Monday, May 5, 2008

I'm Finally Out of my Closet!

A-HA! You guys took that all wrong didn't you? I'll have you to know, I 've been cleaning my closet - a job that required a lot of time, energy and perseverance. But I survived it (yeah, I know. I'm a rock, huh?) First, though, Aunt Sandi, Kat, Joan....and anyone else who has asked about my whereabouts (thank you for that, by the way!)...my apologies for not answering you sooner. See here's the deal. Randey had to go out of town - again! - for his job. It was the fifth out of town trip he's had to take since January. I mean good grief, I've been patient and understanding (in my own little way, of course) up till this time. Enough's enough, though. When you start averaging more than one trip a month, you've gone too far (or, more accurately, you're gone too much). After all, as I very succinctly said to Randey, I did not marry a Navy guy or a Marine fella' or an Army dude. I married an Air Force man. An Air Force man who has since become an Air Force Reservist and, what's more, an Air Force Reservist who is no longer activated. My tolerance at playing "single mom" and my ability to sweetly sit back and keep the home fires burnin' while my dearly beloved traveled these United States has drawn to an end. So, in order to keep from losing my mind and to stop myself from saying words I was sure to regret one day, I threw myself into doing some things that I've put off doing for years. Stupid, boring, time consuming things, like cleaning out my half of our closet. What a mess! Apparently, I've never met a pair of black shoes I didn't love because I found about 2 dozen pair underneath the 30 pairs of dress pants I owned that will never stretch over my arse again! And the skirts! I found skirts I don't even remember buying. (Hello, my name is Kari and I am a shopaholic and a pack rat.) But...after much sweating, cursing, culling and disgusted head-shaking, my part of our closet is CLEAN! Yay me! I took 4 giant contractor sized garbage bags, 1 regular kitchen sized bag and 2 boxes of stuff to Goodwill. No, it didn't all come from my half of the closet. (Geez...how big of a pack rat do you think I am?) Half of one of the boxes came from stuff I cleaned out of the storage underneath the stairs. lol The upside of all this cleaning and purging is that I was able to work through my feelings about Randey's job traveling without resorting to too much violence but the downside was that I didn't blog or even so much as talk to anyone I didn't have to. (I wasn't really fit for human interaction anyway...I swear I actually saw fire coming out of my ears, eyes, nose and mouth at the height of my fury! lol) Randey's office is now looking into changing things up a little bit so that he won't have to travel as often. Time will tell if the changes are effective. I will say this much; pity the person who fails at making this plan a reality because hell hath no fury like a woman left raising teenagers alone!!

After I exhausted myself with all the cleaning, I decided a little escapism was in order...so I went to the movies. One movie I saw was Made of Honor. Everyone told me that this movie wasn't getting great reviews, etc. I'm here to tell you: Everyone was wrong! This was a really cute and funny, funny, funny movie. Sure, it was predictable, sure you could guess where it was going almost every step of the way, but still! I found myself laughing outloud over and over again. (The restaurant scene and Grandma's new necklace were the best parts.) I recommend this for a fun little date movie. It was cute, it was entertaining, it was sweet and, most of all, it was funny!



I also saw Street Kings. I liked this one more than I thought I would. A whole lot of violence, but a good story anyway. Not great, but good. God help me, I never thought I'd say this, but Keanu Reeves actually seems to be maturing. I know, I know...that's kind of a bold statement, but truth be told, I haven't really enjoyed him this much since his movie Speed. I usually think his delivery is kind of wooden and boring. I don't dislike him, he just doesn't usually thrill me. But his portrayal of his role in this movie was definitely above average. I'd probably even watch this movie again one of these days.


I actually saw this next movie a couple of weeks ago, before Randey left for his latest trip. We'd heard that this one was going to be funny. Hmph. This is a prime example of "Don't believe everything you hear". Randey thought it was pretty funny. Me? Not so much. I'll confess...I don't mind a little raunchy humor every now and then, I don't. But when raunchy slides on into gross, I'm no longer laughing. I'm not sure where I think this movie went wrong, I just know I didn't enjoy it. I found myself checking my watch to see when it would finally be over. Oh, and just in case you haven't heard, this movie features full frontal male nudity. Several times over. (Yeah. And I hadn't heard that prior to the show). Unexpectedly seeing the "leading man's" junk in all his imagined glory up on the big screen was not the thrill that he perhaps thought it might be. In fact, I started to understand exactly why Sarah Marshall dumped him...

This Saturday afternoon, Randey and I went together to see Ironman. I really liked this movie. I mean, I really liked this movie. I love Robert Downey, Jr. (anybody else see Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang???). I think he's a wonderful actor. I enjoy watching him pretend for a living. lol (Those who have read my rants about Players and Pretenders will probably know what I mean by that.) This movie combined action and humor as well as a pretty good story line. I would definitely watch this one again and in fact, probably will. Some of you may have heard about an "extra" scene that is shown after the credits are done rolling at the end of the movie. It's true. There is an extra scene. But I don't think it's worth waiting for if you're not a big comic book fan. I say that because Randey and I (and most of the other movie-goer's over the age of 30 who were there) felt like we had wasted 10 minutes of our lives by waiting for that last scene to appear. Kaleb and Jacob (who saw the movie Friday night) thought it was absolutely wonderful and well-worth the wait. They still don't understand why we weren't thrilled to see that 30 second "preview" of what is sure to be the sequel to Ironman. Then again, Randey and I don't read comic books. Kaleb and Jacob do. 'Nuff said.
Okay - I'd better stop posting now. Hope to be back tomorrow. Maybe then I'll tell you about my Crock-Pot cooking. I'm fast becoming the crock-pot queen. Why didn't I discover this thing sooner??? Who knew cooking could be so flippin' easy? lol

14 comments:

  1. Oooo, I love the reviews!

    I need to know your thoughts on American Idol...

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  2. Kari,great reviews.If I would start on my closets It would take so long that I would just give up half way through it."pack rats R us",could be the motto of this house.

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  3. Welcome back!

    Good idea to work out your anger by cleaning closets. I did mine the other day, but I didn't have any anger to work through - just a pile of crap on the closet floor.

    I hope the traveling situation gets worked out quickly.

    I haven't been to the movies for SO long!

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  4. It's good to see you back Kari! I've missed you and wondered what was going on!

    Thank you for coming by the back porch and your sweet comment!

    Pat

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  5. Can you come clean out my closet too? LOL!

    I understand how you feel about spouses being gone so much. But, for me, it happens so often that I have pretty much gotten used to it. I actually enjoy my time alone now! (Those hermit tendencies coming out even more! LOL)

    I want to see Made of Honor! Glad to see that you liked it!

    Pass those Crock-Pot recipes this way girlie! I love using mine! I am always on the lookout for some new "yummy" recipes to cook in it! It's also wonderful to use in the summer time because then you don't heat up your house as much!

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  6. Wow all that cleaning and movie time too. No wonder you haven't been around. Movies are such a great escape aren't they? I haven't been since New Year's Eve. WAY overdue!

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  7. Well... it's about time you come out of that closet!

    Thanks for the movie reviews. Now that we have Netflix I can add them (or not in the case of that one movie) to my queue :)

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  8. Cleaning closets is a good thing...good for the soul, good for the thrift store donations, good for releasing tension...ya, all of the above!

    I also saw "Made Of Honor" and enjoyed it so much! "Forgetting Sarah Marshall"...eh, not so much but it did have a few laughs. Still loving "Juno"...my fave for now. "Mamma Mia" previews look good, but I'm a sucker for Meryl Streep and/or Colin Firth...and, of course, Abba! ;)

    Cassie

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  9. Glad to see you back and posting...you have been missed. However, I really identify with your whole "cleaning" out method of dealing with a traveling husband...my lovin hubbin has become a "weekend" only husband as of late...and some times it gets to be more than I care to handle...but I just keep plugging along...spending his well earned money...and try to deal with life as it happens...but there are days...and nights...I am about ready to hunt him down, have a talk with him and drag his butt home...ahhhh...the joys of starting your own new business venture.

    As for the movie reviews...thanks for the heads up...I've been wanting to see Made of Honor...so based on your recommendation I'll put it on my must see list...I also want to see "Baby Mama" call me crazy...but the trailers have peeked my interest...and sadly, they are probably the funniest parts of the movie.

    I loved Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang...I thought Robert Downey was great...but I loved seeing Val Kilmer play the gay guy...too funny! That is a movie I would have never even known about had it not been for my daughters recommendation. She is my movie adventurer...she loves indy movies and anything a little out of the norm as far as main stream! Love those kinds of movies...usually!

    Hope you share some of your recipes for crock potting...I probaby will just continue eating sandwiches, lean cuisinnes and left overs as long as hubbin is traveling...but when he's home I DO need to put forth SOME effort to cook.

    blessings...
    Teresa

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  10. Hi Kari! So that's where you've been...in the closet tossing. I'll keep everything crossed plus say a prayer that the traveling requirements of your dh's job decrease asap.

    Can't wait to hear about your adventures with the crockpot. ;}

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  11. Sounds like you have been one busy granny. I know your proud of that new baby. she is beautiful.
    My hubby has been staying gone too. I feel single.I am trying to get ready to leave on our trip to see Rian on Friday.I am going to the movie while him and dad go see another one. I can't wait to see. Made of Honor!

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  12. Well welcome back Little Girl...and it's about time too...I've worked my fingers to the bone trying to hold up your end of this blog blogging thing...when you were naggggggginnnnnggggg me to get out of the yard and to the computer and now I say to you YAYAYAYYAYAYYYYYYYYYY....best post about movies I've ever seen. I'm going to have to forward you to Wallace so he can read these too. He loved Ironman and like Kaleb and Jacob just loved that last scene that he waited to see lol...I'll wait til it comes out on DVD but I will not miss Indiana Jones, in fact it's my treat...taking the family so hop a train, I'll pick you up!
    love ya
    Aunt Sandi

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  13. That's where you've been hiding!hehehe. I have a few I need to be hiding in myself. Come on - one more move with the AF - ROBINS! come on!
    Love the reviews - looking forward to seeing Iron Man. Downey is a fabulous actor.
    Have a wonderful day.
    Sandy :)

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  14. I have been trying to clean out things too...it is awful...er...wonderful! *grin*

    I want to see MOH this weekend. Thank you for the wonderful reviews! I always trust what you say and you have never steered me wrong!

    You should ask the AF to move you to WPAFB!! Come on....you could do it! I will take you all over and you would love the antiquing!!! No?? Ah gee...

    Love,
    Sue

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