The Importance of Ghostbusters

Image:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghostbusters_(2016_film)

There has been a lot of talk about new Ghostbusters pretty much since they announced it. Lots of anguish over the fact that the Ghostbusters were now going to be females. Many people shouted loudly that their childhoods were going to be ruined over this.

I love the original movie, it is one of my favorites from my childhood. But I adopted a "wait and see" attitude with the new one because I thought it had the chance to be good. I didn't see it opening weekend but as soon as reviews started pouring in and friends posted on social media how good it was, I knew I had to see it.

Finally last week, Emily and I headed to the theater to see it. It was wonderful! It was funny and a bit scary. But it also had these amazing characters who were just doing their thing - which was busting ghosts!

Even though I'm a girl, I've never been a fan of romcom's. Honestly, my husband likes them more than I do so I've see my fair share. But I was very pleased when there was no romance at all in Ghostbusters. Yeah, Erin kind of drools over Kevin, but he doesn't seem to notice her. And her appreciation of him isn't really noticed by him. He seems to like himself more than anyone else.

Holtzman is a big flirt, but flirting with her fellow Ghostbusters is as far as that goes. In the end, they are just four awesome women trying to save their city from destruction. It was empowering to see and I was very glad that my seven year old daughter was able to see this movie because it showed her that girls can be anything and save the day.

This is why Ghostbusters is so important. You have your Black Widows and Wonder Womans in the  super hero movies, but they are just part of a team that is vastly comprised of men. Hopefully from this point forward, we are able to see more women lead action movies.

If you haven't seen Ghostbusters, I highly recommend it. Beyond the whole girl power thing, it's a solid movie that doesn't disappoint!

Rest in Peace Aunt Dorothy

Aunt Dorothy and my cousin Boomer at my wedding

When I was very small, my dad's mom passed away from cancer. So while I only had one grandmother, I had two great aunts on my dad's who filled the grandma gap. Yesterday, I got the message that my Great Aunt Dorothy had passed away.

It's hard to talk about Aunt Dorothy without mentioning her sister Jackie. They were a pair throughout my childhood. When I was pretty young, we moved across the state because of a job my dad had gotten. When we would go back to Bay City, we would often stay with my Aunt Jackie. Even if we didn't stay there, we'd see both of them, usually at Jackie's house.

I do remember being at Aunt Dorothy's house - it was really cute and she actually had a rotary phone in her kitchen. I remember being very young and actually staying at her house one afternoon. I remember being put down for a nap, but not wanting to sleep. Just wanting to look around the room.

Aunt Dorothy was always happy, always smiling despite the hand life had dealt her. Her first husband died very young, leaving her and her small kids. Her second husband was abusive, but she was strong and stood up against him, leaving him. 

For many years, she's had a lot of health issues. I want to be like her when I grow up - happy despite the health issues. She also could do the splits all the way down even into her 80's which is a feat I couldn't do even when I was a teenager.

I feel very happy that I got to talk to her one last time on Easter. She sounds the same has she's done my entire life and she sounded like she was happy. I'll miss her, my dear Aunt Dorothy, but I'll cherish the memories I have - like of her dancing at my wedding.

Veggie Tales and the Change of DOOM!

Have you heard of Veggie Tales? Cute cartoons that use animated vegetables that tell Bible and other stories to spread the word of God. Well apparently Veggie Tales has done something completely and utterly unforgivable.

They changed the art style.

Yep, that's it but it has people on the Veggie Tales website demanding that they go back to the old style. Saying that the Veggies look creepy, that the makers of Veggies are sellouts and one guy said the Veggies look like rapist. Yes, seriously!

Things change. I don't mind the new look. Yes, it's different but it's not bad. As shown in the comment from Facebook, Emily doesn't mind either. She's a big fan of Veggie Tales and I know she'll enjoy the new Netflix series that is coming out soon.

What do you all think of the new Veggie Tales? Is their look that horrible? I wonder if I'm missing something because I don't get the rage.

Depression and Suicide

Image: wikipedia.com

I've been reading Emily a chapter of Coraline most nights, which has been making our bedtime routine a little longer than it previously has been. I was offline for about a half hour doing bedtime things with her - potty, teeth, story, song, prayers and finally tuckering her in.

I did what I do most nights and I opened up Facebook on my phone to find that Robin Williams had been found dead of an apparent suicide. I had no idea that he had been suffering from depression.

He made up a lot of bits of my childhood. I remember watching him in Mork and Mindy as a very small child. I loved him as the genie in Aladdin and as Peter Pan in Hook. He was just a great, great entertainer.

Depression is a serious disease and it breaks my heart that it has claimed another life. I never really understood depression until I started having issues with it myself. I've talked about my struggles with depression before.

Depression drains you of hope, but like The Bloggess says, depression lies. Depression tells you that you are worthless, that life isn't worth it. But there is hope out there.

There can be such a stigma with taking antidepressants but I don't understand why. When I finally got help when I had postpartum depression, it was like a veil had been lifted. I had been in darkness for eight months and didn't realize something was wrong because depression wants you to think that it's the norm.

I'm not ashamed to admit that I still am on antidepressants. I suffer from depression and anxiety - those little pills that I take help me lead a happier life.

My thoughts and prayers are with Robin Williams and his loved ones tonight. It makes my heart ache that he felt he had to take that final step. But I truly hope that he is at peace now.

Weird Al

Image: www.facebook.com/weirdal/

I've been a Weird Al Yankovic fan for many years. Even before I was a filk fan, which came later. I loved Weird Al's song parodies, often more than the original song.

Like other Weird Al fans, I've been enjoying all the new videos from his new album. Eight videos in eight days, I think, was a great idea to get the stuff out there. My facebook and twitter feeds have been full of Weird Al all week.

It reminded me of the time that I saw him in concert - before I was a fan of his music.

When I was younger, the old Monkees tv show started doing re-runs. My sister and I became big fans so when the Monkees did their tour in the mid-80s my parents got us tickets. It was at the Allegan County Fair, I believe.

We waited excitedly for the Monkees to come on (sans Mike) when the opening act came on. It was Weird Al! This was the first time I heard of him and his music, but he was very popular at that time. A lot of people in the audience were there to just see him.

I didn't get a lot of it and was a bit confused by the parody of it all. When I got a bit older, I started to actually become a fan of his.

I look fondly back at the time when I saw him live. I know he sang "Like a Surgeon" but I don't remember any of the other songs. But if he toured again, I might go see Weird Al - as a fan this time.

Herself the Elf

Image: http://cliqueypizza.files.wordpress.com/

Over the last few years, several childhood favorites have been rebooted. With the huge success of My Little Pony, it's not a big surprise that other classic cartoons are getting new shows. Just today, it was announced that Rainbow Brite is getting a reboot.

I liked Rainbow Brite and My Little Pony, but I would be very surprised if my favorite 80's show got a new century reboot. That show was Herself the Elf.

I'm not sure why I loved Herself the Elf so much, but it was a great show. It was a little dark, though the characters were cute. It felt a little like the Rankin/Bass Lord of the Rings cartoons. Plus it was very much a fantasy which has been my preferred genre since I was small

Too bad Herself the Elf faded into obscurity, so I don't see it coming back. There are a handful of YouTube videos out there so I can relive my childhood if I want. 

Does anyone remember Herself the Elf?

Words Can Hurt

I've been called all kinds of names over the years. A large part of the bullying that I endured when I was a kid involved taunts and name-calling. Words can hurt as much as a punch to the stomach.

I remember an incident many years ago when I was a tween / young teenager. We had gone to Bay City to watch the 4th of July fireworks and it was packed. I still would hold my mom's hand in public, and was doing so that night because it was very crowded. A group of girls not that much older than I was saw us and started yelling insults. I don't remember exactly what they were but they all amounted to me being gay because I was holding my mom's hand.

My mom told me to ignore them, but I felt hurt and ashamed. I let go of my mom's hand and I don't think I ever held it again in public.

I grew up and words hurt less when coming from complete strangers. Which is good since I get cursed out on a daily basis as part of my job.

Yesterday a lady thought I pulled out in front of her in the Walmart parking lot. I think she was just going way too fast in the parking lot. She started beeping at me and showing me the finger. I just ignored her and kept driving, so she beeped again.

I pulled up to a red light and she pulled up to right beside me. She started yelling at me to learn how to drive, that I was a bitch and a four-eyes. She also told Emily that she needed to tell her mama to learn how to drive. As the light turned green and I went to turn, she yelled out Whore out of the window.

It didn't bother me. I just thought that she was highly immature and needed a lesson in manners. In fact, I told her that she needed to learn manners. But Emily was bothered by it. I told Emily that she was just a stupid person and to ignore it. I turned on some Disney music and got us some ice cream at Sonic.

Emily did want me to tell Todd - that seemed very important to her. Not that there was much he could do since he was at work. But I promised to tell him.

I'll never understand road rage but hopefully I can teach my daughter that while words can hurt, the careless stupid words of a strangers should be ignored.

Pinocchio Village Haus

Image: https://disneyworld.disney.go.com

On the day we were in the Magic Kingdom last October, we stopped at a counter service restaurant in Fantasyland. As I sat there, eating my lunch I realized that I had eaten at this restaurant every single visit to Disney World.

Growing up, we went to Disney World twice. Once when I was 9 and once when I was 16. Both times, we stayed off site and didn't eat at any of  the table service restaurants. For my honeymoon and this last trip, we stayed on site and got the Dining Plan which gives us one table service, one counter service and one snack for each person each day.

My childhood trips were magical because I was a kid at Disney World, but different from the ones I've taken as an adult. This is the only thing that is the same over all the trips. Not even Mickey was consistent since I didn't get my picture with him on my 2nd trip or my DisneyMoon.

Now it's a tradition and when Emily and I go back in 2016 for our girl's only trip, we'll make sure to have a least one meal at Pinocchio Village Haus. Besides, the food is pretty good there!

Bring Reading Rainbow To All Kids!

Image: Wikipedia

Levar Burton loomed large in my childhood. I watched him as Kunte Kinte in Roots and adored him as Geordi in Star Trek: The Next Generation. But it was Reading Rainbow that really shaped my young life.

I loved Reading Rainbow and it really helped foster my love of reading. Though I do have to give my parents, especially my dad, some credit because my dad had a half a dozen bookshelves in our house and was always reading.

But I have fond memories of watching and learning from Reading Rainbow. I was always excited when a book I owned was featured on the show and sometimes I asked for my parents to get other books that I saw there.

I've been trying to instill a love of reading in Emily. We read books every night and generally several times during the day. She's starting to learn to read herself which is great.

I have heard of the Reading Rainbow app, but never got it because Emily was pretty small when I heard about it the first time. We have watched a few of the old Reading Rainbow episodes on Amazon Prime. We started at the beginning and they were fun but really dated.

Emily, like the rest of her generation, is very tech savvy. She is able to use my phone, tablet and video games better than I can sometimes. And she is a very early reader at this point. But she loves the story apps we do have right now. Right now we don't have the Reading Rainbow app because I just got a tablet in the last week.

When I saw the Kickstarter to bring Reading Rainbow to all kids, I had to back it. A lot of people felt the same way because it reached it's goal in less than 24 hours. I think it's a great cause to back because so many kids aren't exposed to books and reading like they should be. And the best part is giving Reading Rainbow to schools in need for free!

I'm sure everyone has heard about this Kickstarter by now. But it makes my heart happy to think about having Reading Rainbow back. It was a big part of my childhood and hopefully it will do the same for Emily.

The Great Tree Hunt

Every year, we try to find the perfect Christmas tree. We get a real tree because it reminds me of my childhood and because it’s a lot harder for the cats to knock over.

When I was younger, we would go to the same tree farm every year. We would stomp through the snow to find the perfect Blue Spruce tree. Usually we would do this on Black Friday instead of engaging in the shopping madness. Once we got the tree home, we always said we were going to wait a day to decorate it. Nearly every year, the tree was decked out by the time that Friday was done with.

We did this every year, including my mom’s last Christmas. It was a lot of fun. Once my mom passed and I moved away, I usually got a fake tree because it was cheaper. Once we moved to North Carolina, we tried to use the fake tree we had but our cats liked to climb the tree. Fake trees don’t hold a lot of weight, so we went back to real trees.

For the last few years, we’ve gone to the same tree stand. Their prices are reasonable and the trees last all season. We went over there yesterday to pick out our tree. It didn’t take too long to find a tree that was blue in color that had a nice shape. We brought it home and Todd got it in the house. Since we have three cats we never decorate the tree on the same day. This is so the cats get a little used to it before we deck it out. I also don’t put my breakable ornaments on the tree because I don’t want them to break. And I have an excess of ornaments anyway.

Our tree hunt is shorter than the ones I did when I was younger. But it’s still fun to go out in the cold and find that perfect Christmas tree.

Christmas Countdown Chain

When I was a kid, every year for Christmas we would make an advent countdown chain. My mom would carefully cut out strips of green and red construction paper to make rings while there was a topper colored by my sister and I for each of our chains.

As we got older, we still made the chains, but we did most of the work ourselves by looping the chains and stapling them together. I hadn’t done the countdown chain with Emily for Christmas yet, but she loved her Disney World countdown chain that I decided to do a Christmas one this year.

I cut out a Star for her top and she decorated it with stickers and crayon. I cut out the rings and looped them together. When it was all done, we hung it up in her room so she can take a ring off each night.

This Christmas countdown chain is a cheap and easy project to do. I bought a pack of construction paper for a couple bucks and just used tape I already had to attach the rings. Emily had a great time with it and was very excited to take off her first link at bedtime.

It was really great to be able to introduce a beloved tradition from my childhood to my daughter.

Thankgivings As A Child

With the holidays fast approaching, I’ve been thinking back to the holidays I had as a child. I grew up in Holland, MI and most of our family was on the other side of the state in Bay City. While most of my friends would travel to family on Thanksgiving, we would stay at home.

Nearly every year, we would do the same thing. We’d get up and watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Usually I was the only one who watched it from beginning to end. My mom, with some help from my dad, would start working on our Thanksgiving feast while the parade was going on.

After Santa made his big entrance, we would turn the channel to football. Lunch was always cheese, crackers and summer sausage. It was enough to keep us from being hungry but not enough to make us too full before dinner.

Usually during the game, my sister and I would get out our room Christmas things and decorate. Though when I was in high school, I started following football so I would watch the game with my parents.

After the game, we’d have our turkey dinner with all the trimmings. We use my mom’s china and drink sparkling cider from wine glasses. We would have apple and pumpkin pie for dessert.

Our Thanksgiving continue on Black Friday. We never went shopping, except at this local craft type store that always had a 50% off coupon. What we did instead of shopping was we would go to cut our Christmas tree.

We had a Christmas Tree farm we went to every year. They would give us a saw and a sled, and we’d all tromp out into the farm to find the perfect tree. Some years it would be really cold and snowy, but there was always hot chocolate at the barn while our tree was measured and wrapped up.

We would spend the rest of the day decorating the house. My mom really loved Christmas so we had a lot of Christmas stuff. The whole house would be decked by the evening and we would always sit down to watch a Christmas movie – usually It’s A Wonderful Life.

This tradition continued pretty much until my mom passed away. She was really sick her last Christmas, but still came out to the Christmas Tree farm with us. My dad, sister and I tried to keep it going after she passed but it wasn’t the same.

Now I have a family of my own and we do our thing for Thanksgiving. But I still have fond memories of my childhood traditions.