Graceland: The Weekend

Monday, August 11, 2008

The Weekend

I wasn't going to blog about the weekend because I didn't take any photos, but I'm at a serious lack of what else to post.... plus it really was a good time. It was a busy sleepless weekend and all kinds of fun. Alisa (& family) and Shelly were in town for their 20 year reunion. Very fun to see them back on our home turf instead of having to go to CA to get my fix.

I was kind of bummed because I thought all the girls were coming to my house for a slumber party Friday after the reunion, but they canceled earlier in the day. Rick came over after working late. (OK I haven't mentioned new-boyfriend-Rick on this blog because I just figure all of you are reading my other blog as well, but in case you haven't been keeping up on that new-boyfriend-Rick is my new boyfriend named Rick. haha) Sometime after 12:30 am, Rick and I were watching the finale of SYTYCD (was anyone else surprised at who won?) and Shelly called saying they'd twisted Carlos' arm to get him to the reunion and they all wanted to come see me. Really, nothing makes me happier when old friends want to see me as much as I want to see them! So about 1 am Shelly, Alisa, Carlos, Julie, Jane and Missy all showed up at my place. Poor Rick got an earfull of silliness as we all caught up, told stories and laughed. I loved reconnecting with everyone and it was especally great to see Carlos. Needless to say, it was a very late night.

Saturday I had play tickets in the afternoon (Big, The Musical at Hale Theater). I slept until show time. I then went and hung out at Shelly's for a bit. We thought we'd hit an early movie then a later dinner but I'm sure you all know what it's like when it's time to feed Sean (jk- sean). So, Shel and I just chatted a bit then met Sean, Alisa and family for an early dinner- Pizza Benders at Italian Village (I think I haven't been there since high school- definitely a weekend of reminiscing). After, Rick met us and we played Rock Band into the wee hours.

I seriously love my friends. Thanks for coming down (even though I know it wasn't for me). We'll have to have another CA rendezvous soon.

Oh good- photos. Backing up to last weekend in Boulder- I'm always getting on Erica because she doesn't blog. She uses the excuse that she doesn't have time. So I figured while I was there I'd take some photos of her kids and post them-- well now I understand. I didn't get time to snap any shots of her kiddos either. BUT she just emailed some photos of her cutie kids so I'll post those.

Here's the whole Dunford clan. The weekend we were there Dan took a couple of days off for their "family vacation". They spent one day at Rocky Mountian National Park and did some other fun local things for the weekend.

This is Matt and Ryan. They are so fun. Heidi and I went over Sunday morning and chatted for about an hour then went to Sacrament Meeting with them. At the end of their weekend, Erica asked Ryan what his favorite part of the weekend was (thinking it would be something from the family vacation weekend). Ryan said, "Hum... when Betsy and her sister came over." Love you Ryan!!

Twin babies Andrew and Grace.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...: I may have gotten an earful of silliness, but it was all great fun. What an enjoyable weekend and what fabulous friends.

...and not to be remiss, what a lovely family and such cute kids.; August 11, 2008 at 9:23 PM
Heidi P said...: Such fun to see old friends...

I love that pic of Erickas kiddos. They are so cute. I keep thinking about how much fun our sisters trip was. I really enjoyed it. I love you guys! :); August 11, 2008 at 10:52 PM
Stephanie F. said...: Erica's kids are so dang cute :) Bummer I missed seeing them!
I'm glad you had so much fun with your old friends! Although Rock Band is fun no matter who's playing.; August 12, 2008 at 1:44 PM

My Movie Reviews

Quiet Earth. B-. Another SciFi recommended by Netflix, although this one was actually interesting and enjoyable. A guy wakes up and everyone is gone. Made in New Zealand, it claims to be one of the top ten movies in the US in the year it came out (sometime in the 1970s). After it was over, we agreed that it was good, but the ending was a little confusing, so we watched the ending again with the directors comments. Lame. Apparently the whole movie was supposed to have an anti-nuclear message and the director takes credit for his movie making New Zealand nuclear free. So.... pretend you don't know that and enjoy the movie.
Sunshine. C-. Netflix. That's it. We are not trusting Netflix's rating of sci-fi movies again. The sun is dying so a crew is going with a nuclear missle to "re-start" it. I kept hoping aliens would show up or at least something would happen to draw me in. A lot of things almost happened, but when they did, it did not make much sense.
Warm Bodies. B. Red Box. I was surprised by this movie. I'm a fan of a good zombie flick, but when I heard about the plot, it seemed a bit too much. It turned out to be very entertaining. I'd rate it pretty high on the must see zombie film list and very high on the cheesy teenage romance film list.
Wolverine. B. I'm a fan of the X-Men movies. I'm also a fan of Hugh Jackman. It was hard to go wrong going in with those two biases. The fighting sequences were too long, but that was expected. If you've like the X-Men movies, you should like this one too.
The East. B. I forget how much I love the indie flicks at the Broadway. This also had an environmentalist-based plot, but was written well and I liked how it ended. A women goes under cover in an environmental terrorist group. It goes with the obvious plot of her having sympathies for members of the group and trying to balance that with her personal beliefs. Worth seeing.
World War Z. B. I was in the middle of the book and didn't want to see the movie until I finish, but I couldn't help it and saw it opening weekend. Not a big deal as they are very different. This is a different kind of zombie movie. While most are horror flicks, this was more of a suspense movie. They cut out the gratutious gore associated with most zombie movies and gave it more of a plot. Fun for zombie fans and non-zombie fans.
Silent Running. D. Netflix. I have no idea why this is rated so well on Netflix. Sci-fi movie made in the sixties with blatant environmental message. Forests have died on the earth so they are growing them in a space station orbiting Saturn. Earth decides to abandon the project and for some reason that means they have to blow up the forests. One man understands the impact of losing all our forests so he kills everyone. My description made it seem way better than it is. At one point, he programs his robot helpers to play cards and you watch them play cards for about 10 minutes. Skip this one!

My Book Reviews

The Rent Collector. B. I loved this book while I was reading it. Then the author's comments on the back disappointed me. It was fiction! I was so inspired by the "true" story of this woman living at the dump in Cambodia and learning to read. The whole way through I thought it was true. I was mad when it wasn't. Although toward the end, it started getitng a little unbelievable. It was based on real people which bothers me wondering how much is true and how much is fiction. I still recommend the book, but know what you're getting into.
Divergent. B+. Fun, quick read. YA fiction. Your basic strong female in post-apocolypic world fighting to make change. Even though the story's been told over and over, this one was very engaging. I can't wait to read the next in the series!
World War Z. B+. For staters, this is very different from the movie. It's 10 years after we won the zombie war. The book is a series of interviews with survivors. I was hesitant about the way it was written and that I wouldn't stay involved without a central character. However, the book created a very real world. So much so that when I was getting off the freeway one morning and saw some homeless people waking up under a bridge, for just second, I thought they were zombies. I also wanted to bring it up in conversation. Like when someone was talking about North Korea, I wanted to say, "Did you hear how they handled the Zombie Apocalypse?' It was a fun book. I've never read a zombie book before and I may never again, but I'm glad I read this one. It also was welcome to read a book that isn't a strong female character overcoming incredible odds. I'm seriously weary of that plot line.
Waiting to be Heard. B+. I've followed the Amanda Knox case for several years. I thought, since I knew most details of the case, this might be boring. I was surprised at how engaging and well written it was. She is a quirky girl and, while the complete lack of physical evidence makes me sure she is innocent, I can see why people think she is hiding something. The book was haunting to think the someone who doesn't understand a culture coupled with a corrupt prosecutor could put an innocent person in jail for years.
Girl Gone. C-. Maybe it was called Gone Girl. I don't remember. Book club book. I've never gotten into mysteries. This one took a while to get into, then I couldn't put it down, then it ended and I wished I never picked it up. Ridiculous ending.
The Kitchen House. B-. I have no idea how to rate this book. It was slow to start. Once things started to happen (murder), I found myself sucked in and not wanting to put it down; however, once I did put it down, I didn't look forward to picking it up again. I'm not sure why. Maybe because it's similar to a bunch of other books I've read. I'm just getting weary of the genre and need to mix it up a little. Overall, an interesting read. The story of a young white girl who is indentured when her family dies on the boat from Ireland to America. Her relationship with her new family (the slaves whom she is sent to live and work with) and how her life is different from them because of the color of her skin.
The Happiness Project. D. I'm reviewing the book, but I'm not going to finish it. I knew this wasn't my favorite genre, but it was the book club pick this month so I thought I'd give it a chance. I didn't see the point of reading someone's goals. I sometimes feel like these "self-help" books are an excuse for people to feel like they are doing something to be happier, when really they are an excuse to avoid working on yourself by living through someone else's experience. Instead of reading the book, how about spend that time working on your own "happiness project". As I read, I kept thinking it should have been a workbook for readers to complete their own project while reading hers. I'll be interested to hear how others in book club liked it.

Monday, August 11, 2008

The Weekend

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