Movie (2 of 2011): The Fighter

Frenchie and I went to this movie a few weeks ago, but I forgot to write my review. Watching parts of the Oscars last night reminded me.

The Fighter (Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale, Amy Adams)
Rating: 14A

I thoroughly enjoyed The Fighter. It was a good drama and the actors was fantastic. Christian Bale was amazing in his role. I'm not a huge fan of him, but I do respect that he has skills. Mark Wahlberg played his part to a tee and he looked good as always. Amy Adams was a surprise for me. She was great!

I had a hard time not giggling through a lot of it because of the glaring 'white trash' signs the show gave. Some of the attire, completely true to the time and place made me laugh. The hair was another piece that made me jab Frenchie and giggle.

Costume and makeup asside, the story was great. I didn't know what we were expecting to see story wise, so I was surprised when the majority of the movie was about Dicky and his crack addiction. I felt that Micky's story was secondary, which was odd since that's who I thought the movie was supposed to be about. I was not disappointed in any way, and was pleased at how the two stories melded together so well.

If you haven't seen this movie, it's worth going to or renting when it's out on DVD. Since the Oscars are now over, I can say how happy I am the Christian Bale won for Best Supporting Actor. He deserved it.

Fitness Friday: How do you feel about No Shows?

I love teaching. It's fun, it's fun and... it's fun! (and three hours of pole is a hell of a workout)
As I've mentioned before I have been teaching our Intro classes on one night of the week. It's a blast! The session for the past 4 weeks brought me some newbies who were thrilled to try something new. My first two classes this week were on their last class of their session. We did the routine a bunch of times to different music, added some sass and then learned a new move or two. My last class of the evening, didn't come :(

I'm always incredibly sad when students don't show up. The classes are max 6 people, so there is a high chance there will be less than that at any given time, but no one? I never know if it's me, or if it's the class itself or if they all just had something else to do. Either way, I try not to take it personally, but it's hard not to. It wasn't their last class either, which makes me even more confused. We still hadn't finished the entire routine yet, so there was more for them to learn.

As instructors of any fitness or education classes, how do you feel when your students don't show up?

Other things happening in the world of fitness for me. I wrote my last exam to get my AFLCA fitness certification. I was very worried about the exam, but I finished it in 25 minutes (they give you 60) and think I did very well. I won't get the results for 2 weeks because they mail them out to you but at least I have a good feeling.
Now it's time to compile everything together and get certified fully!

9/50: Day After Night by Anita Diamant

****Happy 400th post to my blog today!!****

Day After Night by Anita Diamant
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The women in Day After Night are women I can appreciate and look up to. They had so much strength and courage it was amazing. Reading a story about women who fought for their lives, keep secrets of their past and still manage to find happiness is rewarding.

The story picks up just after WWII and the Jewish people are trying to find solace in Israel. We meet Tedi, Leonie, Zorah and Shayndel at Atlit where they are illegal immigrants. They all have a different story of how they survived the war and how they arrived in Atlit. They all have a secret to their story and want nothing more than to move on and not think about the past. Anita Diamant weaves the stories of these 4 women together with such elegance it's hard not to love it and care about them all.

No one ever talks about what happened after the war. I have no idea how accurate the story is, but I would like to think that maybe this is what happened to those that survived and made it to Israel. It was awful they were made to stay in yet another prison after some of the 'prisoners' being just recently in concentration camps. On the other hand, it was hard not to feel happy for them that they had a place to sleep, food to eat, running water and medical care.

I can't say enough about the 4 women in this book. They were so strong and their friendship made me realize that no matter what friends like that will remain friends always. The end of the book made me cry with happy tears. It was a good ending and suited the book perfectly.

I listened to this book on audio and the narrator was fabulous. She kept me engaged, had a wonderful accent and made me believe she was the characters. I had a hard time getting out of my vehicle a few times, which is the sign of a great book.

I have to say that I also appreciate the fact that Diamant used an actual place. What she described in her book of Atlit and what I found online for the now historical site makes it that much more real. I love when authors do this.

WBC 2011: 15 Points, Book that has been on my to-read shelf the longest

This book took me to Israel on my Book Journey 2011

View all my reviews

Wedding Wednesday: February 23 Check-in

I was starting to get a little antsy with not having anything to check off. This weekend we got a few things done. We're in the part of the planning right now where things are waiting for other things to happen. It's hard to wait to do something, but hopefully over the next 3 weeks we can do somethings that aren't dependant on others to save ourselves some time later.

What was accomplished:

• Picked up invitations.
• RSVP Cards picked up
• Maps, RSVP Cards, Invitations stuffed into envelopes.
• Emailed priest for meeting. Waiting to hear back.
• Collected missing addresses for my side
• Chair covers rented
• Dress picked up

What needs to be done: 

• Start making chair sashes
• Call out-of-country groomsman and tell him the measurements he needs to send us
• Collect missing addresses for Frenchie's side
• Create 10 more table numbers
• Mail Maid of Honours dress to her.

120 days!!

Special Edition Wedding Wednesday!

4 Months!!!
17 Weeks!!!
120 Days Left!!!
2,920 Hours!!! (ok that's going overboard and is actually a little scary to see)

Still so much to do!

This weekend we will be getting a ton of things done. Stay tuned for all the checks next Wednesday.