Some problems......

I've had some eye problems for the last 3 weeks and just went to a specialist today....referred there by my ophthalmologist. Floaties (if you have 'em, you know what they are about....if you don't have them.....you probably will when you get OLD). Anyway I had a huge one that scared me so it had to be checked out.

I think I'm going to be ok. I've read so many eye charts in the last couple days, I should know all the letters by heart. Whenever I can't read a letter I always feel like I'm flunking a test at school or something. My vision has been blurred in one eye because of floaties and its frustrating beyond description....especially for someone like me who is constantly reading.

Anyway, I will have the test results tomorrow but I have to see the retina specialist again in 3 weeks to make sure I'm progressing as anticipated.

Thank you to all of you who kept the faith and kept on checking back here for a post. I appreciate that more than you know. I have been making the rounds as much as possible and reading.....with one eye no less. LOL Thank you also for the emails....you know who you are! I'll be back.......in just a few more days. Promise. (this gettin' old is the pits)....Oh well....keep smilin' anyway!!

Movie Reviews.....

The movies we watched recently and the ones I'm going to review are: Despicable Me; The Sorcerer's Apprentice; Knight and Day and Salt.

Despicable Me. This is a tug-at-your-heart animation, complete with orphans. It was entertaining and the evil one (Gru) delights in doing wicked deeds but underneath all that bad....there is a lot of good and it takes 3 little orphan girls to spot it and make it grow. Gru's competitor for top villain of all time is Vector who is a constant thorn in Gru's side. (Am I the only one who sees a physical resemblance to one of the world's richest men?) Good movie, nice little humorous moments that adults will like....but the minions didn't impress me that much...probably because I'm old and crabby.

The Sorcerer's Apprentice: I like Nick Cage so my review will be a bit prejudiced. It gives you a tiny bit of history at the beginning which dates back to Merlin, then it brings us up to present day, which is when the movie takes place. The special affects are awesome and it has a good story line. A bit of humor thrown in for good measure and you've got a good movie. Lots and lots of action....chases and fight scenes....but nothing gory. My family ranges from old (me) to young (8) and we all liked the movie equally. I would love it if they could do a sequel to this with all the same people. I don't think you'll be disappointed if you're into this type of movie (think Harry Potter in present day).

Knight and Day: I came across this movie accidentally and I'm glad I did. It stars Tom Cruise and Carmen Diaz. I found it to be very entertaining. He's top-secret government on the run and she's just a girl who loves to work on old cars. They meet at an airport, which may or may not have been accidental. The adventure starts from there. Humorous situations and one liners keep it on the lighter side, but lots of action keep you interested. Running, jumping, car crashes, fire, explosions, hundreds of dead bodies, shoot-outs galore, even backwards on a motorcycle. Sure....its impossible to do the stuff they do....but its fun to watch. Its just a fun time and isn't that the reason we watch movies?

Salt: Angelina Jolie. I'm almost speechless when it comes to this movie. I put it in the player and I don't think I took another breath until it was over. It was intense! The plot will have you guessing right up to the end. Talk about not knowing who to trust!! Takes place in present day and she is employed by the CIA and is highly respected by her co-workers. Suddenly she is accused of being a Russian spy by a defector and her attempts to prove her innocence only make her look guilty. Intrigue, action, suspense, thought provoking plot....special affects galore. Lots of dead bodies, blood but not so much as to define it as gore and fighting, fighting, running, hiding, fighting. Not a very good movie for the younger set because of all those reasons but at least there was no nudity or f-words. Excellent movie. I read that she performed her own stunts to top it off. Amazing woman. She made this movie 2 months after having twins.

So....there you have it. My opinions, which coupled with $2. may get you a cup of coffee. LOLOLOLOL

New stuff.....

Well, its not only a new year for me but there are a lot of other new things going on. Some of it is good.....some of it was unexpected.....but since none of it was horrendous, I'm not going to whine.

We will be starting out the new year without a boss; our new one will probably be sworn in within a couple, three weeks. The whole building is apprehensive because no one knows what to expect. They have not even picked him (or her) yet! Our old boss is now a senator and we wish him well. I am confident that he will be an asset to our State. I can say one thing.....he will forever be in my memory as the boss that gave me the most expensive Christmas present I ever received in all my years of working. It was a check and it was very generous.....I nearly cried. He also gave each of us a huge Poinsettia plant which still looks fabulous, by the way.

I also have a new garage door opener. This was not expected. One morning about a week ago I went out to go to work. I pushed the wall button to open the garage door..........nothing. Why is it that when you try something and it doesn't work.....you have to try it again and then just one more time.....just to be sure? Well, here it is 7:30 in the morning, dark outside, temperature is about 15 and my garage door won't open. I have a 15 minute drive to work and I have to be there by 8. I grabbed the garden rake and snagged the manual override handle. I got the door open and then shut it manually but couldn't lock it. That day I called the garage door place and made arrangements for another door opener. Since my old one was 26 years old.....I didn't even think about repairing it. They came out the next day while I was at work and put in the new one. (I just LOVE this business....they are always willing to work with you on stuff like this) Wow....this opener is so quiet! On my drive to work, I realized that I have become a very spoiled old woman. When I was a young girl, I had to park my car in the barn on our farm....opening two huge barn doors to get out and then having to shut them again.....and not from the warmth of my car by pushing a remote either. Back then I considered myself extremely lucky to have shelter for my car so I didn't have to scrape snow.

Anyway.....moving on. I bought some movies for Christmas so we could watch them as a family. Despicable Me, Knight and Day and The Sorcerer's Apprentice. We got all snuggled down and put Despicable Me into the player and.........nothing. Now this VCR/DVD player is NOT user friendly at all. Matter of fact I really detest it for that reason. Its supposed to record on DVD and also transfer from VHS to DVD if you want....but I never could figure out HOW. I considered myself fortunate that I figured out how to simply PLAY a DVD in the durn thing. Well it went out on me....some sort of red light was flashing INSIDE of one of the knobs and I have NO idea why. I figure the thing was fried. Its about 2 years old and hasn't been used that much because its so hard to figure out. I usually look at DVD's on my computer when I watch them alone. But the family was here. Anyway I have a very old VHS/DVD player in the den and my grandson switched them so we could watch the movies. (why is it that kids can figure out electronics in a flash but it looks like calculus to most grown-ups?) So....now I guess I will have to replace that item and its a sure bet I won't get the same brand as I had in the living room before. (cha-ching)

Still moving on.....I went to cook Christmas dinner.....turned the knob on my stove for one of the burners and it came off in my hand....broke cleanly in half. So now my stove looks charming with just a post sticking up with no knob. I am hoping that knobs can still be bought for this stove that is probably 30 years old (counter-top). In the meantime....House Beautiful Is Not Me.

And lastly.....but not in any way least.....the drugstore shorted me 30 blood pressure pills. This was supposed to be a 90 day supply and I never thought to count them when I got them. I didn't notice it until I had only 1 left and realized something was very wrong here. Tomorrow I'm making a trip over there and we'll see what happens. They probably won't believe me since blood pressure pills are really in demand for the 'get high' crowd. Seriously though I hope they will believe me....I've only been a customer there for 30 years or so. My only saving grace may be that the bottle they were given to me in would....in no way....hold 90 pills like the label says it does. So....wish me luck. How they handle this will determine if I change pharmacies or not.

I guess I can say that the "new" year has started out with a bang for me but I'm not gonna whine. I've got food, shelter, an income and I woke up this morning! Have a great evening y'all. (remember....keep smilin'). I'll do a review on the movies in my next post.