Film Festival Sneak Peak

Tonight I went to the Temecula Film Festival Sneak Peak. This is running every Thursday night in a vacant business suite for 7 weeks. The films that are shown are films the Film Festival Committee are considering for the festival. After a film is viewed, each viewer fills out a questioner about the movie. Depending on the ratings from the viewers, the movie will or will not be shown at the festival. 

The first film we saw was a feature film tentatively called "Still Water". This film is a thriller, so it is exciting. The directing is sharp, and the cinematography is appealing. The acting is surprisingly good, giving it a Hollywood feel, as opposed to "filmed in the back yard." The writing was unpredictable, although my husband did call it. There was great character and story line development. I felt like the writer did a good job with the flow of things. Overall, very professional and a movie I would recommend, although it was a little crude...but what thriller isn't. 

The next film we saw was a short. It was called, "The Amazing Renaldo". This was a very cute movie with cheesy acting and a low budget feel. However, I am convinced that is the way the director wanted it to feel. I do not feel like they were trying to do something out of their league and fell short. It was very entertaining and funny. A definite feel good movie I would love to have around to show people at a party. Quirky and artistic.

The third and last film we saw was also a short. It was called, "Swimming." This was a slow, low budget film that had a touching story with a little quirkiness thrown in. The acting of the supporting characters and extras was a bit weak, making it feel like you were watching a movie being made. The main characters were fluent though. Interesting story worth the time it takes to watch it. I enjoyed this film. It touched an abstract part of me. 

It was neat to be able to be a part of this process. Considering going again.   

Summer is for Friends and Family

I have been so blessed lately by friendships. The Lord is opening up doors for relationships all over the place. This past week we have been able to visit with some friends from Washington that are in town on a visit and it has really blessed us and our children. There are a whole bunch of other new friends we have been making too, and I am excited about it. It seems for the last two years, when we were in Colorado, friendships were hard and few. Now I am grateful, because it would have been harder to leave if we had all sorts of really close friends there. I did take a few friendships from Colorado, though. It's nice to be able to not worry about anything during the summer and just visit with others until late at night. That is why Summer is for friends and family. Good food, good friends, great family, a loving God... what more could we want?

Emergency room again!

My husband is an incredibly competitive guy. He does not like to lose. So on Friday, just to beat me out, he dislocated and fractured his finger while we were at the beach! The best part: He didn't even wince. I was balling of course when I hurt my arm, and he calmly walks up to me and says, "We have to go, I broke my finger." Then he shows me his mangled finger that was in all the wrong places. Another lady we were there with even asked him if he was in the military before, when he was trying to relocate his finger with a calm expression like it was no big deal. So, anyhow, we ended up at the same emergency room, with the same insurance that doesn't start for a few more days. Oh, the dramas of life. This is the x-ray of his finger and a picture of his splinted hand. 

Restaurant Review

Today my mother and I went to a new restaurant in Temecula called Rodrigo's Mexican Grill. It is decorated well with unique architecture like thick wood slated walls and geometric lamps. Classy Mexican art graces the walls, but it is not overdone. There is this great wall hanging at the front hostess desk with ceramic plates hanging from a wood slate. The waitress was very attentive... ok a little too attentive. My mom and I were there maybe 30 minutes and she came to our table about ten times. I think the combination of her being new and it not being very busy at 2:30 in the afternoon on a Thursday, made her a little anxious to serve! I honestly have never had that problem before. I was tempted to tell her something different every time she asked how everything was, just to keep her busy. However, I kindly replied that everything was great. 

The food was typical California Mexican. (So glad to be back!) It wasn't anything particularly special, but good. The chips were a little thicker than I tend to like, but that is a matter of preference. The salsa was great. Fresh, spicy and smooth. I had the two shredded beef taco meal with rice and beans. My mom had the lunch tostada. We both had iced tea. The iced tea was great! Our meals were both lunch specials which cost around $8 each. Not too bad for an air conditioned, classy atmosphere, midday lunch, with an exceptionally attentive waitress. So, would I recommend it? I really feel neutral about it. I probably wouldn't go out of my way to recommend it, but if asked about it, I would say it was good.  

Warning! Dryers Can Be Dangerous!

When one thinks of the dangers of the clothes dryer, the thought of fire is the most obvious...don't be deceived. Well, we have a special dryer. Its name is Earl, affectionately named for its many quirks. One of these quirks is the fact that once it gets going, it doesn't stop until it is done or you turn the knob to off. So, when you open the door it keeps right on spinning. This is not a real issue (usually). Today, however, was not an usual day. I threw my daughters swimsuit into the dryer this morning to get it dry for a swim play date we had scheduled. (We went swimming last night and hers was not quite dry yet.) As I went to retrieve it, I opened the door of the dryer. It never occurred to me to turn the nob to off and grab the swimsuit then. No, I just stuck my hand in and tried to snatch it. There are slats inside a dryer to tumble the clothes and one of those caught my arm. (Yes, I know the opening is very large, but the swimsuit was stuck to the side.) Before I knew what was happening, my arm was flipped in a circle and discarded out of the dryer. As I sat on the floor of my laundry room sobbing from the pain, my mother (who was luckily there) found me and helped me to get to a chair. I thought I just banged it up pretty good, but the pain wouldn't go away. In fact, it was getting worse. Then, I felt my elbow. I touched the other elbow to compare and there was a definite difference. I had my mom feel it and she said, "I guess we're going to the emergency room!" The bone was not where it should be. I called hubby, still sobbing and told him what was going on. My mom called our play date and canceled. All I could think was, "What a stupid thing to do!" Luckily my sister and brother in law live close as they came and picked up the kids from the emergency room. We were there for about three hours total. Somewhere along the line, my arm readjusted itself, as my bone was no longer sticking out. The doctor said that the body will do that, just put itself back. The x-rays showed I had no broken bones, but the doctor said I had deeply bruised my soft tissue. She comforted me with, "It will be worse tomorrow." Right now I'm wishing I was good friends with a chiropractor, as my whole body is aching from the dryer jolt. Oh yeah, forgot to mention that our new health insurance doesn't kick in until July 1st. Now that is irony. What is that? 11 days? Overall, it's pretty funny really. Well, lesson learned: Don't Mess With Earl!

A Day With the Family

Today we went to a beach in San Diego called Torey Pines. When we got there, the tide was in and there was really no beach at all. The parking attendant said it was on its way out though, so we decided to stick it out. This is normally a small beach with no dry sand as it is. Surprisingly, it was really nice that the beach was short as we could sit while our kids played and they were right in front of us. The water has warmed up considerably in the last month or so and it was pleasant. I had a lot of fun playing frisbee with my husband. The kids had fun playing in the water, collecting seashells, and playing a little frisbee themselves. It was overcast, but not cold and we all enjoyed it. DH got burnt, but the rest of us are just pleasantly tanned. Overall, a very relaxing and enjoyable time.

This moment

I love the smell of roses. I have two at my desk right now that I am holding up to my nose every few seconds, determined to pull all the scent out of them and lock it into my memory. It is a pleasantly mild day, overcast but not too cold. There are birds chirping outside my window. I like when they do that. The house is peaceful and quiet right now. My heart is full of the love of the Lord.