I finally got around to watching Amelie, which Katie told me years ago that I would like.  I did like it!  It was very funny and sweet.  I can't believe it hasn't been remade by Hollywood starring some aging hag of an actress, like Meg Ryan.  Or better yet, some party girl who's known more for sleeping in pools of her own vomit than for her acting chops.  Maybe it has been remade and I just missed it.  Dang.

I can't believe how fast this week flew by.  Seems like yesterday I was up at the lake in the lap of luxury and zoop it's Friday again.  I got a lot done this week.  I don't remember any of it, but there's a huge pile of work upstairs in my office, so somebody was busy!

I think I ran a few times this week, too.  At least, if I didn't, I can't figure out why I'm so darm sore.  I swear, I feel like a towel that was taken out of the dryer too soon and tossed into a corner to dry into permanent wrinkles. It's like my whole body has been set in cement.  Every time I try to get up and move, I creak.  Or maybe that sound I hear is my own whimpering.

It was hot and sunny the other day, so I took the wooden chair I bought at that estate sale a month ago out onto the deck and stripped it.  I removed the needlepointed seat.  I'll rip off the old work and do a new one.  I haven't decided what it should look like yet.  The old finish came off the chair pretty easily.  I used Ace Hardware's own liquid stripper.  I didn't feel like going to Home Depot or Menard's to find Formby's, which is what I usually like.  The Ace stuff worked really well and was very affordable, so that's good to know.  The finish was really old, and really dark.  I actually thought it might be dark brown paint in some spots, it's was so opaque.  But it all came off and the wood underneath is really lovely.  The grain is very delicate and pretty.  I put a stain on it this morning but I think it needs to go darker.  I'll put another coat on later.  Probably not tomorrow.  Tomorrow is volleyball.  Not for me, for Josie.  If I tried to play volleyball these days, I'd snap my arms off.

Oh!  We went over to the College of St. Catherine the other day to watch Alex dive.  Alex is a gymnast who decided that diving would be a good way to stay in shape in the off season.  She's my brother Joe's oldest daughter.  He's got four kids in three different Catholic high schools.  He's got enough kids to eventually have one in every school in St. Paul.  The swim meet was fun.  We saw three or four races before the diving.  We left soon after the diving competition was over.  We told Alex how great she was.  I guess the meet itself continued for a dozen more races.  I enjoyed it but I was happy to get out of the pool area.  It was so hot and steamy in there, walking outside was like a breath of fresh mountain air.  I felt like I could brew some Coors in the lobby.


Today turned gorgeous somewhere along the line.  I don't know how it happened.  One minute I was up in my office staining chairs, priming tuffets and painting Christmas trees while it was cloudy and cold and suddenly it was July.  I love it when that happens.  I was going to go for a run while the chicken wings cooked but MJ called.  She offered to give me a haircut in exchange for babysitting while she ran to the grocery store.  So I walked over to her house, got the haircut, played with the baby and ran home just in time to get the wings out of the oven. 

Jay got the limo back today.  I'm glad.  I hope whatever the problem was is fixed for good.  I only drove that car once but I loooooved it.  I'm not even into cars, but boy, when you find yourself behind the wheel of a really good car, you know it.

Tomorrow we have volleyball an then we're going to the arboretum.  It's supposed to be gorgeous again and the colors are peaking.  We usually take the kids out of school for the arboretum but this year we're not playing hooky.  Some of the kids have gone all goody-two-shoes on us and don't want to skip.  Kids these days...

Wednesday some of the gals got together for movie club.  It was fun!  We met at Lucia's.  She lives in a beautiful old house near one of the lakes.  We had snacks and drinks and watched The Trouble with Angels, which I hadn't seen since I was in eighth grade.  Afterwards, we talked about what to watch next time and then Lucia mentioned that she's never seen Moulin Rouge.  Katie acted just like Mom did when she said she's never seen Chariots of Fire.  I thought she was going to drag Lucia over to her house and watch it right then and there.  I'm pretty sure Kate keeps it in it's own dvd, ready to go at a moments notice.

I'm watching Scrubs while I write.  Turk and Carla, who are a couple on the show, look exactly like each other.  Seriously, shave Carla's head and she looks like a shorter, skinnier Turk.  Louis L'Amour wrote in The Walking Drum that we all secretly love how we look, so we fall for people who look like us.  Maybe he had something. 

I know they're not a real couple, I'm just sayin'.

 

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