Star Trek Into Darkness

Over the Memorial Day weekend, my husband and I went to visit my sister and her husband and 4 kids in Alabama. We had a wonderful time (we always do!). We rested, ate great food, had wonderful company, and saw the new Star Trek movie at a cool old theater. It was my first time seeing a movie in 3D. I didn't think I'd like 3D, and the extra expense always puts me off so I had avoided ever seeing a 3D movie, but it was actually pretty cool!
As for the movie itself, I *loved* it. I loved the one that came out a few years ago, too. I think the casting has just been amazing in the franchise reboot. I liked the plot of this movie better than the last one, though. There was a lot of action, which many people have listed as a criticism, but I enjoyed it. I was never bored. The characters are all so likeable. Many of my supernerd friends thought that this movie didn't feel "star trek" enough, but I disagree. I had a great time and thought it put an interesting twist on the old Star Trek without just crapping on the whole history. I thought it was fairly clever, and I especially loved Benedict Cumberbatch. He's just so much fun to watch (and listen to). I don't really use a consistent rating scheme or anything, but I would arbitrarily give it a 5 out of 5. Not because it's that perfect, but because it is perfect enough, and it is a ton of fun. Will it win an Oscar? No. Will I buy the DVD and watch it repeatedly? Heck yes! :)
Special thanks to my sister and her family for being wonderful hosts to us. Oh, and on the drive home, I got to stop at Dairy Queen for a blizzard. Perfect ending to a great weekend. :)

Sorry, this is another baby-related post...

Well, a few people have asked me about whether I am having a baby shower, and my answer is always "no" because I am really not into being the center of attention, I feel bad asking people for things, and there is just a lot of social pressure associated with that stuff. I think it's amazing that I have such good friends and family that want to do showers, but it's really not my scene for the most part.
Then a few of my girlfriends threw me that surprise shower, and it was actually really nice because there were only 4 people there including myself. It was so sweet that they were so thoughtful, and I really appreciated it.
Well now there has been *another* surprise shower. I am just overwhelmed by how nice people can be, but I feel a little silly cause I told my good friends and my coworkers that I didn't want a shower. I feel like a little bit of a phony because I feel like I lied to people, but I assure you that was not my intent. So yesterday I was at work and got an email from Hubby saying "there is a thing at work tomorrow at 8:30 and I've been asked to get you to come." After a lot of back and forth, I swapped reference desk shifts with my coworker and got the OK from my boss to come into work late today. I met my hubby at the Middle School and we found that the special education department was having a "last day of school" breakfast event which included a little shower for us. :) It was so incredibly nice and thoughtful. They gave us cards, some hand-knitted adorable little monster pants, and a couple diaper cakes with lots of little baby stuff like spoons, diapers, blankets, teething rings...
I was just blown away by how hospitable those ladies are. It was fantastic to finally meet some of the women that Charles has worked with in the past year. Really, really, great people! And what was especially charming was how much they seemed to like and appreciate Charles. One woman said it was her goal every day to make him smile, by saying something funny or embarrassing to him. It's great to see firsthand how appreciated he is. I am so proud of my smart, funny, kind, hard-working husband! He is going to be an amazing dad.
Anyhow here I am thinking about how blessed and happy I am, but feeling a little guilty because I didn't intend to have a shower at all, and now I've had 2! I fear that another one might be on the way from coworkers of mine, but we'll see. I've told them that I really don't like to be the center of attention, but you know how people love to embarrass those that blush easily (read: me). I just need to focus on the gratitude. Speaking of which, I have more thank you notes to write!
Also found out for sure the gender (and name) of the forthcoming baby, so I will share that here on the blog after I've told my family.
Lastly, as one last bit of gratitude, I am so thankful for my brother helping us to prepare the office/nursery for the arrival of baby Galyon. Charles and I have been wanting to get crown moulding in our office for ever and we are just not handy at all. We were going to pay a contractor to do it, but it was so expensive. Then my bestie and her husband said they would help us with it (THANK YOU CHRISSY, btw!), but once I found out that my brother was going to be in Knoxville and was able/willing to help, it just fell into place that he is going to help us with it. We borrowed a mitre saw from a good friend (thanks, Josh!) and even though it will take awhile, we hope to have crown moulding up soon. Thank you to everyone for coming together to take care of us. We are so grateful!!

Quilting

Wish I had more time to learn about quilting and sewing. I need to practice, but I just can't find the time and/or energy. Reading about other peoples' quilting projects makes me want to make my own baby quilt! There are so many things I want to make! Oh well, it will have to wait.

Surprise Shower

Things have been going fairly well and progressing normally. I am tired and somewhat uncomfortable, but I am excited and healthy so I really can't complain. On Friday I went out with my girlfriends Sharon, Nicole, and Kristi. We get together every couple months to catch up and be girly. Well this time, after we ate, we went back to Nicole's beautiful new home and the girls surprised me with lots of wonderful baby gifts! I was so touched by their thoughtfulness and generosity. I now have lots of gender-neutral, cute and useful baby stuff! It made me really think about how appreciative I am of my good friends. I used to not get along with other women very well, having been burned by catty behavior, gossip, and backstabbing. I am slow to trust other women, so it's been especially amazing over the past several years to make some good female friends! I am so thankful that I have been blessed to meet good women, and that they are willing to spend time with me. ;) I still feel a little like an outsider in most groups. I am not appropriate, and am a tomboy, and don't know how to dress nicely or do hair or makeup. But having women friends has helped me feel more feminine than I used to. Being pregnant definitely helps with that too!

Thank you to all my girlfriends- not just Sharon, Nicole, and Kristi, but also Chrissy, Erin, Anya, Nancy, Mary Catherine, Anne, Kim, Jiun-Fei, my sisters, sisters-in-law, mothers-in-law, aunts.... there are so many good women I can't even name them all! Sorry for leaving some people out. Thanks for letting me be one of the girls. :)

In totally unrelated news, I can't wait to go see the new Star Trek movie. I am super excited but don't know when I'll ever make it to the theater. I have had a lot of things going on, between errands (baby and non-baby related), trips (ELUNA in Athens, SLA meeting in Nashville, upcoming trip to see family in Alabama), and tiredness, I'm not sure when I will get to see Benedict Cumberbatch in a Star Trek movie! I hear good things about it, so I guess I'll just sit tight until hubby and I can sneak a movie in. :)