It's been a nice, vacation-y week. Tonight was my mom's surprise party for her 70th birthday, which I have been planning for a few months, and it went off very nicely. The book I put together for her of photos and memories from siblings, spouse, children & grandchildren was a huge success. Mom was very appreciative, which was the most rewarding of all. I'll post some photos later on.
We watched the movie Waitress tonight. I'd heard/read about it a few times, but didn't know much about it besides that it somewhat chronicled a pregnancy. It was a very good movie. It was gritty (a word overused in movie reviews, methinks, but entirely appropriate here) and real. Even if they make me squirm at times, I have a hard time not liking real movies that reveal the messiness of the human experience. A couple of other movies that I think merit such distinction are As Good as it Gets and Real Women Have Curves. There are others, too.
I gave my mom the boxed set of Stargirl and Love, Stargirl for Christmas, simply because the former is one of my all-time favorite books, and I wanted to share it with her. (I've not yet read the latter.) She told me that she read it and loved it, and that it really makes you think. It was odd how thrilled I was to hear this. I can't quite explain it, but I feel like the story of Stargirl is in some way my own story, or the story I wish I could have written about who I was growing up. I very often felt separate and apart from the group, while simultaneously never doing anything that didn't seem to be what everyone else did. That, of course, is the exact opposite of Stargirl. Perhaps it is better said that I felt my true self was someone like Stargirl. The story really resonates with me for myriad reasons. When she said she liked the book, it felt like some sort of bridge of added understanding between us. I've always had a good relationship with my mom, but in the past couple of years I have felt a stronger bond drawing me to her than ever before.
On a final note of late-night reflection, I have come to realize that I definitely suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder. I think I don't like to face the fact, because it is one of those "trendy" things that everyone and their dog seems to suffer from, but I am hoping that acknowledging it in my own mind will be motivation to pursue a course of activity to mitigate its effects. This past month it has been a real battle to get out of bed most days, and I think it is the toll of facing gray, cold weather day after day that really saps my energy. I am very grateful that we have passed the Winter Solstice, though, and that shorter nights, longer days and SPRING are in our future. I would definitely have been all for celebrating with the druids the return of more light. "Oh thank you, Sun, for not burning out and abandoning us to a cold, miserable death!" (Hey, Andrea, I guess I have a bit of drama in me, too!)
6 comments:
Sweet post. You should move south for the winter. Like birds. :) I will never forget at BYU how much happier everyone looked when it got warm enough to go outside with their coats unzipped. I did wear my coat unbuttoned today, but then I got hot.
Oh, and I totally agree with your waitress review. I liked the pies. The roundness and the camera angles on them.
I loved the movie Waitress. I think my favorite aspect was all the different names she gave to the pies that she created. That was good stuff.
I keep hearing great things about Stargirl too. My mom and sisters have all told me to check it out. Perhaps I should finally get around to it.
And one more thing: Happy New Year!
Oh man, I would LOVE to move south for winters! Though yesterday it was a whopping 47 degrees and the kids and I were running around like it was spring! I guess you come to appreciate what you can get, and we were so glad to have the temperatures above freezing for once!
The pie names are great. They cracked me up! I started wishing I was a pie maker so I could do some self-therapy.
I have never read stargirl but I think I am going to pick it up on my next library run. I loved your description of yourself growing up! That is exactly how I felt and still, if I am to be completely honest, feel! Thanks for the candid thoughts! I am sitting here completely enjoying reading your blog while I try to motivate myself to get to work!
Hey Dani! Thanks for stopping by and checking out my blog. :o)
It's funny that you should say you relate to the way I felt growing up. I think that many many people do, especially girls. But at the time, we are all too worried about ourselves to consider that others feel the same way. I've actually contemplated trying to write a book targeted at adolescent girls, just with the message of "Yeah, things can really suck, but it's temporary, and it does get better." I certainly have loads of experience and journalling from my own adolescence to draw from--and mine wasn't unusually hard, just regular stuff that feels really hard.
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