Sept. 30 - More movies

Since Halloween is coming up I've been keeping an eye on the cheap scary movies that stores always have this time of year.  I bought two today....Children of the Corn, and.....

Interview with the Vampire (1994)
Director Neil Jordan's Oscar-nominated tale of bloodsucking immortals moves from 18th century New Orleans to a Grand Guignol theater in Paris to present-day San Francisco as it explores betrayal, love, loneliness and hunger. The lives of a trio of vampires -- cavalier Lestat (Tom Cruise), tormented Louis (Brad Pitt) and childlike Claudia (Kirsten Dunst) -- are interconnected for centuries in this adaptation of Anne Rice's romantic horror tale.


Am I the only person in the world who is not gaga over this movie?  I had seen bits of it back in the day but it never caught my attention enough to ever sit down and watch the whole thing.  I'm not a Tom Cruise fan, not a Brad Pitt fan, not an Antonio Banderas fan, and not a Kirsten Dunst fan.  And I know now that it's not the vampire aspect that makes me love Twilight so much.  The only reason I finally decided to watch this is because a co-worker has been insisting and I thought maybe in my old age I'd have a different opinion of it.  Nope, it still didn't do anything for me.  I was bored in parts, and didn't even pay attention to whatever Brad Pitt's problem was.  His hair was lovely alot of the time, but overall.....not all that great for me.

The Grudge 3 (2009)
Fearful of meeting a gruesome death, young Jake (Matthew Knight) tries to convince his psychiatrist (Shawnee Smith) that an evil curse led to the slaughter of his entire family. Meanwhile, a young woman from Japan (Emi Ikehata) arrives in Chicago and attempts to stop the curse for good. This third installment of the popular Grudge horror movie series also stars Marina Sirtis, Beau Mirchoff and Johanna E. Braddy. 


If I'm the only person who did not like Inteview With the Vampire, I'm probably the only person who DID like The Grudge.  I don't remember Grudge 2 very much, but I Netflixed Grudge 3 and watched it tonight.  Like most sequels, it was rather dumb and rather unnecessary.  It started out with some promise but ended weak and with huge holes in the plot....of course.  One thing I liked about the first one was that it was creepy without much actual gore.  They've stepped it up in this one.  That was disappointing.  I don't know if I'll buy this one.  Actually, don't think I ever bought the second one either.  Heh.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)
This action-packed prequel to the popular X-Men films explores Marvel Comics character Wolverine's (Hugh Jackman) past and the events that influenced the mutant before the Weapon X program bonded his skeleton with the powerfully strong metal alloy adamantium. After the death of his girlfriend, Wolverine seeks vengeance against supervillain Victor Creed (Liev Schreiber). Ryan Reynolds, Danny Huston and Lynn Collins co-star. 


Bought this one last week.  I admit I'm not a huge X-Men fan, haven't even seen the other movies even though I keep meaning to.  This one caught my attention because it has Ryan Reynolds (*swoon*) and Dom Monaghan (Charlie from Lost).  It was funny to see that it also had the dude who played Keamy on Lost.  And it was even funnier to see that they made him into a big fat blob of a man, cuz he's usually all buff commando type mean guy.  As for the movie, it was ok.  Oh!  The best part of it was Remy/Gambit.  Move over, Ryan....that guy gets major *SWOON*age!  Anyway, the movie was ok but it didn't really suck me in.


I have one more movie from Netflix sitting here that I'll hopefully watch tomorrow.  I'm also feeling the urge to watch Twilight again.  It's been far too long since I've seen it!

Sept. 30 - It's here!

The goat milk soap that I ordered came in today's mail.  Woot!   The large tan bar in the back is the one I ordered, the Oatmeal, Milk, & Honey bar.  But as you can see, I also got samples of three others.  The round purplish one is Black Raspberry.  The reddish-brown one in the center is Cider Press.  And the brown one on the end is Hazelnut w/Coffee Grounds. How awesome is that?  I can't wait to try this stuff.  I will definately report back about it.

That link again: Goat Milk Stuff.

Sept. 30

It's early and it's quiet so I thought I'd write before the chaos of the day begins.  I can't believe tomorrow is October already!  This year has absolutely flown by.  I suspect alot of that has to do with the 12hr schedule I work...half of my days are pretty much disregarded.  So really, looking at it that way, since I'm only really 'living' about half the year it would be more like May or June in my world and that does seem about right.  LOL

Just a nice little pic showing leaves in our yard.  This was taken two weeks ago...there are tons more leaves now.  I just haven't taken any new pics.  Sunday (all day and night) we had a wind advisory, which dropped the temp enough that I ended up hauling out the big quilt for my bed Monday night.  Tuesday's temps continued to be rather cool so I reluctantly turned the furnace on for the first time this season.  It's set quite low for now, doesn't run much yet, but it's still nice to have the warmth.  And then last night we had our first official frost warning.  Our temps this morning are only in the high 30s.  Bummer....I'd just been thinking recently that we might get farther into Fall before all this happened, because our summer had been so mild and holding out pleasantly long.  *sigh*

On the other hand, I *LOVE* Fall so loving this just as much as I'm bummed about it.  Tomorrow is October, I have the day off, so I'm getting out all my Halloween/Fall decorations.  I'm already excited about it!  Cuz, ya know, I'm a dork that way!  We bought some lovely crafty scarecrows and pumpkins that are waiting to be placed outside.  Good thing they weren't already out or they'd have blown away the other day.  I need to get more pumpkins though, bigger ones.

This also means we'll have to cover our roses.  This is our first year that we need to do this and we're not sure about it.  I've read different things....only trim them back enough to fit the cover thing over, or trim them way down to the main stems, or pile extra dirt all around the base, or leave them alone and they'll adapt to your zone.  I don't know what to do?  Ours are still very actively growing and blooming because our summer weather has been so agreeable.  It's supposed to warm up again this week.  Do I trim them?  Do I leave them a while longer?  Will they stop blooming, kinda letting me know it's time?  I.Don't.Know.

Remember the two rose bushes I was sure were going to die?  People told me to leave them there, that maybe they'd settle in and take off.  So I left them.  The first pic....look at the plant on the right side.  That was how it looked then, taken in July.  And the second pic, taken two weeks ago, shows that it did indeed settle in and take off....hehe.

Our greenhouse is still working.  Our tomato plant finally has six new tomatoes, after that first one that was already on it when we bought the plant.  The cucumber plant had a handful of little cucumbers starting, which totally shocked hubby and put him in his place.  He insisted it was too late in the year, but I kept reminding him the point of a greenhouse was to extend the growing season.  But sadly, those little tiny cucumber babies seem to have all shriveled up.  At least the plant tried.  The jalapeno plant was still producing, just picked two more yesterday but I think those might be the last ones.  Growth seems to have slowed way down on that.  And the bell pepper plant has one coming along nicely but we wonder if it will make it to maturity before the weather turns really cold.  Oh, and the carrots are still growing but we're thinking they'll run out of time too.  They're small and coming along slowly.  The radishes are long gone.  The greens grew like crazy but the actual radish part never got much bigger than small grapes.  Needless to say, we're pretty excited about what we can do next spring.  Wheeee!

I need to get my one little flowerbed reworked and replanted.  We bought a ton of bulbs a few weeks ago, tulips, etc.  I already have rocks laid around the border from back when I did the front yard flowerbeds.  But I need to weed it, get the new bulbs in, and add the leftover dirt from when we did the greenhouse.  It's cold and yucky today but hopefully it really does warm up again so I can work on it this weekend.

Did I blog about our new chest freezer?  I think I did.  Well yesterday we bought a new washer and dryer.  Our old ones served us well.  We had them 15 years, but they were not new to us when we got them so who knows how old they really were...heh.  I'd noticed for a while now that the dryer was not drying like it used to.  Often I'd have to run it twice.  This quickly became the norm, and then over the weekend the little door latch thingie broke so I was taping the door shut for the last several loads I had to do.  The lint trap had been falling apart for a long time too.  It had black tape on both ends of the handle and I had to grab it in just a certain way....  Plus, being so old they were probably energy hogs.  It was just time.

So yesterday I went to have a look.  The 'go green' part of me knew I should look for the most energy efficient set but the financial part of me tried to keep it reasonable.  I told the dude I didn't want a front loader, and I wanted something mid-range.  The freezer we bought recently is a GE, so when he showed me the GE washer and dryer I decided sure, why not.  Yeah yeah, I should have spent hours online researching every option but.....I didn't.

I had gone myself and picked out the ones I wanted.  Later in the day when hubby was done with work we loaded up our old beasts and headed back to town to dispose of them and get the new babies.  We got them home and hooked up with minimal problems and then it was time to do some laundry.  It was kinda funny, both of us oohing and aaahing over these stupid machines, learning the new knobs and functions.  Since I am such a creature of habit I almost immediately started having the feeling of 'I don't like these.'  Because they run so quietly my mind tells me they are weak.  When hubby's filthy work clothes didn't come out spotless I had the feeling of 'We should have bought the high-end one,' even though the old washer couldn't get those stains out either and it's just a fact that his work clothes are probably forever stained.  The one thing that really bothered me though was that a normal load like I've done a billion times in the old washer actually knocked this new wimpy machine off balance.  Makes me wonder if the old machine was high-end in its time?  Or is it like hubby suggested, this new machine is more powerful and whips the clothes around more?  And I need to be more careful about placing them inside?  (The careful placement part seems ridiculous to me.)  Oh well, they're bought and paid for so I just have to get used to them now and learn their quirks.

The next thing I need to get is a vacuum cleaner.  I hate the one I have with a passion but it was a gift from my mother so I've been doing the grin and bear it thing.  I rarely see my mom these days, so it's safe now to sneak in a different machine.  Heheeee!

Alrighty, the morning is ticking by and I have things to do.

Sept. 29 - Movies

Just going to do a little recap of movies I've watched since I last posted about movies.  This could get lengthy...

The Painted Veil (2006)
Shunned by a husband (Edward Norton) who's more interested in his research, the simpleminded Kitty Fane (Naomi Watts) embarks on a quest for life fulfillment. Along the way, she ignites a passionate affair with a dashing womanizer (Liev Schreiber) and travels with her husband to the Far East, where she turns her attention to fighting the cholera epidemic. Diana Rigg co-stars in this period drama based on the novel by W. Somerset       Maugham. 

It seems like I posted about this one but I didn't see it when I scrolled back.  Hmm.  Anyway.....  I quite liked this one.  The Netflix description is a bit misleading in that the 'passionate affair' is actually a very small part of the movie, she isn't shunned because her husband is more interested in work, and she doesn't really turn her attention to fighting the epidemic.  Rather, she has the affair, her hubby is cold towards her after he finds out, and she volunteers time at the orphanage to feel useful...not so much to fight the epidemic.  But whatever, I liked it more the way it 'really' is instead of the way Netflix makes it sound.  After watching it I wanted to read the book so I looked for it on Amazon.  I was surprised and pleased to find out the movie version appears to be just a *part* of the book.  Cool.

Fragments (2008)
 Kate Beckinsale, Dakota Fanning and Forest Whitaker lead an all-star cast in this haunting tale about the survivors of a madman's senseless shooting spree. As they grapple with fate, each suffers aftereffects as uncontrollable as the crime itself. Loneliness, guilt, despair and faith consume them until each finds an epiphany among the ruins. Jennifer Hudson and Guy Pearce star in this drama based on Winged Creatures, a novel by Roy Freirich. 

This one was kinda bleah, barely an 'ok' in my book.  I didn't care much for the look or feel of it.  One of those kinda choppy movies where you're not given all the info you might be wondering about.  The doctor's story was confusing.  Was he giving drugs to cause symptoms just so he could then give drugs to stop it and be a sort of 'hero,' like he had a God complex?  Why do it to someone he loved?  Cuz the hero factor would be that much more personal and rewarding?

I Love You, Man (2009)
In this bromance, the cinematic equivalent of a rom-com buddy flick, Paul Rudd plays a recently engaged guy who's got the bride-to-be of his dreams but lacks an all-important significant other when it comes to their pending nuptials: a best man. On a determined hunt for a stranger who will stand up for him, he eventually meets a candidate (Jason Segel) with wedding-party potential. Jaime Pressly, Rashida Jones and Jon Favreau co-star.


This one was ok, not as wild and hysterical as I thought it would be.  It even started to drag for me and I was anxious for it to be done.  Plenty of funny parts, sure, but just not quite good enough overall.

Inkheart (2008)
Unbeknownst to his 12-year-old daughter, Meggie (Eliza Bennett), bookbinder Mo "Silvertongue" Folchart (Brendan Fraser) has a secret ability to bring characters to life by reading their stories out loud. But when the wicked Capricorn (Andy Serkis) comes after her father, Meggie must rescue him. Paul Bettany, Jim Broadbent and Helen Mirren co-star in this enchanting fantasy based on the best-selling children's novel by Cornelia Funke.

I'm not much of a Brendan Fraser fan so I didn't know how I'd feel about this one but it was pretty good.  I loved all the old books, when they went to book shops.  Loved that lady's library and was so upset when the storybook villians trashed it!  Some parts had me over analyzing how the whole story process worked but if you can just put that aside and watch the movie it's not bad.

The Devil's Tomb (2009)
Sean Connery's son Jason Connery directs this taut action thriller about an elite group of soldiers (including Cuba Gooding Jr., Taryn Manning and Jason London) sent to rescue a missing scientist (Ron Perlman) from an underground lab, only to learn from a priest (Henry Rollins) that an ancient evil has been released inside the facility. Ray Winstone co-stars as the soldiers' seasoned former leader, who helps them figure out their next move. 


This was just stupid.  The people on this super uber elite specialist team tried too hard to come across as cool.  The story was confusing.  There was unnecessary blood and gore, the obligatory boobs, and the totally pointless lesbian scene.  Even hubby thought it was rather sucky.

Valkyrie (2008)
Wounded in Africa during World War II, Nazi Col. Claus von Stauffenberg (Tom Cruise) returns to his native Germany and joins the Resistance in a daring plan to create a shadow government and assassinate Adolf Hitler. When events unfold so that he becomes a central player, he finds himself tasked with both leading the coup and personally killing the Führer. Stephen Fry, Bill Nighy and Eddie Izzard co-star in this drama based on actual events.


My dad was a WWII vet so although I grew up knowing war history I really didn't know about this particular story.  I'm not a Tom Cruise fan but he didn't bother me in this one.  And I knew this was not how Hitler died so the story kept me hooked right to the end.  Of course, I don't know how accurate the movie version is but I thought it was good.

The Constant Gardener (2005)
Justin Quayle (Ralph Fiennes), a member of the British High Commission based in Africa, launches a quest for the truth and begins his own international investigation when his wife (Rachel Weisz, in an Oscar-winning turn) is murdered. Not even the rumors of his wife's infidelity will stop him from uncovering what really happened to her -- a conspiracy that's much more dangerous than he ever imagined.

This one sounded so good but I was disappointed by, once again, the look and feel of it, the style.  The actual story stuck with me though....using desperate, needy people as guinea pigs to test new drugs?  Gah.  (No, that was not particularly spoilerish.  The bigger spoilers fall elsewhere.)

Elizabeth (1998)
England's Queen Elizabeth I (Cate Blanchett) took the throne of a Roman Catholic country as a young woman, declared the nation Protestant and ruled for 45 years -- but at great personal cost. Director Shekhar Kapur's Oscar-winning treatise on absolute power and its human toll sees the virgin queen sacrifice happiness with Lord Robert Dudley (Joseph Fiennes) and place her trust in Sir Francis Walsingham (Geoffrey Rush) amid assassination threats.

I seem to remember liking this one at the time I watched it (a few weeks ago) but now I can't remember exactly what happened in this one vs. other Elizabeth movies I've seen.  Hmm.

The Da Vinci Code (2006)
Based on Dan Brown's best-seller of the same name, Ron Howard's gripping film stars Tom Hanks as Harvard professor Robert Langdon and Audrey Tatou as cryptographer Sophie Neve, who must untangle a web of deceit when the curator of the Louvre, a member of a secret society and a relative of Neve's, is found murdered in the famed museum's hallowed halls. To crack the case and arrive at the truth, they must look to the works of Leonardo da Vinci.


Yes, I have *finally* seen this one.  And I liked it.  And I want to read the book, but it's quite far down on my reading list.  It made me curious about the Knights Templar so I Netflixed the following....

Decoding the Past: The Templar Code: Parts 1 & 2 (2007)
Shrouded in mystery, the Knights Templar have been linked to the Holy Grail, Jesus Christ and the Crusades. This program hosted by actor Edward Herrmann explores the Knights' origins, their expansion of power and their eventual persecution. The legend of the Knights Templar continues to intrigue historians and scholars to this day, as evidenced by the popularity of Dan Brown's best-selling novel The Da Vinci Code. 


....however this one bored me to sleep and I didn't even watch Part 2.  

Desperate Crossing: The Untold Story of the Mayflower (2006)
Drawing scenes and dialogue from records of actual participants and eyewitnesses, this documentary meticulously re-creates the historic saga of the Pilgrims, from their extraordinary Mayflower crossing to their historic encounters with the Native Americans. Featuring a cast of actors from the Royal Shakespeare Company, the program was shot at Plimoth Plantation in Massachusetts, as well as locations in England, Belgium, Maryland and Virginia.


This spent alot of time explaining things leading up to the crossing, and then alot of time after the crossing.  I guess I thought it would be more about life during the crossing.....?  But that would be a boring show after a short time, huh?  It was good though.  I learned alot.

Thirtysomething: Season 1 (6-Disc Series) (1987)
Winner of several Emmy and Golden Globe awards, this dramatic ensemble series from producers Ed Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz ("My So-Called Life") centers on a group of suburbanites grappling with the challenges of marriage, career and parenthood. Ken Olin, Mel Harris, Patricia Wettig ("Brothers and Sisters") and Timothy Busfield ("Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip") lead the impressive cast of the groundbreaking show.

Remember a while ago, I blogged about how I'd been dying to see Party of Five for years and when I finally got it I didn't like it?  This is another of those situations.  I watched a bit of Thirtysomething here and there back in the day, and liked it.  Now in the days of 'you can find anything on DVD' I'd been waiting patiently for this show to be released.  I was really curious how I'd view it now, ya know, being old and all....hehe.  So when it was finally released I immediately bumped it to the top of my Netflix list.  Imagine my surprise when I pretty hated it?!  Seriously, I didn't even get thru one episode!  I found the people annoying (and I used to love Peter Horton on this show).  I found the whole multiple conversations happening at the same time annoying.  I don't know, I was just annoyed by....all of it.  Maybe I should have given it more of a try.  Maybe it would have settled down after that first episode of having to get to know everyone.  I don't know...I'm still shocked by this one.

Adventureland (2008)
Unable to afford the European vacation he'd dreamed of, recent college grad James Brennan (Jesse Eisenberg) reluctantly takes a gig at a local amusement park, only to learn that the dead-end job is, in fact, excellent preparation for the real world. Writer-director Greg Mottola's semi-autobiographical comedy-drama, filmed in Pittsburgh's Kennywood Park, also stars Ryan Reynolds and Kristen Stewart.


Didn't like this one either.  Not even Ryan Reynolds (*swoon*) could save it for me.  Not even Kristen Steward (Bella!) could save it.  In fact, she was one of the things that irked me most.  She tends to be kinda monotone anyway but it was just, I don't know, BLEAH in this one.  A couple funny parts, sure, but overall....bleah.

Hamlet (1990)
Shakespeare's brooding, medieval Dane, Hamlet (Mel Gibson), senses something rotten in the state of Denmark; specifically, he smells a rat behind his royal father's death. Hamlet's mother (Glenn Close) may be complicit in the tragedy, while ill-fated Ophelia (Helena Bonham Carter) is an innocent bystander in love with the young prince. A wonderful supporting cast includes Ian Holm as Polonius and Alan Bates as Claudius. Franco Zeffirelli directs.

I watched this when I was reading that Ophelia book, just to try and understand the story.  I thought maybe it would be more 'normal' dialouge but nope, it's very Shakespearian.  Was it the actual lines from the play?  I don't know because I'm not into Shakespeare.  (Sheri??)  I actually gave up watching very early but later in the evening hubby said he wanted to watch it so gave it another chance.  I put the subtitles on and gradually started to make sense of things.  It was pretty good.  Oh, well, except for that scene with his mother......whoa.  I was like 'OMG...he's not really...?!'

The Ramen Girl (2008)
When her boyfriend leaves her high and dry in Tokyo, spoiled American tourist Abby (Brittany Murphy) finds solace in a neighborhood ramen noodle house run by a cantankerous old chef (Toshiyuki Nishida), who agrees to take her on as an apprentice cook. But will the dirty grunt work and endless criticism drive Abby away before she discovers the serene beauty in the perfect bowl of soup -- and in herself? Robert Allan Ackerman directs this comedy.


Kinda dorky.  I thought it would be some wild comedy, a fish out of water type thing with her being abandoned in Tokyo.  There were funny parts but nothing like what I thought it would be.  It was ok, good enough for something to watch if you're really bored.

State of Play (2009)
When his mistress is found dead, Congressman Stephen Collins (Ben Affleck) tries desperately to protect his name and career. As journalists Cal (Russell Crowe) and Della (Rachel McAdams) investigate further, they uncover an intricate web of lies that stretches to the highest levels of power. Based on the critically acclaimed BBC miniseries, this intriguing political thriller co-stars Helen Mirren, Robin Wright Penn and Jason Bateman. 


This one was very good.  I hate when there are so many twists just to keep you guessing, and this one had that....I still don't understand the ending.....but I liked it.

Bolt (2008)
Nominated for a Best Animated Feature Oscar and Golden Globe, this tale of adventure follows dashing German shepherd Bolt, a canine actor forced to make an action-filled cross-country trek when he's mistakenly shipped from Hollywood to New York City. Believing that he and his fictional character are one and the same, Bolt gets a glimpse of what it takes to be a real hero. Celebrity voices include John Travolta, Miley Cyrus and Malcolm McDowell. 

Watched this mainly because someone kept nagging me about it....."You'll love it!  It's soooo cute!  You have to see it!"  I'm always amazed by the animation in this type of movie.  It was cute.  It made me cry.  I liked it but nowhere near as much as NaggyPerson seemed to.

Fame (1980)
Competition is fierce at New York City's High School for the Performing Arts. The kids who attend it have big dreams … and the talent to make them come true. This Academy Award-winning (for Best Original Score and Best Original Song) musical depicts the search for fame by a band of students who want you to remember their names: Coco (Irene Cara), Montgomery (Paul McCrane), Doris (Maureen Teefy), Raul (Barry Miller) and Bruno (Lee Curreri).


Yep, the fact that the new version of the movie just came out is what motivated me to finally see this original.  I had seen bits of it over the years but never the whole thing straight through.  I used to watch the TV series and *loved* it.....well, the early seasons anyway.  I probably still have several episodes memorized.  LOL!  I was a bit disappointed in this movie though.  Not sure why, maybe I thought there would be more singing/dancing stuff, or maybe I found alot of the acting to be rather sucky....which is funny in a movie about just that.  And the girl who played Doris looked freakishly similar to a girl at work that I really can't stand.  So, not a horrible movie but not as good as I'd always assumed it was.


And now I'm caught up on my movie 'reviews.'  Woot!

Sep. 26 - I've decided!

Ok, so I've just ordered my very first bar of goat milk soap.  The site had so many varieties that I wanted to order about 10 different ones but I settled on the 'Oatmeal, Milk & Honey' bar to start.  I'm really excited about this!  And I don't know why....LOL  I hope it gets here fast.  I'll definately post my thoughts after I've used it a few times.  Wheee!

(PSST!  Camy!  They have a lilac variety too.)

Sep. 25 - Goat milk soap

Quite by accident, I've become curiously fascinated with goat milk soap.  It started while shopping this morning.  I noticed a hand soap that I'd never seen before and made a mental note to check it out online.  So later in the day I was Googling that particular brand and a link to someone's blog came up.  In that blog was also a mention of some homemade goat milk soap, and since I'd never heard of such a thing I just had to check that out too.

The site was Goat Milk Stuff.  It is a family in Indiana.  I was impressed with their site and their story and was tempted to order on the spot.  Then I thought 'Hmmm.....I wonder if I can find some Wisconsin/local stuff?' and back to Google I went.

Sure enough, in just a short amount of time I found several Wisconsin homemade goat milk soap makers.  I looked at a handful of sites before being called away (*grrr*) on other business.  Some of the site really didn't impress me but this one caught my eye.... Blackberry Creek Soaps out of Wausau, Wisconsin.  There was one other site that I liked but I didn't think to bookmark it at the time and I'll have to go search for it again.  I'll add a link later if I find it.  Again, I was tempted to just order on the spot.

I am going to order from one (or both?) but I want to do a bit more reading.  I kinda just whipped thru the first time.  And I'm curious if any of you have tried such soaps?

It's interesting to me too because I've always kinda wanted to have a goat or two since we moved here.  The people who lived here before had a goat at the time.  Now those same people have a whole farm full of goats in their new place.  I think it's so cool when I drive by every morning but I've always wondered what do people do with so many goats?  I know goat milk is quite desirable among natural, organic, health-conscious folks but in this immediate area I have no idea if there is a demand.  Now the idea of soap making is really taking a hold of me!  And candles!  And hubby's wood crafts!

Suddenly I have all these wonderful ideas and visions of what we could do here.  That Indiana family in the first link lives on three acres.  We have five acres.  True, I have no idea how to do any of these things... And the barn is run down and in desperate need of repair.... And we need to clean up the whole area....  And add fences, and learn about goats, and soap, and candles, and business....  But wow, how cool would it be?!

For now though, I need to decide which soap I want to try.  LOL

***UPDATE***
Ooops....when I went back to the Blackberry site I noticed their soap is not actually goat milk soap.  Oh well, it's still natural, and it's local, so I'm still considering.  Hehe.  And that other site that I said I'd try to find again, well it wasn't so great afterall.  I guess that's why I didn't mark it the first time around.  Doh.

Sep. 24 - Ophelia

Ophelia, by Lisa Klein (2006) "He is Hamlet, Prince of Denmark; she is simply Ophelia. If you think you know their story, think again. In this reimagining of Shakespeare's famous tragedy, it is Ophelia who takes center stage and finally gets her due. Ambitious for knowledge and witty as well as beautiful, Ophelia catches the attention of the captivating, dark-haired Prince Hamlet, and their love blossoms in secret. But bloody deeds soon turn Denmark into a place of madness, and Ophelia will be forced to choose between her love for Hamlet and her own life. In desperation, Ophelia devises a treacherous plan to escape from Elsinore forever...with one very dangerous secret."

I saw this in the store and for some reason just had to have it. I don't know much about Shakespeare's stuff so maybe I thought it would be a fun way to learn the Hamlet story...? Flipping thru the book a bit in the store I saw that it was in fairly simple English as compared to true Shakespeare so that was probably the selling point. I enjoyed the book early on. Since I knew pretty much nothing of Hamlet everything was new to me. However, things started to get confusing. It seemed inconsistent, and I started wishing I knew the Hamlet story. Eventually it got to where I Netflixed the Mel Gibson version of the Hamlet movie and watched it just to try and make sense of things. From there I decided I didn't like this Ophelia book. What I'd read up to that point suddenly seemed incredibly weak and sloppy. And when I picked up reading again it was with a strong distaste for the book overall. I'm stubborn though, and since I'd paid the money to buy it I felt I had to at least finish it.

The last quarter or so of the book was just ridiculous. It really had nothing to do with Hamlet. It just veered off down some really churchy path with the occasional...and unnecessary, detached...mention of Hamlet or something from the original story. It was like really bad fanfic, using something familiar (Hamlet) to tell a really unrelated story. Bleah. Hugely disappointing.

Sep. 21 - Remember me?

What happened? I don't even know. Rest assured, we are all fine here. Life just got boring and chaotic at the same time if you can make any sense of that. I would come to the computer, come to my blog, and just draw a blank.

So anyway....

Ty has a job now. He started August 31 at the same place hubby works. The job just sort of fell into his lap...the shop boss was talking about a new position and hubby said he knew someone who would do it. It's only part-time for now, and it's not something any of us ever really saw for Ty, but at this point all that matters is he has a job. He works 2nd shift, which has taken some getting used to for all of us. He's been hanging out more and more with friends on the weekends so overall, we don't see much of him these days. It's kinda sad actually, but I guess it's getting me used to the day he eventually moves out.

We took his car in for new brakes and muffler last week. He said 'It's like a whole new car! I can hardly tell it's running now!' LOL!

Casey has started learning to drive. He officially got his 'temps' in late August but with our ridiculous schedules he's barely had any practice yet. This has become the biggest stress for me right now. His turn for behind-the-wheel instruction thru school is coming up and he's so not ready yet. GAH!!! We didn't even get out this weekend to practice because Casey and I have been sick. Ty was sick last week but is getting over his. Ours however, seemed to have peaked yesterday. Casey's home from school today just to give him a bit more recovery time.

Other than driving Casey has been learning to play guitar. There is some new class in school that's not related to band but is Introduction To Guitar. They learn how to tune, play, care for the guitar, etc. Not sure what this has to offer academically but whatever, as long as he has his credits met....

It's weird to have only Casey in school now. I really can't believe my kids are as old as they are. I find myself feeling sad and almost jealous when I see parents with little kids, the excitement of school and all the little kid things.

Our chest freezer died two weeks ago. Actually, it started it's slow death about a month ago. The boys noticed one morning that things in it were rather soft and there was water on the bottom. Hmmm. We took everything out and crammed it into our fridge/freezer. Checked the chest freezer, turned it off and back on and it kicked in....worked like normal. We put everything back in it, only to discover about a week later that it wasn't keeping as cold as usual. Another day after that we noticed it had quit again. The off/on trick only worked for a few hours that time and then it died for good. Calling to see about service we found this particular off brand is notoriously crappy with no hope for service. Great. Luckily it was only the small size chest freezer, not terribly expensive to replace. We went out this weekend and got a new one, this time going with a name brand that we can get serviced. And the place took our old piece of crap freezer free of charge to send it to the scrap yard.

Work sucks big donkey ballz lately. It's been years since I've felt this way, dreading going to work. There are a few people who do nothing but whine and complain and blame everyone for everything, and their constant negative energy is getting really hard to be around. And then there is the general state of madness in the plant...too much going on, too many people having too many things to do, attention being scattered to all the wrong things. We really have become one of those 'We need to have meeting to set up a committee to plan the meetings of our other committees' type places. I would LOVE to just quit...it's gotten that bad...but I'm a baby about such things, and today's economy and job market does not lend itself to such ideas.

I've also decided I hate the 12 hour schedule I work. I would LOVE to go back to a normal 8hr/5day week but that's just not a possibility in my workplace right now. We should be grateful we have steady jobs and plenty of overtime but some of us are actually hoping for some economic slowdowns so we can get back to 'normal' hours. *sigh*

So that's what's been happening and where my mind has been during this long absence. I want to try and get back on track now. I miss writing and posting pics...

...and I don't even have a pic handy to include in this post.

Sep. 19

Stay tuned for the return of....

Me.