It's Gonna Be Worth It...

Wow - it's been a long time since I've blogged!

I had an experience last week that still makes me smile. Let me share.

Sitting in an Innovate session last Friday and listening to Troy Gramling I received a text message from my 24 year old son, Tony. The message was:

Mom, thank u for everything.

Since I had no idea what he was thanking me for I texted back:

I love u baby - what am i being thanked 4?

To which he responds:

i'm just lucky you're my mom

At this point, two thoughts are going through my mind; what has he done or what does he want? I'm still sitting in session. My response to him:

U ok?

And in return:

Yea, I'm just thinking about what's important to me.

Yikes. Now I'm actively scared. Is he standing on a bridge getting ready to jump? Has he done something terrible and is trying to ease into telling me? I stand up and walk out of the session so I can call him. When he answers his cell he sounds calm enough and I ask him what's going on. He says he was listening to the oldies station at work and heard Whitney Houston's song, The Greatest Love of All and remembered that I used to sing that song to him at bedtime when he was a little boy. Gulp. Now I'm sitting on a bench outside the auditorium with tears streaming down my face.

I'm sharing this to let other parents of teenagers know that, even if you're struggling and wondering if you're doing the right thing, someday, It's Gonna Be Worth It just for moments like this.

Ocean's Thirteen...and counting

Maybe it's because my expectations were low but I really liked Ocean's Thirteen, maybe even better than the sequel. The outcome was completely predictable, not filled with tension or drama, but fun to watch. Okay okay - so when is it not fun to watch Brad and George?

Question: If you make a follow up to a movie it's called a sequel. When the third movie is released does it then qualify for the term trilogy? How about threequel? Just a random thought. I've got a million of 'em!

Movie Tuesday (on Monday)

There's usually nothing to see in the theaters (Perfect Stranger, which I saw last week is a Perfect Example of a movie not to bother with) until early summer when the blockbusters start but I saw Fracture last night and was very pleasantly surprised. Anthony Hopkins is always great. He's sort of like Sean Connery. Even when they're in a total dog of a movie, you can't fault their acting skills.

In Fracture, Hopkins shoots his wife in the face and it's up to a hotshot attorney in the DA's office, played by Ryan Gosling (of "The Notebook" fame), to send him to jail. Gosling is great in this role and reminds me strongly (and, a little eerily) of my son, Tony.

There's not much in the way of a physical resemblance but something about the way Gosling moves, holds his head, something...

Anyway, what's even more fun is that I had the movie figured out within the 1st half hour. I knew how the evil Hopkins tricked the investigators! It's worth the $7, huge praise coming from a movie junkie like me!

The Perfect Storm

This is the scene from my back door this morning.

Movies of 2006

Most every week I have a date with my sister to go to the movies. Even if nothing good's been released we go to the movies. We love movies, movie popcorn and, in my case, Raisinets. But they only taste good at the movies.

The following is a list of all the movies we saw in 2006. My faves, the ones I'd see again, are highlighted in blue; the worst, the ones that were a total waste of time and money, are highlighted in red; the others, well, they fall somewhere in the middle.

Last Holiday
Nanny McPhee
The Pink Panther
Firewall
Tyler Perry's Madea's Family Reunion
Failure to Launch
Inside Man
Ice Age II: The Meltdown
Basic Instinct 2
Take the Lead
United 93
Stick It
Akeelah and the Bee
Mission Impossible III
Poseidon
The DaVinci Code
X-Men: The Last Stand
The Break Up
The Omen
Click
Superman Returns
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
A Scanner Darkly
Monster House
Little Miss Sunshine
Step Up
World Trade Center
Snakes on a Plane
Invincible
Hollywoodland
The Black Dahlia
The Guardian
The Prestige
Flags of Our Fathers
Marie Antoinette
Borat
Stranger Than Fiction
Casino Royale
Deja Vu
Apocalypto
The Holiday
Dreamgirls

If I had to pick a favorite movie for 2006 I'd have to say it was Little Miss Sunshine with The Holiday in the runner up spot.
The worst of the worst? Snakes on a Plane followed closely by Basic Instinct 2.