Movies Move Me.

My weekend off. (Sorry, this blog post is a few days behind, Internet has been down) Was still not easy to be away from the kids...I'm such a worry wart thinking about them, Gramp, bills, the whole time. Gotta learn to recharge my batteries better, take a rest when I can. Gramp is doing better, by the way. They've moved him out of intensive care and have the bleeding under control. Unfortunately, they don't think he'll regain the full use of his left side and he still can't even swallow on his own, but things are looking up. He was able to open his eyes for a bit the other day for the first time.

Had a couple weird things happen. One: I thought I was about to pass out from hypothermia at one point, outside yesterday. Other people were walking by, hatless and looking comfortable and here I was, barely able to keep moving, thinking it was 20 below zero. Thought I was going crazy. I've been battling anemia all fall and winter due to blood loss which led to an iron deficiency. (I won't go into it because it's gross, but I had a procedure done a while back to deal with the fact that I ALREADY was anemic from having a 14 day long period every 18 days...so I've spent the last four years (since childbirth) almost bleeding more often I'm not. That's not even the gross part, but I don't really feel like discussing my uterine walls here in my blog, much as I love to over share.) Funny thing is, I never really looked up anemia on-line or anything...it was just "Oh, you need more iron." Yesterday after nearly freezing to death, I was curious, and looked it up to find one of the symptoms was a below average body temp on occasion, so I really WAS freezing, not just losing my mind. Other symptoms were fatigue, depression, irritability, all those things that I've been feeling lately and writing off as simply not being able to cope with my situation. Anyhow, that was interesting. I should be at the tail end of it now. Hopefully just knowing that I'm not crazy will help.

So, second topic...I never talk about movies because honestly, I almost never watch them. At least not new ones. I don't have the time or inclination. But since the two people I hang out with the most are in the industry, I've tried to pay more attention to what's supposedly good, who's big right now, etc, etc. (This movie talk will evolve into the other weird thing about the weekend, if you're wondering.)

On Friday night, I saw 'We Bought A Zoo' with Russ. Here's the thing: Movie People everywhere may scoff at this movie, because technically, it's fluff. But you know, it wasn't nearly as silly and fluffy as I would have thought. Sweet and sincere without being TOO too cheesy. And very real, despite having to suspend your belief somewhat to accept that a widowed father and his two kids actually go nuts, buy a decrepit zoo and get it going again successfully. It was based on a true story and I liked it very much. The actors did a great job, I actually cared about them. The whole thing was done well, (if a tad sappy now and again) I'd recommend it. Then, I'm no movie critic, but Rusty liked it too, and he's seen everything there is to see.

Last night, John and I went to see 'Take Shelter', which everyone in the smartypants movie world has been raving about as WONDERFUL. I hated it. Maybe because it played on some of my biggest fears (complete with a middle-of-the-night scene of a wife freaking out over her husband's seizure) Basically, I wanted to run screaming from the theatre. Mix insanity with end-of-the-world-climate-disaster, and you get a movie that I HATE. Does it make you think? Uh huh. Does it drive home pressing environmental issues? For sure. Needless to say, I HATED it. I spent most of the movie with my scarf pulled up over my eyes. I don't find being terrified very fun anymore. Not that I ever did, but I could watch a good thriller with the best of them at one point. Now, having children, I can't handle them at all. I have no idea if John liked it or not because he was just stuck calming me down afterward. I can't deal with certain movies, but I guess he didn't have any idea. Whoops. I had to spring the fact that I have the wild imagination of a seven year old on him, AND the fact that I get totally traumatized by scary movies.

(As an aside, I just looked up both movies on a review board and EVERYONE is of the opposite opinion. Like I said, I'm no movie critic, I just happen to prefer sappy over scary.)

That was weird thing number two about my weekend: I had to talk about how many fears and anxieties I carry. I had to talk about nightmares. I had to describe my bed as being custom built, framed with no airspace underneath because I can't stand having a bed someone could get underneath of. I had to talk about one of my most pressing problems with this divorce is being alone and afraid at night. Yeah. How big and brave am I? As a little girl I was always the one being taunted and bodily dragged onto the roller coaster..."'Fraidy Cat!" I'm still that little girl. Usually, with a good diet and exercise, I have a decent handle on my anxieties, but with low iron, over tiredness, and a scary movie, I wasn't doing so well yesterday.

It's funny, you'd think I'd get this movie-thing from my mom, because she's where my anxiety stems from, but nope, it's 100% from my Dad. He gets completely upset during scary movies, cries if they are even halfway sad, laughs himself silly during funny scenes...we're easily sucked into the emotions of fictional characters, I think. Maybe it's from not having a TV growing up, I didn't get desensitized to all that stuff, but I've always had a hard time walking away from a movie and dismissing it from my head, one of the reasons that I'm not that into movies. Sometimes their lasting damage is too big a price to pay for a some empty entertainment. Basically, I know that, with my personality already leaning towards nervousness, it's better for me to avoid those triggers all together, and embrace the cheerful, not the creepy.

So the moral(s) of the story:

Don't get anemic if you can help it, because you're cold and cranky.

Don't get divorced if you can help it, because you're cold and cranky.

Don't watch 'Take Shelter' if you can help it. Watch 'We Bought A Zoo' instead.

Don't go out with the two biggest movie lovers you know if you can help it, especially when you aren't really into movies. Or do, but figure out alternative activities, like lively conversation, cocoa drinking, loud radio sing-alongs, Christmas tree cutting and watching happy little chipmunks scurry around.

Go with warm and fuzzy vs cold and cranky.

There's both my movie review and life lesson for the week. Take it or leave it.