I am a good girl - I follow the rules - I don't break the law - I generally do what is required of me. Except in one small area - movies!
What is it that I am talking about . . . . paying for 1 movie and then seeing more once you get in. I don't do this all the time - there is really only one theater in the area that this works well at - Lincoln Square Cinema - which happens to be the most expensive one - $8 for a matinee showing. You pay for the movie and they take your ticket as you walk in the door. There are 13 separate theaters at Lincoln Square and 10 of them are down one hallway. They have the names of the movies listed outside each theater along with the time that the next one is starting at.
I started out with the 1200 showing of the new Harry Potter movie. I thought it was a good movie - seemed like a connector movie though - you know - the kind that tie up a few things from the previous movie but is really setting things up for the next one. I haven't read the books so I don't know if the book Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was a connector book.
The next movie was 500 Days of Summer - a small indie film that got a lot of buzz at the Sundance Film Festival. It stars Joseph Gordon-Leavitt - the kid from 3rd Rock From The Sun and Zooey Deschanel - she has been in quite a few movies and guest spots on TV Shows. I became a fan of hers when she played DG on the mini-series Tin Man. I really liked the movie. I liked how it was so different - I had never seen a movie like this before - I liked how it didn't follow a regular formula.
When I left 500 Days of Summer I was planning on calling it a day but . . . in the theater right next door The Proposal was starting in 15 minutes. I thought - WTH - might as well see just one more. This one was funny but it followed the typical romantic comedy formula. Boy and Girl don't really like each other - they are put in a situation where they spend time with each other - they fall in love but don't think the other one has - they live happily ever after. The way they got from the beginning to the end was good - I am a fan of Ryan Reynolds! Betty White is hilarious as the Grandma in this movie.
Tomorrow is my last vacation day - I'm spending the afternoon with Lyd. Then I will be getting things ready for her Baby Shower on Saturday.
De
***I know there hasn't been as much interesting drama now that L has moved out. I would love for some suggestions for Blog Topics - is there something you want to know about me - is there an issue you would like to know my opinion on - Leave Me A Comment***
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
JA Jance
Throughout the years I have found authors that I love and I would run out to buy their books as soon as they were released. But none has stuck with me as much as JA Jance. Hers were the first books I ever read where the backdrop was Seattle - it made reading them so much more - I could see in my mind where the characters were. In her first few books she even had some of the action taking place in Issaquah. The main character in these first books was JP Beaumont Seattle Police Detective. Over the years she started 2 other series' of books - The Joanna Brady series and the newest series Ali Reynolds. It's funny - when her new books would come out and they were a Brady mystery and not Beaumont I would get upset - I wanted Beaumont - I don't like Brady! Today I went to the Bellevue Library to listen to her talk about her latest book - which actually has both Beau and Brady in it.
Let me start out by saying when I got there I felt like I was at a Senior Citizens gathering! There were 100 people and maybe 5 were my age! We all had one thing in common though - we loved Beaumont and were there to listen to JA Jance.
This was my first time going to a book signing where the author was going to talk first and not just read a few pages and then sign the book. I learned quite a bit about my favorite author and the other readers of her books. I learned that the readers in Seattle love Beaumont and do not like it when the next book is a Joanna Brady Mystery and the readers in Bisby, AZ love Brady and do not like when the next book is a JP Beaumont Mystery. Everyone loves to read a story that revolves around the area they live in. JA addressed this - she said that if she were only allowed to write Beaumont he would have been killed off long ago - she likes being able to write from different perspectives - this has enabled her to keep each series fresh. She understands that not all her readers will like every series and she's fine with that.
She was a little scattered during her talk - she got sidetracked a lot and would go off in different directions but she was entertaining. Even though Fire and Ice was just released yesterday she finished writing it a year ago - in that year she has finished another book that will be released in December and is in the editing process of a book coming out next June. She said her daughter reads her books right before they are released and then talks to her about them so she can refresh her memory on what it was about.
I left the library with one impression - here was someone who has always loved writing - who has been a published author for 23 years and 38 books - and is still so passionate about it.
De
Let me start out by saying when I got there I felt like I was at a Senior Citizens gathering! There were 100 people and maybe 5 were my age! We all had one thing in common though - we loved Beaumont and were there to listen to JA Jance.
This was my first time going to a book signing where the author was going to talk first and not just read a few pages and then sign the book. I learned quite a bit about my favorite author and the other readers of her books. I learned that the readers in Seattle love Beaumont and do not like it when the next book is a Joanna Brady Mystery and the readers in Bisby, AZ love Brady and do not like when the next book is a JP Beaumont Mystery. Everyone loves to read a story that revolves around the area they live in. JA addressed this - she said that if she were only allowed to write Beaumont he would have been killed off long ago - she likes being able to write from different perspectives - this has enabled her to keep each series fresh. She understands that not all her readers will like every series and she's fine with that.
She was a little scattered during her talk - she got sidetracked a lot and would go off in different directions but she was entertaining. Even though Fire and Ice was just released yesterday she finished writing it a year ago - in that year she has finished another book that will be released in December and is in the editing process of a book coming out next June. She said her daughter reads her books right before they are released and then talks to her about them so she can refresh her memory on what it was about.
I left the library with one impression - here was someone who has always loved writing - who has been a published author for 23 years and 38 books - and is still so passionate about it.
De
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Pamper De Day!!
I had such a great day today! I think I could really get used to this staycation stuff! Doing things you always put off for another weekend and not having to rush around to fit everything in to 2 days!
The morning started out with sleeping in a bit and a nice leisurely shower - took Muppet out for a short walk - then watched Price is Right. I then started my wonderful day of pampering. Started with a Pedicure and Manicure at Klahanie Nails - no appointment, was able to get right in. First had my nails done - new acrylics put on with French Tips. Next was the pedicur
e - Hooker Red nails! That's not the name of the polish - just what I like to call the deep bright red color I always have on my toes.
Next stop was Barnes $ Noble - the new releases are here, the new releases are here! I slowly wandered through the book shelves starting with the New Fiction Releases and making my way to the Best Sellers and BN Recommendations. In case you didn't know - I Love Books!! I was able to keep myself to just 5! May sound like a lot to some of you but I had to whittle it down to 5 from 10 that I wanted - I think I did a good job!
I next went to Red Robin for a late lunch where I started in on the first book - Dark
Places. By page 3 I was already sucked in - great way for a book to start! I will definitely have this one finished and ready for the Texas family to start reading it when they get here in 2 weeks. The guy that works in the Red Robin bar during the week is really nice. I got my food right away and my iced tea was never empty - not sure if that part was such a good thing after all - 5 glasses later!
Next step of Pamper Day was my Lisa Appt - pampering of the brain! Nice - talked about how nice it is to not be responsible for L anymore - how my blog is going - and other things that will probably be posted about later.
Haven't quite decided what tomorrow will be yet. JA Jance - author of one of the books I bought - will be at the Bellevue Public Library tomorrow at 2 talking about the new book. I saw her 24 years ago when she first started writing her JP Beaumont series! She was at the little bookstore in Gilman Village signing books. My Granddaddy got me started on her books - we shared books and talked about them. I think he would like how the series has progressed. I find it hard to believe I have been reading the same author for 24 years!!
Happy Days -
De
The morning started out with sleeping in a bit and a nice leisurely shower - took Muppet out for a short walk - then watched Price is Right. I then started my wonderful day of pampering. Started with a Pedicure and Manicure at Klahanie Nails - no appointment, was able to get right in. First had my nails done - new acrylics put on with French Tips. Next was the pedicur
e - Hooker Red nails! That's not the name of the polish - just what I like to call the deep bright red color I always have on my toes.Next stop was Barnes $ Noble - the new releases are here, the new releases are here! I slowly wandered through the book shelves starting with the New Fiction Releases and making my way to the Best Sellers and BN Recommendations. In case you didn't know - I Love Books!! I was able to keep myself to just 5! May sound like a lot to some of you but I had to whittle it down to 5 from 10 that I wanted - I think I did a good job!
I next went to Red Robin for a late lunch where I started in on the first book - Dark
Places. By page 3 I was already sucked in - great way for a book to start! I will definitely have this one finished and ready for the Texas family to start reading it when they get here in 2 weeks. The guy that works in the Red Robin bar during the week is really nice. I got my food right away and my iced tea was never empty - not sure if that part was such a good thing after all - 5 glasses later!Next step of Pamper Day was my Lisa Appt - pampering of the brain! Nice - talked about how nice it is to not be responsible for L anymore - how my blog is going - and other things that will probably be posted about later.
Haven't quite decided what tomorrow will be yet. JA Jance - author of one of the books I bought - will be at the Bellevue Public Library tomorrow at 2 talking about the new book. I saw her 24 years ago when she first started writing her JP Beaumont series! She was at the little bookstore in Gilman Village signing books. My Granddaddy got me started on her books - we shared books and talked about them. I think he would like how the series has progressed. I find it hard to believe I have been reading the same author for 24 years!!
Happy Days -
De
Monday, July 20, 2009
Lovin Vacation
Vacation is wonderful!! I didn't realize how much I needed time off with no big plans!
Saturday and Sunday were a regular weekend - chores - grocery shopping - sleeping in. Then - Sunday evening this wonderful feeling of calm and happiness came over me - I didn't have to go to work the next day! I get to do whatever I want for the whole week!
Today I did some laundry in the morning and then met up with L for lunch at the place she works. She called me crying - a friend of hers died on Saturday from a heroin overdose! It scares me that she has friends that this can happen to. I went to her work so I could see her and give her someone to vent to - and she works at Mongolian Grill which I happen to like having lunch at!
I finished my first vacation book - Mecury In Retrograde. Good book! I would categorize it as the poor persons Sex in the City! It's about 3 women who work in NY and live in an old apartment building in SoHo. It was on the Today Show as one of the Top 10 Beach Reads for 2009. So - one book down! Next book is Dark Places. I'll let you know how it is.
Tomorrow is Pamper De Day! Plans are to get a pedicure - manicure - Starbucks - Barnes and Noble for the new releases!
De
Saturday and Sunday were a regular weekend - chores - grocery shopping - sleeping in. Then - Sunday evening this wonderful feeling of calm and happiness came over me - I didn't have to go to work the next day! I get to do whatever I want for the whole week!
Today I did some laundry in the morning and then met up with L for lunch at the place she works. She called me crying - a friend of hers died on Saturday from a heroin overdose! It scares me that she has friends that this can happen to. I went to her work so I could see her and give her someone to vent to - and she works at Mongolian Grill which I happen to like having lunch at!
I finished my first vacation book - Mecury In Retrograde. Good book! I would categorize it as the poor persons Sex in the City! It's about 3 women who work in NY and live in an old apartment building in SoHo. It was on the Today Show as one of the Top 10 Beach Reads for 2009. So - one book down! Next book is Dark Places. I'll let you know how it is.
Tomorrow is Pamper De Day! Plans are to get a pedicure - manicure - Starbucks - Barnes and Noble for the new releases!
De
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Issaquah Press
My favorite part of the Issaquah Press is Police & Fire. It's like a police blotter where you can read about shoplifting, car prowls, DUI, etc. . The titles they give each little snippet are always funny - a play on words. For Example - WarGames - a story about the police being called for a suspected domestic disturbance only to discover it was siblings arguing over computer usage.
I was very surprised this week at a number of stories that all involved the same thing. The titles were On Demand, Good Deal, Program Error, Leave A Message at the Tone, and Rescue 911. What did all of these stories have in common? They were all people who misdialed and called 911 by mistake. How on earth do you do that? I would think it would be a little hard - and even more so for 5 different people to do that in the same week! 3 of them were people trying to call someone and misdialed. 1 person was trying to program their phone and the last person was trying to retrieve a voicemail. I can understand the last 2 - it's easy to think you are entering a programmed number and not realize you are actually making an outgoing call. The first 3 though - how do you misdial? It's not like there are 911 area codes - there are no 911 prefixes in Washington - I'm pretty sure you don't need to dial a 9 first at home to get an outside line. It just boggled my mind!
The weirdest story from yesterday's paper: Godly Grandma - a woman called the police to report that an 89 year old woman called her wanting to see if she would go for a walk with her. She declined and the woman began voicing her religious beliefs. She was uncomfortable with this and wanted the police to call the woman and ask her not to call anymore. Hmmm . . . . . my suggestion would be for her to get Caller ID and just not answer the phone when this elderly lady calls. Not exactly sure it's an issue for the police.
De
I was very surprised this week at a number of stories that all involved the same thing. The titles were On Demand, Good Deal, Program Error, Leave A Message at the Tone, and Rescue 911. What did all of these stories have in common? They were all people who misdialed and called 911 by mistake. How on earth do you do that? I would think it would be a little hard - and even more so for 5 different people to do that in the same week! 3 of them were people trying to call someone and misdialed. 1 person was trying to program their phone and the last person was trying to retrieve a voicemail. I can understand the last 2 - it's easy to think you are entering a programmed number and not realize you are actually making an outgoing call. The first 3 though - how do you misdial? It's not like there are 911 area codes - there are no 911 prefixes in Washington - I'm pretty sure you don't need to dial a 9 first at home to get an outside line. It just boggled my mind!
The weirdest story from yesterday's paper: Godly Grandma - a woman called the police to report that an 89 year old woman called her wanting to see if she would go for a walk with her. She declined and the woman began voicing her religious beliefs. She was uncomfortable with this and wanted the police to call the woman and ask her not to call anymore. Hmmm . . . . . my suggestion would be for her to get Caller ID and just not answer the phone when this elderly lady calls. Not exactly sure it's an issue for the police.
De
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Anything New
I have discovered a few things -
- The best delivery pizza in Issaquah is Frankies Pizza! When we lived in North Bend, Alan and I loved Frankies Pizza. They didn't deliver back then - we actually had to go to Frankies to enjoy it. The other week I got a door hanger advertising that Frankies was now in Issaquah and they delivered. I thought it probably wouldn't be as good as I remembered - Oh Was I Wrong! It was heavenly! The crust is very thick and soft - the sauce has interesting spices in it - there is just the right amount of cheese.
- City of Seattle loves to schedule road construction projects that will mess with a specific group of commuters all at the same time. Not only are they doing the project on the I90 bridge - they are doing a paving project on 2nd Ave which is the main road in Seattle for commuters to catch their buses. You have to just walk along 2nd Ave until you find an open bus stop. Yesterday I got to a stop - was there for 40 min without my bus coming by - finally grabbed another bus that would stop at my Park and Ride. This bus wasn't an express - it took every round about road through Factoria on it's way to Issaquah. Left the office at 430 and got home at 710!
- When you put something out in the world you sometimes get back what you needed. I blogged yesterday about not having heard from L for over 2 weeks - this morning I got a call from her just to check in. It was very comforting to hear her voice and know that she is safe. She is still struggling with life but she is safe. It took a weight off my heart.
- Coming home from work and sitting out on the deck for a bit with no TV or Computer is actually very relaxing. I guess I don't need the background noise of the TV after all.
Have you discovered anything new?
De
Monday, July 13, 2009
Unable To Let It Go
It has been 2 weeks since I either saw or heard from L - I should be enjoying the peace and quiet but I am feeling a little stressed out.
It is peaceful because usually when I hear from her it is because she wants something from me. She never just calls to chat - it is always give me this - and then a hang up when the answer is no. I haven't gotten one of those for 2 weeks so you would think I could just enjoy it - nope - the Mom in me is stressed because I don't know if she is OK. I should just think - No News is Good News - I'm sure I would have heard if there is anything wrong. I am just not used to this quiet yet. I know I have done the right thing in having her be on her own - there is still just a small part of the Mom in me that wants to be in control and know what's going on with her every minute. How do I quiet this little voice? How do I fight the urge to call around to her friends to make sure she is OK? At what point can I just be an "empty nester" and not worry?
I was actually doing OK until I got a message on my home voicemail last week. This was an automated reminder for L to remind her that she has a court date 7/14 at 10:15 am in Redmond - this is for a ticket she got quite a few months ago - she requested a court date so she could argue that she shouldn't have gotten a ticket and that she needs to make payment arrangements because she can't afford the ticket - the recording reminded her that if she fails to show up that it can be turned over to collections and to the local police - her license could be revoked and a warrant could go out for her arrest. I fell back in to old patterns and stressed out - if I didn't contact her and let her know about the reminder and she doesn't show for the appointment then it will be my fault. I keep telling myself that she got the paper in the mail letting her know the date and time and that it's not up to me to make sure she gets there. But I know her - I am sure she doesn't remember - I am sure she won't show up. I did send a text message to a phone number that I believe belongs to Justin - not sure if it was his cell number and not sure if they are still together. I didn't get a reply back. Years of feeling responsible for everything she did - every choice she made - every appointment or assignment she forgot are making it hard to let this one go.
I hope this gets easier!
De
It is peaceful because usually when I hear from her it is because she wants something from me. She never just calls to chat - it is always give me this - and then a hang up when the answer is no. I haven't gotten one of those for 2 weeks so you would think I could just enjoy it - nope - the Mom in me is stressed because I don't know if she is OK. I should just think - No News is Good News - I'm sure I would have heard if there is anything wrong. I am just not used to this quiet yet. I know I have done the right thing in having her be on her own - there is still just a small part of the Mom in me that wants to be in control and know what's going on with her every minute. How do I quiet this little voice? How do I fight the urge to call around to her friends to make sure she is OK? At what point can I just be an "empty nester" and not worry?
I was actually doing OK until I got a message on my home voicemail last week. This was an automated reminder for L to remind her that she has a court date 7/14 at 10:15 am in Redmond - this is for a ticket she got quite a few months ago - she requested a court date so she could argue that she shouldn't have gotten a ticket and that she needs to make payment arrangements because she can't afford the ticket - the recording reminded her that if she fails to show up that it can be turned over to collections and to the local police - her license could be revoked and a warrant could go out for her arrest. I fell back in to old patterns and stressed out - if I didn't contact her and let her know about the reminder and she doesn't show for the appointment then it will be my fault. I keep telling myself that she got the paper in the mail letting her know the date and time and that it's not up to me to make sure she gets there. But I know her - I am sure she doesn't remember - I am sure she won't show up. I did send a text message to a phone number that I believe belongs to Justin - not sure if it was his cell number and not sure if they are still together. I didn't get a reply back. Years of feeling responsible for everything she did - every choice she made - every appointment or assignment she forgot are making it hard to let this one go.
I hope this gets easier!
De
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