Tuesday, November 29, 2011
What Every Mom Should Know.
I have made a serious error a couple times and thought I would educate any mommies of young children. Do not fall asleep with TLC on in the background. You will wake up to a crying baby. At some point during the night, TLC is going to play an episode of 19 Kids and Counting....and you will think it is your child crying, not a Duggar. Consider yourself warned.
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Mahna Mahna
Until today, I have not had much blog ammo (I am sure I will in the next couple of weeks). However, I just saw The Muppets. I was incredibly excited as I am a complete Muppet freak....and I don't care who knows it. I own at least three stuffed Kermits and attempted to steal a very large one from a former boyfriend. I also have a Kermit costume for my baby, the entire Muppet Show on DVD, more than five Muppet Books, and an oil painting of Kermit and Jim Henson. How is that for letting my freak flag fly?!?
My first introduction to the Muppets was the Muppet Show, which is pretty much Saturday Night Live with characters created by Jim Henson. This is probably why I (and critics) enjoyed The Muppets more than some people (namely my two brothers who are more familiar with Muppets from Space). The Muppets is essentially an homage to The Muppet Show. I thought things like Skeeter as the stage manager and the random goat eating things backstage were awesome because I remember that from childhood. The classic Muppet cameos were all over the place and Jim Henson's message of love was there. However, there were a few things that I thought were not up to Muppet standards...
It didn't feel as "smart" as past Muppet movies. One of the key elements of the Muppets is their subtle humor. As Jim Henson said, "If you keep it more abstract, it's almost more pure. It's a cooler thing." Muppet movies are supposed to be funny (not just to kids). For example, in The Great Muppet Caper, Fozzie and Kermit are identical twins....obviously.
In Muppets from Space, Rizzo has a poster in his room of the "Mice Girls".
Another key Muppet element is believable relationships between people and Muppets (even if the acting is corny). There didn't seem to be anything real about Jason Segel and Amy Adams...it was more parody than anything. Half of what makes Muppets funny is that a lot of the time, the people around them don't see them as different at all. I 100% believe that Charles Grodin has a thing for Miss Piggy. You can see the passion in his eyes in the picture below.
I also think that the Muppet "newcomers" were not showcased enough. I understand that the focus was The Muppet Show, but Rizzo the Rat and Pepe the Prawn are hilarious and should have been misbehaving in the background throughout the movie.
In conclusion, it was worth seeing. I hope that this movie does bring the Muppets back into the mainstream. Maybe this movie will lead to even better Muppet movies that stay truer to Jim Henson's humor and outlook on life. Either way, I feel lucky for having discovered the magic of Jim Henson and the Muppets.
My first introduction to the Muppets was the Muppet Show, which is pretty much Saturday Night Live with characters created by Jim Henson. This is probably why I (and critics) enjoyed The Muppets more than some people (namely my two brothers who are more familiar with Muppets from Space). The Muppets is essentially an homage to The Muppet Show. I thought things like Skeeter as the stage manager and the random goat eating things backstage were awesome because I remember that from childhood. The classic Muppet cameos were all over the place and Jim Henson's message of love was there. However, there were a few things that I thought were not up to Muppet standards...
It didn't feel as "smart" as past Muppet movies. One of the key elements of the Muppets is their subtle humor. As Jim Henson said, "If you keep it more abstract, it's almost more pure. It's a cooler thing." Muppet movies are supposed to be funny (not just to kids). For example, in The Great Muppet Caper, Fozzie and Kermit are identical twins....obviously.
In Muppets from Space, Rizzo has a poster in his room of the "Mice Girls".
Another key Muppet element is believable relationships between people and Muppets (even if the acting is corny). There didn't seem to be anything real about Jason Segel and Amy Adams...it was more parody than anything. Half of what makes Muppets funny is that a lot of the time, the people around them don't see them as different at all. I 100% believe that Charles Grodin has a thing for Miss Piggy. You can see the passion in his eyes in the picture below.
I also think that the Muppet "newcomers" were not showcased enough. I understand that the focus was The Muppet Show, but Rizzo the Rat and Pepe the Prawn are hilarious and should have been misbehaving in the background throughout the movie.
In conclusion, it was worth seeing. I hope that this movie does bring the Muppets back into the mainstream. Maybe this movie will lead to even better Muppet movies that stay truer to Jim Henson's humor and outlook on life. Either way, I feel lucky for having discovered the magic of Jim Henson and the Muppets.
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Rejected, but not Dejected
This has been an interesting week. I woke up at 5:00 AM Monday morning (thanks, time change!) to an insanely stuffed up baby with a nasty sounding cough. I was on the phone with the pediatrician by 7:15 AM and in the sick waiting room with my mother, who is recovering from bronchitis, by 8:50 AM. The diagnosis was double ear infection and upper respiratory infection. Let the antibiotics and florastor begin!
Last night, I noticed a rattling in Little Ethan's chest and immediately freaked out that he had bronchitis. My awesome pediatrician saw me this morning at 8:00 and told me that he still had a nasty sinus infection, but no bronchitis...phew! Crisis averted...
Or so I thought. After the pediatrician, my mom met me at Firestone. I dropped off my car for its annual inspection. I was shocked when I received the phone call saying my car did not pass. The Firestone employee gave me a laundry list of things I needed to fix and an estimate of over $600 to fix the bare minimum.
Tomorrow, I will be getting a second opinion! I went to pick up my car and they told me they would drive it out in ten minutes. Twenty minutes later, a random guy walked out and told me they accidentally broke the tire sensor on my car. It only took them forty minutes to replace this. All of this was happening while my mom and little guy were waiting for me at the grocery store.
As I got into my car with my brand new REJECTED sticker on the windshield, my mom told me that she would pick up the groceries I needed and drop them and the baby off at my house. My mom made my day.
Despite the early morning, bronchitis scare, inspection failure, and broken tire sensor, I have had a good day. It was a good day because of my helpful mom and sweet little boy. There were a few times today that I caught myself really enjoying being a mom. In my hectic life, I don't always take time to appreciate how lucky I am. Little Ethan's new top tooth, our very first game of catch, and his love of hugs is what I will remember about today. Life is good.
Last night, I noticed a rattling in Little Ethan's chest and immediately freaked out that he had bronchitis. My awesome pediatrician saw me this morning at 8:00 and told me that he still had a nasty sinus infection, but no bronchitis...phew! Crisis averted...
Or so I thought. After the pediatrician, my mom met me at Firestone. I dropped off my car for its annual inspection. I was shocked when I received the phone call saying my car did not pass. The Firestone employee gave me a laundry list of things I needed to fix and an estimate of over $600 to fix the bare minimum.
Tomorrow, I will be getting a second opinion! I went to pick up my car and they told me they would drive it out in ten minutes. Twenty minutes later, a random guy walked out and told me they accidentally broke the tire sensor on my car. It only took them forty minutes to replace this. All of this was happening while my mom and little guy were waiting for me at the grocery store.
As I got into my car with my brand new REJECTED sticker on the windshield, my mom told me that she would pick up the groceries I needed and drop them and the baby off at my house. My mom made my day.
Despite the early morning, bronchitis scare, inspection failure, and broken tire sensor, I have had a good day. It was a good day because of my helpful mom and sweet little boy. There were a few times today that I caught myself really enjoying being a mom. In my hectic life, I don't always take time to appreciate how lucky I am. Little Ethan's new top tooth, our very first game of catch, and his love of hugs is what I will remember about today. Life is good.
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