hahahahaha

I just watched, Top Gun. Probably the first time since it came out in the mid eighties.

My memory of it was that I thought it was total cheese.

and yeh, to a degree, it still is. The first half for sure.

But it is also sooooo much better that I remember. Particularly with the right video/picture and audio quality. Particularly with all the eye candy-- all the yummy men. Oh so rare for a flick. Rare that the girls have something to really gawk at. I was but ten years old when it came out. Not that I didn't appreciate a cute boy/guy in life or in a movie, but I can finally appreciate what all the elder woman folk were drooling about. Volleyball scene, anybody? Locker room? Man in towel with well outlined man-bits? Haha.
Not one for Tom Cruise, but he was looking nice as well as all the other half, (1/3 ?) dressed fellas. Val Kilmer too.

The second half of the movie had me tense and excited at times. I was squeezing my BFs hand through some of the flight shots.

Gotta love the sound track too, woo!


That is all.

ack, my apartment is so dry that I am constantly zapping myself and my poor kitties. They come up to me for a rub down, and they get shocked instead. Upper 20% to mid 30% is the best I can do without taking some action.

I have a humidifier but I somehow lost a part, so I'll be looking to buy another one if only just for my bedroom - likely a warm air vaporizer this time. I had a larger cool mist one, but I brought it over to my bf's recently and I'm likely going to keep it there. Thought I'd make everywhere I hang out comfortable!

Other ideas include placing bowls of water around the house to allow evaporation. My felines will enjoy having several water choices. Also, boiling a pot of water on the stove then turning it way down and allow the steam to fill the air is another. Some people hang up their fresh washed clothes around the room to dry hence adding moisture to the air. Not sure if I am that motivated or patient enough to look at the clutter. My laundry area is in the basement and although I often hang stuff up to dry, it is visually out of the way. I'd have to bring the load upstairs and find somewhere to hang everything. Looking at it might drive me crazy, yet for a sizable boost on my hydrometer read out, it may well be worth it.

Was else? What more ideas are there to boost the humidity levels in a house? Keep shower water in bathtub for awhile? I'm really curious about new and creative ways to boost humidity levels- to feel more comfortable and to help the house. Not only does this help the area feel warmer it is important for the health of your furniture and house structure. Keeps wood healthy.

alright.. off to figure all this out. Stay warm! :)

Wow, another year over.

A lot of changes, for the better occurred in my life this past year. A lot of learning and and growing. Much to be thankful for and much to still think about. Soon, as with previous years posts, a 'year in review' to be posted. Right now, a quick post to wish all of you a Happy New Year.

While I feel a tug of desire to head out to the 24 this evening, my plan for this evening is to go to my bf's house. I wasn't sure what the plans might be until recently. As was determined last week, he will have his son, who is three, staying over tonight. Father duties which I respect and admire; and so I want to be with them. I can't imagine bringing in the new year not beside my wonderful bf. These are our first holidays and such and so it is so great, comforting and enjoyable to share in these new firsts together. He is my best friend on top of it, so no matter what we do, we tend to have fun. Although I'm quite sure he would insist that I go meet up with all of you, it is an evening I want to share with him and the little one, in whatever way we celebrate/not celebrate. I think I will buy a bottle of champagne and a few noise makers and perhaps whatever else looks fun/creative to add to the repertoire.

I don't foresee anything changing, but if it does, we'll be there.
I'm eager for all of you to meet.

I haven't seen many of you in a long long time. This year has been bizarre in many ways, and I intend to be better at catching up with all the people I care about. That's you, (e:peeps), even those I haven't met yet! So, more gatherings, coffee conversations and such are mandatory!
(e:pyrcedgrrl) lives back in buffalo for several months now, and I have only been to her place twice. Timing, choices and circumstances have kept me closer to home rather than the usual adventuring I do. I think I have my first "resolution" :)

Anyway, I must go, much to do today.

Stay warm, stay safe, have fun, take loads of pictures and post ASAP!

Cheers, my friends!

~carey


(e:ladycroft), call meeeeeeeeeeee!

Stay warm, be safe, eat lots of cookies :)

xo,
Carey

Or as originally titled, "movies I rented and cookies I made"

I made Sugar cookies- rolled out and used cutouts of, course! Christmas trees, Stars, Bells, Snowmen and Stockings (Santas and Angels never really look like anything to me, so I pass on those). Then frosted and decorated. A few or more eaten here and there. A different recipe was used this year and they were extra yum.

Gingerbread cookies. Again, rolled out and used cutouts. Among my regular cutters, I failed to realize that I did not have a "gingerbread man" shaped cutter. A run to the grocery store was almost fruitless, until I spotted one- a tiny package of six miniature cutters, one of which had a "gingerbread boy". Other shapes included a bell, star, tree, candy cane and holly. I used half of those shapes. Gingerbread Boys were made crispy then iced. The other shapes were made to be soft, then left alone as is. All yums.

The above cookies were all that I was going to make, then I decided to try out a few other kinds.

Among the extras, this included a peanut butter cookie, a chocolate mint cookie, some peanut butter drop cookie that was made with cornflakes- odd but kinda good, a shortbread with walnuts and then something of my own creation which included among the other standard ingredients, butterscotch chips, mini semi sweet chips, walnuts and almond extract.These turned out really nice, and I gave them all away. I pretty much kept all the "reject" cookies. Poor Snowmen getting decapitated mid decoration and the such.


As for my movie rental selection, I did not have a whole lot to choose from as others have done the same, but I picked up a few:

1. Muppet Christmas --the newer one, not the Muppet Christmas Carol, although I could have, should have, gotten that as well. Anything Muppets is sure to be a great pick. I agree, (e:james), something along the lines of, "Muppets: Gateway to Genocide with Kemit the lovable green Dictator" would indeed still be.. spellbinding-ly cute.

Heil Kermitler?


Speaking of Muppets-- EMMIT OTTERS JUG BAND CHRISTMAS!! ok, so I totally didn't find it, but I know that I can buy it at a local store, so hopefully I can still do that yet at some point soon. I havent seen that movie since I was a kid, and I LOVED it. It was awesome to see that as a suggestion, (e:matthew) and (e:iriesara)!

2. Elf. --Love that movie, haven't seen it in a long time, so this will be fun to revisit. Love Will Ferrel in it. "It's SANTA!!"

My bf has, Charlie Brown Christmas and "Polar Express", which we just watched. I enjoyed that a lot- very dream-like. I think that will be a 'once a year' sort of movie for me. Fra ra ra ra ra..!

I did not want anything with horror or nudity (i really don't like nudity in my movie watching- maybe if there was a more equal nudity factor, but really, I don't like looking at naked women. ever.So rare is the male nudity glimpses, right? Also, not what I was looking for in a Christmas themed movie.)

(e:mrmike), I passed on, A Christmas Story. There were a lot of those left. Maybe I will learn to like it. Maybe I would if I watched it now, as I haven't seen it in numerous years. Perspectives change. I just never really got into it. Might be the annoying look of the main character. As a kid, I was rooting for him to shoot his eye out. heh

You are correct, (e:metalpeter), the first Die Hard takes place on Christmas (or maybe Christmas eve).

I had to look up, Trapped In Paradise, as per (e:drew)'s suggestion. It sounded so familiar to me. IMDB helped me to remember that I have seen it. Good stuff!

I would have rented the Santa Clause (I think there are a few of them?) if it was there and possibly the first Home Alone-- but nada.

so, since I was open to a lame but feel good sort of movie, I was therefore open to RomComs.

I have, The Holiday, and it perfect for that need. I've watched it once recently and have had it on "as background" for a few days on and off. (I don't have cable or antennas to tune in to local channels)

3. Last Holiday- Queen Latifah, LL Cool J and others. She is told she is dying and has three weeks to live, so she takes all her money and lives out her last few weeks... Cute, but not as good/cute as I wanted. The idea was there, but it wasn't fully pulled off, for me.

4. Love Actually. eh, didn't really do anything for me. But Liam Neeson, Colin Firth and Alan Rickman.. that was worth the watch, but I wont revisit it. It was so .. blah to me. I had high expectations though. Enough of Hugh Grant already.

5. A Wrinkle In Time. (2003, i think) Not a "christmas movie", but I have been wanting to watch this for some time now, and I actually thought to look for it while at Blockbuster (I rarely rent movies). I was pleased to find it, and I am eager to watch it. I hope it follows the book and really brings the characters to life. A tesseract! I'm so excited!

I REALLY wanted to rent a few classics. Such as, A Christmas Carol like (e:janelle) suggested. Or Miracle on 34th or It's a Wonderful Life, as (e:jenks) suggested. Nothing. Only a few remakes- but I didn't want that. I don't want to see known current actors and actresses do their version of the classics. One that I can't remember the name for, was not only a redo of a classic using known people, but it was also turned into a musical (not a big fan). I should find those to buy- just build a holiday themed movie collection.

I caught a few of the classic animated ones recently on tv- Frosty, Rudolph, Heat Miser.. Those are so cool. I remember waiting for all of those to come on tv each year. Everyone knew when it was on, what channel and so forth. We tuned in. It was a special thing. Friends talked about it the next day in school. Now, we see things whenever we want to, losing its 'specialness', if that makes sense.

I look forward to watching the rest of what I rented. Hopefully I will quickly finish up what I need to in preparation for Christmas, and then I can relax to a few good/fun movies. Ahhh, wrapping time, here I come.

Stay warm!



Hmmm, how could I have possibly failed to take a picture of the end product? maybe somewhere..
the beginnings anyway:


ha, I just noticed that I jotted down recipe/ingredients on my
Cookie Monster paper. Fitting, right? :) Cookie Monster is so cool.