Back in time

The social media scene has been all a-Twitter today with news that Doc Brown set the DeLorean to enter the future on July 5, 2010 in the original "Back to the Future" 25 years ago. Turns out it's all a hoax, and someone had Photoshop and too much time on his hands.

So I guess Marty McFly didn't zip into today all those years ago. But it did get me to thinking about watching that movie 25 years ago. I was in junior high, and I saw it with my aunt Kathy and cousin Lonnie. I thought it was a great flick, if a bit farfetched. And I don't remember wondering what life would be like in 2010, but now I'm thinking that I would have had no idea how life would be right now.

For starters, I never imagined how my life would revolve around technology. That my iPhone would be permanently implanted in my hand. That I would incessantly check Facebook and Twitter for inane news from people I barely or don't even know.

I could not have imagined a life with DVR and satellite radio and iPods. A world full of laptops and iPads and on-demand movies.

Whatta ya know, Marty? The world is an interesting place in 2010. Wonder what gadgets we'll have by 2035?

Back to reality

Since I ended up working about half of my stay-cation, I made the most of my weekend. My pal Krista came over and we ate a lot and watched a lot of movies. On Friday we watched "Love Happens" (mediocre) and "Mamma Mia!" (so, so fun).

Yesterday, after a quick run (ok, a slow run) in the drizzle, I made breakfast, then we watched "Footloose" (classic), "Saturday Night Fever" (I napped through most of it), "The Time Traveler's Wife" (very weird), "The Blind Side" (awesome) and "Serendipity" (which I'd never seen, and now I really can't wait for NYC).

This morning I made pancakes and bacon, then we watched "The Women" before putting together my treadmill that's been in the box for three months. We finished up the movie marathon with "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil."

In case you're wondering, there was no date on Friday, blind or otherwise. He allegedly has a golf injury, and didn't come into town, so I was able to forego makeup all weekend and eat my weight in grease.

I've had a sinus headache all day, so I'm getting ready to dope up on Nyquil and hit the hay early. Then it's back to work for real (boo).

Avatar

The boys have been wanting to see "Avatar" all week. We planned to see it at the IMAX in Austin, but it was sold out for days, so we did the 3-D version in Temple. It actually wasn't bad.

Things to do before I'm 40

Yesterday, while laying in bed like a slug all afternoon, I caught the Lifetime movie, "10 Things to do Before I'm 30." Premise is that a young woman (let's face it, 29 is very young) loses her job, breaks up with her boyfriend, goes to her mom's to find herself, and discovers a magic list in her hope chest of all the things she wanted to do before she turned 30. Spoiler alert... she did all of them, had an adventure, and married Mr. Right.

I know what you're thinking... yeah, but that's a stupid movie. A stupid Lifetime movie. Those things are always predictable, right? And life seldom turns out that way.

I work with a woman who is approaching a milestone birthday soon. Early last fall she was single with no prospects. Online dating. Sitting at home on Saturday night just like me. She told all of us she'd be married before this birthday and pregnant soon after.

Now I believe in the power of prayer more than most. And I know God says we have not because we ask not, but I seriously had my doubts about that timetable. But guess what? She's married. She's pregnant. List complete.

Confession time... while I profess to be happily single and obviously I'd rather be alone than in a bad relationship (sorry, Dr. Love), I do pray every night that God will either send along my husband or take away my desire to have one. And one thing I discovered from the aforementioned blind date with Grandpa was that even if I'm okay with marrying older, I'm not ready to give up on motherhood. I know. You're all shocked.

Seriously, if God intends for me to remain barren, I'm okay with it. It's not like I'm visiting sperm banks or lowering my dating standards because my biological clock has so very few ticks left, but let's just say I'm not ready to shut that door.

Epiphany, party of one.

I don't know if it's all the self-awareness of late, but this past birthday was a tough one for me. For the first time, I feel really old. You know how you have all of those things that you think you'll do "someday?" Well someday has occured and those things just haven't happened. Oh, I know Geena Davis had twins at the ripe old age of 46, but let's face it, most of us can't or don't want to rear that old. Who wants the senior citizen and the kids discount at the same time? What if I break a hip during childbirth? Can you breastfeed if your boobs are at your knees?

Ok. In the spirit of positive thinking, I've decided to make myself a list of things to do in the next three years. And you, the four people or so who read this, are in charge of holding me accountable.

10 things to do before I'm 40:
1. Wear a bikini in public (this requires more weight loss and excessive exercise)
2. Visit NYC
3. Decide what I want to be when I grow up
4. Get out of debt completely (save mortgage and car)
5. Take a European vacation
6. Set a good example for the children in my life, even if they're not mine
7. Get a life, and stop working all the time
8. Live fearlessly and with spontaneity
9. Be open to the possibility that Mr. Right may be packaged in a way I don't expect
10. Spend more time with God, my family, and my friends

That's it. From my fingers to God's ears!

Love, life and the pursuit of the perfect blouse

I can't believe the weekend's over.

After spanning two states and multiple stores, I finally found the perfect blouse to go with my (size smaller) navy suit to meet the governor on Thursday. It's weird; when I was in high school and ran for state office in FBLA, my mom and I picked out a navy power suit and cream-colored blouse. The new suit is more fitted and pants instead of a skirt, but still... the more things change the more they stay the same. Nothing says powerful like a navy suit and pearls. A Southern lady always has a great set of pearls in her wardrobe.

Yesterday Amanda and I trekked to Tulsa and waited for 2.5 hours to eat at the Cheesecake Factory. That place is great, but geez. And it wasn't just Valentine's Day couples. Old people, young people, families, singles... everyone in the great state of Oklahoma was in that restaurant yesterday afternoon.

We thought it appropriate to celebrate our V-Day singleness with "He's Just Not That Into You," but it was sold out, so we saw "Confessions of a Shopaholic" instead. Today we caught "Into You" in Siloam among a packed house of four other people. I was a bit disappointed in both movies, having loved both books, but I give them both a solid one-thumb up. Passable entertainment, but not stellar. Perhaps my expectations were a bit high. And you know what they say... never judge a great book by its movie.

Only two days in the office this week, then I'm off to Little Rock for a tour of the Presidential Library (I've never been, believe it or not), the Capitol and the Governor's Mansion. And guess who'll be there? The boy.

Monday recap

First of all, please forgive me if this post seems a bit strange. I'm kind of out of sorts. I forgot my power cord to my Mac in Mountain Home yesterday, so I brought my work laptop home, but the wireless doesn't seem to work on it, so I'm back plugged into the router. Man, after more than a year of wireless freedom, this is really weird.

I've been at home in bed all day. Evidently a huge flower has showered me with pollen and I can't stop sneezing. My head is killing me and I have a sore throat. Benadryl always helps, but that, of course, makes me sleepy. I hope the deluge of rain cleaned the air a bit and I can breathe again tomorrow when I reenter the world.

The big news of the day is that Ashley had the twins this morning. Parker and Emma were born just before 10 a.m. and weighed about 6 lbs. each. Ashley and the twins are doing well, and I'm thrilled that I get to see them tomorrow.

Speaking of... DeWood, can I buy you lunch?

Thanks to all of you for the great movie posts. Several of the ones you love I haven't seen, so I'm adding them to my Netflix que. I figure if you guys like them enough to watch them over and over, they're worth a screening.

Today's significant for two reasons (three now that it's Emma and Parker's birthday): (1) my grandfather would have been 87 today; and (2) one year ago today I moved to Conway. Man, can you believe that's only been 12 months ago?

Movies that never get old

In a nod to "The Office," I'm interested to know what five movies you'd want with you if you were stranded on a desert island (AKA movies you can watch over and over). Here are mine:

1. Love Actually
2. Sweet Home Alabama
3. Fools Rush In
4. Office Space
5. Christmas Vacation

Ok, comment what your five movies would be.