Movie Reviews

Here's my latest movie reviews:
Revolutionary Road: It was a strange movie and at first I walked out of the theater thinking I hated it, but then I caught myself thinking about the plot a lot and talking about it with people so then I realized it was an odd movie but it made me think and for that I kind of liked it. My final vote is not worth $9.75 but definitely worth a rental.
Paul Blart Mall Cop: This movie is super cute and funny. Kevin James is absolutely hysterical but the movie is really short (only like 87mins) so it's a better rental than go see movie.
Benjamin Button: I was surprised how much I liked this movie. I really thought it was going to be boring because it's 2 hours and 45 minutes but the story is very captivating and the time goes by pretty quickly. The story line is interesting and the make-up work alone makes it worth seeing.
He's Just Not That Into You: This movie is amazing!!!!! It is so funny and different from other over-done romantic comedies. There are so many great celebs in it and the way the story lines tie together is great. Definitely worth $9.75!!!!
And lastly my most recent Netflix rentals:
Into the Wild: This movie is based on a true story so I picked it because I wanted to learn more about the story. Sadly the movie is very long (2hrs 28mins) and very odd. The lead character meets many people along his journey but none of it ties together that well and there is basically no ending....which maybe I should have seen coming since I kind of knew the real story, but since Hollywood added fake bits to the beginning and middle I think they should have added something extra to wrap it all up. Not even worth a rental in my book.
The Pursuit of Happiness: This movie is a little long but it's very powerful and definitely worth the rental. And I'm not just saying that cause I love Will Smith.

So those are my most recent reviews....make of them what you like.

Just Like a Circus

So it's been over three weeks since I started my new job and I absolutely love it!!! My office is cute and I almost have it decorated exactly like I want it...I just need to find a few more cute things for my walls. It surprised me how easily I feel back into the swing of things at Mainland. Pretty much all of the staff remained the same and even more surprising I remembered most of their names and they all remembered me!!! Even a good amount of the residents remembered me which is a huge deal when you work with the over 80 crowd! At first I wasn't sure how I would like working on the 2nd floor since my year as an intern there I worked mostly on the 1st floor, but I actually really love the 2nd floor and to make things even better a few of my favorite residents got relocated while I was gone and are now on my floor with me. For the first two weeks I had Jenna with me to show me around and give me pointers but last week I was totally on my own and really enjoyed the freedom. I mean I really appreciated all of her wisdom, but it was so nice to go in this past Monday and really take over and do silly little things like change the voicemail to my name and message. So to sum it up I love everything about my job and I really don't even mind waking up at 6:30am 5 days a week or driving the 45-50 minutes both ways.
Since starting work my life has pretty much been dominated by work and sleep. I adjusted pretty quickly to my new schedule, but getting home at 5:30pm and going to bed by like 10pm doesn't leave time for much else. I'm still working on finding a balance between work and free time and leaving enough time for sleep. This weekend was super fabulous though because on Friday after work I headed straight for AC (a 10 minute trip for my work) for Kelly's bachlorette party!!!! We had such a good time partying and celebrating the end of Kelly's single life!!!! We had an amazing dinner at the Continental in Caesars then partied a little in our adjoining rooms in Harrah's and later we headed to the Pool to get our dance on! The entire night was basically girls being crazy and it was fabulous. We made Kelly wear a ton of ridiculous bride-to-be items and Amy and I baked her a penis cake and made penis jello shots...and we were very proud of both!!! We didn't have a penis shaped cake pan so I had to free-hand the cake and I have to say it came out pretty well for a free-hand penis lol. Sadly though in our drunken fun the cake wound up hitting the hotel room floor around 1am...but some of the girls ate it off the floor anyway much like they did on the cheesecake episode of Friends. All in all it was a fabulous time and one of the highlights was definitely the amazing buffet at Harrah's the next morning. We ate so much food that we actually stayed and switched from Breakfast to Lunch...we definitely got our $20 worth!!! So to anyone heading to AC in the near future here's my advice...stay at Harrah's because of all the hotels I have stayed at in AC (Trump Plaza, Trop, Caesars, Hilton etc.) Harrah's rooms are the nicest (super pimp bathrooms) and their Waterfront buffet alone is reason enough to stay there!!!!

Such a good feeling

So it is a little over two weeks until I start my new job. I spoke to my boss on the phone today and she sounded so excited to have me back at Mainland Manor. I'll admit before today I was a little nervous about starting up again and hoping I would remember all of the things I knew last year, but now I am just excited!!!! Having this time off was fun when everyone was home with me, but now that people have gone back to school or started work I will admit it has gotten a little dull. I'm sure in a few months I will be begging for a few days of dullness, but right now I am so ready to rock and start things up.
While things have been a little slow this past month they have also been pretty amazing. My personal life is in a really good place for the first time in a really long time and I feel so much closer to my family since I've been spending a lot of time with them recently. I think my relationship with my Dad has gotten a lot closer over the past few weeks. He is one of the funniest people I know and I think I get my sense of humor from him. The two of us have been having lots of little adventures the past few weeks since we are the only ones home during the day. Trips to the supermarket are never boring when we are involved! Cooking is one of the things I have been focusing on a lot while I've been off. It started out as a way to take some of the burden off Mag and keeping Jack and I from starving, but it turned into a really fun project. I so far have made a few really good dinners and I am working on building a small collection of meals that I am good at so one day I will be able to cook for myself or my own family.
In other news, next week is Mag's birthday and we ordered her a Coach bag. She has always said she wanted one but has never been willing to get it for herself. We ordered a basic black leather one and I really hope she likes it! I think she will be very surprised!!!
In conclusion, I mentioned in a previous blog that I was starting Netflix and it has gone really well so far. Having a movie to watch every few days has been a nice way to pass the time. I've also been going to movies quite a bit recently. Since I've seen a few I figured I would give my opinions on them so anyone who reads this will know if certain films are worth going to see/ renting....
I saw Slumdog Millionaire and it was amazing!!!! Definitely worth paying to go see and I really hope it wins best picture because it is a very unique film! I also saw Valkyrie which was very good as well. Since Tom Cruise had been kind of sucking recently he definitely redeemed himself in my opinion. As far as my Netflix movies I've seen Stop Loss, Stepbrothers, and American Teen. Stop Loss was an MTV documentary and was very good and definitely worth a rental. Step Brothers was a total waste of a rental because the only funny parts were on the commercials, while I do love Will Ferrel and his song at the end I don't think I would sit through it again. American Teen was a random documentary I came across during the trailers for Stop Loss so I rented it. It was about a group of teens in Indiana. It was kinda similar to an episode of True Life on MTV and it was pretty good. I would say worth a rental if you like True Life. So these are my movie reviews....more to come later = )

I'd dance in a storm with my best dress on...Fearless

The past week has been so great I almost feel as though I might wake up and none of it will be real. It was one week ago tonight that I finished up my job. I feel like I haven't been there in years and I'm not as sad about it as I thought I would be. I mean I do miss my residents and staff terribly, but that job was really weighing me down. I feel completely different since leaving...I'm sleeping better and my skin has even cleared completely...may just be a coincidence, but they do say stress can cause breakouts...who knows... I guess the stress of coordinating schedules and basically having the fate of 13 residents on my shoulders is a lot to deal with at the age of 22. I have still being talking to my relief manager so I got updates and things seem to be running pretty smoothly. It is interesting though, my leaving may have started a trend because two other staff put in their two weeks notice since I left last weekend...probably just another coincidence.
Besides having a week of job-free relaxation this week was also Christmas which went fabulously well. We opened our gifts on Christmas Eve with Karen, Kevin and Gram here which was nice as always. We had a nice dinner and after opening gifts we went to 10:30 mass. It's sad to think it was our last Christmas Eve mass at St. Bridget's Church...unless we want to brush up on our Spanish for next year. The church was as beautiful as always and the choir was really good which is my favorite part singing all the Christmas songs. I got everything I wanted from Santa (aka Mag and Jack) this year so I guess I was a good girl = ) Mostly just clothes...my big gift was a new down comforter, duvet cover and super fabulous expensive sheets for my bed. I love good linens since I spend lots of free time lounging on my bed. I'm pretty sure everyone liked the gifts I got them as well. No one asked for the receipts so I take that as a good sign.
The best part of the past week has been seeing my friends and hanging out like old times. Spending time with them again makes me realize that no matter how far apart we might be at times or how much we change we will always be able to come back together and it will be like nothing has changed at all.
This past week I have also become obsessed with watching movies. I have been watching tons of movies on TV and online randomly. Since I have the next month off and they were having a free trial I signed up for Netflix. I made a huge list of movies for my "queue" so now I am just waiting for them to send the first one. I figure I can swing the $8.99 a month if I like it. Now that I have the DVD player in my new bedroom television I figure I should watch more movies instead of falling asleep to sit-com reruns that I have seen two billion times. We will see how it goes...I'm excited about the idea of seeing lots of classic movies that I have always wanted to see but never motivated myself to go rent from the video store.

Just Keep Dancing

Tonight was my last night at work. I can't believe I won't be going back there in a few days. The time since I put in my letter of resignation has been surreal. I found out about three weeks ago that my old boss Suzanne wanted me back at the nursing home where I was an intern during college. While I loved my current job, I really could not turn down the offer. First of all I would actually be using my degree in Social Work and second I would have my own office and weekends off...huge selling points!!! So I gave my notice and here I am. Telling everyone I was leaving was really difficult. Even though sometimes the stress of the job drove me nutty and the silly policies the main office kept raining down on us were insane...I really LOVED my residents and staff. It was very comforting though to hear how missed I am going to be and how people thought I was wise for taking the offer. Tonight saying goodbye wasn't easy though. I became so comfortable and knew everything and it's scary to leave all of that behind. It felt like I was turning over my own apartment (my faux office) when I left. I had to hand in my keys and everything =( The worst part was saying goodbye to the residents. A few of them cried and I got a lot of really big hugs! One of my residents mom's bought me candle holders and a plant which I thought was really sweet. And two of my residents got me goodbye cards. I told them I would come back to visit and I hope it's a promise that I actually keep. Going back to places after you've left can sometimes feel awkward, but I may give it a try at least once and see how it goes. I gave a few residents who asked for it my cell phone number...a decision I may later regret lol but oh well! For now I have a few weeks off and I can't wait to spend them with my family and friends and enjoy the holidays.

Somewhere Over the Rainbow

Today was such a stressful day and surprisingly it was my day off!!! Not being at work sometimes just makes things worse because I am not there when the shit hits the fan so then my staff calls me to get my advice or complain about things and I only get half the story. Today was a very crazy day for them and everyone is getting super stressed and mad at each other. I'm really hoping we can work out all the drama so that we can go back to being one big happy family. If not, going to work isn't going to be nearly as enjoyable as it once was. The staff meeting this Wednesday is going to be interesting because my asst. manager and I are going to have to be tough and lay down some serious guidelines. It really sucks sometimes being in charge of 16 other people. Don't get me wrong I do sort of enjoy the power (who wouldn't) and the ocd side of me likes to be in charge and keep order, but with the power comes all the blame. I know in Spiderman Toby says, "With great power comes great responsibility", but I'm pretty sure the truer statement should read..."With great power comes large amounts of blame." What being the manager these last few months has taught me is that you can't be liked by everyone and that you really need to make sure people do their job who work under you otherwise you get blamed for everything that goes wrong. But just to clarify, despite this small rant, I still really love my job and can't believe that I've been there for 6 months in a few days....where did the time go???
I haven't written on here in a long time because I've been so busy with work and other things. Jack's retirement party well fabulously to update from my last entry and he was totally shocked! The only slight issue was that due to a non-working sound system at the hall the 4 mixed cds I created of all his favorite songs were unable to be played...aka like 15 hours worth of my time was wasted, but at least Jack got a nice collection of cds as part of his gift.
Right now on my days off I'm gearing up for the holidays and trying to get shopping done early since I will likely be working crazy hours as the holidays approach and staff calls out more. I have some really great ideas for some people and no clue what to buy others, but it is so nice to not have to sweat over spending a decent amount of money on gifts for the first time ever. I'm really excited to be able to get my loved ones really nice gifts and I am trying hard to get things that they will love, but that are also meaningful. I'm also trying to come up with great ideas for small things I can get each of my 15 residents and possibly small items for my staff...if we don't go through with the pollyana idea. I really do like holiday shopping and giving to others more than I like receiving. I really never would have thought years ago that I would feel that way but as you get older I guess that's just how things go.
The main reason I can't wait for Christmas is because everyone will be home again!!!! I miss my friends so much it's seriously killing me. I was looking at all my old photos on my laptop today and almost cried. I can't believe I haven't seen some of them in 3 months!!!! I hope we all never have to go this long again without seeing each other. I can't wait to all be together and do crazy things at Christmas!!!!
Well I guess that's about it for now. Even though I was off today and had nothing planned my day turned hectic so now I am exhausted. I'm going to read a little bit of my new Wally Lamb book and get to bed. Yes, his third book came out, "The Hour I First Believed" and it is fantastic so far, but I'm only 100 pages in. Wally is definitely one of, if not my favorite, authors. Night all =)

Last Woman Standing

It's official...everyone is back at school and I am still at home. It's so strange to be working full time and not going to classes anymore. I feel very grown up and at the same time it's a little sad. I wish everyone was still at home with me because it is going to be difficult to distract myself on my days off. So far things haven't been too dull with planning the surprise retirement party for Jack and visiting Gram lots. Plus days off give me a chance to unwind from the craziness that my job can be, but I do still really love it despite what people might believe.
The party planning is going really smoothly. I got Jack the best present ever the other week and Karen and I picked out all the party supplies this week. Next week I need to work on the photo collage and mixed cds. To save money we decided instead of hiring an annoying DJ we will just make several mixed cds full of Jack's favorite songs and play them in the background of the party. I was up until 3am last night compiling a list of classic oldies and classic rock songs and so far have about 80. I think I will add about another 20 or songs and be done with it. I included all of my dad's favorites and I think he will really like it. Plus the cds are like an extra gift to him cause he can just keep them afterwards. Once the cds and collage are done my assignments for the week of the party include ordering the cake and picking it up, making desserts with Karen the day before, and setting everything up the day of. Thank god I make the schedules at work and gave myself off Friday and Saturday so I can help set everything up. I just hope Jack is really surprised!
Besides the party and shopping like it's my second job, my other current distraction in life has been reading. I am going through like two books a week recently so it's a good thing I let myself get totally backed up on my summer reading earlier. Now I have a whole stack of books that I am quickly catching up on. Right now I am totally addicted to the Twilight Series and it is all Deanna's fault! I am at the end of the 2nd book and I am completely hooked! I ordered the 3rd and 4th books on Amazon, but they won't be here for another few days! I am going to finish the 2nd book before bed tonight and will be in serious withdraw until they arrive early next week. I may not survive! In conclusion, my friends need to come back home to me before I become any more of a shopahaulic/book nerd than I already am!

Hello Again World

Wow! It has been ages since I have written in this blog or read up on anyone else's blogs. This summer has been in a word...hectic! To fill in anyone who still might read this I graduated of course and was lucky enough to get a great job on the same day I moved out of my apartment. I am the residential manager at a group home for the developmentally disabled. It isn't exactly the field I saw myself starting out in because my typical population has been gerontology, but I have really enjoyed the job so far. It can be stressful at times though because of silly little company politics that get in the way or state regulations that can drive us all crazy. On the plus side, I work with really great people and my residents never stop making me laugh on a daily basis.
The only downsides I have found to being a grown-up so far are lack of free time and paying bills. I got a new car in July...a beautiful black Toyota Solara convertible and now a decent portion of my hard earned dinero is going towards car payments and insurance for her, but it's worth it to have a new pretty car to cruise around in.
I decided I should update this blog today since I haven't since like May and so many new developments have occurred since then. Life after college has been good so far but it feels so strange to not be getting ready for school again right now. Everyone else is packing, moving and stressing out and I am sitting by and just watching. It's a bittersweet feeling because as happy as I am to a college grad a part of me misses the excitement of apartment shopping and the care-free college lifestyle. I am turning 22 in a little over a week and I am really starting to feel old. Not actual old of course, but not a child anymore old. And since all of my friends are moving back to school in the weeks to come I will have a lot more free time on my days off so I guess starting up the blogging again might have been a good idea.