Movies & Magazines

Saturday morning our entire family cleaned the house. I didn't even have to talk the kids into it. David was the only one who complained about it. "What?! Who decided I was going to clean a bathroom?" But, to his credit, he did it anyway. He huffed and puffed most of the time and acted like he was going to die, but he did it.

I began wonder if maybe I shouldn't have assigned him a bathroom. I don't know why he got down on his hands and knees to clean the floor. We do have a mop, I reminded him. But, the bathroom is clean and the house is clean and it feels great!

OK, it's not totally clean, but it's way cleaner than it's been in a very long time. We're kinda slovenly around here... The good news is that I intermittently have more energy and actually feel like cleaning the house. Plus, six people cleaning goes way faster than one person cleaning the house!

As a reward, we went to see The Blind Side. No one wanted to see the movie but me, but it was the only decent (ie, not weird or R-rated) movie playing at the dollar theater. We could have gone to HC and seen a first run movie, but on the weekend we can't get in for free, which is pretty close to the price I'm willing to pay.

We got to the theater about 20 minutes after the movie started. I had to scrub just one more cupboard in the kitchen, plus I got my edited Institute of Children's Literature (ICL) assignment in the mail and had to read it. The suspense of not knowing my instructor's response would have killed me! I read somewhere that writers go from thinking they've written the most brilliant poem/story/article to thinking it's crap in about the space of 60 seconds. That pretty well sums it up. Especially for aspiring writers who aren't really sure what they're doing.

After searching in the dark a bit, we found six seats mostly together in the packed theater. I'm used to watching a half hour of previews on a weekday in a sparsely populated theater at HC. The movie had already started, but we only missed the first five or ten minutes. The kids laughed and oohed and aahed at all the right times. David seemed to like it, too. It was refreshing to go to an uplifting, inspiring movie all of us enjoyed that didn't have any shudder inducing moments. Well, not the kind of shudder that made me want to cover my kids' eyes or ears.

When we got up to leave, they all said, "That was a lot better than I thought it was going to be."

If you're not familiar with the movie, it's based on a true story about a homeless black teen named Michael. He's attending an expensive private school because he's huge and the football coach has plans for him. After school volleyball games, he goes through the stands and picks up all the leftover popcorn bags so he'll have something to eat. He washes his one spare pair of pants in the sink at the laundromat then finds a dryer that's already running to put his wet pants in because he doesn't have any money.

A wealthy white family notices him and takes him in. Their daughter and son attend the same private school. The actor who plays the son reminds me of a young Macaulay Culkin. The actor who plays Michael reminds me of Katelyn. He's quiet, kind and funny - and likes to cover his face a lot. He looks enough like Katelyn that he could pass as her brother. Sandra Bullock plays Mrs. Touhy, the mom. You probably already know that, since she won a Golden Globe and an Oscar for her performance. If you want to know the rest of the story, you'll have to go see the movie - which I highly recommend.

Anyway, back to my edited ICL assignment. Shockingly, my instructor said the article I wrote was really strong and is almost ready to be sent out to publishers. I didn't expect that. Wow. I guess my next step is to polish it up a little, write a query letter and start sending it out to magazines. That, and write assignment #4.

This morning Amber and I went to talk to her 7th grade counselor. I almost forgot about it, so from the time Amber and I got up we had 15 minutes to get ready and get to the school. That's the fastest we've moved in a long time. The only change Amber made to her schedule was taking French instead of music and an extra semester of art. She's taking choir, so it's OK. The counselor asked Amber what she'd like her career to be when she grows up. Amber told her "a fantasy author." I think it runs in the family. That and art.

Meagan's on Spring Break, so she's got the whole week off. I don't think she's running off to Fort Lauderdale or anything. If she is, she hasn't told me about it. The other kids don't have Spring Break until the first of April. Odd.

OK, I've put it off long enough. I'm gonna get off the computer and do my taxes. I can't believe Becky actually enjoys doing taxes. What is wrong with her? Maybe she should work for H&R Block or something.