this is gonna be a long one.

[2eclipse]

home again home again jiggety jig.

a whole 2 weeks off.
man has that been great!
i haven't had a break like that in years...at least...not one that didn't also qualify as unemployment, which does NOT feel like vacation.

my parents are doing great and it was great to see them. i got to see lots of people while i was in town, but not everyone i wanted to see.
my brother and sister and their families gave ross and my parents and i lots to talk about. it was wonderful to reconnect with them. i am so lucky to have a family i love so much. my SIL made me a little crazy, but that is nothing new. i was so impressed with both my nephews and their intelligence and range of interest. i am very proud of them and my neice, who has just come home from boarding school.
the xmas eve service was lovely and it was the first time for me having my mom help with that service.
food ended up not being a catastrophe (which was the fear, given everyone's dietary restrictions). ross did an amazing job with the turkey. 
the knitted gifts went over better than i could have hoped. robyn said the clapotis i made her is one of the nicest things she's ever received. each of the kids got some money in addition to their presents, because i know kids can be unpredictable about what they will and will not like...but they actually seemed to like the knitted stuff better. bren hardly took off his hat the whole time he was there. it was very flattering for me, but unfortunately i also got all the credit. ross was politely thanked of course. but mainly for putting up with me while i made stuff.  i don't think that was a very good way to include him.
i got awesome loot for xmas including a community center (read: gym) membership. pictures to come.

i got to see a lot of illusionstar  and spent  new year's eve with her and her mom. we sat around a REAL fire (not gas) and drank champagne and giggled and stayed up WAY too late.  it was one of the best new years i've had in a long time although i was sad ross could not be there.
dana threw a party and i got to see a bunch of high school friends, notably paul vodra and brian vagts and illusionstar . brian and laura and ross and i spent a very enjoyable afternoon together. it is hard to believe laura is 8 months pregnant. she looks great.
also spent an afternoon with bill and missy, which was very pleasant. i don't think i've ever had as deep a connection with missy as i did this week. maybe because other people tend to drown her out, but she had some very good insights and thoughts on the issues we discussed. i respect her very much.
aryaluna and onomojaku also threw a party that was good fun. i was very pleased to see boztopia , madjulyin , sooper , famularo  and kim and meet some new people. there were some truly frightening things at the gift exchange, including a terrifying singing wreat that only tracy's cat could feel anything but horror about.

i saw two movies while i was on break. no spoilers below.
seven pounds was the first. and i will say it was enjoyable. but it was not at all what i expected from the preview. i expected something of an action/mystery movie...instead it was a disjoined emotional roller coaster. it was well acted and well directed and is based on a great idea....but i don't think it was well written. it is not a movie i will want to watch again. 2 stars.
doubt, on the other hand, was probably the finest movie i've seen since pan's labrynth, although completely different from that movie. it was extremely finely crafted in just about every way i can think of. it is about a power conflict in a catholic school - so the subject matter will not be to everyone's taste. but it was right up my alley. to start with, the acting was nothing short of exquisite. meryl streep is always good, but this time she is complimented by the rest of the cast performing right up to her caliber - even the children and small roles are excellent and sometimes powerful and poignant. the set is great, really showing the shabbiness and industrial feel of 1960's east coast catholic schools. every piece of furniture looks like it is from exactly the right period (to my untrained eye, anyway). everything in this movie looks appropriate to the time - and this is important because although this movie touches on issues of sexuality that have profound relevance for our church and society today, there was a different attitude about many of these things (this is set just just after kennedy's assasinaction - about the time of the second vatican council 1962-1965), and a powerful force of change in the church. which brings me to the direction. which is great. the story is told in a linear way with powerful use of expressions in silence. wind is used continuously through the movie, representing change. positions are suggested rather than stated. questions are almost not asked between characters, and yet are clearly communicated all the while extending to the audience and suggesting profound theological insights. This movie is directed in a way that draws you deeper and deeper into the questions instead of solidifying your opinions. not to say you will not have an opinion about what really happens at the end of the movie. but your opinion will be just that. only an opinion. and the audience as well as the characters must take a good look at the meaning and the value of doubt. it gets 5 stars in my book. :)

i arrived home on friday night.
ross picked me up. we had a truly lovely friday night/saturday, making the most of my last couple of days with no alarm clock and staying up late. all the warmth and affection of the past two weeks seemed to drift between us. we watched the 10th kingdom (one of my stocking gifts to ross) and i loved it.  i ignored the phone and left the grocery list alone. i cuddled my very-missed cats.
sunday was spent with the in-laws and was boring and tedious and uncomfortable - but not as bad as it could be. we came home with a great deal of bison meat, a dvd of old johnny carson comedy acts, and some stuff we will have to re-gift as neither of us like cashews much. we got the xmas tree down and the dvd collection moved and the corner of our living room is ready to be viewed by the fireplace people who are coming to see if we have a reasonable hope of getting a gas fireplace installed. it will be gas, and not what either of us would most like. but it will greatly improve our quality of life to have a fireplace in the house, so a compromise is in order. we will see what we can do.

work today is still pretty slow, which is very nice. and a lot got cleaned up over the holiday lull. i am about half-way through the e-mails that piled up while i was gone. rachel and jerad are planning to come to dinner tomorrow and we are hoping to see susan and corrin later in the week.

Comments

[rengetsu.livejournal.com]

So glad you had a great holiday season!!

yeah, unemployment rarely feels like a vacation -_-

Chris didn't have much to do with the gifts we gave this year either lol. Mostly because I asserted that I was making all the gifts to save on money... we couldn't give as much as we wanted to, but maybe this year we can shop ahead of time to save from a big blow to the bank account in december. Ahh forethought... I need it so much but often find it lacking...

Oooh I hope you can get the gas fireplace!!! fireplaces are so lovely--we don't have one in our house :(


10th Kingdom--the hallmark channel thing? ahhh with what's his name?? lol we have that in the house somewhere...

[2eclipse.livejournal.com]

the 10th kingdom was created by NBC :)

it had scott cohen, diane weist, dan laroquette, rutger hauer and some other cool people in it.

[rengetsu.livejournal.com]

OH i have no idea why I thought hallmark channel--they might've replayed it there or something LOL

rutger hauer!! diane west!!! scott cohen!! lol maybe I need to re-watch it...

we just re-watched "blade runner" this weekend and I'm falling back in love with rutger hauer...

[2eclipse.livejournal.com]

i rewatched batman this weekend too! rutger hauer is in both of them. :)*happy dance*