Movie Group

We belong to a Movie Group - similar to a Book Club except that its couples, we only meet every other month, and we talk about movies. The focus of the evening is more the comraderie and eating than the actual movie, but the movie always stimulates interesting conversation!

The Group started almost 2 years ago when one couple asked a bunch of other couples. We started with 'Sideways' where we all brought Pinot Noir, of course! We've been through many movies now - from the VERY bizarre 'Mulholland Drive' to the cult-ish 'The Big Lebowski.' We've also discussed: 'Crash,' 'Magnolia,' 'V is for Vendetta' (see photo - we dressed up for that one, compliments of our theatrical hosts!) and I can't remember any others ...

Last night we met to discuss 'Rabbit-Proof Fence' - a powerful movie that is very documentary-like. We watch the movies on our own, not at the meetings. (Our hosts recently renovated their kitchen and it looks fantastic! I hope we will be as pleased with our end result.) It's a fun group of very interesting people. Sometimes we love the movie, and sometimes we hate the movie (i.e. 'Mulholland Drive' - ugh), but one thing's for sure ... we never all agree!

Kitchen Reno

We have pondered changing our kitchen ever since we moved in here just over 5 years ago. Since we couldn't afford to do anything major at that time, we just gave it a face lift by painting the cabinets (a big job, for Don) and put in new countertops. We also stripped the tired wallpaper & painted, and Don replaced the casing & baseboards. That was fine.

But what really bothered us was the flooring. It used to be a nice ceramic floor, but over time the ceramic has worn in the heavy traffic areas. To change your flooring means to lift your cabinets. We decided to live with the flooring until we were ready to change everything. We think we're ready.

We're ready for a new kitchen. When we were considering various cabinet layouts it became clear that we really couldn't do much more with the island (one of our goals) without adding space to the kitchen. So now we are bumping out 2 feet along one wall. And increasing the size of the doorway to the dining room. And increasing the size of the window that looks out over the backyard, and getting a new sliding door. And if we replace the flooring in the kitchen (original goal), then we want to carry that around to the foyer ... do you see what's happening here? Anyone who has ever done any kind of reno knows exactly what I'm talking about. The "while-were-at-it-might-as-wells."

We're not looking forward to the upheaval and displacement of losing our kitchen. I've started to put away the not-used-very-often-if-at-all stuff. The tentative plan is to start mid-April with the demo and bump-out construction. The cabinets are supposed to arrive early May. The appliances have been chosen but not ordered. Still have to choose the flooring & lighting, get our permit from the town, and pack up the entire room. Here's one pic of the current kitchen and I will share the work in progress if I'm still sane enough to put 2 words together during the process.

We are really looking forward to the finished product! Oh yes, and some new flooring.

Spring!

Spring offically arrives sometime later today. As you can see (above), Spring looks a lot more like Winter, and Winter looked a lot more like Spring!

This was only our 2nd big snowstorm of the year. The first one on, Feb 14, left Newark Airport looking more like a zoo on Feb 15 when Carolyn & I left for Florida. We'd never seen so many people in an airport. This 2nd one left me stranded in Dallas last Friday. I was able to piece together a flight home the next day so not a big inconvenience for me. Maybe I should stay home!

Happy Spring!

Would you believe ...?

I overlooked the most obvious solution to my cell phone quandary but thankfully Colleen (Col) came to the rescue by suggesting the following:

"Have you thought of a shoe phone? I realize this may seem outdated, but I think there’s merit to considering this. Not an old-fashioned brogue like Max’s, but maybe a Puma or Cole Haan sport shoe? There are so many models now, with so many features."

I'm on it Col! I just hope KAOS isn't reading this blog - I'd hate to have my top secret text messages intercepted.

Max fans, check this out: Get Smart in 2008! Meet me in the cone of silence.

New Cell Needed

I really need a new cell phone and I'm looking for testimonials about phones.

I have an ancient (over 2-1/2 years old) run-of-the-mill standard issue Vz phone. It has been just fine but recently it has started to crumble. It doesn't open very well because a piece of plastic fell off. And for some unknown reason my text (SMS) messages sometimes get through and sometimes don't. The important one's don't (Murphy's Law). And it doesn't hold a charge for more than 2 calls.

What do I do with my phone, a salesperson might ask? Well, I make phone calls, I text a fair amount (to my kids mostly, Don, Marian & Denise), I occasionally take a photo, I use the alarm clock (way better than the hotel system and great for cat naps), and I sometimes use the EZ Tip function with large groups (it is helpful when your mind doesn't feel like doing math).

That's not a whole lot but I must say I'm a little fascinated with the Chocolate phones (not just because of the name - yum) (and not because of the colors) but because of the mp3 capabilities. Very cool. I am not particularly interested in receiving email. I feel tethered enough to email that when I finally break free of my PC, I don't want email. I'm more tethered to email than to my phone.

If you've got a recommendation or testimonial for me, I'm very interested. Please either leave me a comment here or call/email/ping me. Thanks!

Reader Profile: Denise

Its about time I recognized my very first blog reader, Denise. She is a colleague of mine from work although we rarely see each other as we are located in different offices. We keep in touch regularly via IM (see photo of typical hard-at-work IM discussion).

Denise is cute, funny, smart, talented, well-read and an awesome cook. She is also single. Single nice guys, please proceed to her blog now for more info - the culinary non-adventurous need not apply! She has travelled to more off-the-beaten-path places than anyone I know.

She makes my work days much more enjoyable. Its difficult to have close friends at work when you are spread out across the country, but somehow it works just fine for us.

Ouch!

Don got a boo boo this morning that I thought I'd visually share with you. We had about 10 minutes of snow flurries this morning that lightly covered the ground, including icy patches. Don was jogging down that gravel road by the boat racks and hit an icy patch! Yeow!

His leg looks about as bad as the time he decided to take a flip over his handle bars on a very steep gravel hill in Maryland; except that that time he had scrapes all over his body (and cracked his helmet!). Luckily he's insured!

Do not try this at home. Ice is slippery.

Women in Treehouses

Last night a few of us spent the evening in a treehouse. This is no ordinary treehouse. This treehouse was beautifully built in the woods, supported between 3 trees, by our friend's husband. It is well equipped and is very comfortable and cozy - perfect for a group of women who need to unwind after a busy week.

E provided a delicious array of appetizers and T provided and concocted our yummy lemony beverages. We covered many topics including how M's mother is doing, how to meditate, his & her bathrooms (good idea), pros & cons of flirting, taking courses, HPV, get-over-it-already stuff, and lots of other similarly riveting topics. We had a lot of fun!

We enjoy getting together anytime and anywhere, with and without our husbands, but there is something very special about being up in a treehouse on a beautiful night, far away from our worlds of logistics and laundry, work and worry.

The only victims of last night's get together may be a few crazed squirrels on a sugar high today, having come upon on our cupcakes in the woods. Oh well.