Weblog 326

May 13, 2012~ 12:00 am
This week had a few surprises in store for me. At our billing meeting on Thursday, the gals surprised me with TWO homemade bundt cakes surrounded by carnations, as well as a sweet-smelling carnation bouquet that I brought home with me on Friday. (I just may carry those blooms on Monday morning for the ceremony in front of the JP.)



A card with a very generous cash gift tucked inside that was signed by lots of folks from work made me feel truly tickled to death they cooked something up in my honor. (Yes, I kept saying, "Nothing! Don't do a thing. No fuss!"- but they did anyway, and yes, it delighted me.)

Friday had yet another surprise in store! Dinner at Holly's was made SUPER-SPECIAL with a pre-wedding cookout, and the food was superb! Cooked over charcoal briquettes, those succulent cheeseburgers and nicely roasted hotdogs were pure eating pleasure. She made sweet corn on the cob, baked beans- and with the happy faces of family beaming at us, I felt truly special. And there were hand-crafted gifts from Holly. One for me and one for Wayne.



Each wooden box had our two names stenciled on the top, and inside mine.......



a hand-sewn necklace with a large 'button' that looks like a brooch, placed in the very center. I think it has a definite 'Russian' style to it, like a charming piece of folk art. I'll be wearing it Monday either as a necklace..... or on my head, to LOOK like a Russian fairytale character. LOL!! (It actually looks very pretty that way-- I tried it.) Here's the center in detail.



Wayne's box had a matching boutonniere. What wonderful keepsakes for both of us! My daughter is so thoughtful. Clever and thoughtful, and that little get-together meant a great deal to both of us. The countdown has officially started to Monday morning, 9:00 a.m., and on Saturday evening we shopped for all the goodies we want to take and snack on in Gettysburg for the week. (I've become absolutely ADDICTED to Nabisco Oreo DOUBLE CREME SNACK CAKES! They're the BEST!) And of course, my HUGE bag of Giant Eagle cheese popcorn as well as York Peppermint patties. LOL!!! With all those calories just waiting to attach themselves, Wayne can just roll me home-- I'll be that fattened up.



Saturday evening we watched the much anticipated Academy Award nominated 'Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy'- the Gary Oldman film based on the John Le Carré novel of the same title. I have to say that though I'd anticipated seeing it with great enthusiasm, alas..... I could make head nor tail of the plot and was lost throughout. Totally. The film seems disjointed, opaque, lacking both suspense and clarity of plot. (There are plenty of side-plots going on) but nothing to connect them to the whole, so instead of fleshing out the story, they simply confound. In fact it was so hard to follow, I was puzzling constantly and found myself staring at scene after darkly-lit scene of depressingly seedy, greenishly lit old buildings as well as the omni-present.... sphinx-like.... MAGNIFIED BLUE EYES of Gary Oldman as glimpsed through his oversized glasses.... wondering what in the hell was going on.



Oldman plays 'Smiley'- the master 'spy/sleuth/manipulator', but is too much of a cypher for this viewer. There's not ONE character I cared about in the film, yet there was one who at least caught my attention above and beyond the many capable actors involved in the project, and that was the always-arresting



John Hurt. What a face! He could recite the alphabet and I'd find it pleasingly dramatic. LOL!!! I love the guy! He disappears all too soon from the story, playing 'Control', the chief of 'Circus'- the British equivalent of the CIA. The film features plenty of flashbacks to 'Control's' heyday...... mostly drunken parties. And I have no idea what the scenes were supposed to tell the audience in terms of plot, but it was fun to watch Hurt become the ONLY ANIMATED character in the entire film.

Wayne loved it, but it left me cold. I kept thinking- "I'm not a stupid person..... why can I not figure out what's supposed to be going on here? Why don't I give a f*ck about a single character in this movie?" ---and it went on like that for me. Perhaps I'm not the BIGGEST fan of the spy genre, but there have been plenty of other spy films I've found exciting and could at least comprehend the storyline, but 'Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy' flat-lined the whole time for me. It's a film without a defined plot arch, and that, coupled with its extremely slow-pace, allows it to plod along with no payload at the end to show for it. (Too bad, because I'd looked forward to watching it convinced that anything with Gary Oldman, John Hurt and Colin Firth starring, had to knock my socks off, but honestly, not one toe curl. Hardly an eyebrow raise during the entire film. LOL!)

Such is life. All the anticipation in the world cannot ring a bell when the clapper is absent, and this movie has no clapper. Yes..... the agency has a 'mole'... someone is a double agent.... but the movie produces no suspense whatsoever and comes across as merely a lethargic look at the murky business of Cold War espionage. It's a movie like a mouth full of dry flannel. (Yep. That's a pretty darned good description.)




May 13, 2012~ 8:45 am
For all the moms out there



It's your day to shine!

Soak up the gratitude. Accept the accolades.... put the flowers in some water!

And for all the kids out there, grown and ungrown alike.... for all the times she made you eat your vegetables, even the icky green ones.... the suspicious, slimy grayish ones



.... for every time you held your nose as the noxious medicine went down or burped from lactose intolerance.... remember.... (she had your back.)    So say THANK YOU.

And give a hug.




May 13, 2012~ 8:450 pm
I had a terrific Mother's Day. I picked mum up at 3:30 and drove to sister Kathy's house for a meatloaf dinner. Kathy also gave me a BIG FLUFFY SET OF TOWELS as a wedding present, and a heavy, white stoneware statue of a couple embracing. Very lovely! I can now say I FEEL like there's a wedding afoot...... I HAVE TOWELS!!!!!!! LOL!

Also, I was very touched by a card that was propped on mum's TV when I walked into her room today. "That's from the girls at Table Six" she said. I opened it..... and my oh my, yes...



the card had been signed by 'Dolores, Marie, Emma, Kay, Joan, and Mom'. I was THRILLED! My dinner mates from every Sunday dinner at the home had sent me good wishes and their thoughtfulness was as sweet a remembrance as any I'VE ever gotten.

THANKS, LADIES.... you're ALL MY GIRLS! Dinner same time, same table, next Sunday.

I'm off to bed now. Getting up at 6 a.m. to get packed for the trip and head on over to Wayne's to get hitched at 9. Sweet dreams everyone. Be back in a week. :)





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