Once

Once. That is the name of the best movie that I have seen in a really long time. If you like the winner of the Oscar for best original song from the Oscars, then I encourage you to see this movie! The songs are amazing!

Pictures from Mexico!

Sunset on Beach!

Uncas and Sally by the beach.

Uncas sitting at the beach, reading. No sunburn for him!

Sally drinking margaritas at the beach!

Uncas and Sally's Mexico Adventure!

Oh, the blue sky! Oh the sun! Oh the warm weather! It was so nice to get away in the middle of winter! Thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Uncas, we were able to stay at their timeshare at Villa del Palmar for 7 days. Here is a brief recap of the trip.

Day 1 - Flew out of Minnie. It was snowing and cold when we left. We arrived in Puerto Vallarta to warm, sunny skies! We explored our "home away from home" that night and had some margaritas!

Day 2 - Spent the day at the pool. Also ventured out to find the grocery store. Sally is slowly learning to how to convert to pesos. Walked on the beach and watched the sun set over the ocean.

Day 3 - Had to sit through a sales presentation. Uncas is a "numbers" guy, so he beat the sales guy at his own game. Sally explained that buying a house is more important than vacations. The sales guy did not like Uncas and Sally. After the "presentation", Uncas and Sally went to downtown Vallarta to walk along the boardwalk without boards.

Day 4 - Uncas and Sally went on a crappy "snorkeling" cruise. Couldn't see a darn thing in the water. Saw a waterfall . . . not so impressed. Sally comes from a family of waterfall connoisseurs and saw better ones in the States. Did enjoy the scenery. Reminded Sally of Lost, except no Sawyer to be seen :-( Did see a dolphin swimming in the ocean and 2 pufferfish (they are our favorites!). Oh - also saw some jackasses!!! (Corner Gas reference there!)

Day 5 - Spent the day at the ocean, catching some sun. Received massages by the ocean (one of the highlights of the trip). Swam in the pool and chilled in the hot tub. Sally got sick that night.

Day 6 - Sally still sick. Spent all day in room - sort of a bummer. Watched CNN and Law and Order. Did go out to dinner that night and chilled in the hot tub.

Day 7 - Last full day! Sally feeling better. Went shopping, kayaking in the ocean, found a fun place for lunch. Last swim in the pool and hot tub. Last walk on the beach and sunset over the ocean!

Day 8 - Check out! Last walk around in the sun. Great flight home. We had exit row seats and the flight was practically empty. Came home to single digit temps - yuck!

I also have to mention our great cribbage tournament . It was the best out of 19 games and we played a few games everyday! I started out strong, winning the first 4, but then I got my ass kicked! Uncas won beating me 10 games to my 7.

What I know for sure is that while the weather was amazing, I am truly grateful for living in the US. I like our seasons, but it's nice to get away for a week.

Bright Daisy

I like this picture. I took it this weekend. The daisy that Uncas sent me last week are still holding on. It's nice to have a little bit of spring right now during the winter months. I am sure that some hot-shot photographer will comment about how the white is washed out or mention some other technical thing that's wrong with it, but I don't care. I still like it!

Cute Uncas!

Movies

Exactly one week ago I had not seen any Oscar nominated movies. In fact, out of the four categories of Actor, Actress in a leading role and Actor, Actress in a support role, I had only seen one of the performances (Philip Seymour Hoffman in Charlie Wilson's War). But that all changed with a one week. I saw seen three movies this week - two of them are Oscar nominated movies and the third has an Oscar nomination for Actor in a leading role.

Monday night Uncas and I went to see Juno. We both have been wanting to see this movie for sometime. It's a comedy about a teenager who becomes pregnant. The writer of the movie is from Minnesota and is quite the local hero right now. The movie is set in MN and there are plenty of references which are really fun. Ellen Page did a fabulous job as Juno. We both loved the movie a lot and it was fun to get out on a Monday night and do something different. I would definitely recommend this movie.

Friday night Marcos and I went to see Michael Clayton. I have been wanting to see this movie for quite sometime. I will admit that half of the reason is that George Clooney is starring in it, but it has also received many good reviews and up for best picture. Uncas wasn't too excited to see this movie (he said he doesn't like lawyer movies, but I think he didn't want to see George Clooney). So, luckily I was able to drag Marcos to see it with me! Overall I thought the movie was really good. You definitely have to pay attention and it does start off a little slow. But the last 20 minutes are outstanding. Tilda Swinton is nominated for actress in a supporting role and she is great in this movie. Of course, my man George is up for a nomination too and there is nothing I love more than seeing Mr. Clooney in a tux! Also - one of the best parts of the movie is when the credits are running at the end. I would also recommend this movie if you liked Syriana, the movie in which George won his Oscar.

Finally last night Uncas and I attempted to go bowling, but after going to two different places, it just wasn't in the cards. We came back home and rented a movie. It was a close decision between, well, now I don't even remember the first movie, but the other movie was Eastern Promises. We were flipping through our decisions and saw a preview for EP and decided to watch that one. Viggo Mortensen is nominated for Actor in a lead role and he definitely deserved it. If for nothing more than the infamous bathhouse scene. I had heard that this was a good movie, but wasn't really sure if I wanted to see it. I knew that it was violent (it's about the Russian mafia - hello - what mafia movie isn't violent?!) There is a scene where Viggo is in the bath house. He fights against two men, who are armed, while he is fully naked! I basically watched no part of it, because I knew that it was going to be bad. And it was, but Uncas watched it and told me when I could watch again. Oh - and not only could I not watch it, but I had to cover my ears as well! But, don't let that stop you from seeing this movie. It's another one where you have to pay attention and they switch back and forth speaking in Russia, so be prepared to read some subtitles. Again, I would recommend, but with caution. I looked away quite a bit (including the very first scene!)

This concludes my movie reviews, now I must get packing for Mexico!