Thursday, December 31, 2009

2009 in Entertainment

Wow, I've managed to keep a theme for two whole posts. This is 2009 in review, from an entertainment perspective...

Movies:
The Spirit
Boondock Saints*
Hellboy II
Oceans Twelve
Th Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor
Dr. T & the Women
Defiance
Born into Brothels*
Thank You for Smoking*
Lakeview Terrace
The Fall*
Underworld: Rise of the Lycans
Ghost Town*
Zack and Miri Make a Porno
Neverwas
Stargate
Erin Brockovich*
Coraline
Two for the Road
Love and Basketball*
Get Smart
The Hoax
Watchmen*
Pinapple Express
Role Models*
Akeelah and the Bee*
Let the Right One In*
The Professional*
Slumdog Millionaire*
X-Men Origins: Wolverine
To Die For
Angels & Insects
Star Trek*
Inventing the Abbotts
Angels and Demons
Three to Tango
Terminator: Salvation
Capote
He's Just Not That Into You*
Outlander
The Proposal*
Transformers 2: Rise of the Fallen
Surfer, Dude
Waltz with Bashir*
Public Enemies
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince*
Taken*
Valkyrie*
Volver*
Repo: The Genetic Opera
Transporter 3*
Lovers of the Arctic Circle
Push
District 9*
GI Joe
Appaloosa
Knowing*
Au Revoir, les Enfants*
Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist
Inglourious Basterds*
Redbelt*
9
Jane Austen Book Club
The Greatest Game Ever Played
Thomas Crown Affair (1968)
That Thing You Do
Tsotsi*
I Love You, Man
New in Town
Defending Your Life
The Hunger
24 Hour Party People
The Other Boleyn Girl
Idiocracy
Twilight Saga: New Moon
No Country for Old Men*
The Visitor*
Up*
Saving Grace*
American Splendor
Bride & Prejudice
Persepolis

Travel:
Raleigh/Durham, NC
Tarpon Springs, FL
Chicago, IL
Charleston/Mt. Pleasant, SC - July
Charleston/Mt. Pleasant, SC - December

Books:
Love in the Time of Cholera, Gabriel Garcia-Marquez
Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen*
The Historian
The Time Traveler's Wife
Your Pregnancy, Week by Week*
What to Expect When You're Expecting
The Happiest Baby on the Block
To Have and Have Not, Ernest Hemingway*
The Politically Incorrect Guide to the South

Live Music:
Reckless Kelly, Variety Playhouse, Atlanta
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Symphony Hall, Atlanta - Gilbert Varga Conducting
Zoltan Kodaly - Dances of Galanta
Jean Sibelius - Concerto for Violin & Orch. in D. Minor, Opus 47
Leonidas Karakos, Violin
Johannes Brahms - Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Opus 73
George Clinton and the P-Funk Allstars, Variety Playhouse, Atlanta
Dave Matthews Band, Verizon Wireless Amphitheater, Alpharetta
Avett Brothers, Verizon Wireless Amphitheater, Alpharetta (opening for DMB)
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, Verizon Wireless Amphitheater, Alpharetta
Rossi - Barber of Seville
Orff - Carmina Burana
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Verizon Wireless Amphitheater, Alpharetta
July 4 Celebration
Reckless Kelly, The Peachtree Tavern, Atlanta
Lyle Lovett and His Large Band, The Tabernacle, Atlanta
Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, North Charleston Performing Arts Center, Charleston

Cool Stuff:
Learned to ride and got motorcycle license
(less than two weeks before finding out I was pregnant)
Um, well, had a baby boy

*indicates a favorite movie or book.

Noticably absent are CDs purchased. I forgot to keep track of those this year, and bought a LOT at the used CD store (I think I may have done separate posts). So starting in 2010, I'll keep track of that, too. I expect it to be a shorter list in the future, though, but we'll see.

I did get the new Dave Matthews CD, Big Whiskey and the Groo Grux King, and it is amazing. Just off the top of my head, that would be my favorite CD of the year. Oh, I also got the new Lyle Lovett, Natural Forces, but DMB is still my favorite this year.

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

J's Three Month Letter

December 29, 2009

Dear J,

Today is my second day back at work, and I miss your smile so much during the day. I even miss your frown, your pouty bottom lip, and your cries. But it hasn’t been as hard as I thought it would be. I know that you are waiting for me when I get home, and that makes my time away from you OK. I think it also helps that I know you’re home with your daddy this week. That’s a nice way to ease into this new arrangement.

Next week you start daycare, and I know they are going to take great care of you. It’s going to be hard, too, but here’s the way I figure it: we are simply loaning you to them three days a week. You are such an amazing little being that it’s our obligation to share you with the world, and, right now, the part of the world we will share you with is the group of people at Brookside Academy. Your daddy thinks that they should actually be paying us for the privilege of spending time with you each day.

You smile all the time now, and your laugh is hilarious, because you can’t quite laugh yet. You just do this big inhale thing, and the breath gets caught in your throat. You even chatter a bit now, especially when you’re hungry. You just babble on (loudly) until that bottle arrives.

You sit up pretty well with the help of your new Bumbo seat, and you’re loving the bouncy seat with its little animals that dangle from above and make noise when you shake them. Christmas was nice, but not overkill, since you’re a bit too young to understand it all anyway. You got some cute clothes, a couple toys, a Peanuts book, and your Great Aunt Becky sent a sign that we’ll hang in your room:

Boy: (noun), a noise with dirt on it

I’m so excited for the days when that is really true, but for now, I’m enjoying every minute of right now – because it’s already flying by.

Love,
Mom

Wednesday, December 02, 2009

Two Months (already?)

December 2, 2009
Dear J,

You’re napping, and I’m just going to ignore laundry, dirty bottles, the mail, and packing for a few minutes, so that I can write you this letter. It’s a week late, but that’s the way things go these days. You’re two months and one week old today, and it’s strange to say, but the time has both flown and crawled by.

You went to the doctor last week, and you were less than an ounce shy of 13 pounds. It seems that it takes most children four months or more to get to that weight, so I must say – well done! The doctor said to just keep doing what we’re doing. Everything looks good.

You’ve been doing the cutest things, too. For about a week or two, anytime you sneezed or coughed, when you were done, you would coo while you exhaled. The description doesn’t do it justice; it was just about the cutest thing I’ve seen. You’re really smiling all the time now, and you have even started laughing. Most of the time the laugh is silent, but sometimes there’s even an audible chuckle in there.

You love your activity mat, but not when you’re on your tummy. I’ve discovered that rolling you onto your tummy is the best way to turn you from smiling to red, wrinkle-faced screaming in three seconds flat.

A friend at work told me something that her friend told her, and I have to put it here because it’s absolutely the truth. As a parent, you think you’ve just seen the coolest or cutest or most wonderful thing, but the next day, there will be something even better. The best thing about having children is that every day is better than the day before.

Then it was Thanksgiving, which has taken on a whole new meaning now that you’re in our lives. Frankly, it’s not just Thanksgiving, it’s pretty much everything, but Thanksgiving was a great time to reflect on your place with us. That’s understating it. You are our lives now; everything is reflected in or upon you somehow, and it’s a beautiful feeling. The joy you bring is immeasurable.

It seems that you’re already waking up from your nap, so I’ve got to run. I love you, and can’t wait for what tomorrow brings – Charleston and your first road trip, as a matter of fact.

Love,
Mom