Amy J. Bennett

like it or not, vacation is ov-ah

July 7, 2007 by Amy Leave a Comment

Yeah, so it’s already Saturday night. Everything seems to be packed, or mostly packed and ready to go for early in the morning. I think I’m ready to go home. Finally today felt like a vacation. It was busy but it wasn’t so hectic somehow. I think we had finally found our grove and now it’s time to go. I know the girls are ready to go home. Lexi’s been saying that since 30 minutes into the road trip up here. I mentioned today was busy…I’ve been up since about 8am and it is now 11:45pm. Here’s what went down:

I got up with the girls and got them fed, etc until Mom got up then I
Went for a run. Which only lasted for about a mile because it was hot and hilly roads are apparently harder to run on than on a elliptical in a cooled room. So I finished walking home where I
Got ready and took the girls to the park myself while Mom and Dad went to do some shopping. I called them after I had
Taken the girls to Dollar General for a treat and to McD’s for lunch. I headed home because
Mom brought us steak subs home to eat. Afterwards we
Went swimming at my aunt’s where she fixed us watermelon, homemade lemonade and fresh, sweet corn. All were very yummy. I also took some pictures of her lovely garden and began watching Big Brother 8 until Mom told us to come home because
We went to eat with my grandfather and his wife at a steakhouse. I was very disappointed at the overcooked, tough filet although their ribs were delicious. We parted ways after dinner then we
Went to pick up my grandmother at the house and went to look at a house for sale that Mom and Dad are thinking of buying as their next investment house up here. They had a realtor come to appraise this house tonight and said they could get twice out of it that they bought it for. Go Mom and Dad. So after that, Heather predicted there was a blizzard in the forecast which promptly led us to
Go to Dairy Queen for an ice cream snack. Emma and Lexi thoroughly enjoyed their dipped cones while I was quite content with my peanut butter cup blizzard. When we left there we
Brought the girls home and put them to bed promptly. Mom, Grandma and I then
Headed out to Wal-Mart to buy our birthday presents, Emma some more earrings since hers fell out and Mom some dryer sheets. Since then we
Came home, packed some more and now I’m spending sleep time writing this.

Today was a long day. So all of that puts this vacation to an end. The girls were very well behaved today. I was less frazzled, feeling a little more in control of what we did together. I’ve been quite busy with the Flickr thing. I think I have a sort of photo-journal of the week. I hope my cell phone bill isn’t insanely high next month. It was sort of fun taking stupid pictures of myself and things around me. It was things I would never take pictures of with a regular camera yet all the things I stared at during the day. No posed family shots or fake cheesy smiles (ok, maybe one or two of those). Just objects I ran into and me in the places I found myself. I may do that on other trips, not sure how much on a daily basis though.

So I should go to sleep since I’m going to be in the car over 8 hours tomorrow. God, give us all lots of patience tomorrow.

Oh, by the way, my FIL has no broken bones, just a hurt knee that is bruised. I think he’s on some pain medication but that’s all. The wreck wasn’t his fault so he’ll get what the car is worth which is about twice what they paid for it, so all in all, it may turn out to be a blessing in disguise.

07-07-07

July 7, 2007 by Amy Leave a Comment

Ten years ago on 07-07-97 Scott and I got engaged. Interestingly and unplanned, we were married on 08-08-98.

We were at Myrtle Beach that week with his family. He had asked for my hand in marriage from my dad and I knew he had bought a ring I had helped pick out. In fact, my parents bought it and he paid them back $50/mo. I wasn’t sure if he had brought the ring to the beach but I thought he might have. One evening after dark, we went for a walk on the beach right near Cherry Grove’s pier. He stopped us so I was facing the water and he was facing me. I don’t remember anything he said to me. I do remember he had to get the ring out of his back pocket and dropped it. He had to find it in the sand which thankfully didn’t take long and wasn’t quite as awkward as it may seem. Anyway, he got down on his knee and proposed. I was so happy I was laughing and crying at the same time and never said yes. He said, Well, say yes! Which I did of course. On the beach, under a full moon. It was quite a romantic setting. I remember going back to the beach house we were staying at and telling his mom we were engaged. I remember her giving us a hug and then start crying. I don’t really remember much else about the week and the rest you could say is history.

you learn something new every day

July 7, 2007 by Amy Leave a Comment

I just learned from one of the girl’s cartoon programs that giraffes do not have vocal chords. I always had trouble producing the giraffe sound when coming to the giraffe in an animal book with the girls. I feel redeemed.

Evan Almighty

July 7, 2007 by Amy Leave a Comment

Uh, yeah. Not so great of a movie. Great to have had 90 minutes to do nothing but stare at a movie screen, not so great the movie was Evan Almighty. A little harsh I guess. Some general thoughts *spoilers ahead*:

My biggest pet peeve of the movie is that there was no real reason to have all the animals on the ark. It was a localized flood and there was just no good reasons to have polar bears come from the North Pole to be on there. That really bugs me and they should have done a better job coming up with a plot that made that work.
A few of the things he did was really a little, I don’t know, unbelievable or weird or something. As if building an ark wasn’t unbelievable but the whole pony tail thing was weird and him stuffing his robe into his clothes and going into work. I don’t know, I just didn’t like that part.
I do believe the original Noah’s ark thing happened and it did make my appreciate what Noah must have went through
The building of the ark was pretty interesting actually.
I was very glad the wife and kids came back. It would have made me mad had they split over it. It was stated clearly in the movie that Noah, his wife and three sons built the ark, not Noah and a bunch of animals.
My mom didn’t want to see it because she thought Steve Carroll would be irreverant. The movie had quite the opposite attitude toward God and the story of Noah and the Ark.
The best scene of the whole thing is when God and his wife were talking at the restaurant and he says something to the affect of God doesn’t necessarily give you what you ask for, but the opportunity to create it. If you ask for patience, God doesn’t make you patient automatically, He gives you opportunities to be patient. If you ask for your family to become closer, he doesn’t give you warm and fuzzies about your family, He gives you opportunities to become closer as a family.
Steve Carroll is hilarious no matter what role he plays. He did a great job.
“Andy” from The Office was in the movie. He was hilarious.
Wanda Sykes was also great in the movie. I liked her line, “Saving animals, I can roll with that….God told me to? I’m rolling out.”
Molly Shannon’s character was kind of awkward and much overdone.
Sort of aggravated me that they probably killed a lot of people and ruined DC during the flood and it was never even acknowledged.

I don’t know, just overall it was one of those movies that had funny parts but didn’t connect overall in plot or in characters. I’m sorry I spent $8 but I do feel it was more of the writing than it was the acting.

accident

July 6, 2007 by Amy Leave a Comment

Scott just called and my FIL was in an accident today that totalled his car. Someone pulled out on front of him on a busy street in Charlotte. He’s supposedly in the hospital now with a hurt knee and hand.

vacation?

July 6, 2007 by Amy Leave a Comment

Today did NOT feel like a vacation much. My kids are losing it which means I’m losing my sanity. Mom and Dad went out around lunch to a local furniture store. She called after being gone for about an hour and said we should come over with her pictures and a folder of hers. I thought she wanted it to show my grandmother when we went over there. Turns out we were being sent on an errand for her to show the furniture store people her stuff. I was ill. A furniture store is like a big playground for a 2 and 4 year old and it was MY job to keep them from breaking anything. After about 10 minutes I simply picked up the kids and left without telling anyone. I was not going to have any more rude looks from ANYone. I drove the kids to a local park at a school and let them run out their energy until they were ready to go to my grandmother’s. The visit there was nice. Emma and Lexi put on a cute performance of songs like You are My Sunshine for her.

After that, we went out to eat at another locally owned restaurant Hobo’s. It’s almost a hole in the wall but it is GOOD food. Now we are all home watching Curious George (again). I’m putting the kids to bed right after this is over and I think Heather and I are going to the movies after that.

There are slim pickin’s here at the movie theater. I really want to watch License to Wed but it’s not playing here. The only thing I really want to see is Evan Almighty. I love him in The Office and I loved Bruce Almighty. Hopefully the mix will turn out well. I’m desperate for any alone time which requires me to only sit and laugh so I’m sure I’ll enjoy it no matter what.

flickr sidebar

July 6, 2007 by Amy Leave a Comment

Got the flickr sidebar up today. I’ve been very busy taking very random pictures of very random things. Can I just say it’s NOT easy to take a good picture of yourself with a cell phone? Not sure why I feel a need to do such but it has kept me entertained during the trip.

please restrain your child

July 6, 2007 by Amy Leave a Comment

Well, yesterday afternoon went eat, shop, eat, movie. Sort of like I thought it would be.

We ate at our favorite restaurant D’Atri’s and had a great steak sub. We headed to the mall after that. I only bought one shirt for the whole trip. The girls were absolutely losing their minds by the end of it, crawling on the floor and meowing in the shoe department. So Dad took me home with the girls where they played a little until the rest of them got home and we headed to dinner at an Italian restaurant with my aunt and uncle. Lexi and Emma were not well-behaved there either. There were two older couples sitting at a table beside us. Emma had her baby blanket with her and swung it around to put around her like Little Red Riding Hood and hit the woman on the shoulder I think with it. The other lady said something to Emma and if looks could kill, both of my children would have fallen down dead. She continued to give looks anytime the kids said or did anything above a whisper. I was annoyed too. At one point, they were playing hide and seek under the table and were playing ballerina beside the table. It was embarrassing. But at the same time, Lexi is 2. TWO. I only have so much control over her. Have you ever tried to literally shut a child up or restrain them so they don’t run around? Even if you wanted, it’s nearly impossible. The mother in me got defensive and wanted to scream at the woman and ask her if SHE ever had any children and it must have been too long ago that she must not remember how difficult it is and please give us a little compassion and patience. Ugh, that grated on my nerves the whole evening and I think it still might a bit. Dinner was overall good though. I had a huge crab cake and it was great to see my family.

They came over to the house after dinner and watched Shooter with us. Since I have recently watched that movie twice, I put the girls to bed and gave up halfway through it to also go to bed. Mom got up with the girls this morning and I slept until after 9:30. There was nothing to eat here and Emma was starting to ask for chips and cookies for breakfast, so I headed to the grocery store and bought stuff to make pancakes, eggs and bacon which I did when I got home. Now the girls are chilling watching Curious George. I would like to get ready and take them to a local park or maybe the Dollar General to get some paint and book supplies for them. Who knows what we’ll do though.