Category: Movies

Rogue One

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This past week was pretty stressful. On Joe’s first day of work he had to fly to Denver for training so I was on my own with Wookie until Thursday evening. Running home during my lunch break sucks! Even though only 20 minutes of the hour are used for driving, the remaining 40 minutes flies by taking care of Wookie and I barely get time to scarf down my own food. Ugh! I guess it could be worse – at least it’s only three days a week.

Thursday when I got home from work I was super pissed off to find our garbage can lying on the ground AGAIN. I swear the garbage men hate us because ours is the only one on the block on it’s side half the time. It was already cracked and duct taped and now there’s a huge hole in it. I had to call to request a new can.

Friday morning after baking a batch of sugar cookies (I love those Betty Crocker pouches) and starting some chili in the crockpot, I headed to Target to look for some stocking stuffers for Joe. I couldn’t believe how busy it was at 10 am; people were pissing me off leaving their carts in the middle of the aisles so I got what I needed and got the heck out of there.

I had lunch plans with a friend at the mall food court. Last time we met up I had a Great Steak because they are so good but this time I decided to try teriyaki chicken from the Japanese stand in the food court. Other than the long wait for the food, it was ok even though the fried rice was rather oily. The mall was pretty busy – there were a bunch of kids singing Christmas songs for guests and once they were done they descended upon the food court so we left since we couldn’t hold a conversation over the noise anyway. We decided to stop by Bath & Body Works; their $12.50 lotions happened to be on sale for $3.50 so I got Vanilla Bean Noel since I love that scent in the soap and body wash versions. I thought it would be perfect to apply after using the body wash.

We headed back to my place so my friend could meet Wookie. She’s funny – whenever she meets someone new she is very timid until she determines the person isn’t a threat. So in other words she was very sweet until my friend had been there for an hour and then she started getting rambunctious. She hung out with us in the living room while we chatted and eventually ended up falling asleep on the floor. It was so cute, and unexpected, since she never falls asleep when Joe and I let her run around.

After my friend left I made corn bread to go along with the chili. Joe was working from home in the rat room so once he wrapped up we had a very nice dinner together. I also applied the new lotion and promptly realized I hated it. I don’t know why, but it doesn’t smell quite right.

Saturday morning we stopped at Walmart to return some fleece lined leggings I had purchased a few weeks ago. I was really excited when I got them because they were only $9 for two holiday-themed pair but they didn’t fit. We also brought all our change along to cash in for a gift card but it turns out the Coinstar in Walmart doesn’t give out Amazon gift card codes and we don’t like getting cash because Coinstar takes a 5% cut.

There’s a Bath & Body Works a few stores down from the Walmart so I ran in there quickly and swapped the yucky Vanilla Bean Noel lotion for a different scent. I was going to get Twisted Peppermint since I like the soap but that lotion smelled weird too. I think for the most part their lotions suck. Luckily I was able to find one I like that I’ve actually used before – Sea Island Cotton.

Then we headed to Jewel to use their Coinstar and ended up with $196.76 in Amazon credit. We’ll see how long that lasts. We’ve been ordering off Amazon like crazy lately!

coinstar

From there we headed to the library where Joe donated blood, then to Culvers to get gift cards for the kids, Aldis to grab groceries, and Lou Malnati’s for a gift card for the year. I love that for $100 they give you a free $25 gift certificate since that pays for an entire large deep dish pizza. We stopped at home for lunch (I made chicken salad) and to feed Wookie before heading back out to get gas for my car and to buy gift cards for the kids at Half Price Books.

Saturday evening we had planned to go out looking at Christmas lights but neither of us felt like it so we watched Sausage Party instead. The movie was ok, but like everyone else who had already seen it told me, the ending was just weird.

Sunday we were up fairly early so we could see the 9:10 am showing of Rouge One. It was a good movie overall, although I enjoyed The Force Awakens more. The thing I didn’t like the most will be below at the end so I don’t spoil the film for anyone who hasn’t see it yet.

After the movie we browsed Payless Shoes but didn’t see anything we liked. Then we had lunch at Red Robin. They currently have a buy one get one 50% off deal and I had a gift card. Their burgers never disappoint and they seem even tastier when they’re free! Our waitress was wearing a Darth Vader Christmas sweater and I mentioned to her I saw the same ones at Target the other day. She wanted to know if we had seen the latest movie and whether it was any good since she hasn’t had a chance yet and was looking forward to it.

On the way out we stopped in Kohl’s so I could look for a sweater but I didn’t end up liking any. I did spot my favorite bras on sale (buy one get one 50% off), so I got two. I wasn’t entirely thrilled that even with the 15% off coupon I found on the Retail Me Not app my total was $53, and the cashier must have felt the same because she gave me some scratch off promotion that reveals an additional percentage discount. I scratched off 15% and she had me try again because she wanted me to get a bigger discount, but that too was 15% off, but hey, that brought the total down to $44. $22 per bra isn’t bad when they are the comfiest bras I’ve ever worn (Warner’s Women’s Cloud 9 Wire-Free Contour Bra)!

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Flu Shot & Festivals

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Saturday morning we stopped at Chick-fil-A for breakfast (we each got a sandwich for free via their app) and then headed to the doctor so I could get my annual flu shot. With the new insurance I had to be careful not to discuss any health concerns with her otherwise I’d have to pay for an office visit whereas the shot is completely free. It was the quickest (5 minutes) doctor visit ever!

Afterward we had some time to kill so we headed over to Willowbrook Wildlife Center to look at the animals. I swear every time we go there they have a new pair of rats. What I’d love to know is what happens to the previous ones. Are they adopted out? Do they die? I’m half tempted to call them and ask. In any case, this girl (well, she wasn’t super young but not old either so I’d say somewhere between 28 and 38) was telling me about her pet rats. I mentioned I had some too but instead of engaging in actual dialog she just kept talking at me so I quickly made an exit. It’s astounding how self-involved people can be. Here I thought I was about to meet someone cool and like-minded but just like pretty much everyone else they were more concerned with talking than having an actual conversation. That was a bummer. What wasn’t was that we saw both flying squirrels which is unusual since they are nocturnal and hide in their nesting box during the day. I could have stood there for an hour just watching them jump around and eat but we had an event to check out.

The College of DuPage is across the street from the nature center and Joe had learned they were hosting a food truck festival. They even had discount vouchers ($15 for $10) but I waited too long to go online and try to purchase one so they were sold out. Despite that snafu, I was impressed with the number of trucks there.

What I wasn’t impressed with was the lack of signage directing people to the festival. It was back in a hidden area of the campus and the only thing that even remotely caught one’s eye was an arch of balloons over the pathway leading to the event. There weren’t any signs about the festival until you were well on the path towards it. WTF? Why wouldn’t they put that in the parking lot or one of the main streets that go past the campus? Did they not want too large of a crowd? It just boggles my mind.

Regardless, we found it, and our first stop was Happy Lobster where we each got a junior happy lobster roll ($20 total). It was pretty decent, although I think the roll itself was what saved it from being flavorless. The lobster roll we enjoyed in Boston in 2012 still reigns supreme. After that we shared a beef empanada ($2.50) from Grumpy Gaucho’s food truck which was just meh. By that point we wanted something sweet but much to my disappointment the Beavers Coffee & Donuts truck wasn’t open yet even though it was already 12:30 and the festival started at noon. You’d think they’d be a little more punctual for an event particularly if they want to sell coffee. Luckily our patience paid off and I was the first one in line when they did open. I got a small box of 9 mini donuts ($4) and asked them to put their free sugar toppings on them so that we had three powdered, three cinnamon, and three chocolate. They have all sorts of crazy toppings you can purchase for $1 each but I must say the free ones were plenty good on their own and the donuts just melted in your mouth since they were still warm. Definitely the highlight of the event.

Sunday after a large breakfast we headed to the CS Barks Festival in Carol Stream where we watched the frisbee and agility dogs. Lots of people brought their own dogs so that was fun. I didn’t bring my camera because I wasn’t in the mood to try and get photos and I’m glad I didn’t since the frisbee dogs weren’t so hot this year.

Sunday evening we enjoyed a second viewing of Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping. That movie is hilarious! We rented it from Redbox on Tuesday evening when it was released but wanted to see it again. This time we got it from the library and were able to access all the bonus content too including deleted and bonus scenes, a gag reel, and some of The Lonely Island’s music videos. I’m pretty sure I’ll be buying a copy of the movie at some point because it’s just that funny. I love Andy Samberg! I wish he’d do more movies.

Party Weekend

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Ugh, I feel hungover today. It’s mostly lack of sleep related and not alcohol induced since I didn’t really drink much last night at my friend’s annual party. But I’ll get to that in a bit.

Early Saturday morning (around 1 am) I woke up with the worst panic attack ever. It doesn’t matter how many times they happen, I’m always certain I’m going to die. It’s so damn scary! I immediately took a Xanax, stripped off most of my clothing, and ran a rag under the water and put it on the back of my neck since I was overheated. Then I turned on Netflix as a distraction to wait for the medication to kick in. Joe was sleeping during all this, but I woke him up when I started shaking uncontrollably. That was a new thing that hasn’t happened before, but apparently is common during panic attacks. At some point I passed out because Joe said at 3 am he woke up and had to turn off the TV and remove my glasses.

Needless to say, Saturday morning I was feeling crappy even though I slept in. We had plans to visit my second cousin for a pool/game day around 3 pm. I started baking brownies (two batches – one for my cousin and one for the party we were attending on Sunday) when suddenly the power went out. There weren’t any storms or anything, but everyone on the block lost power. I immediately reported it to ComEd and gave my cousin a head’s up since I hadn’t even showered yet! That threw a kink in everything so we decided to postpone for another day. I felt simultaneously relieved and bummed because it would be nice to get to know her better (we recently connected on Facebook after seeing her at a funeral, the only place it ever seems like the majority of our family sees one another) but I was feeling really out of it thanks to the panic attack so it was for the best.

Once the power came back on I just finished baking the brownies. That evening Joe ordered pizza and we watched Wild Card which is the worst Jason Statham movie we’ve ever seen. What a total crapfast! I rated it half a star on Flixster because it’s pure garbage. In contrast, we watched Pixels on Friday night which was actually better than I was expecting. I gave it 3 stars out of 5 because it wasn’t anything spectacular but at least it held my interest and I liked the CGI video game characters.

Sunday we met up with our friends at Bulldog Ale House at 3 pm for lunch before the party. I was planning on ordering tator tots with my boneless wings since every year I drool over my friend’s tots, but they no longer offer them. WTF? How hard is it to have tator tots on the menu? Joe and I shared an order of waffle fries but they weren’t worth the $4 we were charged. They also started charging for dipping sauce for the wings. I’m pretty sure that’s a new thing too. Overall I was a little irked but it was still fun catching up with our friends who we hadn’t seen in awhile.

We arrived at the party sometime after 4 pm and it was hot, humid, and sunny. Some clouds rolled in shortly after, however, which made things much more comfortable. As I vowed last year, we brought chips. Three bags, in fact, in addition to the two batches of brownies I brought (which received more than a few glowing reviews) and the vodka infused cherries Joe made. We brought our bathing suits fulling intending to jump in the pool or hot tub but never got around to it. The pool was occupied by kids splashing around most of the time and it was too humid to make going into the hot tub any fun. That’s ok, though. We walked down a few blocks to the fest to watch the fireworks and due to the wind got pelted with debris from them which was rather annoying. Afterwards we hung out for a little while before taking off when it started to rain. My friend had to be up early for work anyway since unlike previous years she couldn’t take the day off as she had just gone back to work after being out for three months for medical reasons.

I was rather awake when we got home so I put Netflix on for awhile. Joe fell asleep and I was surfing on my phone when I realized The Cure was playing a show in Hawaii which is five hours behind us. I hadn’t planned on watching it, but since I was up I figured what the hell. Someone was Periscoping the whole thing and it sounded so good! They played a great set, including a Seventeen Seconds encore (At Night, M, Play for Today, and A Forest) which was awesome. By the time that was over it was 4 am!

I managed to drag my butt out of bed around 11 am because the landscapers were making a racket outside. Even though I only had 3 vodka cherries and a little bit of an amaretto sour, I feel hungover. I’m eating pizza and potato chips as I write this. I’m going to be so screwed up trying to get to bed at a decent hour tonight for work tomorrow! My boss is on vacation all this week so it should be pretty quiet at least. As if that even matters – my boss never micromanages me so it’s not going to be much different than any other week.

Father’s Day, Periscope, & Finding Dory

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Late yesterday afternoon E came by to spend time with Joe for Father’s Day. He got Joe a card which he was thrilled about since it’s the first time he’s gotten one that wasn’t facilitated by me. We went to Bulldog Alehouse for boneless wings, then to the pool for awhile. We also played Uno while I listened to a live stream of The Cure at Madison Square Garden.

I discovered Periscope about two weeks ago and have been following The Cure’s tour through the states which has been fun, even if I have to be careful to start out with 100% battery as the app really burns through it. My phone actually died one of the first times I watched a show because I didn’t realize it was such a battery hog.

I have mixed feelings about Periscoping shows. On one hand I wouldn’t want to be the person standing near these people since the glow from their phone is a distraction, but on the other I love that I can see the shows I’m missing. I guess that makes me a hypocrite. It’s fun to be able to see the band play live and interact with fellow fans in the chat section of the app, though.

I did piss someone off last night, however, because she was talking the entire time she was scoping. Sure, I get that she’s doing the rest of us a favor by even filming at all, but what’s the point if she’s going to talk over the music? She was going on and on about what a big fan she is yet she didn’t seem to be paying much attention to the show. Finally I got fed up and asked if she was going to listen to the music and enjoy herself or something to that nature and she got mad. She didn’t ban me, though, because she was too drunk, lol! That wasn’t my perception – she was telling everyone how drunk she was and that she ran out of money for beer. I just don’t get why someone would pay so much money to attend a show and then do everything but pay attention to it. I’ve tuned into other broadcasts where someone, not necessarily the person scoping, is chatting or laughing the entire time. STFU and enjoy the show! Is that so hard?

This morning we went to a matinee showing of Finding Dory. I hate Disney Pixar movies so much because they never fail to make my bawl my eyes out even during the heartwarming scenes. Needless to say, I loved the movie, maybe even better than Finding Nemo. And the short beforehand, Piper, was ridiculously cute.

We spent a little time this afternoon organizing our stuff for the garage sale we’re finally having this weekend. We only stopped because it’s so hot out we were getting too uncomfortable. We’ll work on it some more tomorrow which is supposed to be cooler.

Rainy Day Saturday & Garage Sale Prep

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It rained all day yesterday and we didn’t leave the house. In the morning I pulled out all the toiletries, medications, etc. and organized them as well as labeled the box with all the first aid related stuff in the hall closet. Oh, and I documented what we have and its location in Evernote. I love using that app to track our stuff. Proof it would have helped – I found two unopened packages of floss. I just bought some recently not knowing we already had plenty.

I came across even more stuff to sell for our upcoming garage sale as well. On one hand I’m getting anxious that we haven’t just had the sale so we can get it over with (I’m not looking forward to it because I hate dealing with cheap people) but on the other hand I’m glad we didn’t rush into it since we’re still coming across stuff we’d like to sell. Case in point: today I went through all my purses and bags and am getting rid of a decent pile. It feels good pairing down our stuff!

I forgot to mention the Dollar Tree is a great place to get garage sale supplies. They have nice sturdy plastic signs that say Garage Sale in red on them and empty white space below to write an address or put an arrow. Friday we bought black adhesive numbers so we can put the street number in that space for the sign outside our subdivision. They also have price stickers. The package includes multiple round stickers, with standard prices on them. There are also some blank stickers as well as some that say “make an offer”. It will make pricing our stuff tomorrow easier.

After a productive morning we spent a good portion of the day playing the Disney Tsum Tsum game we’re both addicted to now. Then we watched Dirty Grandpa which was mediocre. J kept pestering me about seeing it but I think it had a predictable ending and seemed to only exist so the characters could throw around “creative” insults. That’s my take, anyway.