Four Feet More

Last night was our 2nd annual Fall Feast. You may remember last year's Fall Feast, when I frantically tried to cook a turkey to Martha Stweart's specifications and wound up with a nearly black, dried out bird. Actually it wasn't that bad. But it wasn't that good either. Thankfully, this year Jeff cooked the turkey, while the kids and I assisted with the blue corn bread stuffing and sweet potato pie. We also had broccoli and Gruyere gratin, cranberry sauce, and Yukon Gold mashed potatoes (which were heavenly).

To top it all off, Ali joined us for the Fall Feast, and the five of us had a really nice time. Vika and Eamon were both positively giddy when they found out that Ali would be joining us. Vika even commented that "We haven't had dinner with Ali like this in about 5 years!" It has really only been 2 years, but to a kid, I guess that seems like an eternity.

Since the Sweet Potato Pie took a bit longer to cook than we anticipated, the bird was put into the oven late. Which meant that we had about an hour and a half to kill. So, we put our new "Star Trek" blu-ray into the player and the five of us squished onto the couch to watch. Ali hadn't seen it before, and the kids have seen it about 7 times now, so they were quick to educate her on the ways of Star Trek. Whenever Spock did the Vulcan Salute, Vika and Eamon silently raised their hands and did the Vulcan Salute back to the TV. Ali was sandwiched between the two of them, looking at me with a "What the hell is this?" expression on her face. But by the end of the movie, Vix and Eames had her doing the Vulcan Salute too.

It was a fun evening, and the first time we've hung out with Ali alone in about 3 years (she usually brings a friend). Hopefully this will happen more in the future and our relationship with her will gradually be repaired.

School's been out for a week now, and finally I feel as if I'm beginning to relax. That anxious feeling that I have to grade papers or prepare lesson plans is gone and I'm getting into the rhythm of being home with the kids during the day. A few updates from my summer so far:

• I may be a Trekkie. I saw the new Star Trek movie on Mother's Day (and again since then), and absolutely loved it. I've always been more of a Star Wars fan than Star Trek, but I enjoyed the movie so much that I've begun watching episodes from the original series on Netflix. And let me tell you, they are HILARIOUS (probably not intentionally so, but that's besides the point). Seriously, if you have some time, you should check them out. "The Enemy Within" from Season 1 has some especially smashing acting from William Shattner (and I mean that literally) as well as an extraordinary space dog (some poor mutt in a shag carpet with dixie straw antennas).

• Lately, Vika is asking me to do her hair "like Uhura's" and Eamon wants his hair to be like Bones'. So I may be making my kinds into Trekkies too. Poor things. They don't really stand a chance. I'm making them into geeks already!
  

• Tomorrow we are going to see the King Tut exhibit in San Francisco. My parents visited it in San Francisco back in the 70's, and I remember as a child looking through the King Tut picture book they bought, amazed at all the treasures and the story of the boy king. I tried to see the exhibit in Chicago a couple years back, but tickets were sold out. So we bought our tickets for this one way in advance and are planning to take the kids (I hope they aren't bored out of their minds). We're going to see the exhibit on the same day as the Gay Pride Parade in San Francisco, so I hope it's not too crazy there. Nevertheless, I don't think we'll take public transportation. Seeing a grown man with his bare bottom peeking out of backless leather chaps is not an image that the kids need to have burned into their brains at this young age. ;)

For your enjoyment, and in honor of the occasion, I give you King Tut. Have a great weekend!

Thank you all for the background info you provided before I went to see "Sex and the City" on Friday. It helped me make sense of the plot-lines. They also showed a brief history blurb on each character at the beginning of the movie, to help fill in the gaps.

Now, on to the movie - despite never having seen the show before, I liked it. I enjoyed the relationship between the girls, and during some scenes, I laughed until tears were streaming down my face. My favorite character was Charlotte - first because she adopted her daughter from China and second because she was so naive that she balanced the worldliness of the others. She also provided the funniest moment of the movie, bar none! Samantha, as one of you said, was WAY over the top! I found Miranda a bit annoying, but I liked Carrie's character. I also loved Jennifer Hudson. Her character and Carrie had a great relationship that seemed very genuine. I can't say much without giving away the story to those of you who did not see the film last weekend, so I won't go into any plot lines.

I must admit that I don't see the appeal of Mr. Big. I probably have to watch the show to appreciate him more. I also do not understand the fashion choices of the girls. I mean, who wears stilettos when going on a beach resort vacation? OK, my grandma once wore pumps when we took her to the beach, but she kept sinking into the sand with each step, and I assure you that for her, the day was not a relaxing one.

These small complaints aside, "Sex and the City" was a great movie to see with the girls. There were several groups just like ours at the restaurant before the show, sitting in the audience of the theater, and at the bar afterwards. The bar was having a special "Sex and the City" deal, where they took $1 off the regular price of a Cosmopolitan. However, since the regular price was TEN DOLLARS, I passed (am I just cheap, or does that sound like a high price for a drink?). Despite our lack of cosmos, my friends and I had a great time together. We chatted up a storm, irritated the elderly couple next to us at the restaurant (sorry nice-looking elderly couple!), and shared some very inappropriate laughter at the misfortunes of a girl in the bathroom (it took us by surprise and we couldn't help it!).

Up next on our agenda, "Mamma Mia!" I can't wait to see Meryl Streep belt out the title number.

Did any of you see "Sex and the City?" What did you think? What other movies are you looking forward to this summer?