Hannahbanana’s Neighborhood

How are you celebrating the 4th of July?

We have absolutely nothing planned today, and it feels WONDERFUL ! After going at break-neck speed for two weeks or more trying to get the house ready, it is nice to be able to take a kick-back day.

Hubby and I are updating our budget as I visit here. Later I will fire up the grill and throw on some steaks and corn-on-the-cob. I will whip up some brownies or cookies for our holiday dessert.  The kids would like to go see fireworks, but I am hoping to convince everyone to just stay home.

Tomorrow it's back to work - weekly house cleaning to keep the house spic-n-span for potential buyers and going through some boxes that I don't want to take with us !

6:24 AM.

In honor of Independence Day, show us something patriotic.

Taken last year.

I am finally done with work for the next two weeks.  This is the longest vacation I've taken since my honeymoon eight years ago.  Of course I was up bright and early this morning.  I'm so tired after my new long commute - I was in bed around 9 last night.  What a party pooper.

I was going to remote-in to my old computer to finish uploading some files from my old office to my new office but my login failed (although oldboss said he was cool with it...not sure what happened).  I also wanted to finish something up for a client that I just hadn't the opportunity to complete, as well as put a vacation reminder on my old email.  I'm sure clients are freaking out about the transition - and just in time for my vacation!  I might have to stop in there this weekend.  Maybe I'll go before the Farmer's Market tomorrow.  Blah.  Hey, I'm *trying* to be a good worker here.  It just doesn't seem to be happening.

Any advice on getting my car ready to travel half way across the country next week?  One thing that's a little odd is whenever I go over bumps (like the end of my driveway or a speed bump) my car makes a squeaky noise when it moves up and down.  Thoughts, ideas, suggestions?  I'm going to get an oil change, have them check my belts, tire pressure, shit like that.  I usually take it to the dealer but don't want to even necessarily tell them I'm going to take a road trip (for fear of being screwed).  I wish I lived close enough to the Car Talk guys' garage!

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.:What I'm Watching:.

In Bruges. [After accidentally killing an innocent boy in London, Irish hit men Ray (Colin Farrell) and Ken (Brendan Gleeson) are sent by their boss, Harry (Ralph Fiennes), to lay low in Bruges. But, uncomfortable in this foreign city, the two professional killers soon get into trouble. Complicating matters further, when the guilt-ridden Ray falls for a girl working on a film shoot, he finds himself confronting the girl's jealous ex-boyfriend. ~netflix] i actually really liked it. also, i'm finding myself NOT hating colin farrell. 4 stars.

Mad Men, Season 1. [It's 1960, and ad executive Don Draper (Jon Hamm) rules the roost at New York's Sterling Cooper Advertising Agency in this sharply written drama. Living a glamorous existence of never-ending cocktail hours, worry-free smoking and ego-stroking power, ladies' man Draper makes numerous conquests both at work and in his personal life. But the world is beginning to change, and Draper will have to use all his smarts to stay one step ahead of the game. ~netflix] this show makes me want to chain smoke. seriously. boy, people smoked a lot in 1960. hehe. it's interesting to watch how they probably treated women back then... but then it pisses me off because, really, not much has changed. watching it just reminded me how it was at work sometimes and it just made me angry. 3 stars.

North by Northwest. [What if everyone around you was suddenly convinced you were a spy? This classic from master director Alfred Hitchcock stars Cary Grant as an advertising executive who looks a little too much like someone else and is forced to go on the lam (helped along by Eva Marie Saint). Hitchcock's sure-handed comic drama pits Grant against a crop duster and lands him in a fight for his life on Mount Rushmore. That's a cliffhanger if ever there was one! ~netflix] i love old movies. they're just so darn cute. and this one is a classic for a reason. 5 stars.

Samurai Jack, Season 1. [A Japanese samurai -- Jack, by name -- is transplanted into a future reality that's controlled by the evil despot Aku. The wayward warrior with a moral code must find a way to survive until he's able to return to his ancient world and rid himself once and for all of Aku. This collection contains all 13 animated episodes from the show's first season, which aired on cable's Cartoon Network. ~netflix] i love the animation style and the story line is super-engaging. not a whole lot of dialogue. definitely more action than anything else. and samurai jack is exactly how i like my men. men who don't talk much but are great with the action. tee hee. 5 stars.

The Spiderwick Chronicles. [When city-raised twins Jared and Simon (both played by Freddie Highmore) move to an old country mansion with their mother (Mary-Louise Parker) and sister (Sarah Bolger), it's quite an adjustment -- especially when they uncover a magical and sometimes dangerous fantasy world. Based on the best-selling children's books, this family adventure populated with all manner of fanciful creatures co-stars Joan Plowright, David Strathairn and Nick Nolte. ~netflix] kinda scary for a kids movie! hell, i was kinda scared! heh. it was pretty good, though. i liked it. 4 out of 5 stars.

Super High Me. [Determined to find out the true effects of marijuana on the human body, stand-up comedian and former Stoner of the Year Doug Benson documents his experience avoiding pot for 30 days and then consuming massive amounts of the drug for 30 days. More than just an amusing story of one man's quest to get superhigh, this documentary also examines the hotly contested debate over medical marijuana use. ~netflix] i was kind of disappointed in this documentary. and i think that for his "testing" they make it seem like oh, he did so much better on his tests when he was high... but i think this guy is kinduva failure and he has so much anxiety that he NEEDS the weed to help him cope. they don't really go into that. kids are gonna watch this movie thinking that it's going to have the same results for everyone and that weed isn't necessarily dangerous. i'm not saying that it IS dangerous. but it just depends on the person. and even though there's a disclaimer in the beginning, i don't know that people will really pay attention to it. also, it wasn't that entertaining either. boo. 3 stars.

Vantage Point. [Moments after he arrives in Spain for a landmark antiterrorism summit, U.S. President Ashton is shot. The 15 minutes leading up to the shooting are rehashed -- Rashomon-style -- from the perspective of various onlookers: two Secret Service agents (Dennis Quaid and Matthew Fox), a TV reporter (Sigourney Weaver) and a tourist (Forest Whitaker). This nail-biting political thriller marks the feature directorial debut of Pete Travis. ~netflix] as long as you don't think about it too much, it's all right. and chases always make movies more exciting, so it does have THAT going for it. 2.5 star movie. nothing great, though. i felt like the director was just trying too hard and kind of ... failing. the best part of the whole movie is when matthew fox is speaking in spanish and it's OBVIOUS that they dubbed it over with some other dude's voice. i couldn't stop laughing because it sounded SO ridiculous! that other dude's voice was like, 2 octaves lower than matthew fox's voice. hehe. you'd think they could find SOMEONE in any of the spanish speaking countries that sounded somewhat like matthew fox. man. it was funny. hehe. 3 stars.

The Wild Blue Yonder. [Werner Herzog crafts a thought-provoking exploration of life beyond Earth by blending authentic NASA images with documentary footage shot beneath the Antarctic Ocean by avid diver and experimental guitarist Henry Kaiser. After human beings suck everything valuable from planet Earth -- including all life-sustaining matter -- aliens move in to try to settle a veritable wasteland. Oscar nominee Brad Dourif (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest) stars. ~netflix] pretty boring. i fell asleep. i want my sci-fi movies to be SCI-FI. not the idea of sci-fi with NASA footage. probably only pretentious wannabe "artsy" people will like this movie. hehe. 2 stars.

Without a Paddle. [Three friends (Seth Green, Matthew Lillard and Dax Shepard) leave their home in Philadelphia for a camping trip after their friend Billy's death. Their destination has special meaning, as Billy was fixated on going there to search for a lost treasure. Hoping to find some of the $194,200 of famed airline hijacker D.B. Cooper's money -- rumored to be located somewhere in the wilderness -- the men embark on the adventure of their lives. ~netflix] i thought it was gonna suck, but it was all right. i didn't hate it. 3 stars.

.:What Mia's Watching:.

The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland. ["Sesame Street" veteran Elmo gets his own movie when he dives into Oscar the Grouch's trashcan to retrieve his blanket and wakes up in Grouchland. The Muppets mission: To rescue the blanket from the evil Huxley (Mandy Patinkin) with the help of the Queen of Trash (Vanessa Williams). There are lots of fun and songs along the way (including the all-time kids' fave "I'm a Little Teapot") plus Bert and Ernie as hosts! ~netflix] dude, if this movie was made in 1999, how is it that all of the human characters look EXACTLY the same?! sheesh. anyway, it was cute. they had it free at one of the theaters here so i figured i'd take mia to the movies. it was her first time! she had a pretty good time. :)

.:What I'm Listening To:.

The Fratellis: Here We Stand. man, what a disappointment! i LOVED their first album. but their second one, not so much. it was kinda boring and lame.

.:What I'm Reading:.

Quick Reads! they're the best invention ever! i read 1.5 books in less than 45 minutes. the ones i got were:
Doctor Who: Made of Steel
Doctor Who: Revenge of the Judoon
totally fun and totally short... according to amazon UK, they're 112 pages long. i enjoyed them. :)

• 21:19 Do I have bars? The power seems to be out all over the city #
• 09:08 I NEEEEED an In-n-Out Burger right now. Too bad the closest one is too far to justify the drive. Um...dare I say: I can haz cheezburger? #
• 11:35 Mmmm. Nothing tastes better than red Kool-Aide #
• 14:40 Making Ginger Simple Syrup to make Ginger Mojitos later. #
• 16:57 I swear I just spent the last 3 hours standing. Prepping and making mijitio pops and stuff for mojitos tonight. #

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My day did not turn out as I'd hoped.

First off, my friend's daughter got sick with some sort of fever involved and our fun brunch and other potential excitement was then canned, hopefully to be revisited at a later Thursday.

I was tired this morning so after her call I set my alarm a bit later and after a couple snoozes the thing shut off and I slept in a bit later than I'd wanted to. Sure was a nice treat to have a seriously LAZY morning though!

After I got up I eventually chatted with Andy and decided to head to the store and get grocery shopping done so we wouldn't have to deal with that on the weekend. I can't believe how fast money disappears though! I did however find a great pair of workout pants that are long and super comfy. And bought diapers. Every thing adds up, and FAST! At least now we have some fresh fruit and hopefully enough meals to make us through the next couple weeks. We'll see.

Once I got back from two stores and got everything all put away I actually did a few chores. Put away some wash and got a batch started to get my new yoga pants washed up for tomorrow. Sewed a button on one of Andy's shirts. You know, super fun stuff :)

Now I'm on to catching up with Design Star. I missed the first episode of the season but was able to catch up with the second and third episodes and will continue watching the season though it seems a bit lame. I really like Kim Myles and her new show Miles of Style. Always interesting to see what they do with the challenges and how they interact with each other as well.

Next up: on to dinner at our favorite little Mexican restaurant. Hooray for free beer/margarita Thursday and friends visiting from IL.

Just in case you care ... I officially joined NaBloPoMo and am shooting for a post a day. We'll see how I do this month and come August, I'll officially try and post every day.

Since this was to be the last day of decent weather before a heat wave moves in, Lily & I decided we better go out fishing again.  Cody started off catching some good ones and then I caught a couple.  Next, Lily & her Barbie pole kicked into gear and she caught the biggest so far of the week at 24 inches!  Jace and Grandpa caught a few and then tragedy struck.  Nobody was watching Lily's pole when it got snagged.  Ray got to it just as it snapped in half.  We had to take a few moments of silence in remembrance of our best fishing pole.  You'd think we would've learned yesterday but we ran out of bait again.  Once the worms were gone, things really slowed down but we did catch a few on leeches.  In the end, we came in with 16 walleye but much bigger than the ones from yesterday.  I think it was a record fishing day for us.