verbingnouns

Happenings

I hope everyone had a marvelous Christmas. I certainly did, even though it was unconventional. Since both of my siblings had Christmas with their in-laws this year, we opened all our gifts with them in Calhoun on Christmas Eve. I went back to Texas with my parents after that where I stayed until yesterday. We went to the Christmas Eve service at the local Episcopal Church Saturday night, which was lovely. Of course, we had a special service at church Sunday morning and then had a family over for lunch. It didn't feel very Christmas-y (65 degree weather didn't add to the Christmas feel either), but it was a nice day.
Taking a few extra days off was just what I needed. I didn't really have anything planned, so we just kind of did a little of this and a little of that. We saw The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. I definitely enjoyed it, but I'm no Chronicles expert, so I can't compare it word-for-word with the book. Mom and I went to Tyler on Tuesday to do a little gift-card spending. Of course, I'm always up for shopping, so that was fun. I still have some money left on my card, too, so I can do some end-of-the-year sale shopping. What to buy: practical or whimsical? That is the question.
I came back home yesterday and spent the evening setting up my iPod. I got the Nano for Christmas and I'm super excited about it. However, it's quite a commitment to get it set up just how I want it. I'm about halfway there. I guess that's part of the fun, huh? I really want to get an iTrip so I can use it in my car, but those evil-geniuses at Apple made the outlets on the Nano different from all the previous iPods so none of the same devices can be used. Most of the accessory makers are a little behind on getting Nano accessories out, so I'll just have to wait to get the one I want.
I also have a stack of new books to read and CD's the listen to. Aaron & Amy gave me the Garden State Soundtrack and Sufjan Stevens' Illinois(e). My dad copied all (hundreds) of his MP3s onto Cds for me. He has a lot of folk-type stuff which I'm happy to have. Now I just need a lot of time to listen to music. Hmm. Is it time for another roadtrip?
Now that I'm almost halfway through my two-day work week, I've got to get my contributions to the New Years' Eve party ready for the big event. The next weekend, we'll have the post-baptism-of-the-nephew-and-niece shindig, then the parties wil be over for a while and life will be back to business as usual.

Will the Real Neil Poynter Please Stand Up?

A while back, I mentioned how I was trying to do more of my business locally. That entailed not only doing most of my Christmas shopping in town instead of on the internet, it also included me switching my car insurance to a local State Farm agent instead of a nebulous Geico agent. I know State Farm is not exactly Monroe's best friend, but at least it's a local agent, right?
Well, anyway, here's the kind letter I received from my friendly State Farm Underwriting Department today:

Dear Policyholder:

Thank you for allowing us the oppotunity to provide your car insurance under this policy. After a thorough review, (emphasis mine) we are sorry that we cannot continue this insurance after the date and time of cancellation shown above. The reason(s) for this action is:

(This is where it gets good)

You have not provided necessary information concerning possible undisclosed driver Neil Poynter to enable us to complete an underwriting review.

Blah, blah, etc, etc.

Uh, wait a second. Hold the phone. Has anyone ever heard of a bloke named Neil Poynter? I certainly have not and if I find out he's been driving my car, I'm not going to be happy. I have both keys. I swear.

This reminds me of the time Aaron and I kept getting a phone bill for Nalley's Chips and Snacks and the phone company refused to believe that we were not selling peanut butter and pickle relish out of our apartment. Yeah, that was a nightmare. (And oh, how I wish I still had the letter Aaron wrote to the kind folks of the phone company after getting the run around from all the customer service reps - I might be able to take some poynters - ahem - pointers.)

Hopefully the fact that I have a local agent who I kind of know will make it easier to clear up this little misunderstanding.

To be continued.

Very Random Observations

*Time zones make friendships more difficult.

*I could never be a cleaning lady because I can't whistle.

*I don't feel like I'm any different today than I was this time last year. I consider that a bad thing.

*I get excited about Christmas too early. It's hard to keep the momentum going.

*I need a nap.

Theyhadababyitzagirl!

Aaron and Amy have a new daughter: Ava Clementine, born around 12:30. She's 7 pounds, 6 ounces and 20 inches long and looks a lot like her big sister. Aaron will probably post pictures soon.

The Newest of My Favorites

Baby Gabriel

Me and One of My Favorite People in the World

Theyhadababyitzaboy!

As of 5:23 this afternoon, Gabriel Andrew is safely here. He's very cute and chubby, weighing in at 8 lbs 10 oz and measuring 21 1/4 inches. Rachel and Andrew are both tired, but thrilled. I'll try to post pictures tomorrow.

Vague and General

December has been quite the month so far: stressful, yet boring.
*The parties have been fun - even the dreaded Office Party - which was actually quite entertaining. I did snag a date at the last minute, which made it infinitely more endurable. We played "Let's Make a Deal" and the guy who "hosted" (an attorney who has an office in our building) was an absolute riot. You should have been there. Really. I'm still laughing.
*I've successfully passed the one year mark at my job and life is good. My boss has been out sick, which means I'm holding down the fort and trying to keep people's home loans from spinning out of control, which is, in some cases, easier said than done. But as I've mentioned before, when the boss is out I'm here basically by myself, so it's pretty lonely.
*I had the pleasure of going to the dentist today, which has the potential to turn me into an advil-overdoser. Anyone who has known me for a while knows that I have issues. One of those issues is jaw pain, which is much improved from where it was five years ago, but inflamed by the torture that happens in the dentist's chair. The aftermath won't be pretty.
*My internal calender is set one day ahead this week. I keep thinking today is Thursday, which would make tomorrow Friday, but then I'm sadly reminded that it's only Wednesday. That's probably a good thing though, since it gives me one more day to clean my room before the Christmas party at the house. It needs it. Badly.
*To your right, you'll notice I've added a few new links. Mother of 30+ is a blog of someone who I don't know, but I know people who know her. She is working at an orphanage in South Africa and if her stories don't make you cry (at least a little) you might be kind of a jerk. Also travelling in a foriegn land, I've added The Ways of Brae in China, because I've enjoyed reading the tales of an English teacher in China. And another Bray...Wine, Wilkins & Song is the blog of my friends Bray and Kajsa (and of course baby Hobbes). And one more: The Grand is a blog I've found myself reading and enjoying for a while now, and now you, too can share in the fun.
*We're anxiously awaiting the birth of the nephew. Looks like today's the day. I'll be posting the news when there's news and will have some pictures up ASAP.

Pride, Prejudice, & Winona Ryder's Long-Lost Sister

I finally went and saw Joe Wright's version of Pride & Prejudice. Admittedly, I went in with my own pride and prejudice against the film from the start. Though I'm not deeply attached to the 1995 A&E version as many are, I am deeply attached to the book. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the A&E version more than most movies, but I had an attachement to the old-school BBC version of P&P {a set of videos a won in an embarrassing way (that story is for some other time - I'm not sure the statute of limitations is up on that one yet)}, so I had a screen-inspired picture of Elizabeth and Darcy in my head long before I saw the 1995 version.

With my loyalty to the book, my distaste for the previews of this new version, and my respect for Colin Firth as the only man who could ever play Mr. Darcy well, I expected the movie to be terrible. I was so wrong. I loved it. Of course, it's not perfect. They have to skim over some plot-lines and characters to fit the story into film-length, but I thought they did a good job of keeping the integrity of the book. Though they changed some dialogue which didn't necessarily need to be changed, the changes weren't abrasive and were certainly in keeping with the characters who said them. For example: in the book, Lizzie says, "...and perhaps if I have very good luck, I may meet with another Mr. Collins, in time." In this movie, she says, "Perhaps Mr. Collins has a cousin." Same point, different delivery.

Here are a few things I liked about the movie: *they finally got a Jane who was actually pretty - in both the old BBC version and the A&E, Jane was not especially pretty and certainly not prettier than Elizabeth. *Kiera Knightly's Elizabeth was giggly, which got on my nerves at first, but grew on me after a while. *Matthew MacFadyen's Mr. Darcy was not Colin Firth, but his interpretation of Mr. Darcy was accurate and enjoyable - a new twist on an old favorite, if you will. *Mr. Collins made me laugh out loud, which is a sign of a good Mr. Collins. In the old BBC version, they play a bassoon during Mr. Collins' scenes which is so appropriate, but even without the bassoon, the point of his unbearableness was made. *Donald Sutherland's Mr. Bennett: all I can say is "bravo!" *The scenery was spectacularly well done and I enjoyed the more modern cinemetography as well.

I do have a few small complaints as well: *Kiera Knightly is the poor man's Winona Ryder (insert shoplifting joke here.) *Mr. Bingley looked (and acted) a bit too much like one of the Weasley twins. *Dame Judy Dench scares me.

I'm not ready to declare it's absolute superiority to the A&E version. I could elaborate on my opinion, but sometimes less is more when it comes to both film reviews and film length. If you're too attached to the A&E version, either go see this one with an open mind or don't see it at all. They say ignorance is bliss. Really, though, you should probably just read (or re-read) the book. No film version can compete with Austen herself.

Who Was the Brainsurgeon Who Came Up With That One? (and Other Nonesense)

Who was the "mastermind" behind these?

It is obviously a far inferior method to keeping bread fresh than the traditional paper-coated wire twistie, which by the way, I did not realize could be pronounced "Twist Tie" until I was in college. (I don't have a picture of the classic twistie because I only have one kind of bread.)

Could there be that big of a price difference? I'm just sayin'.

I got off work early today (as is painfully obvious by my taking time to photograph and upload the above picture). I've been working on finalizing my Christmas CD. I intended to multitask by doing something actually productive while I burned all the CDs (like, say, cleaning my room - something I've avoided for at least 3 weeks), but we're in the middle of the 12th copy and so far, nothing productive has been done, which once again proves that I am a procrastinating bum.

I am almost done with Christmas shopping though, so there's one thing I haven't procrastinated about. I even have them wrapped! This is a big step for me, since I usually wait 'til the last minute to begin shopping.

Enjoy your weekend and be careful what kind of twistie your bread has on it.