Feels Like the First Time

I went to see Narnia again this afternoon with my friend Nicole. It was SO much better on the second go-round. Amanda and I went to see it on Sunday and I haven't had a worse movie experience since the man sitting behind me in Murder By Numbers pleasured himself through the majority of the film. Seriously? That movie was terrible! Anyways, on Sunday the couple beside me (who were not, in fact, children--them I expect to talk in a movie...I don't enjoy it, but I expect it) decided it was their job to vocalize everything that was happening on screen. Beaver enters the movie--"A beaver!" A rhino? "Rhino!" During the battle scene Captain Loudmouth exclaimed "A gryffin!" He then has to go on to tell his girlfriend, Dimwit, what a gryffin is. Really? Can't you just look at the screen? Does he really need to tell you what one looks like when there are 5 flying around in front of you? My favorite part was when they tried to identify the Biblical characters that paralleled Lewis' characters. "Oh, she's Mary Magdalene!" "Moses..." Moses? Yes, Moses. Then they played the game of guessing what Aslan says next. I think my armrest was just about shredded. After the movie, I wanted to turn to the parents of the 7 and 9 year olds behind us and thank them for their exemplary parenting skills.
So the movie was so much more enjoyable today. I actually caught some things that I had missed the first time due to either not being able to hear (because did I mention Loudmouth and Dimwit didn't even bother whispering?) or at that moment I had tried the polite quit-talking-before-I-hit-you-in-the-face glare. Nicole laughingly leaned over and pointed out a couple of animals, but my knuckle cracking quickly put all joking aside. It is a wonderful movie. Beautifully done. I stand in awe of the special effects. I'm hoping that this one will do well and they'll make the other books into movies, too. I'd love to see The Last Battle...but so help me if anybody talks!!

Bah Friggin' Humbug

I'm starting to think that Ebenezer Scrooge was a school teacher. This week has been the most pointless ever spent in the classroom. We've been doing worksheets like "Snowball Short Vowels" and "Kwanza Cheer Sequencing." No, seriously. Today I actually resorted to threatening to take away our holiday party tomorrow if they didn't stop acting like lunatics. They were bouncing off the walls. Putting up with crazy all day has just made me tired and all I want to do is come home and sit in the dark and suck my thumb. I don't want to turn on Christmas lights. I don't want to listen to my "Rockin' Best Christmas CD Ever" cd. Nothing. I went shopping after school for snacks for our party (because I'm not REALLY going to take a party away from 7 year olds) and just threw a bunch of crap in my basket. I think I got some Christmasy cookies, but I'm not really sure. All I have to think is 12 more hours...12 more hours...12 more hours...Hm...I feel a song parody coming on...I'll start and you, my loyal if slightly disgruntled subjects, must finish it:

Twelve Hours Before Christmas (to the tune of Twelve Days of Christmas---cuz you didn't see that coming! But we'll just be counting down.)
On the twelfth hour before Christmas my students gave to me
12 pounding headaches...

Go.