Mama Quilt #6: Abby

When I found out the Terps had a bun in the oven, immediately ideas began to swirl around in my brain for Abby's mama quilt.

Abby and I met freshman year of college (even though she attended SPU and I was up north in Bellingham) and I can't rightly say we "hit it off." Don't get me wrong - we liked each other alright (er - at least I think Abby liked me then...) but neither of us knew how long the other would be in the picture, so I'd say we started out more acquaintances rather than friends, per se.

But as the years ticked by, it became more and more apparent neither of us was going anywhere. Then she went and married Dustin soon after graduation and sealed the deal (so to speak - heh). Once we were both B'ham residents, we set about the work of actually getting to know each other.

While some might say Abby can be a tough nut to crack - it's never been that way for me. During those first few weeks after she moved to Bellingham, when she invited me over to make several different types of cheesecake for the purpose of simply taste-tasting, I knew this friendship was for real. Abby is kind-hearted, fiercely loyal, straight-forward, thoughtful, awkward, hilarious, and - generally speaking - always right. It's been my honor to get to know her over the years; she's one of my most dearly-loved friends.

So, for Abby's mama quilt, I decided almost instantly it would have to be strictly black and white with some kind of predictable pattern (to demonstrate her extremely logical, steadfast mind) contrasted with an unexpected burst of wild color outside the pattern to demonstrate those spontaneous moments of unfettered jubilation she sometimes lets sneak out.

Here's the final result - I so hope she likes it. :)
























PS - There is another, totally different, bright pink flower on the back side as well. Unfortunately, I don't have a pic of that side, so you'll just have to imagine it for now.

Moving...(again)

My life is nothing, if not interesting. Well, perhaps not interesting per se (other than to me), but at the very least eventful.

Spent all weekend moving into two storage units and now currently occupy a spare room at the Champoux/Stratton residence (aka Poux Palace).

The plan is to only be here one month or less. Back in April, I put in an offer on a short sale condo. If it doesn't close by September 30th - I lose the home buyers tax credit...and the ability to buy property in Seattle. The tax credit (and the fact that this condo is priced grossly under market value in order to sell) is the only reason I can even think about affording it. Without the tax credit, I'll be stretched a wee bit too thin for my comfort level. So, with August 30th being on Monday (and financing taking about 30 days to roll out) that leaves only one month until my deadline; therefore, my window of opportunity is about to close.

Unless I can pull an Indian Jones by the end of the week and eke through in time, it's back to renting!!

Dunt-dunt-duh! The plot thickens....(but in the mean time, you can find me in Kirkland.)

Step Up 3D*

*Yes, yes, I've been gone from the blog for a while. I've been attempting to deal with grief and settle into a life in Seattle - I'll get to all that. But first: let's talk dance movie!

I'll cut straight to the chase: the dancing is straight-up, fantazimacaly wow!, spare no expense, bang for your buck (and then some), A-MA-ZING. Dare I say, it overachieves. As the finale in the trilogy, it delivers. (Plus, for all you SYTYCD fans, there are tons of fun cameos - and who doesn't love cameos?)

The acting, however (brace yourself) is absolutely horrendous. Like really terr-i-ble acting. And I'm not talking about the brand of bad acting one might normally be prepared to accept in a dance movie. We all know we're watching dancers who are simultaneously trying to act. At best, it tends to range from slightly cheesy (Step Up 2) to slightly stiff (the original Step Up). I mean hey, they can't all be a triple threat like J-Lo. I get it. I accept it. In fact, I know this phenomenon well. But this movie....it was almost embarrassing. (Oh and the plot stinks too.)

I know, I know: no big surprise, right? I suppose I should've seen that coming (especially since the first two weren't Oscar winners or anything), but one can hope that the acting and plot would at least be palatable. Instead, they're actually cringe-inducingly bad. Apparently the budget was only so big - and they went for broke on the dancing.

Generally speaking, a bad, cheesy, or well-worn plot doesn't bother me. Do I hope for more? Sure. But there are plenty of circumstances where we excuse a meh plot. Take for example action movies. Are the plots often good? No. But it gets our hero into and out of trouble (all with a hot babe on his arm) so at the end of the journey we are completely satisfied. Romantic comedies are no different: girl meets boy, a misunderstanding of epic proportions ensues, insert a public, heartfelt, apologetic soliloquy and all is forgiven as they live happily ever after. Sports movies to do it too: our hero has to overcome some adversity in order to win the game (and usually the morale of entire town, school, or city) in the last inning, half, minute or period - yaaaaaaay!! Often the plot is simply the vehicle to get us from point A to point B. Sure it's nice if that ride is a high class car from time to time, but most often we could care less if the car is a little dinged up; we really just need a reliable ride.

What bothers me is a poorly constructed plot. Is it so much to ask that the character's actions make logical sense? Is a little character building really so cumbersome? Take the movie Sweet Home Alabama (Gasp! Yes, I said it. I know everyone seem to really like this movie, but it really, really bothers me. Rest assured, my enjoyment of Reece Witherspoon and Josh Lucas is able to quell my distaste...but I digress.) The conflict between Melanie Carmichael and her mother is established early in the movie as the result of Melanie's unwillingness to stay in the south (e.g. rejected airline tickets, refusal to see NY, disapproval of leaving Jake, etc.). However, during the height of Melanie's which-man-do-I-choose dilemma, her mother counsels her to "get out" and to "not end up like me." WHAT THE HECK!! This kind of discongruity bothers me to no end. Does she want her to stay or to go? To be loyal to her roots or to sprout wings and fly? PICK ONE! Otherwise, the mother's entire role within the movie is absolutely meaningless; it's simply noise. If it doesn't contribute to the plot - EDIT IT OUT.

Perhaps it's not totally accurate to say that this kind of misalignment is what troubles me so. Rather, it's when a movie has the potential to accomplish something, to truly tell a wonderful tale, to really capture you and whisk you away from reality....but instead it completely pusses out and falls flat on its face. This, this actually physically bothers me; it offends me. To be able to visualize the vastness of a story's potential and to be powerless to see it come close to fruition...ugh, it pains me. I want to shake my fist and yell, "Can you not afford a decent editor?! Can you not see the gaping holes in your story? Call me! I'm not doing anything! I'll help you!! YOU'RE SO CLOSE TO SOMETHING GREAT!" It's as though someone was too impatient to wait for the masterpiece and instead revealed to the world something that was simply "good enough." Who does that? What if Michelangelo had done that? (Granted, this movie is no Michelangelo, but you get my point.)

Such is the case with Step Up 3D. Though it admittedly recycles all parts of its plot, it demonstrated the potential to be MORE than just a "dance movie." But instead of facing that challenge head on, it attempts to disguise its shortcomings with beautiful people, special effects, and killer dancing. It pisses away its poignant moments by juxtaposing them with sterile acting and a loosely strung plot line. It cheapens what could have been a fairly sweet story by forcing what should be the subplot into the lime-light.

The two beautiful people on the movie's headliner poster? Yeah, they can't act and (are you ready for this?) have short and uninspiring dance roles in the movie. They're not even the main characters (as much as this movie tries to pretend they are.) Instead the movie is really about Moose, the skinny kid from the subplot of Step Up 2, and his best girl friend. And truthfully, that storyline is actually well done. They keep a predictable story interesting, have a few genuine moments and, of course, they dance well...but who would see a movie about him? So they cram beautiful, crappy actors into the movie to be on the poster and shove a C+ plot for them into the storyline. *Sigh* I get it, but...really? I mean, the "hot dude" doesn't even really dance! He's always in the background in the group dance scenes and most of the shots are from the waist up in the tango scene. Oh Step Up, we're too smart for that.

Perhaps I'm being greedy: asking too much of my dance movies, holding the bar too high. But in all honesty, I don't think so. The pieces were there; sadly, they just didn't put them together.

Now, just because I couldn't stop editing the movie in my head to make it better and more believable, that certainly doesn't mean I didn't like it. I mean, pfft, com'mon!! It's a dance movie!! OF COURSE I LIKED IT!! I've never met a dance movie I didn't like*. I can hardly wait for it to come out on DVD so I can buy it and complete my little trilogy and watch it over and over and over and over...

*Except of course for Save the Last Dance. That movie was terrible. And not only does Julia Stiles butcher it with her "acting," she clearly doesn't do any of the real dancing (her stunt double has a completely different body type. Please.) I am only willing to tolerate crappy acting on account of good dancing. Alternatively, I'm willing to accept a really good dancing double if: a) the acting is quality and the main actor does at least some of it (Footloose), b) the movie makes a smooth and seamless effort to fool me (Flashdance), or c) the movie is pre-1999 when it became all the rage to do your own stunts (too many examples to site here). STLD (or rather Julia Stiles) clearly meets none of these conditions. Poor Sean Patrick Thomas.

Cutest. Niece. Ever.

I mean, right? Got to spend some q.t. with my niece this weekend and I think I'm in love. She's smiling and beginning to laugh and I love that I can actually interact with her. I just want to eat her up!!

Probably the crowning moment though was when Julia was in her carseat carrier on the floor and Gracen got on his hands and knees and stuck his face right up to hers and began cooing, "Hi baby giiiiirl" just like his parents do. It was simultaneously hilarious and adorable. What is even better is that his cooing made Julia smile, which made him laugh, which made her laugh, and then the whole thing started over again.

Pretty awesome. :)

Hugs

I love Italy and I love hugs, so you know I loved this:



Actually, it made me cry a little. :)

Julia Update

Forgive me for the belated update, but Julia had a check-up on Wednesday and good news abounds!! The veins they were concerned about are free and clear and functioning normally! Most of the blood has cleared (about 70%) and the doctors were actually surprised at how much it had cleared (yay!). So basically she's sitting at best case scenario. :)

They will have another follow-up in two months and at this point, they won't be dealing with anything catastrophic. I asked Mark if this meant there were no risks for long-term effects and he said, they were only speaking with the neurologist, so that info applies only to the specific area of her brain. I think they have another doctor who will be able to address that point a little more clearly later. I'll post if I get any other news. But for now, ANSWERED PRAYER - WOOOO!!!

M's Tickets - Tonight!

Hi friends!

Turns out neither Mark nor I can make it to the game tonight, so if you're interested in going, let us know - we'd love to share! The M's are playing the Angels tonight and are in the midst of a win-streak. Should be a fun game (plus there is a train give-away tonight, woot woot!)

She's Home!!

I just talked to Mark and the girls are (finally!) on their way home! Woo hoo!! They have an appointment with an extra-rad-Children's-Hospital-recommended Pediatrician tomorrow as well as some follow up appointments with, like, other really smart doctors (neurologists and...other-kinds-of-ologists....), but I don't know when those are.

But the point being: she's home!! Yay!! Praise the Lord and thanks for all your prayers!!

Please continue to keep little Julia Jane in your thoughts and prayers and we head down the final bits of this recovery path. :)

MRI Day

More positive news on the Julia front today! They were able to fit her in for an MRI late this afternoon (which she dutifully slept through - what a good girl!) and Mark just called me to tell me that the results are unchanged (which is good news). This means that there is no continuous bleeding, so it's a very positive sign.

Her temperature did spike a little bit today, but not enough so to even call it a fever. So due to the temperature and getting the results so late, Julia and Monica are spending one last night at Children's. They ought to be able to come home tomorrow - yaaaaaaay!!

She'll still have to go in for some follow up appointments as they aren't 100% about the cause yet, as well as to take a closer look at what's going on (once the hematoma clears up). But for now - good news! Woo hoo answered prayer!

I'll continue to post updates as we get more information, but THANK YOU for all your prayers, emails, phone calls, texts, meals - EVERYTHING. Support means so much through something like this and you've really stepped up to the plate. It is so good to be loved. :)

The Home Stretch!

Great news!! I talked to Mark this morning and the doctor's couldn't be more pleased with Julia's progress! She's been feeding really well (and actually breast feeding!) and become more alert and like a regular 5 day old. (She's crying when she's hungry and eating well) At this point, they don't have any major concerns - woo hoo!

Today will be a pretty "normal" day as there are no major events planned. The MRI is scheduled for tomorrow and if all looks good, they'll send our baby girl home tomorrow!

It's SO GOOD to finally have some consistent good news - let's keep praying for more of the same!!