I will explain this picture. 

Michelle found another quiz:

Which File Extension are You?

I try not to just talk about Holly.....

but she just says some of the funniest things! She couldn't remember the name "nightstand" the other day, so she tried to invent her own word. When she was going to put her things down for a little while, she turned and said "I need to put these on Mom's nightmare table."

Scary

I went to bed pretty early last night to try to get over this cold that we are passing around our house like a hot potato. So I woke up at 1am parched, and desperately in need of a cough drop. So as I'm stumbling back to our room, through the living room, I hear Ryan's voice clear, and no trace of sleep or fatigue in his voice: "I want to get out of my room, Daddy".

I nearly had a heart attack. So I had to go and explain to him that it was not time to get up yet, it was still very dark outside.

Then Holly chimes in: "I can't find my key."

What are you people doing awake?????

And I wonder, how often Ryan wakes up in the middle of the night and stands at his gate.

Some movies I've seen:

I saw a few movies, and thought I would post about them here, careful there are some spoilers around here.

Bend it Like Beckham - I loved this movie. It stars Parminder Nagra (who eventually gets a gig on ER, and she is still there) and Kiera Knightley (who has been in King Arthur and Love Actually) as young women in London, who are trying to "make it" in women's football (soccer). The movie, from what I understand, is about how they are struggling against traditional cultural roles to try to fulfill their dreams. But when I watched it, whether it was from the great acting, the true and realistic portrayal of Indian life in London, or the newly acquired parental viewpoint that I have, I saw it a little different than that. I felt that it was more about their parents realizing that traditional cultural roles and following your dreams aren't necessarily mutually exclusive. The football footage was pretty good, but wasn't as spirited a Shaolin Soccer. I thought that they could have done a few less locker room scenes. Most of the team members were actually real footballers, so those scenes were too realistic, they could have thrown a few models in so I could be a little less blatantly chauvinistic.

Appleseed - Wow, all I can say is that this movie was unbelievable! It is the 2004 remake of the 1988 anime phenomena. They blew me away. The combination of Computer Generated Images (CGI) and expertly-crafted anime was nearly seamless and visually jaw-dropping. The heroine (Deunan) is "rescued" from the wastelands left after the Third World War, and brought to Utopia. But then it is revealed that half of the inhabitants are Bioroids. They have no emotions and were created to act as humanity's anchor, stabilizing society so there won't be anymore mass conflicts like the war that just ended. We eventually learn that Deunan's mother created the Bioroids and gave Deunan the key to saving them (the military is trying to revolt and release the virus that would kill them all). It was pretty complex, so I think after I watch it again I might be even more astounded, now that I have figured out most of the plot. Wonderful ride.

Unleashed - This movie was not quite what I expected. I had a feeling when I heard about the cast: Jet Li, Morgan Freeman, Bob Hoskins, and Kerry Condon. I actually got a little nervous, could such a diverse and talented cast mesh together and not try to outshine each other? It was awesome. First off, from what I have observed, a lot of martial arts stars I've seen have a lot of trouble acting or even appearing comfortable when they aren't displaying fists of fury. But Jet Li really displayed more talents then just his speed and punching strength. He bound the story together with his transformations (when the dog collar he is forced to wear is removed, he becomes - unleashed), his awakening in the loving home of Morgan Freeman and Kerry Condon, and his turmoil in the very emotional climax of the film. Morgan Freeman is the quiet giant. Letting his co-stars shine, but expertly crafting his own performance. But I think that I was the most surprised by Bob Hoskins. His vision and skill of the villain who murdered Jet Li's mum, then kidnapped him, and trained and brainwashed him into a savage ruthless killer was really breathtaking. The film is set in Glasgow, Scotland, and if nothing else, Bob Hoskins' accent is wonderfully accurate. This is definitely the best movie that I have seen in quite some time, the emotional growth of Jet Li really infused the film with something so special and unexpected. I can't wait for this to come out on DVD for the extra features, and making-of bonuses.

Tim's Words of Wisdom:

Never pour the milk, unless you are ready to sit down and eat.

Thank Goodness

I realized something today, as Ryan finished mopping the kitchen, that is going to start getting easier from this point on. The kids are starting to be able to assist us in picking up, they are able to perform some chores by themselves (instead of making us take twice as long completing ours), Ryan is such a good boy that he scraps his plate after each meal, all by himself!

Before they got to this point, I felt like the butler, the chef, the maid (hate that uniform), the tour guide, and a chauffeur. I guess that last one isn't likely to go away for at least 15 years, though, probably longer.

In summary, things are looking up.

Junk in my trunk.

1) How can you reconcile "Time heals all wounds" versus "Absence makes the heart grow fonder"?

2) Why would you put in time doing work, when you know that you will have to do more work at nap-time, no matter how much you accomplished before.

3) During the Series Finale of Star Trek: Enterprise, it seemed like they tried to work in tributes to all the series that have come before (The Original Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, and Voyager). Kinda neat, but I was a bit disappointed when they resorted to bringing in Jonathan Frakes, and Marina Sirtis. A couple of famous guest stars in an attempt to bring up horrible ratings, seems a bit desperate.

4) Isn't life too short to worry about boring, tedious, melodramatic crap?

Does Holly have a problem?

For the last four weeks I have been worry by something that Holly has repeated to me a few times a day. She kept telling me that she was: "Hogie all alone." Now, Hogie is her nickname, so that wasn't what bothered me. It was the all alone part, I was churning my insides worried that she didn't feel like a bonded part of the family, like she didn't belong. Images of her crying in bed rushed through my mind. Then a few days ago, Michelle explained it to me......"Hogie all alone" wasn't referring to her as a person, it was referring to just her name. She didn't like anyone calling her any other nickname, such as "Hogie-berry", or "Jolly Holly" or "Hogum". She just wanted us to call her "Hogie. All alone." Having Holly be able to explain the punctuation would have really saved me weeks of worry.

Happy Mother's Day.

To Mom, Michelle and Sally: Happy Mother's Day!

More TV......

Last night was Saturday night, and I actually had the night off. The new owner of the bookstore told me that he wanted to work, to see what the weekend evening was like, and have a few friends stop in. So after taking Michelle out to a local restaurant for Mother's Day, we came back home and got the kids in bed. Since I had off on Saturday night I was looking forward to one major thing: one of my favorite shows: Monarch of the Glen. It is yet another British show that I watch, shown on WXXI (PBS).

Well, the brief summary of the show is that Archie MacDonald is a London entrepreneur on the eve of opening a trendy new restaurant when he get a call from his mother: "Dad is sick, you need to come home." So after so hesitation he hops a train and goes running home. At this time the audience find out that Home, for Archie is a 80,000 acre manor, complete with a mansion, a cook, a Ghillie (gill-ee: kind of like a gamekeeper, but a little more), and tenants who live in the cottages on their property. So it turns out that Hector (Archie's pop) is not as ill as Mum let on, but the estate's finances are. Bad things are about to happen unless the estate can be brought out of the red ink. So after more hesitation Archie decides to move home and accept his role as Laird, or (you might have guessed) Monarch of the Glen.

So that started of the show and since then there have been many antics and adventures, including a ghost, a collapsed bridge, a wedding, a funeral, and a Wolf Preserve, set against the backdrop of an astoundingly picturesque Scottish highlands property. This show is now in it's sixth season, even though they call seasons: series, across the pond. I have almost all of the episodes on VHS tape, but I haven't seen any of the most recent episodes, because I normally work on Saturdays. So when I sat down to watch last night, I was in for some major surprises. Archie has left, and his wife left with him. Those were the two major characters of the show! I had seen their courtship and engagement, Lexi's cold feet, and then their mountainside wedding. Now the estate is run by Archie's half-brother, and pretty much only three of the original cast members are still there, out of around eight. I know it is tough to explain the draw and allure of such a show here, but it really was a marvelous show, and I was pretty disappointed to see how much it had changed since the last time I tuned in.

I just hope that the rumors of the season finale of Scrubs isn't the beginning of the same trend for that high-quality show. Losing one person might bring in a fresh source of storylines and humor, but if it is the first of a mass exodus, they should just end the show rather then become the same show, just an entirely different cast.

I also found a good article about the end of an era. I watched a lot of Star Trek (yes, I admit it!) when I was younger, and have watched most of the episodes of Star Trek - Enterprise. It is remarkable how long Star Trek has been around, and remarkable that it is no longer going to be on the air.

Something wrong?

I realized something this afternoon, I may have been watching too many episodes of Doctor Who, or Red Dwarf, or the UK version of The Office. The inner dialogue (yes, I have a running peanut gallery in my head, I just wish they all got along. Stop arguing, people) happens to have a pronounced British accent. I wonder how normal that is.

Recurring Dream

Over the last several years I keep having this dream, every other month or so. Different things may precipitate the condition that I dream of, but usual it is illness. In my dream I get sick and then start losing my teeth. There usually isn't much pain associated with it, but they just get loose and then pop out. But the sensation that always makes me shiver is probing around with my tongue and feeling the empty sockets (I remember from when I had my wisdom teeth out 2 years ago) and the tender sensation of my gums.....gives me chills even now.......and usually the loss is significant, at least half of the teeth.

Yikes.