kelliewho

last night kimmy and i went and saw the Curious Case of Benjamin Button. we had a number of reasons for seeing it. we both LOVE Cate Blanchett. we both LOVE Brad Pitt...not necessarily as an actor but as a man...in Ang's words - he makes beautiful babies...and he is a great humanitarian. and i wanted to see Brad and Cate together again - Babel is another favourite of mine.

to say that we were moved i think would be an understatement. i didn't know a lot about the film before seeing it except for the fact that benjamin is born old and ages in reverse.

i was mesmerised for the whole 3 hours. i hate 3 hour long movies. i usually get bored. i can usually feel every uncomfortable minute after about the 1.5 hour mark. but this movie was over before i knew it. it had me entranced. it had me smiling. it had me intrigued. it had me crying. NO, it had me bawling!!!

when we left the cinema i felt my emotions were about to finally take hold. i tried to cover up my crying with laughter...it was either laugh or cry. i was laughing hysterically, for no apparent reason! the strangest thing was, kimmy was too. but tears were streaming down my face. i couldn't talk for fear of bursting into uncontrolable sobs.

it was about half way walking home that i said "ok, i think i've got control. i think i can talk about the movie". we both loved it. we were both enchantered by it. we both thought Brad and Cate were wonderful. we both agreed we couldn't watch it again....not for a while anyway. we both agreed the movie, Brad and Cate are deserving of any awards they get for this movie.

Brad should be very proud of this body of work. bravo Brad and Cate.

it's that time of year. i had a scroll back to find what i had written last year and i found this exercise in my diary from 2008 which was a repeat of 2006...so being the unimaginative person that i am, i thought i'd repeat it this year.

Year in Review
Here's a different type of Year in Review exercise:

My three greatest achievements:

1. being loyal to a job that i was better than
2. seeing my own value and changing jobs
3. being a host to a number of dinner partes, in particular our 1 December "Count Down to Christmas" dinner party with my closest work friends

Three things I learned about me:

1.
2.
3.

The most powerful book I read: i think i only read one book this year. it was the autobiography of Dr Jerry Neilson. the doctor who discorvered she had breast cancer while she was stationed at the south pole. i'd have to say however it wasn't a very powerful book. in fact at times i didn't even like her.

The most meaningful film I saw: i can't remember the films i've seen this year. obviously i've seen the curious case of benjamin button recently (Jan 2, 2009) so that doesn't count for 2008. i'd have to say the most enjoyable film i saw in 2008 was Mamma Mia. and it has great significance for me. i am a HUGE ABBA fan having grown up with it. they were my fav band...i even once wrote them a letter. never did get a reply though...and i LOVE Meryl Streep. but i also say Mamma Mia the stage play in New York....and our trip to New York a couple of years ago was a defining moment in my life.

The person who influenced me the most: Kim Guerin

My most magical moment: Cirque de Solei for my 38th birthday

The person I cared about most: kimmy

Personal assessment ( 1 being poor, 5 being excellent )

State of my health/physical well being: 2

My commitment to exercise: 1

The state of my most significant relationship: 3

My general attitude to life: 3

My control of my circumstances: 5

My emotional stability: 5 - stable for the second year running

New knowledge gained: 2

Life balance: 5

My financial stability: 5


Now focus on the following questions in relation to 2009:

My three health goals:

1. loose some weight
2. drink less
3. exercise more regularly

My three professional goals:

1. with a new job, there is lots to learn

My three personal goals:

1. something to think about

One new habit that would most impact my life? concentrate on my relationship

The main habit I need to break? laziness

The key relationship I need to work on? my relationship with my partner

this is my third post for the night...enjoy it while you can, it maybe another six months before i write again. (hopefully not)

oh shit...i've just been interruped now i forget what i was going to write about.

my grandfather is currently in hospital. he has been for a while now. well he's been in and out of hospital for a few months now. he has bad circulation in his legs due to years and years of smoking. he had one toe amputated a couple of months ago. he is in to have another amputated. and in the meanwhile he's had a heart-attack.

dad's comment - like my father, a couple of days later they have another which does them in.

kimmy keeps pounding me with questions - "are you worried about your grand-dad?" "do you want to go see him?" - no i haven't seen him in awhile. i haven't seen him since he's been in hospital even though he's in hospital in my home town.

and i don't want to go see him. not sure why. am i afraid? am i afraid of old age? am i afraid of death? am i afraid of feeling? am i afraid of saying goodbye? i don't have answers to these questions. i just don't want to go to the hospital to see him. i didn't see him much when he was at home, why should i see him now? cold hearted? maybe.

we now have two puppies. *deep breath* two puppies! better to go through the piddle training all at once, we said. how much more work can two be once you have a routine for one, we said. it will be good for portia to have another puppy to play with since we are at work for long hours. we obviously didn't take into account the changes in the dynamics when you have two. the fact that they do want to play. and play noisely.

they do bring great joy to our lives though. but they also bring double the amount of piddle. double the amount of poop. and double the amount of noise. but we wouldn't have it any other way. we (read i) just need to adjust to the change. and so do the poor cats who are so scared out of their wits that they no longer have the run of the house but are instead relegated to the garage.

christmas. well it's come and gone like it always does. there was a little bit of drama this year. we had decided that we were going to stay home on christmas day. we (read kimmy) had invited my parents over for 'brunch' (which turned into an almost all day affair anyway). and we invited kimmy's parents over for dinner on the monday night...the 22nd. that was all well and good until over breakfast on the 23rd when kimmy's mum asked what our plans were for christmas day. well when we told her our plans to stay home she bit back with "we just don't see you girls enough". now this was not a cry of disappointment because we were not going to see them for christmas day. no, this was a cry of disappointment that her family was not going to be together on one single day of the year. who gives a shit about christmas. kimmy spent a whole week with them trapped on a houseboat but that doesn't count when she doesn't spend a couple of hours on christmas day with them.

i've got a lot to download. i haven't written properly in months. but now i can't remember, or it's too jumbled in my mind, to write. i need to write more frequently, i know that. but getting the time is difficult.

i ran into an old acquantance on new years eve. we did the obligatory how are you's, what have you been up to's? and she told me that a mutual friend of ours, lisa, had suffered a stroke in November (? the details are sketchy, i had been drinking) and was in hospital.

i was shocked. lisa is not much older than me. not ten years older and she has suffered a stroke and by all accounts has been in hospital for months.

life is short. you never know what is around the corner. live life to the fullest. all those cliches.

get well lisa.