At the Movies

Last night, Ande and I had free passes to go to the sneak preview of "Paul Blart, Mall Cop" starring Kevin James.

For those of you who don't know the gist of the story - basically it's about a single dad (James) who lives with his mom & daughter. He desperately wants to be a State Police officer, but can't pass the test due to hypoglycemia (low blood sugar). In the meantime, he works as a security officer at the mall.

There is an incident at the mall, and Security Officer Blart comes to the rescue.

It was pretty funny, and Kevin James' physical comedy was great. There were a few times when the movie had a lull, but overall it was not bad. This is one that the kids could watch as well, although some of the scenes might be a little intense for the younger crowd. There's very little (mild) swearing, no nudity (there is a scene where a woman's bra is exposed, but it's not in a sensual manner), no sex scenes, and the violence is mostly slapstick and all bloodless. There is one scene involving drinking, but it shows some negative consequences for the character's actions. You can learn more by clicking here.

Overall, I can say that I would watch this movie again, and probably still laugh. Ande says it's no "Dumb and Dumber", but it was okay. (Dumb and Dumber is the measuring stick by which Ande measures ALL comedy movies)


This is NOT a paid post.

Memories...

In one of his classes at school, Bubber has to make a presentation with pictures from grades k-9. So I'm going through some old photos looking for ones he can use. I came across this picture and just had to share it. It was taken in my "pre-blogging" days.

This has got to be one of my FAVORITE pictures I have EVER been in. This was me Aug 27, 2005. Puckey was not quite 2 days old.

****DISCLAIMER - I HAD NEVER AND HAVE NEVER AGAIN LOOKED THAT GOOD IN A POST-CHILDBIRTH PICTURE. IT WAS A TOTAL FLUKE****


This one always cracked me up, too. Puckey was a little over 2 months old, sitting between her sister's dolls. LOL

Almost hard to tell which ones are the real feet....

Tuesday Tip O' the Day

See, I told you once all the Christmas/New Year's festivities and whatnot were over, I would get back on track with my Tuesday Tip O' the Day! YAY ME!

Okay, for today's tip, I decided to share a SUPER SIMPLE RECIPE!! Because I am not a huge fan of cooking, I love anything that is cheap, easy, and fast to make.

Because it's a new year, I have also decided that I want to try to incorporate more healthy foods into my diet. I really have become disappointed with how I look, and there's nothing that's going to change that except better eating/exercise habits. (Well, thousands of dollars of lipo probably would expediate the process, but even that would only be a temporary fix if I didn't change my lifestyle!)

Now, for your super simple smoothie...

6 fresh strawberries (I used more strawberries, because the ones I had were sorta small, and I LOVE strawberries)
1 banana (mine was a medium size)
1 cup vanilla yogurt
1/2 cup milk (I used 2%, but you could use 1% or even skim if you wanted to)
2 tsp sugar (I omitted this, because the strawberries I had were very sweet already)

Put your ingredients in the blender and blend until smooth. Makes 2 servings. (or one big serving, if you decide it tastes too good to share. you know, not that I would do that or anything...)

I TOLD YOU IT WAS EASY! It's GOOD, too - I'd have posted a picture, but all you would have seen was an empty cup. LOL

Lessons from a 14 year old

I drive the older kids to the bus stop. We rarely miss the bus, although there have been a few times when I've pulled up just in time to see the bus driving away. This morning, however, we arrived JUST IN TIME. The bus was just getting ready to turn into the subdivision when I got there. I was feeling pretty good about the fact that I was neither too early nor too late. I would go so far as to say I had PERFECT timing this morning.

Until the following conversation occurred.

Me: Wow, we couldn't have timed it much better, huh?

14 year old son: Or much worse.

Me: Why would you say that? I got you to the bus right on time!

14 year old son: Not too smart to get here at the SAME time as the bus.

Me: Would you rather WALK to the bus stop? I got you here right when you needed to be! It's not too smart to talk to your mom that way, either!

(Okay, so I probably could have left that last comment out, right?)

On the way back home, I was pretty upset. Okay, REALLY upset. I try to do the best I can for the kids - making sure they get where they need to go when they need to be there, providing for their needs in the best possible way, helping them with homework or whatever when they need it....I was thinking how ungrateful my son is for all that I do for him.

Then I was convicted BIG TIME.

It occurred to me (through no act of coincidence - this was totally a God speaking to my heart moment) that the way my son acted this morning was the way I often act towards God.

I want something to happen, I want to "be somewhere" in my life at a certain time. And God gets me where I need to be. At the PERFECT TIME. Not too soon, not too late. RIGHT ON TIME.

But do I always have a positive outlook on that? I'm ashamed to say I don't. I often selfishly complain (in my head, if not out loud for others to hear) about not getting to be where I wanted when I wanted to be there. I am prone to be a pessimist, and sadly, even when I get exactly what I want, I'm not always satisfied with the timing of it.

Which brought me back to how I was feeling about my son's response this morning. I was hurt, angry, and feeling pretty low about what he said.

How does God feel when I act the same way? I can only guess that His feelings would be even MORE magnified. He's got millions of children (myself included) who are selfish and sometimes act like He's only there to serve them, instead of the opposite. And I'm complaining about ONE??

Lord, thank you for the lesson. Like most growing experiences, it hurt a little, it made me uncomfortable, and it made me think about where my heart is. As I often find, it's not in the right spot. But I'm trying.

Psalm 51:10 - Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. (NIV)

In Jesus' name. Amen.