On the Water

we spent the day on a research vessel today - mostly taking readings of water properties and collecting water samples. Raising and lowering the line with one piece of equipment or another all day - but it was fun. For the most part it was gray and spitting rain, but on the way back home there were a few sun breaks. We saw a bunch of sea lions just hanging out in the water together - too cute. And I got some pics of the ballard locks as we were going through.

36 years together

I got to talk to Dad today - he's back in the hospital again, but seems to be in good spirits. He joked about seeing if his wife would let him off the hook for going out to dinner tonight - which is when it dawned on me that today is their 36th wedding anniversary.

36 years - I think she'll let him get away with it this time...




This picture says - 'what have I gotten myself into?'

"War of the Worlds" & "Murderball"

We watched two movies tonight. The first was "War of the Worlds" with Tom Cruise. The movie was exactly what I expected it to be - but Spielberg is so skilled with tension and pacing, it kept me rivited throughout.

The second movie was really interesting. "Murderball" is a documentary about parapalegic rugby and the lives of the players on the American and Canadian teams. This is more than a warm fuzzy "people in wheelchairs are people too" movie. These guys are fascinating, and as you get to know more about the players and their life stories, you get so much more caught up in the rivalry between the teams which takes an interesting turn at the Olympics in Greece. Great film - I'm going to watch for these guys at the next Olympics.

happy birthday to me

Today started out like too many birthdays where I put too much emphasis on making today special. Talk about setting yourself up. I was cranky this morning anyways. I don't know why. Must be hormonal.

Anyways. I really needed that first cup of coffee. We went through the drivethrough to get a latte on our way to go take care of some chores (check mail, oil change, etc.). She burned it. The coffee tasted horrible, it was scalded. Of course I didn't know this till about 8 miles down the road because that's when i took my first sip. Oh well, Mr. H bought me another one when we got to the mall. And I spilled all twenty ounces of that one all over the brand new shoes I had just bought. Mr. H bought me a third cup of coffee a little later on - was he being sweet or was that self-preservation? doesn't matter, that one did the trick.

The most amazing part of my birthday was the time I spent at the spa. Some people at work got me a gift certificate for Ummelina. I checked in at 4:30 and they took me back to a changing room to change into a robe and then they locked up my stuff. Then they took me to a room they call the tea spa. this room was full of comfy chairs and had bamboo shades over the windows through which you could see the fog and the leaves left on the trees in silhouette with the bright moon behind them. I sat down in one of the chairs and they brought me a cup of tea. Then they brought out a big bowl and a pitcher of warm water to soak my feet in. After soaking for a while, while sipping the tea and watching the fog roll, someone came out and washed my feet.

I rested a little while longer and then they took me back to the showers. These showers were worth the trip alone. It's amazing what a difference water pressure makes. There were, I think,, ten nozzles most of them spraying horizontally. So I took an amazing shower and then went back to the tea room to sip some more tea and rest. There were one or two picture books laying around that I thought about looking at, but the thought didn't last very long. It was so nice to just be still.

After a couple minutes the massage therapist came out and took me back to the room for the massage. The massage was amazing, the only drawback was that the therapist told me several times that 1/2 massage is just not long enough to really do any good. If its not long enough, they shouldn't sell gift certificates for it. Anyhoo, that was really the only drawback. and after the massage I went back to the tea room to sit a few minutes longer and drink another cup of tea. They would have let me stay in the tea room all day if i wanted, but I couldn't wait to see Mr. H so i got up and got dressed.

As it turns out, while I was at the spa, Mr. H went shopping. He bought me a shirt, a sweater and a hat. Oh, and by the way, yesterday he got me the most beautiful roses. there was a dozen of them and each one started out baby pink in the center and then faded to white on the outer petals. they'r starting to open and they are just stunning.

After the spa and presents we thought we'd go catch a movie and then dinner. The local theater had Harry Potter on five screens and the other three movies didn't look interesting either. so we went to the keg for prime rib and then came home. Not bad for turning half of seventy.

Millions

I loved this movie.

After the death of his mother, Damian is obsessed with saints and martyrs, and visits with them, asking each if they know his mum, Saint Maureen.

Damian builds himself a castle/rocket ship out of boxes down by the train tracks and a bag of money falls from the sky. Damian's brother Anthony thinks they should invest the money in real estate and tries to get the brokers to take him seriously while Damian tries desperately to drum up some poor people to do good to.

All of this takes place during the countdown to the change over to the Euro, which would render cash in pounds worthless.

The photography was stunning and the music magical. The movie is best through the first 20 minutes, it loses some of it's grace but deftly manages tension during the climax, and the ending is a flight of fancy fitting only to Damian. Alix Etel in the lead turns in a great performance, he has heartbreaker written all over him.

Stuff Happens

So we lost the phone, left it on the bus... That's a great way to start of the week. Checked the account and the character that has it has been calling all over the place. Well we put a stop to that... but, it's not like we can afford another phone. Oh, well. Stuff happens.

One thing I've learned

It's really hard to stay angry and wiggle your toes at the same time.

Go ahead, try it.