Hey Ms., LES MIS!

New Year’s Day and Torie and I are bundled up in our robes in the living room watching Grey’s Anatomy, enduring coughing fits in turns and throwing lots of sympathy glances and mews at each other. My daughter’s been sick with the flu for over a week so I was bound to catch a few germs as a result. Oh well, it’s going around, no hard feelings!

How was everyone’s Eve? As I’d posted before, I’m not into the evening as an actual event, but after Scott went to bed around ten I made myself a little nest of blankets and pillows on the floor and watched a movie called “Hell,” an apocalyptic German film with an unfortunate and inadequate title, about survival in the most difficult circumstances. I really loved it. At midnight I sipped the last of my Grand Marnier and saluted myself for having made it triumphantly through another year. “Good job, Kelly,” I whispered. It was a great little moment, my nod to the holiday and a big warm hug for me.

We had a really nice two days of Christmas but easily the best part of it was bundling up to head into the rain early Christmas day and meet my parents for the drive to Gresham to see Les Miserables. We got there early so were able to find decent seats, a huge relief because the theater filled up every seat in every last row, even the one two feet in front of the screen (those poor people). As I sat there with my loved ones, watching the commercials before the showing, I was suddenly filled with joy at being alive in this time in history, and I believe I carried some of this feeling into the movie because the movie WAS MORE THAN MAGICAL. It was a glorious story of redemption.

Reviews have been mixed, with critics complaining about the singing, the cinematography, the this, the that, and all I can do to that is shake my head and ask, Have you no soul, people?  I didn’t expect perfection from the singers because, to me, they became the roles they portrayed and were just folks singing their thoughts, as you and I would if we were in their shoes and lived in a musical. If I want a perfect soundtrack I’ll listen to the play’s version. The levity that Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter provided as the innkeepers was welcome comic relief from the pervasive hardship suffered by nearly all the other characters, but even with the hardship the movie did not come across as heavy. (All the other actors were excellent as well.) From the opening frame I was instantly transported and remained that way to the very last, as did my fellow audience members: the theater was silent, with nary a rustling candy wrapper or fumble in the popcorn box during the entire movie. After it was over, there was a lot of sniffling and even some audible weeping. Pah, whatever the critics say, the proletariat have spoken, at least in the Gresham Act III on Christmas day at eleven-thirty a.m.

Weirdly, I have zero desire to see The Hobbit, a movie for which I’d pined since first hearing it was going to be made. When I saw the trailer for Les Mis I was all over goosebumps. When I saw The Hobbit’s trailer I actually went cold and my eyes widened in shock and I thought, “Oh. Wow. I am not going to see that.” Honestly, it looks terrible. I will see it eventually, but only after it’s released on DVD.

It’s early afternoon now, time to shower and dress and eat a few leftover scalloped potatoes and ham slices, which we enjoyed fresh last night at my folks’. I went over there early and spent the day making a necklace for my sis-in-law Sherrie. I’ve been making jewelry, notably necklaces, for a few weeks now and it’s so fun. SO FUN. Apart from the beads and stones, I make every element of each necklace, including the pendants and chain links. I’ll post a few photos I’ve managed to snap of the necklaces before giving them away; I don’t always remember and then they’re gone forever and I’ll think, O Crap. (As always, please overlook the picture quality. I don’t have a good camera and I don’t know what I’m doing with the one I have.)

Here’s one I made for Amber.

Here’s a closeup of the same necklace.

This one’s mine. I call it “Leo.”

I made this one for my mom because she loves turquoise.

This is my moonstone; I wear this often.

Here’s a closeup.

My dad–good sport–is modeling the necklace I made for Sherrie yesterday. I remade it three times because I wasn’t satisfied and probably would have again if I’d had time!

Happy day of relaxation and football and however else you choose to spend your time off, if you’re lucky enough to have it. Scott has to work but at least when he gets home he has ham to look forward to for dinner! Ham makes everything better. Love to you.