. At these moments I realize I am crazy.

:)

Here she is:

Sammer and Roxy = Kindred Spirits.
Big D loves his puppy!

We think she is a Jack Russell mix... one lady said mixed with Pitbull. I don't see it. Another said mixed with Beagle. I don't see that either. She just looks terrier to me. Maybe Chihuahua mixed... *shrug* All I know is that A) she loves to chew ANYTHING and B) I am glad my floors are all tile downstairs...

Anyways, she is pawing at me. She is the loviest little thing. Apparently, I am mama.

:)

*sigh*

Whose idea was this????

WOW!

Two months? For reals?

Sheesh.

Life in this household has been seriously busy.... I'll just show you! :D

1. Hubs got his promotion...

Slammer helped.

2. We had two birthdays... I lovingly torched one of the cakes... Oi.

That was exciting! :)

3. I was in charge of Big D's Blue and Gold Banquet. A success!...

Yeah. Uh-huh. I made that too.

4. Pinewood Derby.... Big D took first place out of 40-some odd boys... BOOYAH! Legit.

That is a big trophY!

5. Sammer got potty trained... somehow... finally...

Now if I could just get him to stop exposing himself in public or keep his hands out of his pants...

6. I saw Wicked...twice!

No picture. Just awesome.

7. I stage managed/assistant directed/technical directed a play... (I so miss doing that more!)

Crazy business...

8. We found some time for hiking! :)

This picture cracks me up. *cough hack*

9. We found a HOUSE!!!! And we close in two weeks!!!!!

Upstairs game room

YARD!!!!!!!!! ...sod will come this week...

Look out, neighbors!!

I love it!

Kitchen.is.huge.... CAKE.

Appliances will be in this week!

A shot of the master bathroom...reclining tub. Yo.

Nook in upstairs game room...

Bay Window in Master. Hello.

Needless to say, I am so excited! Our first house! Yippeee!!!

And to close, here's a few shots of my adorbs girly moo!!!

I squish her.

*******************************

Loves!!

My man.

YAY!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm now the wife of a Captain.

He's so hot.

:)

...been a long road...

I have five minutes...

Before I gotta get ready to go to the store...

And I just heard Slammer downstairs moving a chair...

That can't be good.

...


Just trying to get to the leftover candy. Now has a tootsie pop in hand. Sometimes it's not worth the fight.

Snuck back upstairs and now Mags is waking up.

...

Seriously.

I better make this quick.

The pictures I posted yesterday actually uploaded pretty quick so hopefully we'll get lucky again... seeing as that really is the only way that I can seem to keep track of what's going on. Which is sad because someday I'm gonna want the written memories. I've always been bad at journalling.

I gotsta do better...

Ok. I'll start with Christmas. We left a week before to head to Utah for Christmas with the hubby's family. We stopped our first night in Vaughn, NM where the kiddos were able to enjoy their first real snow. Deep enough to play in, anyhow. It was 9:30 at night and FREEZING and yet the kids wanted to do nothing but play in it. Except Mags. She was pretty irritated! :) Part of our traveling adventures is staying in those private, semi-scary, Bates Motel style motels. Often times, you'll find a gem. Often times you'll not wanna take your shoes off. The little place we stayed in at Vaughn was pretty good. The bathroom was SO OLD. I almost fell in the toilet as it was so low to the ground! LOL! But I always check for bugs... and saw none. So it was all good! :D

And it was the only place for 50 miles either way!




While in Utah, we froze our tooshies off at the zoo...



(That's N's mom and her husband. N calls them Lou and Andy. If you like British TV, maybe you'll figure out why. LOL)

We played with cousins... (these 3 cuties were all born within 3 months of each other! Love!!!) Yes, N has a huge family...





We had Christmas... (The kids usually get jammies on Christmas Eve, but they have so many jammies we went with slippers instead. So cool!) ...My kids love their daddy!




We waited for it to snow.... A Green Christmas?? In Utah?? :( Finally, two days before we left, Mother Nature obliged! My awesome hubby built a bunch of snowmen with the kids... before they turned into zombies and ate them...





I like that pic of the two of us. Sad it's blurry. :/

This is your kid on snow...



The hubby, who humors me, got me some derby t-shirts. Funny man.


Okay, this is taking longer than five minutes. But blogger is being quick!

On the way home, we went through Roswell, NM and stayed in the nastiest motel ever!!!!!!! It was late and we were all tired and there weren't any bugs, it was just dirty. So we stayed. But ick.

Ick.

Roswell, however, was cool.

I loved the alien street lamps! We took a few hours and did the UFO museum also. So fun... except that Sam was bored and mildly terrified of the aliens!






One more pic from New Years and I gotta get off this thing... okay, maybe two...

Got cocoa?

Okay.... let's see if I can make it less than a month before I do this again! :D