Eating my words

Target has pulled through for me again.  Why, oh why can't they build one closer to my house?  It would have saved me hours of searching at other, far inferior stores.  Well, maybe not hours, but half an hour at Walmart is the same as 4 hours at a good store.  I gathered my energy and headed straight to Target this morning.  And they had options!  They had newborn sized sleepers, newborn sized outfits, a newborn sized little snuggie thing that looks like it will actually keep the baby warm, and a bunch of other accessories for BOYS.  Yes, baby boys.  Someone remembered that, even if boys don't wear cute things like bows and sparkles, they still need to be clothed.  So a huge shout-out to Target.  Now I have another reason for it to be my happy place.  (They have also retained their maternity department, unlike Shopko and Walmart.)

Another search

Remember when I did a post whining about the disappearance of maternity clothes in almost every store?  I'm pretty sure those same great fetchers are also removing all baby boy clothes from the stores.  Seriously.  After having gone to Park City, the University Mall in Orem, and Walmart in search of some new clothes for my upcoming bundle of joy, I have a total of 3 newborn sized sleepers and 2 packs of newborn sized onesies.  I just want to find something to put my baby in for his first few months until he fits into the 0-3 month clothes, which seem to be the size of choice at Walmart (for the 3 outfits and/or sleepers they actually carry).  I have all three of those outfits.  Don't get me wrong.  There are PLENTY of baby clothes at the store.  It's just that they are all pink and flowery and super duper cute.  I happen to know 6 women (including myself) that are expecting baby boys in the next few months.  So it's not like there's a shortage of boys around.  They still need clothing, and I'm certainly not putting my little guy in a pink sleeper.  Is there anyone out there that has found a secret stash of baby boy sleepers I can buy?  I swear 3 years ago there were plenty of baby boy clothes.  So they have to have gone somewhere.  They are probably in the same place as all those maternity clothes that have vanished.

Why Facebook is a good idea

I admit, at first I thought Facebook was kind of ridiculous.  I don't need to know everything everyone is up to.  For example, the whole world doesn't really need to know that you just flushed the toilet.  Or that you had a cheese sandwich for lunch.  This is partly the reason I haven't even touched Twitter.  But as I've spent more and more time on Facebook, I have discovered a few joys that exist because it exists:

1.  Sometimes it's nice to complain about something, like people who shoot ahead to the end of a merging lane to butt in front of those of us who got over a half a mile ago when we saw the "lane ends" sign.  Then you get 20 comments by people who agree with you.  It makes you feel more justified in your indignance.

2.  Sometimes people write hilarious things about life, a lot of which are about their kids.  It's nice to know that other moms have 2-year-olds that do crazy things, and it makes it easier to laugh at my own situation.

3.  Without Facebook, how would I have gotten a gazillion birthday wishes from friends and family?  Let's put it this way:  I got one phone call for my birthday today, and at least 35 birthday wishes on Facebook.  Every 5 minutes I got notifications on my phone wishing me a great day.  Who doesn't feel showered with love after a birthday like that?

And that, my friends, is why I love Facebook.

Harry Potter 7.2

So...I have already complained about the audience at the movie theater the night I saw Harry Potter, but I haven't said anything about what I thought of the movie.  I can't be too detailed about it at this point, because I have prego brain and can't remember details all that well.  I plan on seeing it again, but I thought I'd let you know what my overall impressions were.

*SPOILER ALERT*

Stuff that I didn't love
Changes that were made  Movies are different than books.  Things that work in books don't always work in movies.  So I try very hard to keep an open mind when there are deviations from the book.  However, there were a few things that were different from the book that I thought should have stayed the same.  Harry and Voldemort's final battle takes place in the Great Hall in the book, with the entire wizarding community watching.  It seems pretty important to me that everyone sees Harry finally defeat Voldemort for good.  In the movie, though, they duke it out in the courtyard while everyone's inside.  It makes it seem less significant, somehow.  One of my favorite parts of the book is when Mrs. Weasley takes out Bellatrix LeStrange.  This still happens in the movie, but I wanted it to be a longer battle with a little more oomph.  It seemed too minor to me.  Still, at least that wasn't left out, nor was Mrs. Weasley's line, which I won't quote, but it happens to be one of my favorite lines in the book and the movie.

Draco as an old guy  The rest of the cast looked pretty convincing as being 19 years older, considering the fact that the actors are almost that old anyway.  But putting a beard on Draco was just silly.  Laughable, really.

Stuff I loved
Everything else, but let's start with the emotional stuff  I'm sure there were other things I wished were different, but I can't remember what they are.  I do remember that I loved the way they handled Snape's memories.  Oh, how I cried.  I was biting back sobs.  It's because I read the book and knew what was coming.  I could barely handle the sadness and tragedy associated with Snape.  I also loved Harry's walk through the woods, when he's there with his parents and loved ones.  (Again with the sobs.)  The book describes the scene very clearly and very well, but seeing it on the big screen was even more moving to me.  I think that was the case for most of the movie, really.  Seeing Tonks and Lupin laid out, the Weasley family weeping over Fred's body, and Hogwarts in ruins made the fact that it was the last movie real.  And got the tears flowing even more.

Some of the funny moments that I appreciated because they lightened the tone:  Ron and Hermione making out after destroying the horcrux.  Hilarious.  And seriously, it's about time.  Also, Hermione as Bellatrix.  Helena Bonham Carter is one talented actress.  She does good girl trying to do evil witch so convincingly.  I also loved Harry pointing out that there was no need to plan, considering that none of their plans work anyway.  Good point, Harry.

Like I said, my memory is shot.  I like the movie a lot.  I can't wait to see it again.  Two enthusiastic thumbs up.

I finally made it Harry Potter last night.  And I will write about that next.  But I have a major beef to air, and since this blog is called Rac's Rants, here is a rant.

Tim and I love to go to movies.  Our similar taste in movies makes it something we really enjoy to do together.  We are willing to fork out the dough to go to a good movie theater with excellent sound and assigned seats so we can have the best viewing experience possible.  One of the factors in a good viewing experience is not having our kids with us.  Of course, we take our kids to movies that are meant for kids, because it's a fun family experience.  But even at those movies, when our 2-year-old has had it and starts to get noisy, we take him out of the theater.  But we NEVER bring them along to a grown-up movie.

Last night, I called around until I found a babysitter so Tim and I could to Harry Potter 7.2.  I didn't purchase my tickets until I had actually found a babysitter.  This way, there was no chance that we'd be stuck with movie tickets and 2 little boys with nowhere to go.  Apparently, this is not how everyone does things.  When we got to the theater and had settled into our seats, a couple walked in with what looked like a 2-year-old and maybe a 4-year-old.  They were sitting in the row ahead of us.  Groan.  Then another couple walked in with a baby that was probably around 8 months old and ended up directly in front of us.  Double groan.  Here is why I think it is wrong to bring little kids to a PG-13 movie at 7:30 at night.

1.  Those of us who are paying babysitters at home did so so we wouldn't have to listen to kids whine and cry and kick the seats.  When the baby in front of us started to fuss, the mom nursed the baby for about 5 minutes to calm her down.  And then she kept fussing. So they gave her a toy to cheer her up, which she did, and then she was making happy noises.  But fussing and happy noises are both NOISES.  And we got to hear those noises for the first 20 minutes of the movie before Tim said, "That baby's got to go out," and they finally removed her from our row, and took her to the end of the row, where she continued to make noise.  The parents didn't completely remove her from the theater until about halfway through the movie.  It is EXTREMELY distracting to have a baby crying.  It interrupts any kind of mood the movie is creating.

2.  News Flash: Some movies aren't appropriate for little kids.  Harry Potter was one of those movies.  That 13 at the end of the rating should be an indicator to parents that the movie isn't aimed at toddlers.  And every time we go to a PG-13 movie, even at 8pm, there are little kids all over the place.  When we went to Star Wars: Episode III, there was a little girl that was about 5 sitting next to me.  She was terrified and cried the whole time, and her dad refused to take her out.  He just said to her, "Oh, don't be scared.  It's not real."  Yeah, that helped.  The same thing happened when we went to see Spiderman 2, and Doc Octopus was taking out the entire hospital staff.  There was a row of 3and 4-year-old boys in front of us, and they were whimpering and crying, and none of the adults with them would let them leave.  I'm not sure what's going through those parents' heads, but as an outside observer, it just looks selfish.  You wouldn't want to miss part of your movie just so your kids can have relief from the terror they're experiencing because you refused to get a babysitter, right?  Last night, every time something scary happened, I worried about those little girls sitting in front of us.  It's none of my business to tell other people how to raise their kids, but when those kids are screaming and the parents aren't doing anything about it, it ticks me off.

3.  It's just rude.  There is a huge effort going on to get people to turn off their cell phones, and it seems to be working.  People are turning them off.  So why isn't there an effort to get kids out of adult movies?  It is even more distracting to have a toddler screaming her head off next to you or a baby crying or a 6-year-old kicking your seat than to have someone's cell phone go off for a few seconds (although that's still lame).  There are plenty of kids' movies out right now.  If you're going to a movie as a family, why not see a family movie?  If you can't find a babysitter, wait until you can.  If you can't afford a sitter, arrange a trade with friends so you both get to see the movie without your kids.

The theater we went to in Mississippi had a policy that wouldn't allow children under the age of 10 (or maybe even 13) into PG-13 movies after 7pm.  It was the best idea I've ever seen.  I knew that if I went to a grown-up movie, I'd be watching it with grown-ups.  Maybe we can encourage that same policy in our theaters here. Who's with me?

So You Think You Can Be a Pussycat Doll

Is anyone else watching So You Think You Can Dance this season?  A few thoughts about the show thus far:

1.  What is up with the naughty outfits and even naughtier dancers?  There are a few dancers that actually said in their intro packages that their dream was to be a Pussycat Doll.  There's one contestant in particular that is an incredibly talented and skilled dancer, but all she seems to do is prance around in her bra and panties and sticks her booty out far too much when she's asked to dance for her life.  And then she acts all coy and innocent when a choreographer asks her to pretend she's seducing her dance partner.  Blech.  Pick a personality.  And could it please be the one that covers up a little more?

2.  I love Cat Deeley.  She's fantastic.  Not only is she fun to listen to because of her British accent, but she seems so at ease, just standing up there chatting with the judges.  She also seems very genuine, and if she doesn't care about the contestants, she does an amazing job hiding it.  When it's auditions, she goes outside and freezes her buns off with all the peons trying out for the show.  Plus, you just never know what she's going to wear next.  And she just finally got nominated for an Emmy.  (Take that, Ryan Seacrest!)

3.  I'm loving the rotating celebrity judges.  So far we've gotten Megan Mullaly, Kristen Chenowith, Carmen Miranda, one of those guys from Modern Family, and Doogie Howser.  (And a few more, probably, but I'm blanking.)  It's nice to get a fresh perspective on things.  I just wish it were Mary Murphy getting rotated out, not one of those other choreographers that used to be a judge.  Why does she yell SO MUCH?

That's all.  Just putting it out there.

A little late, but the thought was there

First of all, happy anniversary to my super great husband.  I happen to know that he doesn't look at this blog all that often, so it's a good thing I told him happy anniversary on the actual day.  But I'm just giving a shout-out to a very kind, very patient man.  He has been dealing with a grumpy, tired pregnant lady for the past 6 1/2 months, and he deserves a medal.  One example I can share of his kindness is that he let me choose our new mattress at Ikea, which I kind of insisted was perfect.  Then, when we brought it home and I had slept on it for a few days, then sat up in the middle of the night, crying in frustration at the horrible hard new mattress, he immediately got the foam mattress topper from the spare room and put it on my side of the bed so I could get some sleep.  With no complaints.  He never pointed out that I was the one that chose the stupid mattress in the first place, or that maybe a lot of my lack of sleep has to do with the giant belly I'm hauling around.  He quietly helped fix the problem.  Thanks, honey.

For our anniversary we went on a date (HOORAY), and went to a fancy restaurant in downtown Ogden called Jasoh!  Yes, the exclamation point is part of the name.  They have two sections, with two separate menus: casual dining and snooty dining (I can't remember what they really called it).  We chose snooty, and here are a few items from their menu:  Himalayan Yak with Quinoa, Lamb Loin with curried asparagus, and Quail stuffed with Andouille sausage.  To name a few.  We felt like total rubes while we were ordering, because we had to ask what buerre blanc meant (butter sauce) and what gastrique was (a reduction sauce).  It was tres chic.  Tim got adventurous and ordered the quail.  I was pondering ordering a chicken dish, but once he stuck his neck out, I decided to go with the Duck with chocolate gastrique.  Wow, was it good.  It was on a bed of penne pasta with a creamy fontina sauce.  I ate around the wild mushrooms (a mushroom is still a slimy mushroom), but the chocolate gastrique combined with the moist and tender duck meat and the creamy sauce was TO DIE FOR.  I was seriously disappointed that right now I can only fit a tiny amount of food in my stomach before I'm full.  I will be going back again and ordering the duck again and eating every last bite of that dish.  Or maybe I'll try the yak.

This culinary experience is responsible for my new TV addiction, which is the Food Network.  I was idly flipping channels the other day while Tim was making a bunch of phone calls, and happened upon Food Star.  It caught my eye because there was a really nervous-looking chef presenting a very complicated-sounding dish to Courtney Cox.  Because of my amazement at the deliciousness of the combo of chocolate, fontina and duck, I became fascinated with the combinations the chefs were creating for their dishes.  The chefs had to present their dishes to the cast and crew of Cougartown, and it was quite enjoyable to listen to their critiques of the food.  I am a meat and potatoes, mac and cheese kind of girl, and have never been drawn to fancy food.  It has never looked good to me, and usually when I hear what's in a fancy dish I think, "Gross!" and eat my grilled cheese sandwich.  But now I am convinced that, even if it sounds wrong, or looks weird, it just might be the tastiest thing I've ever tried.  And watching chefs come up with those recipes is now fascinating to me.  I'm not saying I'm going to start cooking fancy at home, at least not right now.  Just like I'm not going to become an amazing hip hop dancer or lose 100 pounds right now.  I am going to watch other people do those things on TV.  If, after this baby is born and I have lost that 100 pounds, I am motivated enough, maybe I'll learn a few fancy dishes to impress guests when they come for dinner.