4th of July

HAVE A HAPPY & SAFE 4TH OF JULY EVERYONE!!

Happy Birthday Syarah!

Happy birthday to my sister-in-law, Syarah (Tengku Aisyarah), who is celebrating her 35th birthday today..

Cubs Rap

Go Cubs Go

After 100 Years, it's Time....

Cubs swept series against Sox

My FAVORITE team, the Chicago Cubs swept the series against the Chicago White Sox this weekend, 3-0. They won 4-3 (Friday), 11-7 (Saturday) and 7-1 (Sunday). This makes their home win 32-8. Above is the song we sing every time they win...

GO CUBS GO!!!

Here in my home...

A friend forwarded me this YouTube video and I thought I'd post it here for everyone to see.

American Gangster

We rented this DVD the other day and just started watching it. In fact Jim is still watching it. I gave up about half an hour into the movie. There are a few famous actors in it, Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe, Josh Brolin...etc but somehow I'm just not into the movie.

It is based on a true story about a detective (Russell Crowe) in the 70's who brought down the druglord (Denzel Washington) who have been importing drugs from Thailand....That's about all I saw..he he he. So, I really don't have any opinion about this movie. Maybe I'm just tired and wasn't in the mood to watch the movie at the moment...I don't know. So, there you go...

Other movies I like by actors in this movie:
1) Anything by Denzel Washington
2) Gladiator - Russell Crowe
3) The Insider - Russell Crowe
4) A Beautiful Mind - Russell Crowe
5) LA Confidential - Russell Crowe
6) No Country for Old Men - Josh Brolin
7) Flirting with Disaster - Josh Brolin

All stressed out...

That's all I'm gonna say about that!

"Gone Baby Gone"

Jim & I just finished watching this movie on DVD today. We both liked the movie except for the ending...

The movie is about 2 Boston area private detectives, Patrick Kenzie (Casey Affleck - yes younger brother to Ben Affleck) and Angie Gennaro (Michelle Monaghan - yes younger sister to Bridgette Monaghan) who were hired by the aunt, Bea McCready, of missing 4 year old girl named Amanda McCready. Bea hired Patrick & Angie against her husband and the police wishes.

Captain Jack Doyle (Morgan Freeman) was the chief police who heads the investigation, who himself had lost his 12 year old daughter due to kidnapping. He asked his 2 detectives in the case, Remy Bressart (Ed Harris) and Nick Pole (John Ashton) to cooperate with Patrick & Angie. The more Patrick & Angie investiges, the deeper they go into the world of drugs and conspiracies.

Like I said earlier, we liked this movie except for how it ended. All the actors were really good in it especially Casey Affleck. Oh btw, Ben Affleck directed this movie....

Other movies I like by actors in this movie:
1. "To Die For" - Casey Affleck
2. "Good Will Hunting" - Casey Affleck
3. "Ocean's Thirteen" - Casey Affleck
4. "Batman Begins" - Morgan Freeman
5. "Million Dollar Baby" - Morgan Freeman
6. "Bruce Almighty" - Morgan Freeman
7. "Amistad" - Morgan Freeman
8. "Se7en" - Morgan Freeman
9. "The Shawshank Redemption" - Morgan Freeman
10. "Driving Miss Daisy" - Morgan Freeman
11. "Nurse Betty" - Morgan Freeman
12. "Unforgiven" - Morgan Freeman
13. "A History of Violence" - Ed Harris
14. "The Truman Show" - Ed Harris
15. "Apollo 13" - Ed Harris
16. "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" - Michelle Monaghan
17. "Bourne Supremacy" - Michelle Monaghan
18. "Mr & Mrs Smith"- Michelle Monaghan

Father's Day

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY TO ALL DADS, GRANDPAS & UNCLE'S OUT THERE.

Friday 13th

HAVE A HAPPY & SAFE FRIDAY 13TH EVERYONE!!

Spoiler Alert: Giving Away the 20 Best Movie Twists

As most of you probably notice, I love watching movies especially the ones that have twisted endings. Some I watched just once and never watch again but thereare a few that I would watch over & over & over & over again. You get my point he he he. I've seen all of these movies at one point or another except for #20 on this list. I saw the article below on Yahoo & thought I'd share with you guys. Be warned that these are movie spoilers so if yu have not seen any of these movies, please do NOT read this blog!!


The Sixth Sense : Dr. Malcom Crowe is a child psychologist who tries to recover from a violent attack by treating a spooky kid who can see ghosts.
Spoiler : He's actually dead.






The Others : A woman who lives in a remote estate with her afflicted children starts seeing weird creepy things around the house.
Spoiler: They're actually dead.





Saw: Two guys trapped in a warehouse bathroom with a corpse on the floor, are forced to choose between their lives or their legs by the fiendishly inventive Jigsaw Killer.
Spoiler: The corpse is Not dead. He is the killer.





Citizen Kane: As famed billionair newspaperman, Charles Foster Kane lies dying in his mammoth estate, he croaks out one work: "Rosebud".
Spoiler: It's his sled.





The Empire Strikes Back: Luke Skywalker trains with Jedi Master Yodo to take on the tyrannical Darth Vader, who he's been told killed his father, Anakin.
Spoiler: Darth Vader is his father.





Soylent Green: In response to food shortages caused by over population, the government of the future has invented a revolutionary foodstuff called Soylent Green.
Spoiler: It's people. Soylent Green is made out of people.





Planet of the Apes: Astronaut George Taylor lands on a planet full of apes who enslaves him and force him to wear a loincloth.
Spoiler: It was Earth all along.





Basic Instinct: Catherine Trammell is accused of a murder that was committed in the same exact manner as one detailed in her bestselling book.
Spoiler: She did it.





The Crying Game: Fergus is an IRA agent who, after accidentally killing a British soldier seeks out and then falls in love with the dead guy's girlfriend.
Spoiler: She's a he.





Fight Club: An ordinary Joe meets Tyler Durden on a plane. Together they start a fight club that turns into a militia out to destroy all credit card companies.
Spoiler: He has split personality. He is Tyler Durden.





Primal Fear: Aaron is an abused alter boy accused of knocking off a priest. He convinces his lawyer and the court that his dissociative alter ego Roy did it.
Spoiler: He does not have a split personality. He's not Aaron.





No Way Out: When a Washington bigshot's mistress winds up dead, his other lover, a decorated Navy officer is suspected of being a KGB agent.
Spoiler: He is a KGB agent.





Psycho: Janet Leigh steals a bunch of money from a rich yokel, clears out of town and gets stabbed while taking a shower.
Spoiler: The killer is Norman Bates in a dress.





Dressed to Kill: A transvetite psychopath is running around New York city murdering lonely housewives.
Spoiler: The killer is Michael Caine in a dress.





12 Monkeys: James Cole, a prisoner in a post-apocalyptic world goes back in time to prevent a virus from wiping out the world population.
Spoiler: He fails.





Arlington Road: History professor Michael Faraday starts to believe his new neighbors are domestic terrorists planning to drive a car bomb into FBI headquarters.
Spoiler: He drives the bomb in himself.





The Sting: Two con men join up in an elaborate scam to extract some revenge from gangster Doyle Lennegan, but the FBI forces them to turn on one another.
Spoiler: Everyone, including the FBI, is in on it.





Chinatown: P.I. Jake Giddes gets hired to catch a married guy with a mystery blonde. When the guys is found dead, Jake tries to find out who set him up and falls for the victim's widow, Evelyn.
Spoiler: The blonde is Evelyn's daughter. She's her sister. She's her daughter.





The Usual Suspect: Small time criminal, Verbal Kint gets interrogated about a mysterious dockside massacre. He argues that the culprit is a shadowy figure of unspeakable evil, Keyser Soze.
Spoiler: Verbal is Soze.





Angel Heart: Detective Harry Angel is hired by creepy Louis Cyphe to find the missing Johnny Favorite. Harry goes to New Orleans, where everyone he talks to ends up dead.
Spoiler: Louis Cyphe is the Devil. Harry Angel killed everyone while possessed. Harry is Johnny Favorite. Johnny is going to Hell.

Summer

Summer is definitely here!! Currently at about 11:38 am (Arizona time) it is 86F (30C) and the high is supposed to be about 98F (37C) today. The weatherman is predicting the high of about 108F (42C) for this weekend. I know that I will be staying put in the house this weekend!

I guess that is one of the disadvantages of living in the desert. In the middle of summer, it can go up to about 117F (48C)! Sure that you've heard the saying, "It's so hot you can cook an egg on the pavement"? Well, you can do that here, I've done it. Couldn't believe my eyes when the egg cooked to a perfect "sunny side up" ("telur mata lembu") right on the sidewalk.

I sure am glad that there is hardly any humidity here. There is no way I can survive the heat AND the humidity. I do have to say that my miniature cactus are striving. They are definitely in their element. My annuals all died about a month ago when the temperature started rising.

Oh, I better get my car checked. Definitely do not want to break down while I'm running around doing my errands. With the high gas prices (US$4.13/gallon), I am glad I have the Yaris (Toyota). Before the Yaris, I drove a '94 Dodge Caravan with a kaput air conditioner... Can you imagine driving around in that clunker with no air, in the middle of the day in summer?? I did lose some weight from sweating.. he he he.

Anyways, here's wishing that everyone have a nice & safe summer!

Under The Tuscan Sun

I watched "Under the Tuscan Sun" on AMC (American Movie Classics -channel 43) over the weekend. The last time I saw this movie was when it came out on DVD a few years back.

The movie itself was okay but what I like the best was the Italian scenery. It is so beautiful over there in Tuscany. It reminds me of the time my family & I drove across Europe for our family vacation so many years ago.

It was in the summer of '89, and we were living in Holland then. My dad took 2 weeks off of work and we drove all over Europe. We went to Belgium, Germany, Liechenstein, Switzerland, Austria, Yugoslavia (this is before the civil war when there was still a Yugoslavia), Italy & France. We had so much fun camping by the freeway. At night, the girls (my mom, sister & myself) slept in the car while my dad & brother slept in the sleeping bags. It was a luxury for us to sleep in a hotel when we get into the bigger towns. I always look back to those memories with fondness...

Of all the countries he could visit, Jim wants to go to Italy the most. That is because he's half Italian and still have some family members in the southern part of Italy. He's never been there and I would like us to go there some dya. We were supposed to go to Italy for our 10th anniversary a couple of years ago but due to some unavoidable circumstances, the trip never materialized. Hopefully, with careful planning, we will be able to do so for our 15th anniversary... Insya allah.

Anyways, back to the movie. Rent it if you like romantic movies coupled with beautiful sceneries...

Other Italian scenery movies I like:
1. "The Talented Mr Ripley" - (Matt Damon, Jude Law, Gweneth Paltrow)
2. "Only You" - Marissa Tomei, Robert Downey Jr.
3. "Life is Beautiful" - Roberto Benigni

Lean on Me - Club Nouveau

*This was (and still is) one of my favorite songs while I was in high school ...

Sometimes in our lives we all have pain

We all have sorrow

But if we are wise

We know that there's always tomorrow

(Chorus)

Lean on me, when you're not strong

And I'll be your friend

I'll help you carry on

For it won't be long

'Til I'm gonna need

Somebody to lean on

Please swallow your pride

If I have things you need to borrow

For no one can fill those of your needs

That you don't let show

(Chorus)

If there us a load you have to bear

That you can't carry

I'm right up the road

I'll share your load

If you just call me

So just call on me brother, when you need a hand

We all need somebody to lean on

I just might have a problem that you'd understand

We all need somebody to lean on

(Chorus)

Lean on me....

How dorky am I?

(Click on picture to enlarge)

Can you spot me in this picture? This was the Upper Six class of 1990 at The British School in The Netherlands taken just before we did our A-Levels examinations. Hemm, my secret crush is also in this picture... he he he. Never told him that I had a crush on him, so he never knew about it. Which one do you think he is? *wink*

P/S Thanks Dominic, for forwarding me this picture, I lost my copy amidst my moving around all these years. By the way, Dominic wasn't my secret crush though he is a very good friend. ;-)

"Seronok ke tinggal kat US?"

"Seronok ke tinggal kat US?" ("It is nice living in the US?"). That is one of the questions people (mostly Malaysians) would ask me when they find out that I live in America. I had this question asked by 3 different people over the weekend. And, my answer is always, "Yes and No". "Why?" you might ask... Well, here are my reasonings.

1. My hubby is American. When I took my marriage vows, I vowed to be with him (& he me) for better or worse, sickness or health, till death do us part. So, wherever my love is, there I will be. Another question people ask me is, "How does it feel to be married to a "Mat Salleh'?" Like any marriage, there are ups and downs. You take the good and the bad coz nobody is perfect. Gosh I know I have many faults of my own!!! Being married to Mat Salleh is no different than marrying any other races, may it be Melayu, Cina, India or whatever it is. You have to work at your marriage, there has to be give and take. Yes, I do admit that it might be a little difficult coz of the cultural differences but as long as you have the same values, cultural differences doesn't mean much.

2. I feel less awkward here. Because of my height (I'm 6 feet tall), I feel that I blend in better here. Here, I can find clothes and shoes that fit me. I don't have to go to the shoe cobbler or the tailor to have my shoes and clothes especially made for me like I do in Malaysia. I can walk tall and not have people stare at me or say something mean behind my back (oh you know who you are). Oh don't get me wrong, there are mean people here too but I get to be me.

3. Freedom... speech, religion, etc. I am free to think whatever I want and say it if I want to. I am me when I am here. I don't have to act or talk a certain way, the "accepted" way like I do in Malaysia.

4. I've become accustomed to things here. Having been in the US for 15 years now, I've become accustomed to how things are done.

5. I miss my family back in Malaysia. I wish that we live nearer (but not too close).

6. I miss Malaysian food. Yes I can get some of them here but there is nothing like eating my mom's cooking or the smell of satay being grilled.

7. During Ramadan and Aidil Fitri, there is nothing like the atmosphere you get in Malaysia. Here you wouldn't even know that it's Ramadan or Hari Raya.

So, there you go, the reasons for my saying, "Yes & No" when someone ask me, "Seronok ke tinggal kat US tu?".

Rose Red

Jim & I watched the movie "Rose Red" on the Sci Fi channel (channel 50) last night. It was written by Stephen King and made into a tv movie. When it was first aired (I believe back in 2002), it was showed in 2 hours segments over 3 days (6 hours total). Last night they aired it back to back starting at 7pm.

The movie is about a group of psychics who spent 3 nights, over Memorial Weekend, to investigate a mansion called "Rose Red" that is believed to be inhibited by ghosts/spirits that feeds on psychic powers. The house had been laid dormant for the past 30 years but as the psychics entered the house, it started to "awake".

The movie was pretty good (most of Stephen King's movies are in my opinion). The first 4 hours of it was very interesting. However, the way the movie ended was a little disappointing for me. I still did enjoy it. Stephen King, as in most of his movies, made an appearance as a pizza delivery boy in this movie. I am not sure if this movie is out on DVD or not, but if you are able to find it, watch it, especially if you are a Stephen King fan.

p/s: For other Stephen King movie recommendations, please refer to the blog titled "The Mist"

Atonement

We finally saw "Atonement" last night and I thought it was pretty good. Sad but good. It was set in England during WWII about a girl, Briony, who lives in the country with her mother and sister Cecilia (Kiera Knightley).

Cecilia was home for the summer from Cambridge where she is studying along with the housekeeper's son, Robbie. They had an attraction to each other but were unwilling to act on it. One day, Briony witness from her bedroom window an arguement between Cecilia & Robbie... Several other things and Briony accused Robbie of raping her cousin, Lola. Tried and convicted, Robbie was sent to jail.

Well, much much more things happened, I don't want to spoil the movie for you if you decide to watch it. Anyways, go watch it... I absolutely recommend watching this movie.

Other movies by the actors/actresses of "Atonement" that I like:
1. The Last King of Scotland (James McAvoy)
2. Pirates of the Caribbean (Kiera Knightley)
3. Bend It Like Beckham (Kiera Knightley)
4. The Pledge (Vanessa Redgrave)
5. Girl, Interrupted (Vanessa Redgrave)
6. Mission Impossible (Vanessa Redgrave)
7. Murder on the Orient Express (Vanessa Redgrave)

Happy Birthday Aman

Happy belated birthday to my nephew, Aman (Raja Irfan) who celebrated his 8th birthday on May 25th.

Dan in Real Life

On my way home from work on Friday I stopped at Blockbuster and rented a couple of movies, "Dan in Real Life" & "Atonement". We had planned on watching both DVDs over the weekend but if you read my previous blog, you would know that we didn't have a chance to coz of the toilet fiasco.

After I got the toilet fixed on Sunday, we decided to watch "Dan in Real Life". I thought it was a cute movie. Steve Carell played Dan, a widowed advise columnist who is good when dealing with other people's relationships but is a little clueless when it comes to his own relationship with his 3 daugthers. While on a family vacation at his parents's house (his siblings with their spouses & kids were there too), he met a woman at a book store. They spent some time talking and he was really attracted to her and she seems like she's interested in him too though she did tell him that she's involve with someone. When he went back to his parents', he told his siblings that he met a girl...His brothers and sister were teasing him when one of his brothers, Mitch (played by Dan Cook) introduced his new girlfriend, Marie (Juliette Binoche) who had come spend her vacation with the family. Mitch's girlfriend turned out to be the girl Dan had met at the book store that morning.

I liked the movie and thought it was cute. Dianne Wiest & John Mahoney played Dan's parents and they were funny. There were funny parts in there and I really like Steve Carell...So, rent the movie if you feel like having a laugh.

Other movies I like by actors/actresses from this movie:
1. 40 Year Old Virgin (Steve Carell)
2. Bruce Almighty (Steve Carell)
3. The Lost Boys (Dianne Wiest)
4. Birdcage (Dianne Wiest)
5. Bullets Over Broadway (Dianne Wiest)
6. Hannah & Her Sisters (Dianne Wiest)
7. Chocolat (Juliet Binoche)
8. The English Patient (Juliet Binoche)

Two Girls & a Toilet

Oh what a weekend I had!!! And it wasn't the good kind. It all started innocently enough...

Late Saturday afternoon Jim told me that the toilet in our guest bathroom upstairs is leaking water from the tank into the toilet. So as not to waste water and being the "fix-it" gal that I am, I lifted the lid to the tank to see if the flapper valve (the rubber thingy that lifts up and down to allow water to run thru when you flush) is tightly shut...and it was. Since that is ok, the other thing that might be the culprit is the float arm (the ball with the metal lever). I was adjusting the lever when "CRACK!"... The whole lever with the ball broke!! Now, water was rushing into the tank and I couldn't stop it!!! I quickly turned off the water switch that connects to the tank. It did slowed the water but there was still a trickle of water still coming in so I when outside our house to look for the main water shutoff... Boy was I freaking out coz we've lived in this house for almost 5 years now and never once I thought about locating the main water shut off... I frantically called my friend Melissa (an accomplished fix-it gal, I might add) to see if she could point me to the shut off. Off course, being the pro that she is, she did...he he he...

So, after turning off the main water shutoff as well as the hot water heater, I went back upstairs to survey the damage. I know that I will need to get the whole "water refiller" (don't know what it's called) where the ball & lever was attached to replaced. It looked simple enough to do so I went to the Home Depot down the street to get the replacement. After talking with the guy in the plumbing aisle, he told me that it's better if I replace the whole mechanism in the tank so as it is all new. So, after paying the cashier US$43.93, I went home with the complete repair kit in my possession.

I got back home I found the bathroom floor flooded with water! Dammit!!! Water was still trickling into the tank even after I've shut off the main water supply...What the hell is going on? After checking that the water supply to the tank is completely turnoff (water still coming in tho), I went back outside to make sure the main shutoff is completely off. With all the strenght that I have, I turned that knob until I couldn't turn it anymore. I went back upstairs to mop up the water from the floor and lay down some towels to help dry up the floor faster.

I do have to tell you that my 2 boys were so curious with what I was doing that they kept getting in the way, a couple of times almost tripping me while I was running up and down the stairs. Jim in the meantime (being the non fix-it guy he is) tried to keep the boys out of my way, unsuccessfully of course, coz they are more curious with what I was doing to even eat their treats....he he he.

Ok back to the toilet... After reading the instructions, I started to disassemble the mechanisms. I was able to unscrew the refiller on the inside but I have a hard time unscrewing the attachment from under the tank to the water supply. No matter what I do, the nut would not budge even after I screamed, yelled and cursed at it, it still would not budge. To make matter worse, I jabbed my middle finger as I was trying to unscrew that stupid thing while water dripped from the tank onto my face (I had to lay on the floor to get to that nut).

By this time, it was already 8pm and I don't feel like going back to Home Depot to buy a fitted wrench that might work to unscrew that nut. So, I had Jim called his parents to see if they have one which they did. Since I was already too tired to do anything else, I told them that I will come by in the morning to pick up the wrench... I went to bed exhausted that night. Of course first making sure that I put a bucket under that tank so that it doesn't flood the floor again.

The next morning (Sunday) I drove over to my in laws to get the wrenches and found out that what they have is too small for what I needed. So, I stopped at Lowe's by their house and bought a fitted wrench set for US$21.67. So, back to our house to tackle that toilet...

After changing back into my dirty work clothes, I laid back onto the floor...and guess what? None, of the wrenches fit that nut!!! Aarghhhhhh... Frustrated, I started cursing at it again which scared the boys so much that they hid under the futon.

Frustrated with the whole thing and not wanting to call the plumber (they cost an arm & a leg), I decided to call Melissa... As soon as she answered her phone, I burst out crying and told her what happened. Being a good friend that she is, she came right over to help me... Phew!! Help is on the way.....

Once Melissa got to the house, I showed her what I was trying to do... she took one look at the old and new refiller and said, "The new one has a bigger tube than the old one"...Opps! so off we went to Home Depot again to see if they have the small tube...Got to Home Depot and after showing the old refiller to the guy in the plumbing department, he said, "You have a very old toilet, they don't make it that small anymore". So, after asking the guy if there is any way to unscrew that nut without actually breaking the tank itself, he told us that we could try to undo the whole tank and turn it over so that we have a better angle. He also suggested that we can try to saw it off since it's plastic...So, back to the house we went.

After unhooking the tank from the toilet and many, many grunts and curses, we finally were able to unscrew that blasted nut. After that, everything was easy....We replaced the refiller, put in the new overflow tube, replace the valve system and reattached the tank back to the toilet...yeah!!!! Told Melissa that we should open a business and call it "Two Girls & a Toilet"...he he he.

I turned the water to the tank and went outside to turn on the main water. After turning the main water and the hot water heater back on, I went into the kitchen to make sure that water is flowing... Turned on the tap and nothing happened. What the hell??? So, I went back out side and turned the main water knob somemore....I kept turning, and turning and turning and turning...nothing happened. Still no water.... I realized that I might have broke the valve in the main water line when I shut it off the day before. Shit!!!

I tried to call the HOA (Home Owner's Association) to see if the repair for the main valve would be covered by our homeowner's insurance but since it was Sunday, the office was closed. To make matter worse, Monday was Memorial Day which is a federal holiday so we won't be able to contact them until Tuesday morning. So here we are, toilet is fixed but no water except for a tiny little trickle but there is nothing that we could do except to wait till Tuesday. Plumbers cost double on the weekends and holidays and they are expansive to begin with...what to do what to do... We went over to my in-laws to take our showers and spent Monday at my sister-in-law's house for Memorial Day.

Well, it is now Tuesday morning... Jim just called me and said that the HOA doesn't cover to fix that valve. I am trying to see if one of our patients at the dentist office I work at, could help since he owns a plumbing company. Hopefully, he will give us a break and not charge too much...

I will keep you guys posted as to whether I still have an arm and a leg later on....

** Update (1:32pm, May 27)
Well, the patient at my office had one of his employees go over to our house to check the valve. Jim just called me that we now have water. YEAH!!!!!

And here's the awesome part....I still have my limbs... They didn't charge us anything for coming over and fixing the valve!!! Bless you, Randy/Danny and of course, Melissa...you guys are just AWESOME!!!!!

Exhausted

Man, I am exhausted!!! If you notice from my blogs lately, I haven't spend a lot of time on it. I used to write longer blogs but the last few months it has been shorter and this is the reason why...

I simply have too much to do and not enough time to do everything in!

My 2 jobs are demanding...Well, the work itself is not that hard but dealing with the things that come with that job is hard. I start at 7am and usually don't finish till about 5:30pm and all day long I stare at the computer crunching numbers and doing data entries. And in between those, I have supply runs to do as well as dealing with human emotions of my bosses (yes, I have 4 bosses) and fellow colleages. You see, besides than being a financial controller, I am also human resources, counselor, supplier and all around "fix-it" gal. I am kinda the peace keeper of the office. Every little friction, I have to deal with it. So, by the end of the day I am usually exhausted, physically and mentally.

I usually get home at about 6pm. And once I get home, there are housework to do...dishes to wash, dinner to cook, cats to feed. I used to be able to stay awake long enough to watch "Late Show with David Letterman" (10:35pm on CBS), "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" & "The Colbert Report" (12:00am & 12:30am on Comedy Central) every night which means that I would fall asleep at about 1:00am. Nowadays, I am out cold by 9:00pm. I even have to make sure that I set my VCR to tape "Grey's Anatomy" and "Lost" on Thursday nights since they come on at 8pm & 9pm respectively. Which reminds me, I need to make sure that I tape "Grey's Anatomy" for the season finale tonight....

What to do...what to do...I am hoping that my work load will lessen soon. If everything goes the way I plan (or hope/wish), I will be down to just 1 job soon. And hopefully, Jim will be better soon that he is able to get back to work.

Here's to less work and more me time.....

Dancing with the Stars

The finals for "Dancing with the Stars" aired last night and I am glad that Kristi Yamaguchi won the Mirror Ball trophy. She truly deserve to win coz she was good since the very beginning.

Jim & I watched this show from when it first started about 10 weeks ago. I am actually surprised that Jim want to watch it coz he usually doesn't like this kind of stuff. I guess having 2 of his childhood crushes on the show (Kristi Yamaguchi & Monica Seles) made him want to watch it. Sadly, Monica Seles was eliminated in the earlier round. Hopefully season 7 will be as interesting as season 6.

Congrats to Kristi Yamaguchi & Mark Ballas for winning the Dancing with the Stars

Before the Devil Knows You're Dead

We saw this movie on Sunday and we both really like it. It was really well acted and full of suspense. It was about 2 brothers, Andy (Phillip Seymour Hoffman) & Hank (Ethan Hawke) whose lives were in downward spirals. They were both in need of money so in desperation, they decided to rob their parents' (Albert Finney & Rosemary Harris) jewelry store.

The robbery went badly and everything after that went from bad to worse. All the actors were really good and the storyline was awesome. I absolutely recommend you watch this movie.

The Mist

We watched the movie, "The Mist" yesterday and I really like it. It was based on a Stephen King's novel of the same name. As almost all of Stephen King's novel, this is a "scary" movie. It is about the people in a small town in Maine who were trapped in the "mist" and this is no ordinary mist. Frightening and scary stuff are in it.

I am not a very big fan of scary movies with the exception of Stephen King. I really like this one except for one part where one of the characters became a little too preachy for me. As with almost all of Stephen King's novel that was made into movies, he usually have a tiny part in it so I was a little disappointed that he wasn't in this one since I kept expecting to see him pop up somewhere in the movie . The explanation of why he wasn't in it was revealed in the "Special Feature" section of the DVD. If you like scare movies or Stephen King..rent this one.

Other Stephen King's "movies" that I like:
1. Carrie
2. The Shining
3. Stand by Me
4. Misery
5. Sleepwalker
6. The Green Mile
7. The Shawshank Redemption
8. The Stand

Idiot

Somewhere out there, a village is missing its IDIOT!!!

Happy Mother's Day

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO ALL MOMS OUT THERE. WHAT YOU DO FOR YOUR CHILDREN CAN NEVER BE REPAID!!!

"The Savages"

We just finished watching the movie "The Savages" on DVD. It was really good. Though the movie was categorized as a comedy, it was more serious and sad than it is a comedy. It is a story about 2 siblings, John (Phillip Seymour Hoffman) and Wendy (Laura Linney), who had to take care of their ailing dad (Phillip Bosco).

The movie shows the relationship between the siblings and their father and how they deal with death. It was a very good movie, so watch it if you can.

"No Country for Old Men"

We saw this movie, "Old Country for Old Men" on DVD earlier today and I have to say that it is pretty good. Javier Bardem was really good in it and it is no wonder that he won the Oscar last year. Josh Brolin & Tommy Lee Jones was in it too and they were equally good. Watch it if you can...

Happy Birthday, Tiger!!!

Happy birthday to my baby boy, Tiger William Pergo, who is celebrating his 3rd birthday today.