Takin' care of the body

I wonder if anyone would notice if I stopped all grooming. Not hygiene things, no way!, but the plucking, and shaving, and painting, and chemically removing hair-ing. Not to mention the things I do to my poor locks.

I couldn't shave my legs for a month. Well, to be fair, I still can't, but my husband used some Veet on these monsters and they are now bare. It made me feel scroungy, even though nobody knew I was 3 pounds heavier because of my leg hair. (Lol, sorry, tmi.) I guess it is just in my head, you know?

I like the grooming though. I like painting my fingernails and messing with my hair. I wish my hair could change colors more often, I'm just not girlie enough. I feel better with myself when I've taken time to look nice. I tend to want to look like Helena Bonhem Carter, so most people think I haven't done my hair in months, but I know the truth - and I like it. It takes work to make it look that bad, lol.

Grooming is a good pick-me-up too. Let's face it, you can't do much else while you're painting your nails. Like many moms, I am helping everyone else all day long, that 10 minutes is a nice oasis. And you literally CAN'T do anything for those few minutes...very refreshing! So, feminism be damned, I will continue to burn my leg hair off of my legs. I like it, darn it!

State o' the Union

I am a liberal. Don't know if I mentioned that previously, but I am. And I'm watching my president (enter swoon here) speak to the nation about how he is helping our country get out of the cluster cuss that we were in a year ago.

Mrs. Obama, Biden, and Palowsi are wearing purple. Get it? Blue + Red = Purple? I wish the Republicans would get the fuck over themselves and do what is right for our citizens. People don't have jobs, don't have health care, aren't able to provide for their families. Yeah, we've bailed out the banks, and that was a good idea. But now we need to get a gripe on the forclosures, the hopelessness that people are feeling.

I like that President Obama is focusing on the infrastructure of our nation. We have the work force, let's use that work force and create NEW in our country.

I love how energetic the president is. He obviously loves his job. He's passionate and hardworking. Ok, so he's trying to stay bipartisan (which is annoying the crap out of us Democrats) but at least he's doing something. Love, love, love him!

These tunes in my head

I am listening to my iPod. I love listening to music, I wish I did it more often. So far this evening I have listened to:
Dixie Chicks
The Who
Nine Inch Nails
The Prodigy
The Rolling Stones
Marilyn Manson
Flogging Molly
The Glee Soundtrack and
Elton John

A rather eclectic music list, I suppose, but fits me. I also have showtunes and classical music on here. I like whatever is true to the genre best, pure music. I admire people who are willing to write music to their tastes not popular culture.

My favorite part about music is the memories that go with each song. I think of people or situations, or even feelings with each song. Some songs will represent this moment for me later, and I like that changing quality in how I process the music too. Crazy brain schema.

4th Kind

This was a date night movie, seen in the theaters. I had forgotten what the movie was about until we got in and settled, only to realize it was an alien movie. I was stuck in a wheelchair so I couldn't gracefully excuse myself to the restroom when it got scary - which was often. It reminded me of Blair Witch Project sans jerky camera shots. The acting was good, almost copied acting from more popular actors. The movie takes place in Alaska, and the swooping scenery shots were nice additions to the movie, although not necessary. The children were minor parts in the actual movie, but critical to the storyline...which was good writing because they were not experienced actors and their acting was not exceptional. It was an interesting story, paralleling re-enactments with "actual footage," doubling the level of fear in this alien-phobic viewer. There were some religious indications in the movie, with possible interpretations out the wazzo, and it gave me some ideas to consider. You leave the movie without an actual ending - no real resolution. Very unnerving!

4 out of 5 stars.

Fantastic Mr. Fox

I saw this movie with my husband and our children. My son enjoyed it but often did not understand the subtle jokes, while husband and I laughed so hard we cried. It reminds me of a Quintin Tarantino movie combined with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, but animated. I love Roald Dahl anyhow, so it was a treat to see this movie. It had a sentimental factor to it, which was nice. Nothing like the son winning the dad's approval to make you sigh with joy. Add in sticking it to the man, and it jumps high on my list of childrens' movies. I want to own this movie, no doubt about it.

4 1/2 out of 5 stars

The rules

So now that I've started a blog, I've been thinking about what I want to write in said blog. I'm at a cross-roads of sorts and I have a lot of time to think, and narrowing down my options has been difficult. Therefore, I think I will write about anything and everything I think I want to write about. Today may be politics, tomorrow might be celery stalks. I'd love to write every day, but we'll have to see about that. I'm not holding myself to any goals right now, given the state of affairs in my life. Cross roads can be difficult to navigate.

I suppose, to be fair to anyone who might stumble upon this blog, that I should explain a few things. So, for the sake of simplicity, I'll write a biography just for you. I won't update it, and obviously the facts will change as time goes on, but you'll just have to continue to read other posts to get the juicy details as life progresses.

My name is Aubrey. I live in Dallas with my husband, son, daughter, dog, and cat. We are obnoxiously stereotypically normal: husband works, I stay at home, son is 4, daughter is 4 months. Dog and cat even get along. We go to playdates and play in the playplaces at McDonalds. While I wish it were different, my kids will probably end up in public schools. They eat gluten and hotdogs, and we don't go to church every Sunday. They could make a sitcom out of our boring lives, although nobody would watch it because it looks just like everyone elses' lives.

But there's more to it than that. For one, I just got my hip replaced. I'm disabled - wow, that sounds so weird. I use a walker for now, but will soon graduate to a cane, then to nothing. It is the cross-roads you've heard about. In a few months it will be over. Right now it is a miserable sort of thing to go through. I wouldn't suggest it just for fun.

I think, dear readers, that's all I'd like to share for now. Stay tuned, I'm more dynamic than one might think. I have things to say, and I won't shut up.

P.S. I will also review movies on here, especially since I get to watch a lot of movies right now. The title of the blog will indicate the movie reviewed. No other musings will be in the movie review, so you can skip them and not miss out on any big secrets.

I'm such a follower

Sort of.

I have always been outspoken and opinionated. Obnoxiously so, much to the pleasure of my parents. I have learned to curtail my outburts when appropriate (or I'm not in the mood to argue) but I've never just stayed quiet. Blame it on my large family, or my dad's dragging me to political functions and parades, or my desire to piss people off. Speaking up has been such a huge part of my makeup.

Then it happened.

We moved to Dallas, TX. 500+ miles away from 99% of the people we know. And the center of conservative-ville.

We moved 2 months before the 2008 election. I still wore my Obama tshirt, kept the bumper stickers on my car, but I didn't say what I wanted to say. I joined a few online boards, made some friends - still didn't say what I think. I hinted here and there (and, let's face it, driving the Obama-mobile is telling in itself) but I didn't say what I would normally say. I got comfortable censoring myself, got in the habit of it. Muted myself in a lot of ways, thinking that life would be easier if I just stopped being so me.

I am over it. Like me, don't like me, whatever. But I'm not going to keep quiet any longer. And it feels really good.