Superman

links in ( ) are spoilers and will take you to a post with them,(the same post for all of them) click at your own risk]

Tonight I saw the new superman movie, at the Imax in 3D. I wanted to give my review of this movie.

First I really love the way movies look on the Imax screen and 3D technology is getting amazing, I find myself having to take off the glasses half way through the movie. Not because they are bothering me but to remind myself just how amazing the 3D looks. As I watch it I take for granted that it really isnt flat.

Now with that being said on to the movie. 

My suggestion to those who may read this before going is to set aside all you think you know about Clark Kent, Lois Lane, and others. Go into the movie with an open mind and I think you will enjoy it more.

I personally like a few of the changes (a) others I did not know about before (b) because I am not familiar with the comics and my previous experience with superman was the movies and TV shows, so while I noticed differences (c) I didn't mind them. In fact I cant think of one that I hated.

The begining felt a bit disjointed jumping from his past to present. cutting from what was being said to doing it suddenly. It is hard to explain and I think it bothered my husband more than me.

The movie was action packed, but I feel it was almost too action packed. The destruction in the last half hour became tiresome. I couldn't wait for it to end, but when it did I was so let down.(d) I just stared at the screen and thought, really? That,s it? Its over? Why didn't he do that sooner? 

Over all I really did enjoy Man of Steel, the best line of the movie comes near the end, (e) the best image in the movie was (f) and the best action scene was(g)

I will be happy to see sequels if they are made, they wont have to do as much background development which may make future movie(s) better. 

DMV

Today I had the pleasure of going to the DMV. not for your normal renewal because I just did that last year (Novemberish) but because I have never received my plastic one in the mail. (Didn't they used to send you with the plastic one the same day?)

Here is my story.

I have been really busy and the last thing I think about is my license until someone asks to see it, for identification purposes. Most places just want to see your face and signature so when I got the paper temporary one I folded it so it would show through the ID pocket in my wallet. The last place that needed to see it was the bank and they wanted to copy it so out it came, in pieces. It was then that I realized just how long it had been since I renewed it. I had a bit of time today and headed over to the DMV, after leaving Allyson at Kindergarten. I talked to the lady that was at the picture taking place and she gave me a number J906. As usual the waiting area was full, and I settled down for a long wait. 2 min later J906 was called. I checked my ticket a couple of times and started to window 4, feeling all eyes on me. I could just hear their thoughts, She just got here, Ive been here for 30 min. I wonder why she doesn't have to wait, ITS NOT FAIR! 

As I walked up to window 4 the public servant waiting there was laughing and goofing off with her neighboring  co-worker, but as soon as she turned and saw me standing there her face went blank, the smile gone.

I filled her in on my problem handing her the tattered remains of my temporary license and she just looked at them for a min. which in turn had me rambling about the issue. "I was told you can look up to see..I didn't get..."  She typed something in the computer and looked at me, "all I can say is that you will need to pay for another duplicate because..." I took that to mean because I was sent out one. I asked her why I should pay for a duplicate when I didn't get a plastic license to lose.

She then looked at me blankly again. If anyone knows me they can guess at this time I seriously thinking about falling to my knees and apologizing for being a bother and not receiving the license and yes I will pay for a duplicate if you will only just smile at me and tell me everything will be good between us.

She must have decided I was worth one more try and asked if I had moved recently, I told her no, not in the last 12 years and she asked me if this was my address, when I confirmed that it was indeed my address she sighed and said to me "I guess I can call the help desk and ask them if they can send you a new one, but..." another dropped sentence, I took this one to mean but I wouldn't count on if, if I were you.

After she got of the phone with the "Help" I fully expected to have to find someone else to talk to if I didn't give in and pay a duplicate fee to get a new license. But she surprised me, she smiled(ish) and said they will be sending another one to you.

So end of story is that I will be watching the mail like a hawk and hoping the license gets here

long time

It has been so long since I have done this blogging thing. I have tried several times to make it happen daily and failed. Today I am here because I had a thought come to me and I thought about sharing it on facebook but realized that it would be quite hard to do so in a single status. I do not care to be one of those people who post 40 status updates a day, I am not saying those who do shouldnt (well maybe some of them shouldnt) but I dont want to do it. I decided I would try to express my self here, even though there is a high probability my mom will be the only one who reads this, and that is because as soon as I post it I will call her and tell her to :)

I have been watching Downton Abbey and have enjoyed the intensity of the story, I dont think I will get in to details of the story and if someone who is reading this hasnt seen it, go watch it! :) I will say it is set in the early 1900's and the first 3 seasons take you from 1912 to about 1920. 

On to what my thoughts were. As I was leaving Sams Club this morning, I can go early because I have a business membership through my dad, I was wondering what I would say if someone asked me what my job was. I know they dont care and as long as you have the right card you can get in early but I sometimes let my imagination get away from me. Anyway back to my job. I thought I could say housekeeper, and because I have been watching this show, head housekeeper came to my mind next. Of course that made me smile, I have no qualms about being a stay at home mom and am certainly not embarrassed about it but to the "real" world I dont have a job so I figure head house keeper is an apt title! 

Now since I had put my mind on Downton Abbey with the head housekeeper thing, I started thinking that the problem with todays way of thinking is that no one takes pride in there jobs or careers anymore. I know there really are those who do but they seem to be disappearing. People are needing more validation than a job well done,  they want validation in moving promotion, need valitation in raises in income. So they do the least amount possible to get those. Other people are above working certain jobs so they willingly take welfare and government hand outs. I have to say I know not everyone getting government help is guilty of this mentality but many are. 

The butler in Downton Abbey is an example of someone who is honored to have his position and it shows in his work. He feels lucky to be where he is and feels no need to change, this could be seen as a negative thing and I may not be expressing myself well but I think he is the example of taking pride in his work we all can learn from. It doesnt matter that no one else might notice that minute scratch in the silver, he knows it is there and therefor he must be the one to change it. While he may go to the extremes with this, I think many of us could use a little more of it, and even more could use a lot more!

There are servants that come and go throughout the show, most of them see this work as a stepping stone to the next lvl and that gets them into trouble so they lose their job. I am not saying ambition is a bad thing, I just think that ambition should not stop you from doing the very best you can until you get the opportunity to advance in a career. 

I really dont think I am putting words to my thoughts well. I guess I am just saying that I think the world would be a much better place if we still valued ourselves and our daily duties to do the very best we can at all times. I know I would be in a much better place if I could do this. Again I am honored to be a mother and wife but in my daily activities I have not shown this. I am making an effort starting today to show more pride* in my head housekeeper position!

*I have a hard time saying pride and proud because of the bad side of those words, in this case I thing pride and proud are positive things :)

I would love to hear from anyone who is blessed to read this ;) How do you go the extra mile in your lives, (Career or job, inside or outside the home) what do you do to take pride in a job well done!

SPOILERS (Man of Steel) READ AT OWN RISK :)

*** SPOILERS *** SPOILERS *** SPOILERS ***

I am dating this months before actual post so anyone reading my post about Man of Steel wont stumble on to it on accident.

(a) I liked that Lois Lane knows who Superman is. The way they meet is so different than what you know.

(b) The way Clark's father dies is different, I thought it was but had to ask my husband how/if he died in the 

  original story.  Clark moves from job to job always leaving after saving someone. I am not sure what he did in the other stories, if they even tell about how he decided to be a reporter. I found this to be interesting

 but also added to the disjointedness of the beginning.

(c) The fortress of solitude is not the same, in fact there really is not fortress, only a left over ship.  

(d) This really was the most frustrating part of the movie for me. After watching Kal-El and General Zod 

beat on each other, destroy Smallville and Metropolis for what felt like hours (maybe 30 min?) 

Superman suddenly is able to break Zod's neck! Would have been better to suck him into the black

 hole with everyone else and have it be done there.

(e)  A female soldier laughing as Superman flies away and is asked what is funny (or something like that) and

 her reply is "I just think he is really hot"

(f) Kal-El in handcuffs. (just think about it)

(g) when Kal-El  is fighting a machine in one of the space ships because he is trying to shut it down. The

 special effects are amazing, and after all the distruction it has caused you just want to cheer when

 Superman prevails and "kills" it.

   

man vs woman

I like to leave compliments for my servers when I go out to eat (when they deserve them of course) Usually we pay with debit cards so I leave it right on the receipt where the boss is bound to see them, but once in a while we pay cash, as we did the last time we went out to dinner so I have to leave the compliment on something else and then it is up to the server to show it to anyone. On this last occasion our server was a man and that got me thinking of this,


man:
looks at compliment. "cool." he thinks as he shoves the paper into his pocket. Maybe later when he empties his pockets at home he will see it again and the thought will be the same "cool" and into the trash it goes

Woman:
looks at compliment. "Aww, that is sooo nice" she says to herself. then she proceeds to show everyone she works with "look at what table 20 left for me!" eventually (depending on personality) showing it to the boss or strategically showing someone while said boss is near or even placing it somewhere boss will see it and ask about it.


I shared this observation with my husband and he shared this tidbit with me

He is an RN and they have a bulletin board where compliments are left by patients (if I remember the story correctly) and once in a while a nurse is named specifically


man:
others (women) say excitedly to him "have you seen the compliment you have on the board?" he answers "ya its cool"

woman:
says to others "have you seen the compliment someone left me on the board? Come see!"

this all makes us women seem like we are always needing to show off but really it comes down to sharing


Women do it almost excessively and men dont do it at all

I thought I could?

Here is the end result of the cake I made. It wasnt quite what I had pictured but my uncle loved it :)

Up close of some of the deails


I designed this cake for Uncle because he is a landscaper. He also has been one to be very interested in the process that I do my cakes and candies. No way could I just do a simple cake for him :)
Every thing is made by hand, the fish, flowers, tree, bird and swan are gumpaste. The waterfall is boiled sugar (sucker stuff). The rocks are fondant (painted with food coloring) and the grass and leaves on the tree are buttercream.

Here is something I never do... a pic of me, but you can just look at my adorable Uncle :)

I think I can...

ok tonight I attemped to play with poured/pulled sugar. one word describes my attempt, well maybe 2
Ouch! and Grrr!
Thankfully no third degree burns but we will see how my hands feel tomorrow. (that is the ouch)
The Grrr is for the frustration I feel doing something I really have no idea how to do, let alone have the right equipment for! Now I have more to add to my wish list.
(brulee torch and a warming box to name a couple)

I am making a cake for someone and wanted to put a waterfall on it with poured sugar. I did so much wrong. That is good though cause it means I am learning... right?

Only Time will tell.

Now if I can just keep my kitchen clean so if the desire overcomes me to try again I wont have to spend an hour making room to do it.

I will post the cake when it is done.

Cookie Kits

I have been thinking of selling Cookie Kits for a couple of years now and my sister in law gave me the insentive to get them started. She asked me if I would help her by making them so she could sell them as a fund raiser for her home school co-op. Of course I said yes!

these are the ideas I came up with

they are 2 sheets of rolled out sugar cookie dough. With 4, 2 oz packets of frosting





(I didnt get a picture of this color combo with the cookie sheets)


These ones are have 12 pre-cut cookies






these are the flier and order forms I made.

Art? appreciation...

Kevin has been taking an art appreciation class to finish off his bachelors degree and had to go to some art galleries. He invited me to go along so we left the kids with the in laws and headed out. I knew that I have a narrow view of what are is but i couldn't believe what passes at art these days. For example this is something I've been doing in church since... well for a long time

put it on a 5x5 foot canvas and you have a 2500 dollar art piece









ok I can kind of see how that can be considered art... anyone want to buy mine?




But this...






When did the bar code on my groceries turn in to art?


I saw a canvas painted blue, granted different shades of blue, with 7 of these bar codes pasted on. They looked like they could fall off at any moment too.
Anyone want to guess what the artist was asking for price was?

20?
no
30?
no
50???
nope
100???
wrong again :)
ill just tell you cause this could take awhile...


950.00


Tell you what,

let me make one for you and Ill only charge you 900, mkay?

This is all opinion so I hope I haven't offended anyone reading who may enjoy art that makes a statement. the statement I like my art to make is... I'm obviously a mountain scene, or an ocean seen, or a person lounging on the beach or... well I think you get my gist

I am done!

I think I may just be done changing diapers. Well,my own kids, I still have to change the babe I am watching daily. Now back to my kids though,
I believe Ally is finally potty trained! The lights went on in her head on Monday and she has been dry the whole week and through the night the last two days!
What a relief it is... such a weight off my shoulders... I was beginning to think she was going to turn 4 in pullups :)