I remember going to a premiere showing of While You Were Sleeping when it came out in 1995. My best friend at the time, Amy, had won tickets through a radio station or something. I loved the movie immediately, and I’ve seen it many many times since. It’s especially nice to watch around Christmas, since it’s a Christmasy movie (so I probably should have saved this one for next December – oh well!).
WYWS is the story of Lucy (Sandra Bullock), a lonely Chicagoan with a crush on a sharp-dressed man (Peter Gallagher, who will always be Sandy Cohen to me) who passes her el ticket booth every day. When he falls onto the tracks and into a coma, Lucy takes him to the hospital, where she is mistaken for his fiancee. Before she can correct Peter’s boisterous family, they’ve taken her in as one of their own… and major hijinks ensue. Things get even more complicated when she falls in love with Peter’s brother Jack (Bill Pullman).
This movie is HILARIOUS, and I think men AND women can enjoy it. As you’d expect from the plot, there’s a lot of who’s-on-first mix-up comedy. The characters are all very likable, even Peter, who’s eventually revealed to be (in the words of his godfather) “a putz.” And any woman who’s ever been single and lonely can relate to Lucy and her desire to keep her newfound family even under false pretenses. This movie will make you laugh and leave you with a happy sense of well-being. Watch it if you haven’t!
Some of my favorite quotes:
“You are born into a family. You do not join them like you do the Marines.”
“Have you ever, like, seen somebody? And you knew that, if only that person really knew you, they would of course dump the perfect model that they were with, and realize that you were the one that they wanted to grow old with.”
“If you fit into my pants, I will kill myself.”
3 Comments + Posted in: movies
Today is my sister Debra’s birthday! I’m told that I begged my parents for a sister, and they delivered (ha ha) when I was five years old. At first I was thrilled. But as I got older, the age gap became an issue, and I mainly saw her as a little person who followed me around and terrorized me (she was always the dominant sister even from toddlerhood!). When she was in high school, things shifted again, and now that we’re both adults, she is my best friend. I’m so thankful that she’ll always be with me throughout my life. Happy birthday hermana!!!
It’s been one year today since my ex-husband left and effectively ended our marriage. Divorce is a horrible, soul-rending experience, and I never would have chosen it. But through it all, God has been right there with me and has made me stronger than I ever thought I could be. He provided an amazing family and friends to support and comfort me. He provided for me financially and gave me a beautiful home. He provided a new church home where my soul is fed and I’m able to be my real imperfect, oddball self. But most of all, He set me free. Free from the constant, nauseating, legitimate fear that something was lurking in the shadows of my life. Free from endlessly striving to be the perfect wife to a man who would never be satisfied with or truly love me. Free to discover and develop the unique woman God made me to be, and the things He made me to do. Free from throwing myself on the altar for my marriage over and over again. God knew that I would have kept doing it until there was nothing left of me, and He said “Enough.” I heard that word that day as clearly as if He’d spoken aloud.
As my life has filled up with truth and cleanness, I have found a peace I never knew before. I feel healthy and whole. I also believe that God wouldn’t have set me free FROM something unless He also intended to set me free TO something. When I’m overwhelmed by uncertainty and it’s hard to hope for my future, this is what I cling to. My future may not match up with my dreams, but whatever it is, God lifted me out of the pit and set me on an entirely new path to bring it to pass. Do I really need much more than that to feel fulfilled?
When I read Denise Hildreth Jones’s Flying Solo, I highlighted at least 75% of the book. But here’s just one passage that I wanted to share today:
I will spend the rest of my life knowing that I loved a man – that man – with all my heart. That a piece of my history will always be his. Not in a way that will inhibit my forward motion. But in a way that has made, well, me. Made me into the woman that I am today. A healthy, vibrant, alive woman. It is also a freedom in knowing that it is okay to live. That though life brought me circumstances I warred against, the Creator of my being has brought me liberty from the war and declared to me that living is okay. So, I’m going to live.
6 Comments + Posted in: divorce, faith, milestone
This week will be kind of heavy emotionally, so I’m starting off with a happy flower post! :)
Thanks to my article-clipping mom, I found out about a “rose open house” going on in my neighborhood yesterday. So before the Grizzlies game, I drove around to a few houses to look at beautiful roses! (Based on the discussions I overheard, I’m guessing everyone unofficially closed up at tipoff. :))
One of the rose gardens was as big as my entire backyard. It was amazing! I meant to get a wide shot of the whole thing, but the owner seemed annoyed by my picture-taking, and I left sort of hurriedly.
I learned some helpful things from one of the rosarians. He said the only way to get rid of black spot is to spray with fungicide every three days. I’m going to try that! I have three rose bushes – a Tropicana, a Don Juan, and a Knock Out. The first two get black spot every year, but Knock Outs are impervious to pretty much everything.
It’s true that most plants bloom better and look better every year, as they get more established. 90% of the plants in my yard were planted by me, so they’re fairly young, but I’m noticing a difference this year!
My newest addition is this peony! Several peony enthusiasts convinced me to give it a try. :) It’s a Karl Lagerfeld Rosenfeld. It hasn’t bloomed yet, but I know that they often don’t the first year, so I won’t be too disappointed.
3 Comments + Posted in: gardening
Another summer thing I’m excited about is grilling! Of course I can grill at any time of year, but when it’s 95+ degrees outside, not turning on the oven is especially nice. This is one of my favorite grilling recipes – it’s light, easy, and makes good use of the garden.
Tilapia with Wine and Tomatoes
From Allrecipes. Serves 4. 270 calories per serving.
Ingredients:
4 4-ounce tilapia filets
4 Tbsp butter or margarine
3 cloves garlic, pressed
1 large tomato, chopped
1 cup white wine
4 fresh basil leaves, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
1. Preheat the grill to medium-high.
2. Place the tilapia fillets side by side on a large piece of aluminum foil and season with salt and pepper. Place one tablespoon of butter on top of each piece of fish, and sprinkle garlic, basil and tomato on top.
3. Pour the wine over everything. Fold foil up around fish, and seal into a packet (I recommend turning up the edges of foil before pouring the wine! :P). Place foil packet on a platter or cookie sheet for ease in transportation to and from the grill.
4. Place foil packet on the grill, and cook for 15 minutes, or until fish flakes easily with a fork. Open the packet carefully, and serve.
Sides aren’t my cooking strong suit, but steamed broccoli would be a nice complement to this. Or polenta – I’m always looking for an excuse to make polenta! And of course you can never go wrong with a side salad.