Superman Returns!

We saw Superman Returns on opening night. I loved this movie. I have watched Superman and Superman II on TV, and I was a huge fan of Christopher Reeve. So, I was familiar with the series and excited to see the latest installment. Although my husband felt it dragged in places, I was mesmerized. I honestly felt like a little girl watching the Superman story for the first time. The special effects were amazing, and I thought Brandon Routh gave a wonderful performance that was a homage to Christopher Reeve. Kevin Spacey was a great villain. I know that everyone probably won’t love this movie like I did, but I am a big fan of Brian Singer (X-Men and X2), and I felt the emotional connection he showcased was what was missing from X Men: The Last Stand. There might not be enough action for everyone, but the action sequences that are featured are wonderful. The blue suit has never looked better.

For Good Daddies Everywhere...

100_0397, originally uploaded by Christina and Ben.

I wanted to post this close to Father’s Day, but things got crazy, so here it goes. A few weeks ago I was at church getting ready to videotape an early morning wedding, and I got a call on my cell phone from my friend Scott. He asked me if I wanted to come out to the parking lot to see Dillon (aka my boyfriend). I went outside and saw Dillon who had a long white strip of paper tied around his head. Dillon told me he had been to the doctor, and they “hurt my buck,” which means he got a shot in his butt. Then I looked at his dad and saw that he had a long, white strip of paper tied around his head, too. He explained to me that they were dressed as Indian chiefs. They had been at the doctor for about two hours and were waiting in the room for over an hour. Scott said that they learned that the paper that covers the doctors’ table tears in nice long strips. Scott explained to me that the toy trains had a bad wreck in the doctors’ office and he had to make casts and bandages for Dillon’s legs and arms.

I was just so overwhelmed with this precious daddy who had turned something that could have been awful (a long visit to the doctor that ends with your two year old getting a shot in a sensitive place) and made it into an adventure. Dillon had the biggest smile on his face and he told me all about the fun he had and how his “woo woo’s” (trains) had a big wreck.

That made me think about my own dad, who worked third shift so he could be at all of our athletic events and was my softball coach and even built a dance floor for my wedding. One of the saddest things about growing up is moving away from my daddy and not being able to see him at least once a week if not every day.

I also thought about my father-in-law. He loved Ben with all of his heart, and I’m thankful to have a husband who was raised by a Godly man and taught to be a Godly man.

So, for good daddies everywhere, thank you for all that you do. The world needs more people like you.

Not a Girl, Not Yet Appropriate

I don’t know if you watched the Britney Spears interview with Matt Lauer. Luckily, my good friend Tracie called me and told me to turn on the TV. When I did, I was appalled.

Let’s start with the hair. It did not look washed and the extensions were very obvious. Applying hair extensions is an art form, and it shouldn’t be painfully obvious where the real hair ends and the fake hair begins. The make-up. I know now from reading other reports that my initial thoughts were right-she did it herself. It looked like an explosion happened at the Wet-n-Wild counter of a local drugstore. The fake eyelashes. They resembled caterpillars, and when one of them came loose, not a single person in the room had the decency to reach over and pull it off of her eyelid. Her outfit. She wore a purple sheer shirt that showed her hot pink bra and showed off her assets, but not in a good way. She also wore a reeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaalllllllllllllly short mini-skirt and flip-flops. But I ma have been able to forgive her all of that were it not for the gum. As usual, she had gum in her mouth (just check every red carpet pic of her ever taken). However, this time, she chomped on the gum throughout the entire interview. It reminded me of a poem I once heard that goes like this, “A gum chewing woman and a cud chewing cow. They say there’s a difference, but I can’t see how. Oh wait, I see it now. It’s the tail hanging from the back of the cow.” Enough said.

The content of the interview was even more upsetting. I won’t re-hash the whole thing, but I will hone in on this one thing. She said she drove with her baby on her lap because her dad did the same thing with her when she was little, because “We’re country.” Okay, I grew up on a farm and I will admit that I learned to drive when I was very young. We would drive trucks around fields (NEVER on the highway), always with adult supervision. However, we were on a farm in the middle of Davis Station. Ever heard of it? Probably not. I don’t see the resemblance between driving around in the middle of a field and driving down the Pacific Coast Highway. Country does not equal child endangerment.

The whole interview looked like a desperate cry for help. If she really wanted to change the opinion of the American public, she could have worn a very flattering but still attractive maternity dress, had someone else fix her hair and make-up, spit out her gum, worn real shoes, and looked directly into the camera while giving her tear-filled mea culpa apologizing for driving with the baby on her lap. That would have gone a lot farther than this interview. Poor Matt Lauer. Who did he tick off to have to do this?

She's here...

The Brangelina baby has finally arrived...Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt was born in Namibia on May 27. You can read the whole story here:

http://people.aol.com/people/articles/0,19736,1184497,00.html

Is there any chance this baby is not absolutely beautiful?

Oops, He did it Again (and Again)

Finally, I went on the record with celebrity news, so I have proof that I was so ahead of the news cycle! On March 25th, I was eating lunch with Donna and Michelle, and I said, "I am officially ready to go on the record and say that Britney is pregnant again." So, that means about a month and a half ago, I went public with the news, and I was right. Britney and K-Fed stopped by David Letterman and gave him the news today. You can check out more of the story at this link:

http://people.aol.com/people/articles/0,19736,1171195,00.html

It's a good thing I saved the Britney Baby Name Napkin. Who knew we would need it again so soon?

The Key to Domestic Bliss

I am pretty sure that everyone can identify at least one household chore that they hate doing. For me, identifying just one is difficult, because there are many household chores that I hate doing. Well, hate is a strong word, so let me just say that there are many chores I do not like doing.

Since I work full time and am a full time student, my husband has taken on many of these hated chores. This is just one of the many ways he has supported me during this busy and stressful time. I really appreciate him doing this, because I know that he hates most of the chores, too. He is not doing them because he loves the chores, he is doing them because he loves me.

Therefore, I developed an impartial way to determine who would have to do the most hated chores. I proposed that we have a dance off. It’s like I always say, if it’s good enough for Britney and Justin, it’s good enough for me. I suggested that Ben and I each pick three songs. He would pick the songs that I would have to dance to, and I would pick the songs he would have to dance to. We would each serve as judges based on the following criteria: 1-degree of difficulty, 2-technical skill, 3-spirit/enthusiasm, 4-interpretaton of lyrics, 5-crowd involvement. In judging we would honestly have to assess whether the other person had outdone us and proved themselves in the five categories.

I think this is the perfect solution to the age old problem of who is going to do what around the house. It would be ideal if every person who hated to wash dishes married a person who loved to wash dishes, but it just doesn’t always happen like that. Personally, I would much rather be washing the dishes because I didn’t “drop it like it was hot” and “shake my groove thing” as opposed to it just being my turn to wash the dishes.

At first, Ben loved this idea. I think he considered it to be one of the many ideas that I enthusiastically explain in full detail and then send off to the idea graveyard to die a quick and painless death. But I’m serious about this. And I think he was too until he saw me dancing in the living room and knew that he would be washing the dishes forever. He even went so far as to make his first song selection for me-Barry White’s “My First, My Last, My Everything. This was a crucial mistake on his part, because I used to watch Ally McBeal and the Biscuit (John Cage) used to dance to this song about once a week, so I already have a routine in mind. And if all else fails, I can always pull out the showstopper…Thriller. In retaliation, I also made my first song choice for him. I picked 50 Cent “In Da Club.”

Another reason I think this idea would really work is because of Emmanuel. When I was there, no social dancing was allowed, just like the town in Footloose. As we watched the end of Footloose the other day, I noted that the young people of the town who had never been allowed to dance were magically all great dancers and would spontaneously break into choreographed steps and perform very challenging break dance moves. So, I’m pretty sure Ben and I would be the same.

Things I've Learned This Year

I know 2006 is still going strong, but for me the year ends when school is over. Since I've developed insomnia, I've become more reflective. So, here are things I've learned this year:

-How to cook (I'm still not the Iron Chef American, but I've gotten better)

-How to play No Limit Texas Hold 'Em. Look for me at the WSOP next year.

-All of the Trivial Pursuit Pop Culture cards. No kidding. I memorized all of them. It's a long story.

-How to speak my mind in a way that's not nearly as offensive as it was five years ago. Imagine where I'll be five years from now.

-That my faith can be shaken, tossed, thrown, neglected, and crushed...but not broken

-How to switch calls with the call waiting on my cell phone. That one took me a while

-Exactly how much I can take and what happens when I pass that point

-What it means to be dedicated to a goal that seems unattainable. I'm only 4 classes and one really big report away from that doctorate.

-How to read a map

-How to put up insulation, nail down tar paper, and shingle a roof. I worked with Habitat for Humanity in Pennsylvania over spring break. I also learned how to flip a hammer like a champ.

-That I am really ungrateful and not nearly thankful enough for all of the blessings in my life.

-That 10 Things I Hate About You is a lot funnier than I remembered, especially at 2:00 in the morning.

The TomKitten is here...

Tom and Katie's baby girl, Suri, was born today. And ironically, Brooke Shields baby girl, Grier, was born today.

Check out the whole story here:
http://people.aol.com/people/articles/0,19736,1170244,00.html

I don't want to say that Katie had the baby a few weeks ago and has been wearing a fake baby bump, but...things sure looked funny there at the end. Check out US Weekly for the full story on the weird bump.

Gwyneth's Baby Boy

Gwyneth had a boy today and his much anticipated name is....Moses Martin!

You can read it all here:

http://people.aol.com/people/articles/0,19736,1175007,00.html