Jude's Thursday Dish #43 (Leftovers)

I'm in the middle of deadline, which means EVERYTHING else falls by the wayside. But while I'm waiting for people to send me their stuff, I thought I'd take a minute to share some Thursday Dish leftovers.

-- I feel even more skeevy for watching "Megan Wants a Millionaire" (it's cancelled now, of course) that the contestant wanted for murder killed himself. This may scare me straight from trashy reality shows for good.

-- How can critics hail Quentin Tarantino's "Inglorious Bastards" as the "Most Fun You'll Have This Summer" when it's about scalping Nazi's during WWII? Yeah, a barrel of fun.

-- Spoilers circulating about an upcoming Pam/Jim wedding on "The Office" and there are even photos. I'm avoiding them like a plague, because seriously... who wants to be spoiled for a 30 minute sitcom? There's not that much to spoil!

-- Seen the new EW cover? "Seinfeld" cast reunited on "Curb Your Enthusiasm." SO Great!

-- Finally watched the end of "Twilight" and can I just say.... YAWN FEST! Although that Robert Pattinson sure is dishy when he doesn't talk.

-- When I'm surfing through the news stations at night, is it just me or do Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity always have these hot blondes discussing politics with them? I think it's totally weird. Where are the average looking Republicans? And who did those girls sleep with to get those gigs?

Everybody have a GREAT weekend. That's it for this week!

"What I Did On My Summer Vacation"

School starts tomorrow! I can't believe I have a 3rd Grader. I gave Katie an assignment to list the stuff she did this summer:

• Saw the play "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" on the last day of school
• Playdates with friends
• Art classes at Camille's
• Discovery Gateway
• Activity Days
• Swimming at Ga Ga and Paula's
  
  
• 

  "Puppet Camp" at Bad Dog

  
  

  "Where The Wild Things Are" camp at Children's Theater and UMNH

  4th of July parade, breakfast and fireworks

  Lagoon and Lagoon-A-Beach

  Mortimer Family Reunion and Boondocks

  Butlerville Days and 24th of July Fireworks

  Wheeler Farm Camp

  "Flying Wild" camp at Tracy Aviary and UMNH

  Park City with Mom and Dad

  Drive-in movie

  Going to park

  Chalk Art contest in South Jordan

  Camping in Uintahs and hiking at Mirror Lake

On top of all that, John and I finished the bathroom, painted the living room and helped get his mom's house fixed up and up for sale. My sister and bro-in-law welcomed their new son, Jack. And I somehow managed to chauffeur my parents around to all their doctor appointments and still work 25 hours a week on top of all the other not-worthy-to-mention-on-a-blog things going on. Not bad for a crazy, short summer!

Uintahs Camping Trip

Other than Girls Camp, I've probably been camping a handful of times in my life. It was NOT a Mortimer thing to do. The last time I went (again, not to Girls Camp) was the summer of '99 when John and I hadn't even been married a year. It was right after the "Blair Witch Project" came out and I was completely freaked out. It took a whole decade, but I finally agreed to go again with John's family. I would've said no, but Katie was so excited I couldn't disappoint her. We went with John's brother and his wife (Doug & Beck and their kids), John's sister and her husband (Jen & Brandon and their son, Alex) and John's cousin (Cherie and her husband Jonathan -- who entertained the kids by chasing them, Great Man!-- and their 2 boys.) Katie was the only girl... poor thing. She had a blast though.

As for the hating camping thing, it's not that I hate the outdoors. I don't at all. I love hiking and doing the whole nature thing. I love going up to Jackson Hole, Swan Valley or down to Moab and staying somewhere nice, but having outdoor adventures in the day. It's the sleeping in a tent,the no-showering thing and the cleaning up once you get home that I can't stand. I'm such a terrible sleeper anyway, but camping is like pouring salt in my insomnia wound.

I did have fun. Some of the highlights -- the scenery, the food (John's siblings/their spouses go all out and cook great stuff), the cousins playing together, walking the 1.7 miles around Mirror Lake, seeing Mt. Baldy, Dick's Diner in Kamas, hanging out with the adults and seeing John and my bro-in-laws, Doug and Brandon, build a dam in the Provo river than watching John fall into it. The lowlights -- getting 2 - 3 hours of sleep, the rain the last night and packing up in it the next day, the dirt, going in to the "biffy" and literally throwing up on the floor while I sat on the toilet because it smelled so bad, having to clean said throw-up while staying in the nasty bathroom and later doing the squat thing in the woods because I didn't dare ever go back. Too much information, I know, but it's the only way I can REALLY get my point across at how awful that bathroom was.

Oh, and did I mention the lack of sleep? For most things, I'm pretty low maintenance, but when it comes to my sleeping, I'm as high strung as a kite. I looked like a freak, I'm sure. I had my black ski cap, my eye mask, ear plugs AND Bose ear phones so I could listen to my sleep machine. I took my sleeping pill. And still, I could hear John snoring, the kids from the other tents crying, the dog down at the other camp site, people talking around the fire, Katie waking me up every so often to make sure I was still there and of course, the rain. I've got freakin' Spidey senses when I sleep.

Here are some of the best photos from the trip. I did promise everyone we'd join them next year, but I can only commit to one camping trip right now. And I may end up at the Beaver Creek Inn near Kamas at night.

Cobblerest Campsite along the Provo River

Jen brought her Mexican hammock which entertained the kids for hours

Ethan

Katie and Ethan at Mirror Lake

View of Mt. Baldy

More Mirror Lake

Cousins: Henry, Katie, Ethan, Issac and James (not pictured: Alex and Will)

Why Alex was not pictured

Freezing cold Provo River

Dam(n) Beavers!

This picture does not do justice how funny it was when John fell in the river.

Baby Will and John

Final day and we were wet and disgusting. Will, Doug, Ethan, Beck, James, Cherie, Henry, Jonathan, Issac, Jen, Brandon (not pictured: Alex, asleep again!), Katie, me and John

Jude's Thursday Dish #42

I'm very ornery today, because I didn't get enough sleep. I never do, but this morning I had to get up at 6:30 a.m. to take my dad to a doctor's appointment. If you know me at all, I'm lucky to get up by 9 a.m. I don't mind taking my dad (he's having a lot of health issues -- more than usual -- so please say a prayer for him!), but I do mind my stupid a-- neighbors across the street. Do they have jobs? Sure, I'm home all day, but I'm a part-time WAHM/SAHM. These are three 20 somethings just sit outside and smoke and just bug me by the look of them. Fortunately, I have really good neighbors east and west of me, so as long as I don't look across the street, I'm fine. Still, GET A LIFE! See, I told you I was ornery. Here's some Dish to distract me. That, and this bag of turkey pepperoni I can't seem to stop eating.

1. John and I have only caught a handful of "Mad Men" season 1 and 2 episodes, but I really am liking it. We're just jumping into Season 3 after reading re-caps and seeing summaries of the previous seasons. We'll catch up later. Jon Hamm is just SO hot -- and perfect as Don Draper. And I like him even more for guesting on "30 Rock." If you're a fan, here is an awesome article and 7 photo spread by Annie Lebowitz in Vanity Fair.

2. I put this on my FB status, but I loathe myself for liking "Megan Wants to Be a Millionaire" and "Addicted to Beauty". They are both stupid, trashy reality shows, but when I can't sleep late at night, it's totally addictive. I'm kind of sad, kind of relieved that they pulled the "Megan" show because one of the contestants is being investigated for murdering his wife. Great screening, VH1. That's reality TV for you! FALL SEASON, COME SOON!!!

3. John and I went with some friends to see the movie "Hi, My Name is Ryan" at the Salt Lake Film Festival. Our friend's husband (who's our friend too, of course), Stephen Rose, directed it. It was this really quirky documentary about this LDS kid named Ryan Avery and the few weeks of his life before he went on a mission. He's a performance artist and... well, I can't even describe all of it. It was a cool movie. Afterwards, they had a Q&A and Ryan was there. He performed for us and sang one of his songs with lyrics like, "Just because you're a democrat, doesn't mean you have to be a Dick!" It was pretty hilarious. The film won the Best of Fest award. It doesn't have a distributor yet, but if you ever get a chance to see it, definitely check it out. Here's more info here.

4. Katie and I watched the "Hannah Montana" movie. She loved it, of course. The TV show really bugs me, except I must admit, I was channel surfing one day and found myself watching it without even thinking for 5 minutes. I'm more of a Selena Gomez or Demi Lovato fan. Miley Cyrus is just okay. Normally, I'd be up there on the list of critiques bashing her for doing her little pole dance at the Teen Choice awards. But, if you watch the whole video online, you'll see it was pretty tame (and not at all a pole dance) and it was totally blown out of proportion. What pisses me off more is how fast the media is to vilify these young girls: criticize them for every dumb move they make. But famous teen/young adult boys -- they can do whatever they want. It's fine for them to behave badly, but if a girl does, they are crucified. I'm not saying that dressing slutty or having nude cellphone pictures of yourself should be applauded. Just that it's not fair that there is such a double-standard.

That's it for this week!

What The Hail?

Katie and I participated in our first ever Chalk Art competition in South Jordan. Her art teacher and my friend, Camille, is a Chalk Art Guru and part of the crew/committee or whatever it's called and recruited us, even though we all live in the Sugarhood. We partnered with friends Michael and Brenda Sherwood -- our team was the Hutwoods. This isn't your kid sidewalk chalk. This is a lot of work. You use pastels and tools and there's a whole technique to it. We even had Camille do a workshop for us, so we knew what we were doing.

I drew us a picture we'd be doing and we worked on it for 4 hours. The kids were troopers and really helped for the most part, except for Sno Cone runs or when Katie forgot and walked over the picture. With only 1 1/2 hours to go before voting, we just needed to do the ocean and finish the detail work. It started to pour. Monsoon-like rain. And HAIL! In FREAKIN' AUGUST!!!! We tried to cover it, but it was useless. With blisters on our hands, chalk from ear to toe and drenched to the skin, we left. Still, it was a BLAST and I'm sure we'll do it again (and bring a tarp!).

Here's what it looked like before the storm...

And five minutes before it washed away...
(If you click for a larger view, you'll see 1. how wet it was, 2. how much chalk I had on my face and feet.)

Jude's Thursday Dish #41: John Hughes Edition

Don't you, forget about him. Today's Dish is in honor of the wonderful John Hughes, the director who died of a heart attack last week. So many of the media influences I grew up with are passing away. It's surreal. I don't think it's because I'm getting old. Many of them are dying relatively young. Anyway, in honor of the film maker, here is a gallery of my favorite films of his and how they influenced me. And they really did. A lot of my life can be tied back to a John Hughes movie (or a song from one of the soundtracks.)

Little did I know when my friend Leslie introduced me to this VHS would my future husband still be quoting it in 2009. This is a great movie, but for John and his family, it's one of the GREATS. They are HUGE "Mr. Mom" fans. Michael Keaton is so good in this (I wish he was still doing more work other than "Herbie Fully Loaded") He summed up mothering young kids perfectly, "My brain is like oatmeal. I yelled at Kenny today for coloring outside the lines! Megan and I are starting to watch the same TV shows, and I'm LIKING them! I'm losing it."

I saw "Vacation" edited on TV for years before I watched the full version in high school. I had no idea there was nudity in it! A tame R by today's standards, but I was totally shocked. I always thought it was a little skeevy of Clark to be lusting after other women when Beverly D'Angelo was really hot. This was my first exposure to wonderful Clark Griswold who has become an entertainment staple in my life. John and I always joke about this movie when we're on a road trip. Yeah Wally World!

Sigh. This was the quintessential romantic comedy of my teenage years. What girl could NOT turn to mush by the dreamy Jake Ryan? (Who by strange not-so-coincidence is the name of Hannah Montana's boyfriend.) Fun trivia: John and Joan Cusack are both in this movie. Be forewarned if you haven't seen it in a while. It's the kind of movie you recall being clean, but there's a huge boob shot in the beginning. I learned this the hard way when I took it over to my niece's when I was babysitting years ago.

If "Sixteen Candles" is the quintessential romantic comedy of the 80's, then "The Breakfast Club" is the quintessential teen film -- maybe ever. Oh the angst! This movie had a lot more influence on my life than it probably should have, but the message that we're a lot more similar than we think still holds true today. It's not a perfect movie. For one thing, the feminist in me thinks it's totally lame that Ally Sheedy had to get a makeover in order for Emilio Estevez to fall for her! Still, I'll ALWAYS heart this movie.

I think this is the first John Hughes movie I saw in the theater. I remember going to the Creekside 5, 6, 7 theaters by Cottonwood Mall. There is no way my parents would have taken me to this, so I'm wondering if I went with my older brother Brad. Hmmm, I really don't know. Anyway, again -- totally shocked to see boobage in this movie. But I was probably 13 when I saw this. An inferior "Vacation" movie, but has some great moments. John and I have remembered it fondly on our trips to Europe.

Certain movies remind you of people and this reminds me of my friend, Leslie. She adored this film. We always felt so sorry for poor Duckie. In the original ending, Duckie was supposed to win Andie's heart, but test audiences weren't going for it, so they had her end up with stupid Andrew McCarthy. But the movie has great music (OMD's "If You Leave") and a good message about class. One of my favorite things is hearing about who was considered for a movie or who turned down a part. It's fun to imagine how different a film would be with different actors. This movie has a lot of that. Anthony Michael Hall turned down the part of Duckie. Robert Downey Jr. was considered for that part and Molly Ringwald has said that the original ending would've stuck, because she had chemistry with RDJ and not like the brother-sister vibe she had with Jon Cryer. A ton of actresses were considered for the part of Andie including Jodie Foster, Diane Lane, Sarah Jessica Parker, Justine Bateman and Brooke Shields.

Ah, Ferris. Ferris has John Hut written all over it. Not that's he a Ferris at all (that's reserved for his brother, Chad). But Ferris is what John wishes he could be if he had an irresponsible bone in his body. I've always loved this movie, but I love it even more because of John. One of my favorite "John wishes he was Ferris" moments is when we went on a road trip to 4 corners back in 1996 (way before we became a couple). He wore his Ferris beret in honor of taking the day off. Personal affection aside, this movie is a CLASSIC.

John Hughes was really unhappy that the studio made him change the ending of "Pretty in Pink" where Andie left Duckie, so he basically made the same movie and let the underdog (this time with Watts as the Duckie) win the heart of the lead. SMART MOVE! I will say though, this movie gave me totally unrealistic expectations of romance that followed me for a big part of my dating career. It made me think that all my guy friends would just turn around and love me one day. Fortunately, I wised up and found my own Duckie. Anyway, LOVE when Watts teaches Keith to kiss. And that ending. My favorite song in the world is "Can't Helping Falling in Love With You" and there's an excellent version of that by Lick the Tins at the end. This is one of my favorite Rom-Coms ever.

"Planes, Trains and Automobiles" is the first John Hughes movie of what I'll call the Amy/Idaho era. When I was a freshman, I moved up to Ricks and roomed with my cousin, Amy. We would go down and visit her parents in I.F. all the time. It was an awesome time in my life. Amy was/is a huge John Hughes fan and introduced me to the more of his films. I remember the first November I was up there, we watched this movie around Thanksgiving. So funny. And one of the few times that dropping the "F" bomb didn't seem totally gratuitous. That scene with Steve Martin and Edie McClurg in the airport is inspired.

This is all Amy. We LOVED, LOVED, LOVED this movie. Watched it all the time. Sure, Alec Baldwin is way smarmy in this and there's that gross scene with him that we'd always Fast Forward. He looks a far cry from Jack Donaghy (or even Jack Ryan). But it's a really funny film and probably has the most heart of any John Hughes film. At the end where Jake thinks he lost Kristy and the baby. Sigh. And "This Woman's Work" by Kate Bush will make you bawl like a baby... pun intended. I love how John Hughes wrote a good coming of age film from the irresponsible teen boys of his earlier movies and showing how a boy needs to grow-up and take responsibility of being a faithful husband and dad. Also, the credits rock with different celebrities popping up in cameos to offer baby name choices.

Another Idaho movie. John Candy was awesome. Another "who almost got the part" was that they wanted Danny Devito for the role of Uncle Buck. It would've been SO different. Candy owns this roles. This movie makes me laugh out loud. Especially the part with Laurie Metcalf as the sex-crazed neighbor. This movie is very quotable (who hasn't said, "Moley Russell's wart"?) One of my favorite quotes though has to be:
Bug: Ever hear of a tune-up? Hee hee hee hee hee.
Buck: Ah, heh heh heh. Ever hear of a ritual killing? Ah, heh heh heh heh heh
Bug: I don't get it.
Buck: You gnaw on her face in public like that again and you'll be one. Ah, heh heh heh heh!

John and I named our first Christmas tree "Griswold" after dear Clark. This movie is actually my favorite "Vacation" movie even though it's probably the not as good as the original. It's just SO funny. And this is SO the Huts. Another GREAT movie for John's family. I wish they had just ended the trilogy with this movie, because that Vegas one is awful. My favorite parts are when Clark is trying to get all the Christmas lights on and when Randy Quaid brings Clark's boss to the house. When he goes off on his boss. John loves when he asks for the Tylenol. This is a film we try to watch every year. I can't wait until Katie is old enough to watch it.

The last 3 aren't movies I love, but show how John Hughes' movie touch a 2nd generation from his 80's teen followers. Katie doesn't like "Home Alone" because it makes her sad, but I thought I'd better include it because I know it was pretty influential. However, she does ADORE the "Beethoven" movies and "101 Dalmations' with Glenn Close. They should've stopped with the 1st and 2nd Beethoven movies (the 5 jillion that follow are terrible) and only done one "101 Dalmations" movie. Still, the original ones that John Hughes actually did are cute and have a lot of the same elements and heart of his earlier work.

Well, there you have it! Phew. Thanks for all the good memories and RIP, Mr. Hughes.

That's it for this week!

We Heart Park City

We've been having our Staycation summer, which has been fun, but we haven't been ANYWHERE since our anniversary trip to NYC in October 2008. And I mean ANYWHERE. We haven't spent a night away from our home since then (unless you count the 2 months we camped at John's mom's empty house while we remodelled. Um, THAT does NOT count as vacation.) For travel lovahs like us, it's been torture. There are many reasons why we haven't gone anywhere (i.e. remodeling, family responsibilities and so on), but the biggie has been that we decided to save up for a big So. Cal. trip this fall (which may or may not happen -- we're crossing our fingers things work out). Fortunately, we try to spend a weekend in Park City every summer at John's aunt's condo (thanks Celeste!). This little trip was very last minute, but it was MUCH a needed break and frankly, as far as I'm concerned, well-deserved!

Of course, we went shopping. Usually, we go up in July for Back to School things and fall stuff for me and John. It's never very crowded in July, but Saturday, the outlets were PACKED. Great deals going on.

We went to the Park City Mountain Resort to take in some of their Summer Rec activities. Last year, we had an absolute blast on the Alpine Coaster, so we HAD to do it again. (Click here to see last year's trip). We heard it was 58 degrees, it was windy and sprinkling -- and freezing -- but we loved it. My cell phone dropped out of my pocket while I was heading up and this poor kid working there went to look for it. John called it 13 times so he could hear the ring and the kid was totally annoyed when he found it and discovered I left it on vibrate!

Katie did the Legacy Launcher. She thought it was fun, but the harness gave her thigh "rug burn" and she was exhausted afterwards. Good work out if you're trying to tire your kids.

Katie and I went for a nature walk and took pictures of each other. Thankfully for you, I'm not including the 6 shots she took of my butt. Then, we went hottubbing which was great after a freezing cold day.

We went to Park Silly Sunday Market. Katie got her face painted and John rescued a goat who escaped from the kids area. I couldn't commit to any purchases, but it was fun to look.

These pics are really small, but we went on a Moose Scavenger Hunt. Click for a larger view. Back in 2004, there was an art project where the city was dotted with many moose statues painted by local artists. You've all seen them. There aren't many left, but Katie thought it was great fun to locate the "meese", take pictures with them and name them. These are the 5 we found, but if you know any others we missed, let me know and we'll look 'em up next time we're up there!

It was a great weekend -- too short, but a lot of fun.

Jude's Thursday Dish #40

Happy 40th Dish! Sadly, I have no time today, so this post is probably missing some good Dish and will definitely not have any pictures of clips. Enjoy anyway!

1. I'll miss you, Paula Abdul. Sure, in early seasons, your critiques were useless, but fortunately, you infused the panel with some heart. However, this last season, you were the only judge that made any sense. Hard to believe, but true. Randy dawgged on as usual, Kara tried to translate for Randy and couldn't have an original thought, and Simon was obviously phoning it in. "Idol" won't be the same without you.

2. I am SO sick of Summer TV. Scratch that. I'm SO sick of Reality TV, which let's face it is the only thing on in the summer. Tuesday night I wasn't feeling hot, so I vegged in front of the TV and watch "More to Love." I had to turn it off. Those "Bachelor" type shows are hard enough on the cast-off's egos, but to see really heavy girls get rejected? It's just painful. In theory, it's a good idea. Not everyone is a size 2 and these reality dating shows should reflect that. But the insecurity level is high and it just makes it uncomfortable to watch. The girls definitely had more personality than most you'd find on "The Bachelor" and many were very lovely. But one confessed she had never been on a date. The girls kept saying they wanted someone to love them for who they were and not care about their size. Dumping a hot skinny girl with a bloated ego is one thing, but dumping a vulnerable, self-esteem challenged fat one, I can't take.

Then, I moved over to the lame VH1 and watched the first episode of "Megan Wants Millionaire." I was introduced to this Megan chick when I watched the first season of "Beauty and the Geek." I guess since then she's become a reality TV-whore and been on 3 or 4 other shows. She's famous for nothing except her two big Girls. She stars in this dating show where a bunch of fame-hungry Millionaires are trying to court her. The guys are terrible. One, a REALLY rich plumber, was so annoyed by this Buster from "Arrested Development" look-a-like Trust Fund Baby that he ran up to him and smashed a silver piggy bank Megan gave him. For no good reason other than he didn't like the sound of his voice. Megan is obviously not smart enough to come up with her own quips. It's obviously scripted for her. She's not only to blame. The guys are shallow and only want a former Playboy model on their side. It's a train wreck.

3. Sooo, this leads me into a new challenge: STOP THE SURFING! If you can't find anything good on TV (and let's stop encouraging these stupid shows), go online and watch episodes of some really great TV that you may not have discovered yet. I tuned into Amy Poehler's "Parks and Recreation" a couple of times when it aired on TV, but went to NBC.com and watched all 6 episodes in a row in one sitting. It was HILARIOUS. You should check it out. It reminds me of the first season of "The Office" when it was still really awkward and hadn't caught on yet. Or watch "Mad Men" or even rent or check out the library old shows that have been cancelled. If you haven't watched "Arrested Development" or "Veronica Mars" yet, you are missing out.

4. Two helpful movie-related websites to recommend. First, www.runpee.com will tell you the good times to leave a movie if you have to go to the bathroom. Great for really long films like "Harry Potter." I was turned on to this by my friend, Cydamarie. Unfortunately for me, it was after the said viewing of "Harry Potter" and I had drank a ton of Diet Coke.

Second (and I think I've blogged about this before), but www.kids-in-mind.com. It goes into all the details about why a movie is rated a certain way. I try not to read those details, because then you get images in your mind and that's not good either. But when I was tempted to go see "Funny People" and read that there were 151 F-words (in a 2 hour 20 minute movie!), I was more than happy to pass.

5. We took Katie to see "G-Force" at the drive-in. She loved it, we thought it was "eh", but going to the drive-in with your kid is a blast!

That's it for this week!