Movie marathon

OK, maybe not quite a marathon, but I consider two movies in one week a lot, considering I can just about count on my hand the number of movies I've seen in 2008.

I really wish I liked movies more, but my attention span often is too short for 120-plus minutes of viewing. Usually, when I'm asked if I have seen a certain movie, all I can say is "no" or "parts," since I'm notorious for watching only about 1/3 of most movies.

And many times I don't like being transported to another reality, when that reality is heartwrenching and tearjerking.

So this is why I'm pretty proud of myself for watching, in entirety, We are Marshall, which documents the aftermath of the 1970 plane crash that killed nearly the entire Marshall University football team and Bella, a story about love, tragedy and redemption.

I feel like I should delight in the fact that these are both poignant stories about healing and how hope prevails, even in the worst of circumstances, and that it's worth sitting through 110 minutes of despair for 10 minutes of relief.

But I just can't! That's not to say I won't watch a few dramas in 2009, because I do want to be a well-rounded person and I know that watching movies is a good discipline for me. (strange as that might sound) It's just not going to be a New Year's resolution.

A Country Christmas

After Christmas #1 in Detroit, we hopped on a plane for Christmas #2, a country Christmas in Charlottesville, VA.  It truly was a country Christmas, as we stayed at my brother and sister-in-law's house in the Blue Ridge mountains, which is nearly 200 years old.  

My sister-in-law Jackie, who blogs at midwayfarm.blogspot.com, was actually the inspiration for "Motoring Forth."  I figured if she can maintain a farmhouse that dwarfs our bungalow, chase around an adorable one-year-old, put dinner on the table, and still find time to blog, so can I!

The country Christmas involved chasing around our aforementioned, and did I say adorable?, nephew Tucker, eating like kings, a few runs in blissfully temperate conditions, and much more chasing after Tucker.  In fact, that's mainly what we did because he is just that adorable. 

One night we managed to pull ourselves away from Tucker to indulge in an absolutely decadent meal at the Clifton Inn, thanks to Jackie's generous mother.  With watering mouths, we sat at the chef's table in the kitchen and watched course after course pass from the stovetop to the tabletop and straight to our welcoming stomachs.  Matt actually had venison in a chocolate sauce.  I can't say we thought about Tucker too much for those two hours ... the food was just too amazing.