The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: Review

Some friends of mine got together to go see the movie Benjamin Button tonight. The movie surprised me; it had just enough empathy, fantasy, sadness, and happiness to be captivating. Oddly, it was shot mostly in dark scenes, either night shots or dawn/dusk shots that made the movie itself seem dark. It certainly had its dark moments, but I'd say, it succeeded in casting light on those things we fear to think about. I'd recommend it.

Pounding.

It's Winter's apple-crisp air
And Summer's sleepy affair
From spin the bottle and
Her double-dog-dare

Winter's armchair
Summer's shoulder's bare
How could I have been so wrong?
In waking dreams wishing I still didn't care

My quietest fears now laid bare
Road trips wind to nowhere
The radio station's fading, sad song
Sings through the static that tagged along

I saw it in your eyes
Tomorrow's clear, blue skies
Yesterday and all her charming fears,
Her clouds mourning their fallen tears

Hair down and it's windy
Windows rolled down and it's chilly
Music turned up 'til I feel its beating
I felt free for a moment fleeting

Yesterday's a pie, in this lonely hour
Crust burned and fruit still sour
It was mine to give or take
A lesson was learned and yes, my heart still breaks

But life goes on, and tears will become weak
"It's yours to play with, hide and seek.
Forgive 'fore your warmth turns to snow;
Some answers you'll never get to know."

They say it's time to part, now, you and I
This embrace must end, but yes, I still cry
You know I'm not good at saying goodbye
So I'm not going to; It's whispered in my sigh

There's a corner of my heart
And now it's bare
A fireplace blazing useless heat
On a lonely, winter armchair

A Girl's Gotta Shoe What A Girl's Gotta Shoe.

I've been thinking through some priorities lately, and I decided that my built-in bookshelves could serve a greater purpose. Because while books expand my mind and imagination, it's on patent-leather high heels that I see the world :)

Sunday Thoughts, Part I

A moral dilemma.

I was starving. What would help this empty feeling? Chicken nuggets. So I went over to McDonald's to get an order. And guess what? They have a whole line of coffee drinks! It's called McCafe! Now, before you go all hate on me, read my posts titled "Tales of the Demise." Starbucks, Indigo, and Moxies all have special places in my heart. But I thought, since I'm here, why not try McD's cafe mocha?

But first, the moral dilemma.

My meal came with a regular fry and a drink. They charged me a small upcharge for the cafe mocha. There was this guy standing next to me, waiting for his two Whopper deal. Apparently this deal comes with an extra large fry. I'm telling you this for a reason. So his Whoppers come and he reaches into the bag and pulls out a couple of fries. He then realizes that he received a regular fry, and not a large fry. He tells the girl behind the counter that he was supposed to get a large fry, and not the regular one. He then hands back the fries. At this same (Yes, the SAME!) moment, I realize that my chicken nuggets came with an extra large order of fries.

Now this is tricky. Apparently, I got his fries. I had this fear, however, that if I brought it to their attention, they would merely swap the order, and trust me, if you had seen this guy, you wouldn't have wanted his fingers in YOUR fries. Not that he was icky. Let's just say if Brad Pitt had been standing there, I would have maybe, maybe done a fry-swap. Obama, even. (Especially since a Secret Service agent probably tested a fry first). But not this guy. I took my bag and left.

So my moral dilemma was that I took a large fry, and I didn't pay for a large fry. But if it makes you feel any better, I threw out the difference between the two fry orders. It made me feel better.

And now onto the McCafe' review. My cafe' mocha was really, really good. I don't see myself setting up laptop-shop at McDonald's anytime soon, but I'd go by there if I was in the area,or getting chicken nuggets anyways, because this mocha was really, really good.... and it was $3.19.

Wait, what's that noise? Hear it? Oh, wait, that's just Howard Shultz hyperventilating.

December 7 Update

Friday, Dad went to a different doctor about his ankle.
This doctor told dad that he:

1) Did not need to have the hard cast, after all
2) In fact, he didn't need the boot, either
3) and he probably won't need surgery
4) He should feel free to move the ankle, as long as it isn't causing pain.

Quite different from the news last week! You can imagine how wonderful this is to him. The cast was so uncomfortable, and of course the upcoming surgery wasn't very good news.

The cast is off, and dad only wears the boot here and there, mostly to protect it when they leave the house. No more uncomfortable, hard cast! Yay!

It should be noted that both of these doctors looked at the same set of x-rays, and had vastly different opinions.
We are praying the same goes for the cancer.

As of now, Dad will be doing the proton therapy; however, he must be "accepted" into the program. What may keep him from being accepted is a troublesome spot that showed up on the x-rays in his chest area. There is an area on his chest, in the bone part, that is showing some "questionable spotting."

If it is more cancer, or a different type of cancer, then that may disqualify him from the proton therapy. (If interested, see link HERE )

Dad left the x-rays with a doctor on Friday (December 5) to review, to see if the questionable spot is cancerous or harmless.

This is short but since we have had such an answer to prayer for the foot I wanted to give you all an update.

Prayer requests:
Please pray that there will be NO further cancer that might disqualify him from the proton therapy and that the ankle/foot will continue to heal. Please pray for wisdom and clear diagnosis from the doctors who are looking at the x-rays and the reports. Please pray for speedy processes; with Christmas coming up, it is getting difficult to schedule appointments because of the limited schedule.

Thank you all and God bless you. Have a great week and I will post/email more information as it becomes available.

Peel-eased to Meet You!

Look what greeted me this morning on my way into work!
A little grapefruit family, enjoying our bench!
You have the Daddy grapefruit, the Mommy grapefruit, the visiting Sister-in-college grapefruit (home for the holidays) and little quadruplet grapefruits. (I found out later they were key limes). How cozy, the whole family sitting there, shootin-the- squeeze together! (sorry- I had to say it).

Or maybe it's a Grandma is going to babysit so that Mom and Dad can go have a romantic dinner out and do some Christmas shopping- It's probably hard to get away with 4 kids!

And then I started thinking that maybe it wasn't that at all. Maybe it's Grandma and Grandpa grapefruit, and it's their son's custody weekend with the key limes (whoo hoo!).

Or maybe it's Mommy grapefruit, Daddy grapefruit, and daddy's Special Friend grapefruit and they're about to have a talk with about "blended families." (Sorry, sorry).

And then I said, "Chelsea, you are standing here, making up stories about fruit sitting on a bench."

You may think I'm silly, but I don't really rind. (Sorry, sorry...)

Two Ears Don't Mean You Heard It Right.

Ok, I admit it. I was half listening, typing, watching a decorating show, and the crunchy Wheat Thins were making it a bit hard to hear things.

So I hear, "There were soooo many people in the waiting room today at the Doctor's office."

Me, half- listening, but still feeling intelligent enough to share a grown-up observation: "Well, probably people are trying to use their Flex Dollars before the year ends. Use it or lose it."

Mom, half-listening to me, too: "Probably, yeah, that's probably why."

(Somewhere in the distance, a dog barks. A newspaper page is shuffled. All is quiet.)

Suddenly, he speaks.

Dad: "Yeah, Chelsea. Probably everyone timed it so that they broke their arms and legs just in time before their Flex Dollars expire."

Oh, we laughed.