Yay for Robins!!

Or...I'm really looking forward to the new Robin Hood movie starring Russell Crowe. It opens on May 14th and Johnny has said he wouldn't mind seeing it. Yay! I don't have to go by myself! Only 7 days to go!!
There have been so many versions of this legend (and legend it is, though there probably is some basis for it in the lives of real people) and so many of them have landed on the big screen. There is a BBC TV series about it as well.
Who can forget the oh-so-manly green outfit of Errol Flynn?

Why, yes, it is a lovely shade of kelly green; makes me feel manly. I can give you the number of my dyer.

My personal favorite (really, it is) is the Kevin Costner version which came out in 1991. Yes, cheesy acting (though I do so love Alan Rickman) and an almost equally cheesy plot but I still loved it. The scenery was beautiful.

As a matter of fact I do use Garnier Fructis.

This newest version, starring Russell Crowe as a much more realistic Robin and Cate Blanchette as a very warrior like Marion, is going to give viewers a much more realistic look at the way life was in the 1200s - gritty, dirty, and violent. I am really looking forward to this, especially since I have read so much about this time period (via Sharon Kay Penman's wonderful Here Be Dragons and Elizabeth Chadwick's novels about William Marshal).

Shhh...be vewry, vewry qwiet...I'm hunting wabbits.

Cousins Rock!

That's what my son and my cousin's daughter apparently thought this evening!

We drove up from our hotel in LaGrange to Carrollton to meet my cousin Joyce and her daughter Madison for dinner at Applebees and then spend some time at their home. It was so great to see Joyce again; I don't think we've seen each other in almost six years (since my wedding). We were close friends growing up, sending letters back and forth all the time (yes...LETTERS...this was before email and a disappearing art I believe). Our children hit it off with no problem and kept us laughing the entire time!

Some classic lines this evening:

Madison: Does he eat people food??

Madison: Hey! Listen to this!!

Logan also decided that it was more fun to lay in the crayons and wiggle in them than to color with them. Well, to each his own I suppose. As soon as I'm home I'll try to upload some pictures; got some cute ones.

I am just so happy to finally get the chance to see my cousin again and I am determined that it will NOT be another 5 years!! I really want our kids to be as good friends as we were growing up.

Opening Day!

Yay! Baseball is back in town! Opening day down at Tuner Field. Wish I was there...I'd love a nice cold Coke and a hot dog right now!

Oh how I love my Braves!

Just sitting here enjoying Opening Day 2010 and watching my Braves beat the snot out of the Chicago Cubs! 14-5 right now in the 8th. Rookie phenom Jason Heyward has made a great start for us...3 run homer in his first major league at bat!

I sure do hope they can make it to the play-offs for Bobby Cox's last season as manager. I really can't imagine anyone else down there in the dugout...it will be weird next year.

Here's to a (hopefully, got my fingers crossed) great year!!

Friday Funny

Reagan Quote for Today

Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.

--Ronald Reagan

Yay for Spring!

Well, I had my snow. It was fun and pretty. Now I am more than glad that spring is here! Yesterday was gorgeous here...70s. I love being able to open my windows - even if that means some sneezing!! That's one thing I'm not looking forward to...everything being yellow for a few months. I noticed some yellow along the edges of a rain puddle just a little while ago....it has begun already.

JJ got his new truck. Yay. I had hoped for a Toyota mini-van but once he got his bass boat he just HAD to have something that could pull it. Sigh. It is a nice truck (Chevy Silverado 1500, 4 door crew cab) and I am looking forward to going fishing.

I have been getting some sub work which is a blessing (and Logan is doing great at the baby-sitter we found). If I keep getting a couple days a week I should have enough money saved to go to England in the fall, which is my ultimate goal. Ahhh...England...I want to go back so bad and I'm determined to see more historic sites outside of London this time around. My tentative itinerary:

1. London - Westminster Abbey, the Tower, Madame Tussades
2. Hampton Court Palace
3. Windsor Castle
4. York - York Minster, Jorvik Viking Center, etc
5. Bosworth Field

Yes, I am a complete nerd. While in York I would love to be able to travel to Middleham where Richard III lived but I just don't think I'll have the time or money. I also need to find out where I could get some white roses to take to Bosworth...I want to put them at Richard III's monument. I fully plan on avoiding chain hotels and staying in B&Bs and small, local hotels. I've already begun my research into that!

Now to find someone to go with me!!

Golden Day for the USA

Yesterday (Feb 17) was an awesome day for the USA at the Winter Games in Vancouver! In fact...it was the most successful day the US has ever had at the Winter Games: 6 medals (3 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze).

Skiier Lindsey Vonn FINALLY won the women's downhill (and with a severely bruised shin!). She has suffered through so many injures to get to this point. Fellow American skiier Julia Mancuso won the silver.

The amazing Shaun White completely cleaned up the competition in men's halfpipe last night. He didn't even have to do his second run - he had already won - but he did it anyway and got an almost perfect score of 48.5. He even threw in his new move that I can't even pronouce correctly!! I just know he was twisting and turning the air A LOT!! American Scotty Lago won the bronze.

Shani Davis won his second gold in the men's 1000m speed skating event. He's the first man to win the event back to back. His teammate Chad Hedrick took home the bronze.

What an amazing day for the red, white, and blue! I can't wait for the events today! Men's figure skating finishes up tonite with their long program and American Evan Lysacek is sitting in silver medal position at the moment. The women hit the halfpipe today as well and US boarders Gretchen Bleiler, Hannah Teter, and Kelly Clark are poised to possibly sweep the medals as well.

CURRENT US MEDAL COUNT: 5 gold, 3 silver, 6 bronze
(Germany is in 2nd place with 10 medals)

The morning after...

So this is what 4-5 inches of snow looks like....