"Marley & Me" Movie Review

We went to see "Marley & Me" tonight. We were all going to go but at the last minute Matt and Caleb decided to see "Bedtime Stories" instead; that was a good choice for Caleb. Although the main character in "Marley & Me" is a dog the movie is not really a kid movie. The movie is really about the life of a young married couple, their career choices, the kids they have, their struggles, their disappointments, their choices to change. Marley just happens to be with them through it all. Towards the end of the movie I thought a lot about Othello and how he was a part of the life plan Matt and I had for our lives. Othello was in our family before the kids came along and he was always a very present part of our life as young parents. Marley enjoys a similar role in his family. There are some very funny scenes of Marley getting into trouble and destroying stuff. Hilarious! The end is sad and I cried, but it was good--not overwhelming. I would give the movie a reserved two thumbs up. If you like dogs and like family and marriage affirming movies, you should enjoy this. I expect the book is better and I've just put that on my must read list for the new year (I've already accumulated quite a stack at my bedside!). Here's a trailer from the movie. If you do go to see it, let me know what you think.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas! We've had a nice day with lots of special food, gifts, feasting with friends, and phone visits with family members. Here are a few pictures of our Christmas Eve. I didn't really take any today on Christmas day, oh well.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

The Mom Song

I can completely relate to this. Hat tip to Leah; I'm stealing it from her. This song chronicles what most moms say within a 24 hour period.


The Mom Song from Northland Video on Vimeo.

Something Fun

I've written before that our family chose not to include Santa Claus in our Christmas celebrations, but I'm not anti-Santa if other families choose to include him. Today I had fun writing this letter (below) to our Goddaughter Helen. I delivered the letter with a new flannel nightgown that I sewed for her. The fabric is light blue with pink ballet slippers and tutus on it. Helen was absolutely thrilled with the letter and loved the nightie. That was very fun to do. I made the letter in Smilebox, then just printed it on cardstock in a 5 x 7 size. Very cute.

Make a Smilebox greeting

Snow Day

Today we had a big time snow day. We got at least 6" of snow throughout the day. Matt and Katie shoveled at 1:00pm and we'll have to shovel again tomorrow morning. Our snow blower broke a while back and Matt really doesn't mind the shoveling--it's good exercise. He also baked another 6 dozen cookies today while I cut out p.j.'s for two kids. Tomorrow we'll gift all our neighbors with a plate of assorted homemade Christmas cookies. It is nice to give stuff out like this. For two years we hosted a Christmas open house for our neighborhood but we're not doing that this year. It was fun to meet all our neighbors. Some of these folks have lived here for 30 or more years. At this point in our lives Matt and I expect to live in this house for at least the next 20 years or so--God willing. After that if we're in good enough health we might just move to uptown St. Paul and live in an old Victorian style townhouse or maybe to a downtown Minneapolis loft condo. Who knows.

A New Experience

I experienced something new today--frozen hair! I was a bit behind when it was time to put Caleb on the bus today. So I had to venture outside in below zero weather with wet hair. Within 5 minutes my hair turned cold and crunchy. Once inside I was able to blow it dry without any damage, but that was funny. I'm so glad that, unlike this gal below, my husband didn't make me freeze my hair for his enjoyment. What a jerk!

Role Reversal

Today Matt took a vacation day for his annual baking day with Caleb--the above picture is from December 2007, but it was the same set up this year. I gave up baking Christmas treats many years ago so Matt took up the task several years back. The kids generally help him and this year Caleb was the only child left home for part of the day to help. So while Matt and Caleb slept in this morning and dreamed of the 15 dozen cookies they were going to make I got Katie and Josh up and off to school. Our temperature was 8 below zero this morning and we had a 6 inch dump of snow overnight. So at 7:15 am while Katie waited for the bus I started shoveling the driveway. Although the snow was deep it was light and the shoveling went pretty fast. I had half the driveway cleared within 20 minutes so Josh and I could leave the house at 7:40am. We made it to his school by 8:20am--good time considering the condition of the roads.

Once I made it back home Mr. Mom and Caleb were up and already rattling around in the kitchen. After shoveling the rest of the driveway, I spent the morning out with a friend of mine. When I returned at 2:00pm there were 15 dozen beautifully baked chocolate star cookies, peanut butter rice krispie bars, and chocolate bomb cookies. How nice to have all this done without my intervention. Matt and Caleb decided on their menu, did the shopping last night, cooked all day, cleaned up, then put all the provisions in the freezer. I could really get used to having a wife around! Haha. We will give most of the cookies away to our neighbors and friends but save some for ourselves. Matt goes in to the office just Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday this week then he's off until January 5! Yea!!! I truly love having him home over the holidays--especially for the last few days before Christmas. This arrangement helps me manage the overload syndrome that generally plagues me at this time of year.

A Wrapping We Shall Go

I started wrapping some gifts yesterday. Josh was at church for the whole day with his final two performances of "The Christmas Window." Our pastor said today that over 12,000 people got to see this year's play--very cool. Anyway, Matt took Katie and Caleb out shopping for the day and I stayed home to watch a movie and wrap gifts. I watched the old Steve Martin movie "Parenthood." It was funny as ever and still applicable to my home life. Then late last night Matt and I watched "We Are Marshall." It is the true story of the Marshall University football team that lost 75 of its players and many community leaders in a horrible plane crash. The focus of the movie is on how the people at the university overcame, rebuilt and moved forward after this unthinkable tragedy. It was very good.

There is a special feature on the DVD of interviews with winning professional sports coaches. These were very interesting. Many of these coaches view their role as a life mentor for their players, not just a sports coach. I was never on a sports team of any kind so I haven't had the benefit of this kind of leadership in my life. I certainly had teachers who challenged me and encouraged me, but not coaches. Watching these interviews made me hope that each of our kids find a sport they can commit to and a good coach that will inspire and challenge them.

There's Gotta Be a Pony in Here Somewhere

Since Matt installed a digital converter box on our 23 year old upstairs TV I've had the option of watching any channel of the evening news while making dinner. Although it's nice to see the national news, it's also pretty depressing. Every night is just one bad news report after another. I keep wondering how long and deep this economic crevasse is going to be. Sinking stocks, foreclosures, wars, business closings, dependence on foreign oil, car company failures, global warming, jobs being sent overseas, unemployment, environmental toxicity, unhealthy Americans, obesity epidemic. The Eeyore side of me sometimes feels like I'm witnessing the end of the world. And yet, my Tigger side keeps thinking that when so many bad things converge at the same time there just has to be a creative, positive solution just waiting to be uncovered. Perhaps someone smarter than me can figure out a way to create environmentally friendly, well paying, local, health promoting jobs right here in the U.S. that will make our country a model of American ingenuity, perseverance, and prosperity once again. I certainly wish P.E. Obama and his various teams the best of luck in finding solutions. Organic farming? Hybrid cars? Realistic public transit options? Solar and wind power plants? Who knows what else? It is an interesting time in history to be alive.

A Wonderfully Homemakerland Week

Last weekend we spent a fun time in Green Bay, WI visiting my mom, sister Sue and her husband Jim for Thanksgiving. We got home early Sunday afternoon and I've gone pretty much non-stop from then. Josh is in a play at our church called "The Christmas Window." He is generic shepherd number 3. Last year he had the speaking role of John the shepherd boy. But since Josh had grown to 6'1" tall by the time of the October auditions, the director told him the he was too tall for that part but could try out for an adult role. Josh did and got the part of generic shepherd number 3. This week's rehearsal schedule has been busy and the play opened Thursday night. While Josh was in rehearsal Tuesday night I spent three hours at Jo-Ann's Fabric store and purchased some new fall decorations (at 90% off), some Christmas candles, and fabric for Christmas pj's for the kids. I RARELY get that much uninterrupted time at the craft store so it was just heavenly. Josh had performances Thursday and Friday night, two afternoon shows on Saturday, and one this afternoon. Our sanctuary holds 1,000 people and the play has enjoyed sold out performances every night. It's a good show.

Anyway, I kicked into high gear this past week with house cleaning for Christmas. I did lots of cleaning, filing papers, de-cluttering, reorganizing, and decorating for Christmas. It was fun to be about my homemaking activities once again and of course, any time I can throw stuff out or just get it out of my house is cause to celebrate!!! By Friday night when my mom, Sue, and Jim arrived from Green Bay our house was pretty darn tidy and all aglow with Christmas cheer. We attended Josh's play Friday night and had a great time.

On Saturday afternoon Mom, Sue and I went out for shopping and lunch. I took the girls to my favorite Lands End outlet stores. They found some great bargains and we had some wonderful girl time. Meanwhile back at home Matt and Jim installed three new lighting fixtures in our house and moved the old fashioned crystal chandelier from our entryway to our bedroom. It looked awful in the entryway but it looks beautiful in our romantic, Victorian inspired bedroom. After 3 3/4 years without a light in our stairwell we can now see once again!

This morning while the snow fell outside, we decorated our tree and shared some nice memories about my Grama while admiring her homemade ornaments. After Mom and company left for home I took a long nap by the fire--a perfectly wonderful way to spend an hour. Later in the afternoon Caleb, Katie and I spent an hour or so sledding down the hill at the end of our cul de sac. They sledded; I supervised. It's nice to have a little hill right on our street that the kids can use. At 6:00 Matt brought home Josh, pizzas, and "The Christmas Story" family movie. This is a very funny satirical movie about a little boy who wants a red rider BB gun for Christmas. The story takes place in 1940's Indiana. It's very funny and has lots of scenes that have been spoofed on SNL. After the show were showers for the little kids, pj's, then our family advent reading and bedtime. I'll be heading that way myself once I finish this post.

All in all, a great week of homemaking, family, entertainment, projects, shopping and Christmas fun.

"The Prizewinner of Defiance, Ohio" Movie Review

Matt and I watched a very good movie recently called "The Prizewinner of Defiance, Ohio." It is the true story of Evelyn Ryan--a 1950's housewife with 12 children who entered and won numerous writing contests to keep her family financially afloat. Her Irish Catholic husband, Kelly, was an immature, depressed, rageaholic who spent most of his paycheck at the liquor store. It was a case book example of co-dependence, traditional sex roles, and the often blind eye of the clergy and law enforcement. Being a stay at home wife, mom, and sometime writer myself who is also completely financially dependent on my husband, the story was very interesting to me. It got me thinking about choices and boundaries in marriage.

Evelyn and Kelly had a tense marriage. Kelly is threatened by Evelyn's success in writing yet he also relies on her prize money to rescue them from the continual financial messes he creates. This movie shows a marriage that we would now consider co-dependent, enabling and abusive; but 50 years ago this was just considered a until-death-do-us-part committed marriage. I personally believe that there is a line between healthy self-sacrifice in a relationship and enabling and abuse. But I also think that most people need to define those boundary lines for themselves. Evelyn was able to find a way to survive and to enjoy happy moments. But another woman in her circumstances could have slipped into a suicidal depression or chemical dependency. As a Christian I do believe that marriage is supposed to be a life long, committed, loving relationship. But as a realist I also believe that there are times when a marital relationship is so broken, when one spouse so resolutely denies the problems or refuses to choose change, that a separation or divorce is the most moral option. Where these boundary lines are drawn is a very personal decision. Who knows how Evelyn's story could have ended had she been able to make a different choice with her life. I simply haven't been able to get this movie off my mind for the last few weeks. I guess I'll need to go and buy the book now and add it to the heap by my bedside!!!

Matt, however, was extremely disturbed by the movie. He got very agitated watching it and fearfully expected Kelly to hit his wife or kids. Matt was completely disgusted at seeing this man shirk his responsibilities to his family. He kept saying "Ugh, why won't this guy take care of his family?" My husband was born in 1965 and was raised in rural WI with five younger siblings, a stay at home mom, and a hard working, loving father. From early on Matt saw his parents do whatever needed to be done to take care of their family. Matt's dad often worked both a full time and a part time job, they planted huge vegetable gardens every year, canned food, "made wood" to burn for heat, Matt's mom sewed and knitted clothes, and she baked their own bread. Matt inherited a very strong work ethic from his parents and a deep personal commitment to caring for his family above all else.

All in all, I do recommend this movie, if you think you can handle the intense emotions and injustice depicted in it. Here's a trailer for it; you can get it through Netflix.