Karen’s Opinion

I have always disliked how parents seem to think it okay to exploit their children. There are a few who agree with me!

and, did you see the new show on TLC? Something about expensive parties for kids? Some families are worried about putting food on the table.

Usually, if a movie is nominated for a Grammy award, it means I will not like it. I am not sure why but I guess that what leads the movie to be nominated is a sense of outrageous portrayal. If one looks back on the movies that have been nominated, they are not the normal, easy to follow movies. They are the ones with grandiose costumes and outlandish behavior. At least, this is what I find to be true of Grammy nominated movies.

Not so, with The Kings Speech. Hubby and I were trying to pass time while waiting for our daughter’s flight to arrive from Florida. We shopped at Family Leisure in Oaklandon. That is another post in itself! What a place. We ran a few errands at Joanne Fabrics and Gander Mountain then walked around the mall for a while. We went to dinner and were lucky enough to be seated in the bar area where we could pass more time. We watched the Louisville, Cincinnati basket ball game. That was fun.

We still had 3 hours to kill! We laughed at the obscurity of the situation. Usually, our days are planned with detail at every turn. It was nice to not have an agenda. So, finding ourselves with time to kill, we decided to take in a movie.

With only two movies available at 9 pm, The Kings Speech and The Company Men were our choices. We chose The Kings Speech. OMG! What a great movie.

I am sad to say, I don’t know much about the history of England’s monarchy. I do now! I went to the library yesterday and have been reading all about the kings and queens. There was a lot of scandal! I am drawn to stories that expound on human frailty. My daughter informed me that if I were to watch The Tudors, I would learn quite a bit about the history of England’s Monarchy. She is working on a distance learning education degree and finds she needs a break now and then. She loves history and retains information like a sponge. I love to learn from her!

There are no guarantees that, just because it is your birthday, your day will be great. I guess I lucked out because, even though I had to work today, I woke up without a headache. My hubby fixed me a big breakfast which is always a great way to start the day, and, I had gifts waiting to be opened!

My husband does pay attention to what I say! I, sometimes, wonder if he does but he must have listened at least once over the past month. I opened my gift and was shocked at what was in the package. Can you guess what I received? Was it a weeks stay at the condos in Miami? Was it a necklace from Tiffany’s? No, it wasn’t a getaway or jewelry. I got a new toilet seat! Our toilet seat has looked nasty for a while and I really wanted a new one. I am so happy! It is installed and looks so good.

Both of my sisters sang the birthday song to me over the phone. That was funny. I will get them back. LOL

I will have a celebration this weekend. Our daughter is flying home tomorrow night and our son and his wife will be visiting from St. Louis. It will get noisy and I will eat too much. I cannot wait!

Hubby and I enjoyed a night out on Saturday. We had heard that the old Eagle Theater in Wabash had been newly painted, carpeted and generally refurbished. My husband has many memories of attending the old Roxy Theater where he grew up. Some of the memories include sticky floors and throwing red hots over the balcony. He was a bad boy! Sadly, the Roxy was torn down and a parking lot marks that spot. Thankfully, someone had the insight and fortitude to raise funding for the renovation of the Eagle. Many volunteers worked hard and are still working as even the kids behind the candy counter are volunteers.

We arrived at the theater and were greeted by the aroma of freshly popped popcorn. There is nothing better than movie theater popcorn! We, much to my trepidation, climbed the stairs and sat in the balcony. I told my husband he would need to behave himself, no popcorn throwing. The lights dimmed and the commercials began. Does anyone else think there are way too many commercials before the actual movie starts?

The screen, which sits above a stage, was a bit blurry and had streaky lines appearing during the beginning, making me think to myself, oh no, is this movie going to be difficult to see? Thankfully, the streaked lines only occurred during the first commercial. It actually made me feel like I was at an old movie. Perhaps that was the plan. If so, it worked.

The Dilemma was the movie for the night. I was prepared for a cheesy, slapstick comedy but hey, I was at the Eagles and that would make up for a bad movie. I was pleasantly surprised at the story line. It was great. Another couple went with us and my friend, Linda, and I laughed so hard that at one point we were snorting!

The Dilemma, in case you haven’t heard, is about two best friends who are on a mission to invent a motor for an electric car. The motor has to make the car sound and drive like a muscle car. The idea is to get people to buy electric cars and not feel like they are driving something wimpy. Lab coats and laptops complete the garage type atmosphere of the business where dreams are put into motion.

The personal lives of the two buddies is where the story gets interesting. One of the friends witnesses his friend’s wife smooching with another man. She is cheating on her husband! Vince Vaughn played Ronny, the guy with the dilemma, and Kevin James was Nick, the friend with the cheating wife. During the scene where Nick’s wife is cheating, Ronny, in an effort to spy on the scandalous scene, falls into a poisonous plant. I thought the people in the white medical uniforms might have to carry me away, I was laughing so hard. It is hard to explain how good the timing of the actors was as they bantered back and forth. At times, I had a huh? moment. I would guess that the actors, themselves, found it hard to say their lines with straight faces.

As we walked to our car, we laughed again at the antics of the characters in this movie. It was definitely not a cookie cutter movie, with a predictable story line. Have fun, go see this movie!

I think that Valentine’s Day is one of my favorite holidays. That sounds like a very odd statement since my husband and I agreed, a long time ago, not to exchange valentines gifts on Valentine’s day. My birthday is the very next day and it would just be too much celebration for this household! The reason it is a favorite for me is because of the sentiment of the day. The object of the sentiment doesn’t even have to be limited to your significant other. The projection of thoughts of love towards all the people you care about is highlighted during the day. These thoughts can be shown through a simple act of a hug or as grand as sharing hot air balloon flights. I have heard that florists are very busy around this holiday.

Do children still have a Valentine’s day party at school? Mom would send me to school with cupcakes decorated with pretty pink frosting. I guess we didn’t worry about food allergies in those days. I can remember working on my valentines, signing my name in the best penmanship I could produce. We decorated a paper bag and then taped it to our desk. On THE day, we would drop a valentine into each bag. Those little, decorated, cards were treasured. I would take them home, spread them out on my bed and sort through them. They would be considered vintage these days. LOL