Another world away

For those of you keeping score at home, the newest Narnia trailer is out. You can download it here (52 MB Quicktime, 34 MB Windows Media). Looks pretty cool. Only 44 days!

And only 23 days until Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire!

Do you know what this means?

It can only mean good things. It's snowing in Altoona!! SNOWING!! Real, honest to goodness snow! Break out the skis, everyone, winter will soon be upon us. Maybe this year will be a good one for snow (and by good, I mean the opposite of almost everyone else out there...I hope we get dumped on). Keep those fingers crossed.

Apple anyone?

A friend sent me this in a forward:

Women are like apples on trees. The best ones are at the top of the tree. Most men don't want to reach for the good ones because they're afraid of falling and getting hurt. Instead, they sometimes take apples from the ground that aren't as good, but easy. The apples at the top think something is wrong with them, when in reality, they're amazing. They just have to wait for the right man to come along, the one who's brave enough to climb all the way to the top of the tree.

Now men...Men are like wine. They begin as grapes, and it's up to women to stomp the crap out of them until they turn into something acceptable to have dinner with.

Okay, so the last part isn't necessarily true, but I thought it was funny. Anyway, the reason for posting this is that it reminded me of several conversations I've had in the last week or so. I don't know about the whole taking-from-the-ground-instead-of-climbing-the-tree thing, but I think both women and men feel like the apple at the top of the tree sometimes. Maybe no one has come along yet who's willing (or ready) to make the climb, or maybe we're not ready to be picked yet. Why some get picked when they're clearly not ready, seems unfair, but that's for a different day. So fellow apples, hang in there. I think we all feel that way at one time or another. And now I will stop before this fruit analogy completely falls apart.

How sure is sure?

Since my friend doesn't allow comments on his blog, the response will have to go here. First, to clarify. The guys I dance with probably have the same fears as everyone else when it comes to asking women out. But they're not tentative to ask me because they're not asking me out on a date. They're just asking me to dance. Which everyone has to do (male or female), if you want to dance. I learned that after sitting out most of a dance one time.

I admire your desire to only give one girl your heart. However, is going out for dinner equal to giving a girl your heart? I don't think so. But there may be a difference in semantics here, with regards to our definitions of "dating". So I have no problem going out with a guy for dinner a couple times...i.e. going on a date. It may not work out in the end, but if I'm just sitting and analyzing him, I may not get the opportunity to get to know him better. I'm not going to say that you need to date a lot of people so you can get a better understanding of women. That's not necessarily true. There are a lot of things I've learned that I want, or don't want, in a guy just from my guy friends. But I also don't agree that you're more critical in the next relationship. You don't need ex's to be critical, you could compare them to your mom, sister, or other female friends. You're just more sure of what you do and do not want. I mean, you could sit and analyze a girl till you're blue in the face, but as soon as you start getting to know her/dating her, something big could come up that you wouldn't have known about beforehand that you just can't take. I guess what I'm trying to say is, how sure does one have to be? You could be as sure as you possibly could be, and it wouldn't work out. Or you could ask out someone you don't know very well, and wouldn't have much opportunity to get to know without going out on dates, and be completely surprised. And I'm going to play the God card here, maybe God wants some people to date and go through a breakup. Someone we both know only wanted to date one person, and yet now, this person is very glad that they went through the relationship and the breakup, painful as it was. Not only did it show this person things about the other sex, and what kind of person they would eventually like to be with, that they wouldn't have seen otherwise, God used the process to teach this person a few things about him/herself that might not have been discovered otherwise.

And I'm not saying that taking things slow is bad, that you should just rush into things. And I don't advocate dating just for datings sake. But you gave me some things to think about, so I thought I'd return the favor. :)

Puddle jumping anyone?

I love this weather. Not for every day, mind you. But it's perfet today. And we need the rain. It's the perfect day to be at home, not here at work. To be snuggled up under a blanket watching the rain, reading a book. Of course, having a good man to snuggle up with would make it all that much better. :-) But for now I'll just settle for the book, the blanket, and the comfy couch.

Say it isn't so

Nine little words. That's all. But they're terrifying and cringe-inducing. Ready?

Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes are expecting a baby.

Now, is that scary, or what? Just what we need. Brace yourself for the onslaught of "news" covering this blessed event. And I'm not holding out hope that this condition will improve dear Katie's vocabulary, either. Let me guess. This news is "awesome", she and Tom are "so happy", Tom is going to be an "extraordinary" dad, Katie's going to be a "magnificent" mother, and they're "totally in love". Not that I'm cynical, or anything.

He's all growed up

So this happened this weekend:


That's right. I am now officially a card carrying member of the "my younger sibling got married before me" club. I can't believe my brother is married. It's crazy. But I did okay. I had a minor breakdown the day before the wedding and then I was fine. I thought I would be struggling a lot more with contentment than I was. Which is good. And now they're up in the Poconos enjoying the Champagne Towers. Have you heard of that place? It's crazy. A seven foot champagne glass hot tub. It's pretty cheesey, I think, but at the same time, they get their own maitre 'd for the whole week, breakfast and dinner, and a 4 level suite with hot tub, pool (heart-shaped of course), sauna, and round king size bed. Speaking of which, and this is a rhetorical question, what is the draw for a round bed? I don't get it. I don't think I would ever go there. But I hope they're having fun and relaxing.

A bonus for the weekend was that we had 15 relatives over, from both sides of the family. That was fun for me, getting to visit with family that I normally only get to see once every 3 years or so. Very fun. I like my mom's sisters. They were all out here for the momentus occasion. Very fun group of women.

So I'm beat this week. I'm having a hard time recovering from the weekend. But it was fun, so it was worth it.