The Crab Chronicles

The Blind Side

I am a self-professed movie fanatic. I make no apologies for it. It's very rare for a movie to affect me powerfully but The Blind Side is one of those movies. If you haven't seen the movie, I URGE you to see it. If you have seen the movie, you might want to check out this link which showcases the true story behind the movie.

Michael and I went by ourselves. Alesia was primping for a date and Bruce wanted a nap. The fireworks kept us all awake last night well past midnight.  

I was actually glad it was just me and Michael. I could feel him really engaging in the story, which is so thoughtful, well-written, and at times funny. Several times he looked at me to see if I was crying. I cried pretty much all thru it, but without making noise.

In the car going home I told Mike I saw some parallels between the movie and my adoption of him. I think he felt it, too. He was a street kid also, and he was rescued by the assistant director at the orphanage, who saw he had a lot of potential. She advocated passionately to find him a home. Like the Michael in the movie, my Mike is athletic, street-smart, and yet very gentle and compassionate.

In the car later we were talking about the movie and I pointed out Michael has a lot of potential as a tennis player, maybe he could even get a scholarship. As soon as the words left my mouth I felt like I had to amend them. "You can go to college or you can go work in Wendy's - it's your choice," I said. "As long as you're a good person and work hard, that's what really matters."

I ended by telling him how much I love him, and that I am already very proud of him.

When we got home, Michael picked up Coco and buried his face in her fur and loved on her for a few minutes. I think he was feeling a lot of things but didn't want to seem emotional. Coco is the perfect dog for us, despite her medical issues, because she is so cuddly and she adores the children - she is the perfect example of completely unconditional love.

We have otherwise just been relaxing today, and tonight we are having DN over for dinner. Bruce made ribs in the crock pot and of course we are eating blackeyed peas for good luck, and some green veggies for money this year.

I do not have the kind of money like the people in the movie, nor do I know anything about football or care about it. Otherwise, though, I see many parallels. I hope and pray everyone who sees The Blind Side will be inspired to try and make a difference in a child's life, because there are so many Michael Ohers out there who feel like no-one loves them, and they give up early.

The Day After

Mike is trying to get to sleep on the aerobed in my room. I am playing Will Smith's "The Men in Black." It's one of the few songs I agreed to listen to, because hey, my music is "boring." I told him he better asleep within 2 songs, because after that I am cranking the Old Boring Music.

I am now "Gettin' Jiggy Wit It." I have no idea what that means but my head won't seem to stop bobbing...

We've had a nice day, very relaxing.

My mother's brother Don and his wife came over for lunch. They are nearby visiting their daughter. We had homemade vegetable beef soup. We all slept late, so it felt weird to be eating breakfast at 10 a.m. and then lunch at 12:30...

Alesia and DN went to see Avatar. When I asked Alesia if she liked it she said "It was very long." Hmmm... Glad I didn't buy that ticket.

Mike and Bruce and I went to the Buford Highway Farmer's Market. Bruce loves ethnic foods. I could tell he had a good time. There were folks everywhere giving out food samples. He bought something called Cane Vinegar, and Sapporo beer for a friend, and some fried dried little fishies - anchovies I think. I bought things like bread, eggs, and V-8 juice. I bought Michael a cheburecki [?] and got some cheese blintzes, which are a great treat for me. They had fish swimming around in the meat department. I love fresh fish, but I am not cold-blooded enought to point at one and declare "He must die!"

Michael came home and spent the rest of the day playing Nintendo. I guess it's a reaction to the fact I declared Christmas a computer-free day.

We watched a great movie Enemy of the State. It's a great thriller, starring Will Smith, Gene Hackman, and Jon Voight. I don't know why it wasn't more successful when it was released. It has folks like Jack Black and Gabriel Byrne in small parts. Very creepy - deals with the proliferation of technology that strips us of privacy.

THANKS

Some kind person left a gift card in my mailbox, anonymously. To that person - thank you. We are OK at the moment but I will save it for a rainy day. God Bless You.  

A Non-Hallmark Excellent Day

We have had a nice Christmas. What a blessing to have Bruce home, and not in Iraq. I pray for all the families having to get thru Christmas without a loved one. BTDT

Bruce came in late yesterday afternoon. I had taken the kids to a movie while Mother napped - Did You Hear About the Morgans - at the nearby movie tavern, which is a real bargain if you don’t get the dreadful food. I was surprised how good the movie was. It was funny and realistic. It didn't paint the liberal New York couple or the conservative gun-toting western couple as simplistic heroes or villains, but was pretty even-handed, I thought.

We had a simple dinner, just beef stew spiced up a bit with onions and peppers. It had been in the crock pot and was excellent. I made a red velvet cake the other day, and we had other goodies, so dessert was elaborate.

We got up around 8 this morning, and opened presents. Mike insisted on taking a shower before presents - trying to wake up, I think. While he did that, Alesia and I passed out presents and stockings and then everyone settled in with a caffeine beverage [except Mike]. We take turns and open presents one by one, so it’s a slow process.

Alesia’s “big” presents were a new coat from Mother, and some tiny emerald earrings from me. She was delighted with both. Mike got a new tennis racquet, and some clothes, and a new remote-controlled car that I talked Mother into getting him. Bruce got everyone [except Mother] a handy “all in one” tool that’s pliers and various little knives and things in one handy dandy package. It’s a useful thing. 

Bruce is a 50 year old bachelor who doesn’t play golf so he’s hard to buy for. He is, however, a foodie. I was able to find some interesting food items at the international farmer’s market, and some books and a shirt.

Mother got a new purse and some books and other items.

I got several cute shirts, some books I had wanted, a new bedspread, and an iPod Nano. Mike is disgusted I haven’t played with the iPod yet, but I’ve had a pretty busy day.

The kids and I saw the new version of Sherlock Holmes. I am a huge fan of Robert Downey, Jr. but I am also a bit of a purist when it comes to Sherlock Holmes. Years ago I used to read the original books by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and loved the whodunits, loved pitting my wits against Holmes. I was never right, of course, but they were fun to read in the original. The new movie is like Sherlock Holmes on crack. Intense is an understatement. I enjoyed it. This review is especially accurate. 

Alesia is doing really well on her driving, but I let her drive home from the movie today and just as we were getting ready to turn into the driveway a little girl came riding toward us on her bike and Alesia swung wide to turn and for a split second I thought we were going to run into the child. As soon as the car stopped and my heart rate returned to normal, Alesia got a lecture about avoiding head-on collisions with bikes. Thank goodness she is going to Taggarts, the local driving school...

Mike wanted to try out his new tennis racquet, so even though it was cold and damp he and Colton got outside and hit tennis balls for over an hour. Mike needed some exercise.

Dinner was fun. Lesleigh came over, and Alesia’s boyfriend DN joined us. He spent most of his time upstairs playing Sorry with Mike and Alesia. Bruce slow cooked a pork roast all day. I made a squash casserole and a sweet potato casserole – with orange juice, brown sugar, and bourbon. I hate sweetie-sweet yams. The bourbon cuts the sweetness and makes it tasty. We also had green beans and Sister Schubert Parker House rolls. They are the best. Bruce fixed Brussels sprouts. I also made a pecan pie. It was truly a feast.

I hate to say this but I completely forgot to take photos. We had a lovely day, though.

Here's a photo from Sherlock Holmes, which is the best I can offer [Jude Law, Robert Downey, Rachel McAdams]:

 

Avatar

The day has been out of the ordinary, in a lot of different ways. At least it wasn't raining, though. Cold, yes. Rainy, no. I wore a long sleeved shirt, but felt no need to wear a coat. I hate wearing a coat.

I was absolutely delighted to get an email from my friend Suzanne Kamata, who edited Call Me Okaasan, to say the book ws named one of The Japan Times's favorite books of 2009!!  Here's the link. I feel so honored my little essay was part of the book.

I took Mike and a couple of his friends to see the movie Avatar, the new film from director James Cameron. I was impressed by the special effects. The 3-D experience was quite something. However, there were a lot of political overtones to the film which made me uncomfortable. There is nothing overt, mind you. However, showing military guys painted as arch villains made me really uncomfortable, seeing as how my brother just got back from Iraq 6 months ago. I have a lot of respect for the military, especially for the sacrifices military families make.

I remember when Star Wars came out in 1977, and how it was hailed as something totally new and exciting. Ditto for Tron in 1981. Avatar breaks new ground in CGI entertainment, no question of that. It's fun to watch. I predict in 10 years it will be largely viewed as a film oddity, though, a relic, with primitive technology. I've lived long enough to see technology advance exponentially.

When we came home, there was a terrific pot of hot soup waiting on the stove. The boys ate some soup and played games upstairs all evening. Lesleigh came over and ate, too, and she and Mother and I watched Julie and Julia, a fun film about real people.  

Mike and I started a new book, Battle of the Labyrinth, by Rick Riordan. It's more fantasy than the Harry Potter books, but so far it's pretty interesting. I don't want Mike to lose the love of reading..

Less than a week until Christmas... 

Rainy Carol Day

It’s been a weird day. I didn't sleep well and I've had a sinus headache all day.

 

I keep trying not to think about being out of a job again, but I think about it constantly. Since my last job was part time, I don’t know if I qualify for unemployment, which is worrisome. Have to research it Monday.

 

Please pray I will find the right job soon.

 

The weather was clear but overcast this morning, and Mike and I ran to Publix to pick up supplies. Sleet and freezing rain was the prediction for the whole day, but it didn’t start until after 1. Publix was magical – people everywhere handing out free samples. I got almost enough for a mini lunch. Mike tried some spinach dip on pumpernickel and got quite enthusiastic, so we bought some. Anything to get a green veggie down him. As we left, the rain had started.

 

Alesia spent most of the afternoon and early evening with her boyfriend, going to a Christmas concert at their church, then out to dinner. She said the church is huge, and they had a full orchestra. I generally prefer a smaller church, but big churches tend to be more exciting at Christmas

 

Mike and I went to see a new movie with Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon, based on a true story. The unfortunate title is Invictus. Excellent movie. I know almost nothing about South African politics and less about rugby, but it was really well done. Clint Eastwood directed. He makes terrific movies.

 

Mike has decided that his favorite Christmas song is Carol of the Bells. I used to love to sing that when I was in a choir. It’s a fun song, kind of gothic sounding. We found this video, which we both thought was very cool -

 

 

Hectic Day for The Old Moron Mama

I knew it was going to be a bad day when I woke up at 5:30 a.m. and stumbled into the bathroom, and my head felt like it was being pinched in a vise. I choked down 2 Motrin and tried to go back to sleep. I dreamed about hanging out with President Obama, and he had an Asian girlfriend. I try to avoid the political so I’ll leave it up to you to decide if that was a happy dream or a nightmare. I don’t know. I just know it was weird. 

 

I am trying to get Michael and me downstairs, get the garbage put out on the curb, grab my lunch out of the fridge, and Coco comes flying up the stairs and throws herself in the middle of Alesia’s bed. I go in after her. She has burrowed under the covers like I know you can’t see me, just leave already!! I have to grab 10 lbs. of wriggling dog and haul her downstairs, while hollering at Michael to get a move on. The word “hurry” means nothing to him.

 

 I had to get a lot done at the post office this morning before work. I mailed off a box of presents to our friend Miss Jean in Asheville. She is almost 90 and this is her first Christmas without her brother, so we wanted to do something special and we wrapped up a bunch of little gifts for her and sent them. It’s cheaper than all of us going there. I also finally got mailed off the box of presents for the little girl in Kazakhstan I sponsor through Antares Foundation, and in the same box a gift for Mike’s friend Denis. I also mailed off 25 Christmas cards. Now, it’s almost Christmas, right? Busiest time of the mailing year? Guess how many clerks were working behind the counter. One. Yep, one older lady who looked like someone had peed in her cornflakes. She scared me. I wanted to say THESE ARE PRESENTS FOR ORPHANS LADY!! Lighten UP! However, I didn’t want her to jump over the counter and hit me with the display of holiday stamps which I had carelessly knocked over when I was putting everything on the counter. I also didn’t want her to re-route my gifts to the arctic circle...

 

 Then I go to McDonalds and they give me sweet tea that is not sweet. I am southern. I need sweet tea. It’s like an IV for me when I haven’t had enough sleep, and the lemon gives me a little vitamin C boost. So all morning I am forced to drink tea that tastes like it was made in a rusty box.

 

I came home and had to find Michael’s prosthetic, which was under a pile of clothes in his bedroom. I went and checked him out of school and we went to Children’s, for him to be casted for a new prosthetic arm. He has completely outgrown the other arm he got 2 years ago.

 

We left there and came home and got Coco. She has to go to the vet and get her nails cut. Michael is very good with her now that he is bigger. For a long time he was nervous around Coco, but now he has decided he loves her and plays with her and loves on her all the time. It’s so sweet. We don’t mind paying the $ to get her nails trimmed professionally. Her nails are so tiny it makes us all too nervous.

 

We came home and had a few minutes, then Mike had a tennis lesson. It’s bitter cold today, temps in the 30’s and 40’s. I went to get him at 6 so he wouldn’t have to walk home in the cold and he was out there looking casual in shorts. The other children were bundled up a lot more. Right now in Petropavlovsk, it’s 25 below, according to Cindy's blog.

 

Alesia went to bible study with her friend Elena. When she got back I asked what they had talked about. Alesia looked at me like wow, you are so dense, and said “Jesus! We always talk about Jesus! And there was a lot of food.” Have to admire those Presbyterians for serving up the bible with lots of hors d’ouvres…;-)

 

While she was gone, Michael and I worked on a report he has to do for school, an example of expository writing. He chose to write about Will Smith. I am now an expert on all things Will Smith. I was sort of surprised to see he is over 40 now. I pointed out to Mike that Will Smith is only 6 years younger than me. Michael looked aghast. “Dang! He is OLD!”

 

My kids think I am a moron and older than dirt. I can remember thinking the same things about my parents when I was a teenager. The great circle of life…

 

  

Poor old thing.... 

Goals and Goats

If my life were a song it would be called “On the Road Again,” or perhaps, “More Than a Feeling” or, more poetically, that timeless classic, “Boogie Oogie Oogie.” If you can hear those songs in your head as you read the titles, you are either over 40 or very weird…

The weekend was all about pursuing goals. Yesterday, I got up early and drove Alesia to her final SAT prep class. On the way I had to stop and get her some coffee at McDonald’s so she would be coherent, and then we passed hundreds of people running down the street – some charity “fun run” which I think is a total misnomer. Runners never look relaxed and happy, they look like they are being pursued by attack dogs. Then we got into the school parking lot and the band or some organization was handing out vast quantities of citrus fruits, and highly annoyed that we were there for an academic reason which had nothing to do with fruit. I dropped Alesia as close to the door as possible, then gunned and took off, escaping the Fun Runners and Fruit People as quickly as possible.

The second goal was Kroger. Mother and I sat like generals planning food for the next week, including Thanksgiving dinner. The irony is, we will only be feeding two extra people on Thanksgiving day, Bruce and Lesleigh. Since we made the turkey and dressing a couple of weeks ago and put them in the freezer, I am not stressed. We are free to clean up and make pies, always my favorite part of Thanksgiving – the pies, not the cleaning. Kroger is inundated with Christmas stuff, which ticks me OFF. Out with Halloween, in with Christmas. Skipped Thanksgiving altogether. I saw one little toy turkey, that was IT. Ridiculous. Christmas trees are everywhere already.

It was 60 degrees yesterday. Hard to think Christmas when you’re wondering if you need to wear sunscreen while you rake leaves. I don’t expect people anywhere else in the country to understand this. This is HOT-Lanta, where you turn on the heat at night and the air conditioner in the afternoon. If you’re in my house you don’t open the windows, not ever. Why? Mother has allergies and asthma. I have sinus issues. Fresh air means pollen and pollen is the bane of our existence. Michael has been very sniffy of late, too. I dream of the day when they invent an antidote to pollen, and I can get a nice screened-in porch.

Today, goal #2 was accomplished, the scrubbing of the kitchen floor. A few years ago, before Michael came home, we had 4 rolling chairs at the kitchen table. The floor is rough-textured tile. The wheels kept breaking off the chairs. They were cheap chairs. Finally, we got rid of most of the chairs. Now we have mismatched but totally functional chairs, including a very nice rolling chair for Mother that a kind neighbor gave to us. So we don’t need the carpet. The carpet was getting really dirty and was difficult to clean. So I got the kids to help me this morning and we got the icky carpet off the tile, and scrubbed the tile. The tile is tricky. It doesn’t show dirt. It gets very dirty, however.

We had lunch at Twains, a favorite Decatur haunt now. The weather was cold and rainy, so it was nice to be inside. All our sandwiches were terrific. Michael stuffed himself with nachos. Michael and I had two tacos – the menu said “the taco of the day.” Now, I know “the soup of the day” – a/k/a the soup du jour, but I was unaware of variations on tacos. Our tacos were soft, and were stuffed with chicken, chipotle sauce, fried onions, and blue cheese crumbles. Sounds weird but they were great. I also enjoyed black beans. After we ate, the kids went off the throw darts, and Mother and I could talk. The food is better than Fuddruckers and darts are cheaper than the videogames, so it’s a winner in my book.

 

 
I love this poster, because the profiles spoof much more "serious" posters and it also looks very 1950's.

We came home and got Mother settled in, then the kids and I went to see the new George Clooney movie, Men Who Stare At Goats. I put that imdb link almost reluctantly, because the idiot who reviewed it on imdb clearly didn’t understand the movie at all. It was about the army training special “psychic jedi,” and the whole premise is farcical. It spoofed the army and the new agey stuff equally. I thought it was going to be very anti-military, but was glad to see it was pretty even-handed. It was funny. I confess, I really just wanted to see Ewan MacGregor. What a hunk. Clooney has never interested me – reminds me too much of my brother – major ick factor there. Ewan, though, what a hottie.

Below, see Ewan and George together. George looks ancient, and seems to have dentures. Even Jeff Bridges, who is much older than Clooney, is a lot sexier, in my book.

 

 

A while back I wrote a funny little poem for a website run by a friend of mine, Vox Poetica. If you want a giggle, check it out here.

America in Films

 

As anyone who has been reading The Crab Chronicles for any length of time knows, I am a movie fanatic. We watch a movie every night at my house, both new movies and the occasional classic.

Mother sent me to video above and I really enjoyed watching it. Mike watched it too, and he recognized a lot of the clips. I am making an effort to show the kids a lot of the classic movies I think they should see, for one reason to better understand American culture. If you sat an English-speaking non-American down and they watched every single one of these movies, they would have a good understanding of the American character. Ph.D. dissertation material in film studies, actually. I digress...

One thing I'd like to point out is Ingrid Bergman, in Casablanca. I have always thought my mother bore an uncanny resemblance to Ingrid Bergman, especially when they were both young...

 

Views of the Mountain

We had such nasty weather on Tuesday, that when we awoke yesterday there was pinestraw everywhere in our yard. Major raking needs to be done, but yesterday it was still too soggy and misty to do any of it. I probably have 10 lbs of pine straw in my front yard.

Mike went to Stone Mountain with his class, to study rocks. Stone Mountain is a huge piece of granite. He loves going there. He was disappointed they didn't get to climb all the way to the top. There's something very peaceful about being on the top of the mountain, where you can see the countryside for miles around. The shot below was made in April 08.

 

Mother said when she was in college and would be coming home on the weekends, as soon as she could see the mountain from the bus window, she knew she was close to home.

We watched an old movie last night that's one of my favorites, Adam's Rib, with Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn. Alesia loved it, Mike tolerated it. It's fun to show the kids old movies, especially films that are witty and smart. One of the first shots is them in their room, and there are separate beds. I explained that in those days, married couples couldn't be shown in the same bed, but there had to be separate beds. "What?!" she exclaimed. "That's silly!" Yep. Movies have changed a lot over the years, not always for the better...

 

Martian Child

We started watching a movie last night called The Martian Child, and finished it tonight. It's a wonderful film. It stars John Cusack, who is always fascinating to watch, but he's a more mature Cusack here, a single father with an adoptive son who lives in his own world trying to be a "martian." The father shows remarkable faith and patience with the boy, but this isn't a whitewash of what it's like to adopt an older, traumatized child. It's realistic, but sweet. The ending was a bit contrived, but I still liked it. If you are a parent of any child, adopted or not, I urge you to see this terrific little film. I'm so sorry it got overlooked when it was released a couple of years ago.

We need more movies like this, and fewer movies where people blow things up and run.

Michael's school pictures came home today. He hates them. I think, despite a few pimples, it's not a bad shot. He has kind of a mischevious little twinkle in his eye, which is so Michael, it tickles me.

 

Some months ago I was asked to submit stories written by my kids about adoption. Alesia declined, but I edited a story Michael wrote, with a lot of help from Mother, and he agreed I could send it in. His story is in the book and it's available on Amazon now - Snowflakes: A Flurry of Adoption Stories. The stories and poems are all written by adopted kids, which makes it a unique book, I think. Check it out!