fill up my heart

[chestnutcurls]

Ah, the quiet of Monday morning, before I am inundated with work.

This was a nice weekend. Evan and I had our date on Friday night. We had dinner at Dixie Cafe and then went ice skating at the rink in the former Mall of Memphis, which is closing on Christmas Eve. I skated for the first time at that rink. I had my first "date" there when I was fourteen. I went there with my youth group to play broomball. I wanted to go one more time before they closed. The mall was deserted except for about five other people at the rink. It was eerie. We had a good time, though. Since he's from Chicago, he used to skate a lot. He looked at home on the ice. It was neat to see another side of him I hadn't known about before. :)


I am Michelle Kwan.


Evan likes hockey skates better.


Another self-timer picture...we're getting better at those.


Goodbye, ice chalet. :(

The rink closed fairly early, so, inspired by the ghost-town mall, we rented 28 Days Later. After about twenty minutes, we were very, very sorry. It was indescribably gory and terrifying, instead of the edgy sci-fi-ness that I had imagined. We turned it off. I guess I'm wimpy, but that was the scariest thing I have ever seen, worse than The Ring. From now on we're going to stick to cool action movies.

On Saturday morning I had that inner-city lunch thing at my church. I bought a journal, gel pens, and some art supplies for my sponsored girl, and she loved them, so I was happy. :) Then Kathy and I bought a Christmas tree and put it up. Later, Evan and I went to a series of one-act plays with her and Daniel- our first double date! It was fun.

On Sunday morning, after I left for church, Gandalf pulled the Christmas tree down. Kathy has begun a series of negative-reinforcement exercises which seem to be working, but I still don't trust him alone with the tree. We're shutting him in the bedrooms during the day until he proves himself. Cat people, any tips on keeping the cat from destroying your decorations? Anyway, it was a quiet Sunday- playing in both services, lunch at McAlister's (yay!) and then we went to see The Last Samurai in the afternoon. It was much better than I expected, and I highly recommend it. I'm sure steveisright will yell at me for saying this, but it was sort of like Braveheart set in Japan.

My church has a small library. I'd never gone in there for some reason, but I went yesterday morning before service. They have so many books I've wanted to read! I checked out Francine Rivers' Unafraid for starters- I need to finish the Tolkien. It's a race against time.

Finally, because there aren't enough references in this post, check out what Nicole's professor said because it is cool.

Comments

[stacye13.livejournal.com]

I've never had any cat/tree problems, but I have heard the suggestion that if your cat is scared of the vaccuum cleaner, to park it next to the tree (not very decorative I know). Or maybe you have some other appliance that startles/scares him that would work - something noisy?
I've also heard to put reynolds wrap around it cause they don't like walking on that. But I'd be afraid he would try to eat it and hurt himself. Or maybe some red pepper sprinkled around tree. Yummy - a cajun Christmas!

[my-everafter.livejournal.com]

I love the ice skating pictures! I'm sad for you that it's going to close. Oh- and sorry about your Christmas tree! One of my cousins had a problem with that, so she hung up some cheap Christmas decorations on a door jam and that was the cat toy instead of the Christmas tree. If I remember correctly, it was gold and spiraly and kind of bouncy and had little confetti-type stars stuck on it. It's hard to describe. Anyway, it was funny because when I was there we found those little stars all over the house- including in the toilet. Hmmmm. =P

:: Yells ::

[eleutheria.livejournal.com]

Nah, it was a good movie. I was overly critical. I think Braveheart does such a great job of seeming historical, and that is what marks the difference for me. Also, i was kind of disappointed by the ending of Last Samurai (as i explain to length), and Mel Gibson's scream is SO much more memorable.

[lajea.livejournal.com]

I loved the pictures - you look so beautiful and the picture of you and Evan is so cute!!!!! ;)

I TOLD you 28 Days Later was terrible!!!!! *shakes head* Absolutely AWFUL!!!!!

Have you read Francine Rivers' other books - like Redeeming Love or the Mark of the Lion series???? Those are my favorites.....

Have a blessed day! I'm happy to see you so happy!!!!

[chestnutcurls.livejournal.com]

He's more fascinated by than afraid of the vacuum. Good ideas, though. Maybe we can try the plastic wrap thing.

[chestnutcurls.livejournal.com]

lol. Hey, that's not a bad idea. I don't know if it would work for him, though. He has a million toys, but he always wants what he can't have. :)

Re: :: Yells ::

[chestnutcurls.livejournal.com]

Yeah...and so much more traumatic. :) You were right about Last Samurai not being very plausible, though (but the way it was presented, I did wonder if it was a real story).

[chestnutcurls.livejournal.com]

Aww, thanks! You're so nice.

We asked our friend Chris about the movie and he thought it was great. I guess it would be, if you could get past the terror and the people hacking each other with machetes. :P

Yeah, I have Redeeming Love and I've read a few of her other ones, like Unveiled and The Atonement Child (very convicting). I'm planning to get to the Mark of the Lion one of these days.

[lajea.livejournal.com]

The Atonement child was SO good! I loved that book..... I need to read that, again....

I love the Mark of the Lion series. BIG books, but awesome!!!!!

Yeah, I'm not big on gore.... :) I mean, sure, I like being scared - but that was over the top!!!!!

[keepsmiling74.livejournal.com]

What great pics! You look so nice in yours. I love the one of the two of you, too.

sharing

[night-falls.livejournal.com]

your hair looks superb in those shots - pretty and dark and wintery ;).

[purple-reign.livejournal.com]

Oh man...that's too bad about the Ice Rink. It looks really nice, too.


Seriously, I was ultimately dissapointed in 28 Days Later. I was more frightened at the idea of being frightened than actually being frightened.....*blink blink* (y'know....Scared that something will randomly scare you instead of actually being scared by the events on screen).

IMO, The Ring was more suspensful....and overall scary:\


Sorry to hear about your Cat vs. Tree situation. A friend of mine had a cat who loved jumping in the tree (and ultimately knocking it over). I think your best bet is to keep him away from the tree when your not at home...probably.

[chestnutcurls.livejournal.com]

:) Thanks! I almost didn't post them because I thought people would get irritated with my constant pictures of me and Evan. :)

Re: sharing

[chestnutcurls.livejournal.com]

Aww, thanks! :)

[chestnutcurls.livejournal.com]

y'know....Scared that something will randomly scare you instead of actually being scared by the events on screen
I know what you mean! I had a little of that, too. Even the DVD menu was like that, with people jumping out at you suddenly, which should have told me something. :P

Yeah, we're not letting him near the tree unsupervised. In time he may calm down, but it's best to keep him away from it for now.

[keepsmiling74.livejournal.com]

Aww, no! Please post any you want! =) One of these days, maybe I'll be posting a pic of Ryon and I or someone else. Who knows!

[chestnutcurls.livejournal.com]

:D I hope so! You're in my prayers!

[anulyra.livejournal.com]

Pet ideas: I didn't read the other comments, so forgive if I repeat them. #1 Don't give him attention when he does it. Keep a spray bottle or a noise maker nearby and when he touches the tree or when you know he has trouble up his sleeve... sqirt him or startle him. That's all the free advice I have.

If you want to spend money, you can get a "Petsafe Scat Mat". It runs on batteries and gives a little zap when touched. There are several strength settings and they come in different shapes and sizes. Mine is 1ft X 4ft and was $70.00. It works.