Les Miserables

Last night I watched the 1978-version of Les Miserables with Eric and Andrew. I had not seen this version before, and Eric insisted that we get it from Netflix. (Have I mentioned how I LOOOOOVE Netflix? Oh, I have? That's because I do!)

Andrew had never seen any version, and he was reluctant to watch it with us, but we made him. He thought it was excellent. I was pleased with him. What a cute little brother he is!

I, however, have seen another movie version. Also I have read a super, extra, really condensed version of the book. I have the same complaint I always have.

Marius is lame. What's the deal with this I've-seen-Cosette-and-now-I-will-die-if-I-can't-have-her? PUH-LEASE. It just doesn't work that way. I've always been bothered by how infatuated those two are with each other when neither really knows the other one. It's very bothersome to me. And that's why I think Marius is lame.

But everything else is great. Maybe one day I will read the book and I will understand Marius. Trust me, one day I will read the book.

Mail

I've mentioned before how much I love getting real mail. Legitimate, mail. Fortunately, I am related to my father, and he mails me stuff quite often. Usually it consists of coupons and notes. It's great mail.

Lately I've been getting a lot of real mail. I ordered four books from Amazon.com: Team of Rivals, Truman, Rebecca, and Wikinomics. It was exciting when each one of them arrived.

Today I got THREE envelopes. I opened the first, and it contained my birth certificate. My immediate thought was, "Who got this? How did they get it? How did they know to send it here?" Then I remembered, and I opened the next package which contained my PASSPORT!!!!! It wasn't supposed to arrive until the first week of December. The last package was kind of boring- just an introductory package from the Association of Professional Genealogists, of which I am a new member. (And work paid for it! Wee!)

If you don't get good mail very often, might I recommend three options to help you get mail more often: become related to my dad; order books (or other things) from on-line providers; apply for your passport.

Good News All Around

I love Fall Back. I dislike Spring Forward.

Hopefully the extra hour of sleep I got last night will help me get back on normal sleeping schedule because I woke up at 8:45 this morning! Usually on Sundays I wake up at 11 or so. Hooray! I should be tired enough tonight to be able to fall asleep at a reasonable hour!

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Also, Eric's mom made it into the Mormon Tabernacle Choir! We are so excited for her.

For those of you who do not know, the process is extraordinarily trying. First you send in a tape. Hundreds of people send in tapes. Then you wait and wait and wait. If they liked your tape, they invite you to take a written/listening test.

The test lasts about three hours long. They play a series of notes and then play the notes again and ask you to identify the difference. The tough thing is that the notes don't really form a melody, just a series of random notes. Not something you would walk away whistling. They also play intervals and ask you to identify them (major 3rd, minor 7th, perfect 4th, etc.). There are also non-listening theory questions as well. Pretty much everybody leaves the test feeling like utter failures.

But, if you pass the test, they send you another letter inviting you to come in for an interview and audition in front of the two conductors, Craig Jessop and Mac Wilberg. And then you wait some more.

Just to give you a time-frame, Kathleen sent in her tape some time in the summer. (I wish I could remember when). I do remember that in the first week of September she was fearing the worst when she still hadn't heard back from them. Around the middle of September, she received her letter inviting her to take the test. She took the test two weeks later on a Tuesday night. That Saturday she received her next advancement letter. She sang for Craig and Mac about two weeks ago, and received her letter today.

This really is a dream come true for her, and we are excited to look for her while we watch Conference and the choir broadcasts!

That's Mrs. Scrooge To You!

Let's set the record straight I love Christmas music. I adore Christmas music. I mostly like the kind with singing, but I can appreciate a nice instrumental piece as well. I enjoy clanking out Christmas hymns on the piano. I'm always pleased to practice Christmas songs with the Primary kids. I listen to Christmas music as I decorate, wrap presents and do the necessary Christmas baking.

For these reasons, I insist that Christmas music not be played until after Thanksgiving. I would hate ever getting tired of Christmas music, and let's face it, I would do just that if I started listening to it now.

Those of you who love if for two or three months of the year can keep doing so. But I'll make you change the radio station if I'm in the car with you.

How I Wasted Sixteen Hours of My Life and Why I Plan to do it Again

A friend suggested I watch 24. She insisted I watch 24. We have daily instant message conversations, and I count at least TEN of which she mentioned the show and/or insisted that I watch it. Plus, she has a blog in which she raves about the show.

Eric thought it was something he would enjoy, and so he got the first season from Netflix. (Oh, how we love and adore Netflix). Honestly, we weren't impressed. Hooked, but not impressed.

Last Friday we were watching the third disc (each disc holds 4 episodes which are 40 minutes long without commercials), and when we finished we didn't have anything to do, so we decided to watch the fourth disc, the only problem being that we didn't yet have the fourth disc. After all, we only get one at a time from Netflix. We went to the video store and got the fourth and fifth discs.

Throughout the week we watched disc four and disc five. We borrowed the sixth from Eric's friend. When we asked him for it, he offered the second season, but we didn't want to see it. After all, we really didn't LOVE the show.

We watched the last five episodes, and now we are hooked. We have to see the second season. We just have to. Bah. Here goes another 16 hours.

A major complaint about the show- NONE of the female characters are likeable. Most are downright unlikeable. Those that are not unlikeable are also, unfortunately, not likeable. I hope this is remedied in season two.

Also, those of you who insisted we watch the series- I demand some sort of payment for stealing my life.

And because I love pictures- here's one of Jack, whom I only sort of like. I much prefer George Mason, to be honest.

Life-changing Caramel Apples

Last night we went to James' and Jenny's apartment where we ate caramel apples and watched The Corpse Bride.

Sounds ordinary, but in fact, it was not. The caramel apples were amazing. James and Jenny decided to mimic them after apples available at The Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory.

We dipped all the apples in caramel. Some of the apples were dipped in white chocolate, others in milk chocolate. From there, some were dipped in crushed Oreos, others in a cinnamon/sugar mix.

My favorite was caramel, milk chocolate and Oreos.

Amazing!

I can never eat a plain caramel apple ever again.