Be Happy Anyway

Be Happy Anyway
From Brave Girls Club

Thursday, July 31, 2008

Dear SuperMegaMovieTheater



I went to the new Cinemark in Harker Heights Texas on Saturday, July 19. We arrived around 11:00 a.m. for the 11:20 showing of Wall-E. I was pleasantly surprised by how few people were at the movie theater. We quickly got tickets (2 children/ 1 adult). I was surprised for a matinee that I was still spending 18.50. (I guess that just shows my age.) I then headed for the concession stand, but I found it quite confusing as this was our first time at this theater. There was a girl helping a couple, and a boy helping another person. I stood there waiting while wondering what the area was to the right with soda machines, etc. There was no sign to say, "Hey, there's a self-service area over here!!!" So I stood waiting for the girl to finish helping the couple in front of me. She seemed slow and it seemed she had to walk far to get things for her customer. I am not sure if it was inexperience or an inefficient layout of your concession area, but it took forever. When she finally got to us, I only wanted a small soda, a large soda and a small icee ($10 and change!!!) Heaven forbid I had ordered popcorn. She had to go off to get the Icee. Then we paid and I left. I was surprised that there were no traditional Icee straws for the very tall Icee cup. I even asked, no such luck.

After the concession stand, we went to the theater...Very pretty, chose a seat and waited for the movie to start. The seats in the stadium style theater were very uncomfortable. I am a relatively short person and there should have been no problem in the hip to knee length of your seats, but I found them to be very short, leaving 3 inches or more of my legs hanging off the front. This might have been okay if the rocker seats leaned back farther with less effort. I don't need a workout when attending a movie. The back of the seats curved forward in a very awkward way. I cannot imagine my 6'4" husband trying to sit comfortably in your seats.

I will probably not visit your theater again. Instead I will attend my local (Cove) theater for $11 and get a soda for free for each of us on top of that. This movie theater shows newly released movies, and I just want to know...How can they afford to do such so inexpensively a thing when you cannot?


This was a comment I sent to Cinemark theaters through their website. Surprisingly enough they sent this response:

Dear Mrs. Victory,

Thank you for taking the time to let us know of your concerns. The layout you mentioned in your message is a brand new concept for Cinemark, utilizing the self-serve method for the concession stand. As a brand new building, we are still working out the kinks on the most efficient way to operate this new style. I have made a note of your suggestions, and perhaps, we can implement some of these ideas.

Thanks again for taking the time to write us, and we hope to see you again at Cinemark.

Chris Goertz

General Manager


I guess I am happy they responded, but I don't think that will make me want to pay almost $30 for a matinee and a soda.

What do you all think?


Saturday, July 26, 2008

Mommy, I'm a Princess!!





Okay, so I bet you think this will be about me reminiscing about my beautiful girl and her princess days. On the contrary, this is a recent event where I heard my husband exclaim, "WHAT are you DOING?!"

What should cause my husband such distress?
...Well, here's the rest of the story....
Around the corner walks this funny sight:




To top it off, my son shouts, "I'm a princess!"

It's going to be a great day.

Sunday, July 20, 2008

And the band played on

Where I grew up at the end of fifth grade, students went through the annual ritual of determining if they were cut out for choir or band. They endured musical quizzes and other things that I don't quite remember, but at the end of it all, some were chosen to be in band, others choir. (I am not sure what happened to the others...maybe they sentenced to woodshop and art. Who knows?) After this process, the rite of passage would continue with the band directors checking each child's embouchure** to see which instrument they would best play. I was given the flute.

I don't remember what my parents said when I came home saying I was going to play the flute in sixth grade. I can guarantee that their first thought was, "How are we going to pay for that!?" Fortunately, the music store had a rental/payment plan in case a student decided after a month that they just weren't band material. I, however, was and after two years of band, my parents bought me the much coveted silver, open-holed flute which I played all they way through adulthood.

Why am I bringing this up now?*** My daughter attended music camp this week with a final performance on Friday. She had a little solo. It was so much fun to watch her come out of her performance shell. #1 also wants to play the flute or clarinet. I am less than hidden about my push for her to choose the flute since mine is hiding in the closet waiting for new pads, etc. This is not the beautiful aforementioned silver, opened-holed flute I played in a band and orchestra until 1997. That flute was stolen out of my car, and insurance wouldn't cover it. It would have replaced it if I'd had homeowner's insurance, but alas, I didn't. The only flute I have left is this sad flute that I bought to use in marching band to prevent damaging my good one.


So all of you out in bloggerland need to send your good vibrations toward my old flute. Just keep repeating, "Pick the flute, pick the flute, pick the flute...."

**embouchure: I am so proud of myself for being able to remember the word, never mind being able to spell it without looking it up.

***See whose fault it really is that I am writing about this.

@&@&@&@&@&@&@&@&@&@&@&@&@&@&@&@&@&@

On a completely different topic - You should check out 4 Squirts & a Dollop of Cream.
Sharmaine is currently in an elimination type challenge at Project Scrap Away that requires her to meet their challenges and garner support from viewers of her blog. So I am posting in reference to her cute layouts. I especially liked her entry for the Black & White challenge where she made an adorable mini album. Good Luck, Sharmaine.

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

BFF


In 1985, a nervous 17 year-old began moving her things into her brand new dorm room. Down the hall, her soon to be BFF was unpacking her things and getting settled into her new room. Even though the college was in her hometown, her parents wanted her to have the full college experience. That 17 year-old down the hall was sure glad they did.

Through the years they spent together the two co-eds went through many nights of laughter and heartaches over boys and many other things. They became such best friends that people always asked where the other was when one of them showed up alone. Because of this, they vowed not to tell each other which social club they were choosing, but to no avail they were destined to be together. As one walked into Biology sporting her new pledge pin, their professor must have thought they had lost their ever lovin' minds when they began screaming, jumping up and down in the middle of the class room having found they had pledged the same club. Great minds think alike, I guess. One of the seniors in the club upon her graduation even "willed" the girls the money to be surgically removed at the hip, but time and life took care of that.

Over 20 years later, living 3 hours apart, the two women are still BFF. They have shared in each other's joys and tears including two graduate degrees, the loss of friends, each other's marriages, the birth of four children and all that these things entail.

There is one more year until their 20 year college reunion. There will be many people they both know who will be there, but none so exciting as their BFF.

Saturday, July 12, 2008

Back to Our Regularly Scheduled Program

Okay, so when I started this blog, it certainly was NOT to post scrapbooking challenge responses, but it seems that's exactly what is has turned into. So today I am returning to my rambling roots of sharing what is on my mind.

This morning I got up early because we are supposed to go to a Summer Festival in Lampasas called Spring Ho. (I always giggle at that name.) Really, it's a real festival celebrating the natural spring that feeds a pool there that you can actually go swimming in. The town is not a big town, but it isn't one of those "blink and you'll miss it" towns either. I got up to see what time the festivities will begin today and found out I could have slept another 2 or 3 hours, but now I am up so I will subject you to some random thoughts.

I wonder what the strangest festival name is out there.
  • Our town has a celebration called Rabbit Fest - a Chamber of Commerce celebration designed to encourage people to come to our little town. When our event was first established, there were actually rabbits. There was a rabbit show and people made rabbit recipes, etc. Now, there isn't a rabbit to be seen and for that reason, the Chamber decided to rename the event, The Festival of Five Hills. That was a bad move as everyone around Texas was looking for when the Rabbit Fest was coming and couldn't find it listed anywhere, so they stopped coming. Needless to say, the coordinators quickly changed the name back, proving the old saying, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."
  • The town of Bertram, Texas has their annual Oatmeal Festival which is celebrated every Labor Day weekend. If I remember correctly, my brother had the privilege of attending said event one terribly hot summer because that's what our parents used to do with him when I would run off to the cool beaches of Long Island for the summer. (Lucky me...Poor him.)
  • Sticking to the food venues is the Barnesville Potato Days where "visitors from across the country will flock to Barnesville, Minnesota in August 2008 to experience two days of zany potato activities, [potato recipes,] and small town hospitality."
Another thought...
When my son comes in and says, "Mommy, I solju dat I ganted to pon bod and I red a tid on de teedee, Mommy." (Almost an exact quote.) Does he really think I understand him? Is that what I sound like to him? What does he want me to do? I think it is funny how emphatically he says these things, looks at me firmly and then runs off as if he has given me a directive that I should immediately follow.

Next thought: How many more times will I have to hear "Cars" playing in the background? How long will my son continue to call it "Tchichow" as in "Mommy, I wan Tchichow!" Thank goodness we DVR'd it even though we have it on DVD. This means I have it at the push of a button.

Final thought because my head is hurting: Where did all of my DVR movies go? My husband and I had the forethought to record child-friendly movies like "Thomas the Tank Engine," "Sharkboy and Lavagirl," and the like for days when there was nothing decent on TV. One day I turned to the DVR menu and lo and behold, all that was there were old recordings of "Little People-Big World," "So You Think You Can Dance," and "Last Comic Standing." Then the finger pointing began. Who deleted the movies...not me...it had to be you, etc. Neither of us could figure it, so now we have to begin our DVR collection all over again. Let me tell you when the rain is falling and Satellite is out or all there is to see is reruns of Mythbusters, those movies are a much needed relief.

Thanks for listening to my ramblings. I will try to be more focused in my thoughts, but no promises.

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Military Family Tradition

Following my parents' lead, my brother did a brief stint with the Air Force at the Academy. Later he became a journalist in North Carolina. Here is a little layout in response to a color combo challenge.He's a braver person than I ever was.

Friday, July 4, 2008

Note to Self

Color Combo Challenge #78


I think I really should have said, "Sometimes you need to STOP and scrap the roses. I haven't had much time to do anything fun due to family obligations, but I decided today that had to just make a little me time. ..... TIMES UP!
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