Movies

I spent lots of time this past weekend watching movies -- one of my favorite things to do. I started on Friday night by putting on comfy clothes, fuzzy slippers, and relaxing on the couch underneath my heating blanket. I had an itch to watch Pearl Harbor, which is always so great! I always fast forward through the war stuff and just watch the love story part. I never can decide who I want Evelyn to end up with -- Ben Affleck or Josh Hartnett -- they are both so dreamy in that movie!

Last weekend, I rented Love Comes Softly from the video store. I totally loved it. I grew up watching Little House on the Prairie (my friend, Ally, is ALWAYS teasing me about this.) The Love Comes Sofly trilogy is very similar to this. It's about a woman whose husband dies just after they leave the wagon train and claim their land. Since it's close to winter, and no wagon trains will be leaving to take her back East, a Christian widower offers her a marraige of convenience -- to live with him until Spring and take care of his daughter. I don't want to write anything else about it, just in case anyone wants to watch it. But I really really enjoyed it -- it was just a good, wholesome, feel-good movie. My husband probably wouldn't have liked it one bit -- which is really the only good thing about him being gone -- I can watch as many chick flicks as my heart desires! Anyway, Love Comes Softly is a trilogy. I rented the last two parts of the trilogy this weekend -- Love's Enduring Promise and Love's Long Journey. Both were good, but not as great as the first.

On Saturday, I watched Supersize Me. I'm still not sure how I feel about this movie. Obviously, it was gross watching this guy eat McDonald's three times a day, knowing that his health was deteriorating so quickly. However, I have talked to some people that say they will never again eat fast food after watching that movie. I don't think I'm going to give up fast food for the rest of my life, but it definitely reaffirms my decision to stop at Panera instead of McDonald's after church on Sundays. Do I think that fast food is killing our nation by causing obesity ? -- not really. People choose what kind of restaurants they want to eat at along with how much they'll eat. A person who stops by a fast food restaurant once every week or so is not going to get fat just because of that one meal.

On the other hand -- there was a large segment of the movie that talked about school lunches. This part I totally agreed with! Working in a middle school, I see what my kids eat and it is TOTAL JUNK!! When I was in school, we could pick one of two regular menu choices, or salad bar -- that's it! Nowadays, my students can choose from two regular menu choices, salad, a deli sandwich, fries, burgers, pizza, breadsticks, chips, ice cream bars, sugary drinks -- it is mostly CRAP!! Almost every student in there eats cheese breadsticks and a candy bar for their lunch everyday. Yikes!

On Saturday night, I went to the movies to see Take the Lead. I hadn't been dying to see this or anything, I just wanted to get out of the house (and also have some of that fantastic movie popcorn). I was pleasantly surprised. It is the one with Antonio Banderas teaching kids balroom dancing during their detention. It was pretty entertaining and the crowd was really into it. I was glad that I went to see it.

So despite all the fun I had watching all these movies, I feel like it was a totally unproductive weekend! So next weekend, I've got to have some sort of project to keep me busy and make me feel like I actually accomplished something. I'm thinking of possibly starting my first quilt -- but I'm a little intimidated. I'll let you know what I decide ...