Starting up the new year - and some movie reviews!

So, I've been back at work for a week now ... John started classes on Monday ... and we're picking up our normal lives again after a perfectly wonderful break!

Seriously, I think this was the best vacation I've ever had.  We all (John, Honey, and I) went to John's parents house for Christmas.  We visited family, ate amazing food, visited Ikea, opened presents, played games, and watched the birth of a baby cow.  John's parents keep cows - and most of them were expecting babies while we were there.  One of them came right up near the house, and we were able to watch her give birth from the window - it was amazing!  Since then, they've had 12 baby cows born, and 8 more coming any day now.

We came back home the day after Christmas, and perhaps 2-3 hours after we got home a couple from church dropped their dog off at our house for us to take care of for the week.  "Ice" was a small little white terrier dog (I don't know the actual breed), and she and Honey did not immediately care for each other.  John and I spent the week just relaxing and doing things around the house, while the dogs kept each other occupied.

Honey was so stressed out - she hated having to share John and I.  She didn't mind if Ice played with her toys or went in her bed, or anything.  But if Ice got in our laps to be petted, Honey got upset and paced and whined and barked.  Thankfully though, by the time it came for Ice to go home, the two of them were getting along much better.  Of course, Honey was still over-the-moon happy when Ice went home.  She was bouncing and happy and playful and on her very best behavior!

John got a lot of really good work done on the house over the break.  He completely re-did my pantry!  and it is totally amazing! I am so loving my pantry now.  I'll have to get some pictures off my phone to put on here.  He also painted most of the garage - with a stinky acylic paint that permeated the entire house with that awful paint smell.  Still, the garage looks much better.

We also went to see both "The Hobbit" and "Les Miserables" in theaters.  They were brilliant.  Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins was spot-on.  My favorite parts of "The Hobbit"?  When Smaug destroyed the city at the beginning, and when the dwarves were showing up at Bilbo's house.  I also loved that they added scenes that were not necessarily from the book, but explained the back story.  John did some research, and apparently Peter Jackson, the director, was given access to Tolkien's writings that were never published.  My personal feeling is that Jackson and his crew have immersed themselves in Tolkien's world for almost 10 years now - I have every faith in them that if they do add something, it will be an enhancement, not a detractor from the world.

Unfortunately, "Les Miserables" did not live up to my expectations.  I've seen the stage musical twice before on stage, and have been in love with the musical since high school.  Anne Hathaway as Fantine was perfect.  She was by far the best part of that movie.  Overall, it was a good movie.  I just had two problems with it:  Hugh Jackman as Valjean, and the music.

Now, it was clear that Hugh Jackman put all he had into this role - he worked at it, and his acting was stellar.  My only complaint with his is that he doesn't have the voice to carry that role.  Valjean is the backbone of the entire musical - he has multiple solos and dramatic pieces to sing.  Honestly, I probably would have been happy if they had dubbed over Jackman's voice.  He's not a bad singer - not at all.  But he didn't have the authority in his voice to carry that particular role.  (Side note - I've heard very similar arguments about Russell Crowe, who played Javert.  Yes, you can say exactly the same thing about him - stellar acting, not as good singing voice - but this didn't bother me so much, because Javert does not sing as much as Valjean.)

My next criticism is with whoever did the soundtrack for the film.  Because that's what it is - a soundtrack.  When you see the play in person, the music is a powerful, driving force that envelopes you.  In the movie, the music is toned down to background music - an aside.  By doing they, they lost the impact that the music gave.

Anyway, it was a wonderful break, and John and I enjoyed it so very much.  We're (maybe) ready for this next semester?  We certainly jumped into it feet-first!
    

Thanksgiving Drama ... Part Two

Last time I ended the story with us getting in the car and driving to the factory to hopefully find someone to help us save the chickens.

We were hoping to pass the catch crew on the road - even though they'd be late, at least we would know where they were.  But we made it through the 30-minute drive into the nearest town without a glimpse of them.  By the time we pulled into the factory parking lot, it was nearing 10 PM Thanksgiving night.  we drove around trying to decide where to park and where would be the most likely place to find someone ... when we actually saw someone!

A man was sitting in his 18-wheeler truck working on paperwork, or something.  John and I stayed in the car, while MIL went to go talk to him.  It was amazing.  Downright miraculous, even.

The man in the truck was only supposed to be at the factory for a total of about 5 minutes (we had caught him in that time span!) and had the cell phone numbers of the people we needed to call!!  He made a few calls, and let my MIL talk to some people on his phone, before giving her the phone numbers for her reference.

Apparently, someone had changed the schedule, so the chicken catch was meant for 6AM instead of 8 PM - without telling anyone about the change.  With that change in place ... the birds were supposed to be coming off their feed Now ... even though they'd already been off their feed for hours.  My in-laws made some quick decisions - they decided to let hte birds eat and drink for 1-2 hours, and then take them off their feed.

By the time we got home, it was nearing 11 PM.  My MIL rushed down to the chickens to help my FIL.

About 11:45 she came back to the house, got cleaned up, and my MIL, John, and I all went Black Friday shopping; a developing holiday tradition.

Since we normally go about 10 PM - this was the latest we'd been out shopping, and as we got closer to the stores (Tanger Outlets) we saw cars parked out at least a mile from the stores.  We were seriously thinking about turning around and going home - who wants to walk a mile just to get to the stores?  But previous years had shown us that sometimes there are spots in the parking lot that people never seem to take (they give up and just park before they get to the middle of the parking lot!), so we decided to try and find a spot closer to the stores.  If we couldn't, then we'd go home.

We found a parking spot not 10 feet away from Bath and Body Works.  It was astonishing.  Even more astonishing than the line outside of Bath and Body Works (we did not go in that store!)

So, we checked to make sure we all had our cell phones, and then split up to get our shopping done quickly - we had to get back to farm to get the chickens ready for their 6AM catch.  We got their about midnight, and left about 1:30 AM - so we were quick about it.  John and I got all our Christmas shopping done, as well as a few things for ourselves.  (Here's a plug:  I got an amazing new wool peacoat at Wilson's Leather for $45.)

When we got home, my FIL was already in bed - he'd left a note with instructions about the chickens for my MIL.  She rushed down to the birds, and John went to bed.  I was still awake, so I read a while before turning the light out at approximately 3 AM.


And this is another long post, so I'm breaking it off here.  I PROMISE I'll get to the car chase and the police in the next part!