Movie Remakes

I hope I am not alone on this. My husband finds my tirades on this subject hilarious, but I don’t even think he quite gets my passion. Over the years, there have been numerous movies remade. Most of them I just don’t get, but it wasn’t until a certain movie was remade that I was outraged. I know, I should not have time for this, but I can’t help it. The Karate Kid was a beloved movie for me as a child. It is probably why I always had a love of the sport and why I am obsessed with UFC now. Who on earth thought it was a good idea to remake this movie?! I mean don’t get me wrong. I love me some Will Smith and the whole Smith Family seems to be untouchable (who hasn’t whipped their hair lately), but I just do not get it. In fact, I am so absolutely 100% against this that I refused to see the new movie in the theater and will not purchase the dvd. The other night when I saw Karate Kid on a movie channel I quickly turned to it. Once I realized it was said remake, I quickly went back to Dora the Explorer and never looked back. I mean I can’t even bring myself to watch it for free on t.v. There is only 1 Karate Kid people. The sequels were hard enough to sit through, and don’t get me started on the girl version. But this just screams wrong. I would even be okay with this if they wanted to use the same premise, but change it up a bit. Like Kung Fu Kid or something as from what I hear (because there is no way I will watch it), it isn’t even karate in the movie. I know filming of a remake of Footloose is done and heard rumors of Dirty Dancing and I’m telling you I could just scream. Let these movies stand. I know there are starving writers out there that must have new ideas for you to make. Of course I know many people love this and I am in the minority. And I will honestly admit there is one remake coming out soon that I will see (Arthur – because who didn’t love the first one and who doesn’t think the hilarious Russell Brand will be a dead on for that role). But my love for the one and only The Karate Kid with Ralph Macchio as loveable Daniel Larusso and Pat Morita as Mr. Miyagi will stay forever! Banzai!

Coffee

Let me start by saying I love coffee, coke, and tea. When I got sick many, many years ago (that same sickness that told me I couldn’t have kids – pssh, whatever doctors), one of the plans to get me better was decrease (not eliminate) my caffeine intake. While I was born in California, I am truly a Georgia Peach. There is absolutely no way I can stop drinking sweet tea. Not drinking coke, kinda difficult, but really was easier than I thought. I actually only started drinking it again (very infrequently) when I was pregnant with the girls because the heartburn was SO bad that coke would actually help with some of the meals I knew would cause it. Then there was the coffee. Geez, I have to give up coffee and coke. Blah! I was so surprised how quickly I kicked this habit. It was actually good practice because I have never been healthier than the two times I have been pregnant. I felt so blessed that I was carrying said little miracles that I was not about to put anything in my body that would/might/possibly hurt them. So I was actually pretty lucky (if you call all the pain during the sickness) to have kicked these things. I have continued with my sweet tea drinking. I actually kicked it for several months once, but it gradually became a part of me again. The coke is extremely infrequent – I mean you just cannot have popcorn or certain things with water! Plus, how on earth can you say no to a good cold Cherry Coke or Cherry Dr. Pepper?!?!? Then we got a new partner and he brought a Keurig coffee maker to the office. I was so proud how I never got a cup of it. Now, I did try the hot chocolate and teas in it, but never the coffee. Even though it smelled SO GOOD! So what does my husband do for Christmas, he buys me my own Keurig coffee maker. Does he not listen to me about how hard it has been to stay away from coffee since this machine entered my office? Does he only want it for himself and used giving it to me as a reason to pay so much money for coffee maker? I don’t have a clue. Once again, I was so proud of myself. I went out and bought the hot chocolates and teas, but did NOT drink any of the coffees. Then we had a freak snow/ice storm and was locked down in the house. That did it. Two little girl monsters and one big husband monster in the house with no way of getting down our driveway. I was practically begging for the coffee! And now I’m a coffee drinker again. Gosh darn it! Now, I am proud of myself that even though that devil contraption is in my house I do not have a cup every day. I do usually have one on Saturday and Sunday mornings. My girls think if they can convince me to have cereal for dinner (they try this at a minimum of once a week) that they can play more with mommy before bed, and so I give in because what mom on earth could say no to your children wanting to play with you more. So on cereal nights sometimes I will get a cup of coffee with it. I am sure this will stop in the summer because it will be so hot, but I’m not going to guarantee it. Of course then I will be drinking more of the teas so I think I will be better about the balance. All I can say is that machine makes the absolute best coffee (even a close call with my fav Dunkin Donuts because it has a Donut Shop blend that is so close you wouldn’t even believe it if you didn’t try it).

Cranky Mary

I don’t understand why we have to change time. I certainly do not understand why we would need to Spring Forward and basically loose a whole hour. I mean where does it really go anyways? Why does it have to go? I wondered this and many other things while I was doing everything I could to get to sleep Sunday night. I somehow convinced myself that yes the clock said 11:30, but really it is only 10:30 so go ahead and stay up another hour reading. I should logically have been about to rationalize that also meant when my alarm clock goes off at 5:30 (or really 5:20 as I always wake up 10 minutes before my clock goes off – weird, I know), that it would in essence be 4:30 and I should take my happy butt off to bed. I am beyond lucky that my girls are schedule children. What is that you say? Did I train my children like dogs? What an interesting idea. But no, I did not. My children from age 1 month (3 weeks for the baby) insisted themselves upon a schedule that included an early bedtime and late wake up. I know I am lucky so do not start the hate mail. The oldest truly thinks she should be in bed at 7:00 at night. We called the baby an old man for the first 1 ½ of her life because she wanted to go to bed around 5:30 or 6:00 at the very latest. Now you would think this would mean they would get up at the crack of dawn and you would be wrong, oh so very wrong. While I was still nursing them they would get up when I woke them up to feed them. That’s right. I would have to wake them up to feed them! They would promptly go back to sleep and sleep for several hours. Once the nursing stopped, they felt sleeping in until 8:00, 8:30 and sometimes even until 9:00 was appropriate. Again, I know I’m lucky. So, while I put my sleepyheads to bed at 7:00 Sunday night (yes, while it was still bright outside), I couldn’t help but wonder why on earth it was so easy for them to be on a schedule and I couldn’t get on board. I guess it is just my natural stubbornness to not given in to losing one hour or maybe I just wanted to make sure everyone remembered what cranky Mary is like. Cranky Mary appears when she is tired or hungry. To ease the pain of the time change and defying sleep, I did stop and get breakfast yesterday and today. Maybe I’ll just sleep tonight instead?

Dif.fer.ent

I am different. Since everyone knows this to be true, I have no problem admitting it. There is not a computer in the world that could hold the list of things that make me different. I realized this thanks to my mother-in-law, who was very clear when I asked her what I was supposed to tell my children when they asked where she was, that she was “off to see the wizard”. Seriously.not.joking! It took her two weeks to come see Reilly and she spent more time with the dogs. That was the last time she saw her. She has never seen Makayla. This is not for lack of trying (or begging) on part of myself and my dear husband, you know, her son. Trust me, with how I was raised this became a huge problem for me and in my marriage. Until (and if you can believe without even any counseling) my husband and I actually decided to stop making it a big deal. My two children are loved more than any child in the world. Prior to us getting married she was all kinds of involved. I’m not sure what happened, and we probably would go in debt with a counselor on that one, but I’m done trying to figure it out. But while planning the wedding every time I would ask her opinion or show her what we were doing she would scrunch up her face and say “Ooohhh, that’s so dif.fer.ent” clearing indicating she did not like what we decided. It then became a game to see how many times we could get her to say it. I got it when my dress ended up having some red in it (ask to see a picture it was breathtaking), when I picked red velvet for the cake, the food, the decorations, etc. But then I thought – oh crap, I am different. Want to know the most neurotic thing? Probably not, but here goes. The tiniest thing can happen and I think I’m pregnant. Why you ask? Here goes. I am medically not supposed to be able to have children. That’s right. My children are total miracle babies. Don’t ask my husband about this, he will just tell you he has super swimmers. Seriously. So before getting pregnant with the first girl (totally planned by the way, just not thinking it would 1. Happen at all or 2. Happen so quickly), I never worried about being pregnant because I couldn’t right. Both of my girls are 100% planned. Came off the pill and bam two months later (each time) I was pregnant. I am completely tuned into my body like something crazy. So that is why if I’m not cramping by a certain point, start craving anything I craved with either baby, or don’t have to run to the bathroom on a certain day I am just 100% positive I’m pregnant. That is why when I started craving garlic bread this morning at 10:00 I freaked out. We have never had a true scare, I am simply dif.fer.ent! Oh, and by the way, don’t worry about my girls. They have more adopted grandmothers than most people could imagine. They have a list of people that want to be their other grandmas or aunts. People are naturally drawn to my little munchkins. Not to mention my mom, their nana who is honestly an angel right here on earth. Oh wait, you might want to worry about the fact that their mother is clearly dif.fer.ent!

Red

If you were to ask me my favorite color when I was in high school I would have told you blue. It probably had a lot to do with the fact that I was nicknamed Blu my freshman year by a dear friend. The nickname stuck, and while I really love blue to be 100% honest, my favorite color is red. This is very helpful given one of my favorite things is UGA football. Each of my apartments had at least one room done with a lot of red. When I purchased my first home, I knew it was going to be the kitchen. I wanted a house with dark cherry wood, but it seemed like every house that we went back to didn’t have this wood. My house doesn’t have dark cherry wood, but it does have awesome wood and the red REALLY sets it off. So, you can imagine my surprise and disgust while eating lunch and reading my Sports Illustrated (that’s right, all the sports magazines come to me in my house) that I see an ad for Newport cigarettes. I took a picture and sent it via text to several friends. I mean how on earth is this a good ad?!?! Not only should the word pleasure and cigarettes never go together, but why oh why would they do this to my favorite color. Evil I tell you, evil!

Holidays/Seasons Decorations

I’m one of those quirky people that like to decorate my house for holidays/seasons. I mean in every way. I have something on the door, full on decorations in the house, candles and plug ins that smell like whatever season it is, candy bowls with appropriate candy, etc. You name it, I’ve thought of it. To be honest, I did this before I even had children. But it has gotten way out of hand since I’ve had the girls. They really get into it and it is just nice to have the house decorated. Plus, it is a fun way to teach them about the seasons/holidays. I even keep the decorations stored in boxes that are colored themed so that my husband can easily pull the appropriate bin from the POD. Then I like to shop to see what else is new that add to the collection. There is only one time a year that I get really frustrated. When I take down my Valentine’s Day decorations I am increasing irritated that St. Patrick’s Day is only celebrated at bars/pubs and there are hardly any decorations for it. I have had to create most of the decorations that I have currently and while that is fun, I would really appreciate a little love for my beloved holiday. I am of Irish/German decent (doesn’t that sound like fun for my husband – a strong willed, independent, control freak). The German only really comes out in my stubbornness and control freak. I am 100% a Kirk. Reilly’s name was very much to honor my heritage. So, if there are any others of you out there that know the skinny on where to get good Irish/St. Patrick’s Day decorations, please, please let me know! (And not the shamrocks that are covered in so much green glitter that it would take 20 years to get it cleaned out of my house.)