this week wesley and i watched a couple of movies. we saw the other boleyn girl and bee movie. i really enjoyed both, although, i must admit we had to turn off bee movie last night before it finished because we were both so tired. i imagine we'll try to finish it tonight. so, honestly, i guess i can only comment on the former. while i enjoyed the movie, the plot was rather disturbing. i think what made the plot most disturbing was that it was mostly based on facts. i understand that it is a very romanticized version of whatever did happen, but the basic plot, the events, what a difference in mindset. oh, and we also watched definately, maybe, which i had great hopes for, but was disappointed with the ending. (if you don't want to continue in this discussion, please skip the next paragraph.)

***spoiler alert!!!*** i don't know, maybe its because i am sensitive to divorce lately, but i am not satisfied with the simple pat-on-the-back answer of hey,-let's-just-move-on-to-the-next-thing-and-see-if-it-works mentality about divorce. I don't think it is a justifiable answer to the reality of the situation. it seems more like a fairy tale ending on a story about reality (though a comedic interpretation). so, anyway, you can watch it and judge it for yourself. i'd love to know what you think about it.

ok, back to other topics. I made whole wheat pizza last night that was really good. I have noticed that the more i make it, the quicker i get at it. which, i guess, is like anything with anyone, now that i think about it. i should have taken pictures of it, but i did not. i did, however, take pictures of wednesday night's dinner (southwestern grilled chicken and avacado sandwiches with fresh salsa), but i will have to post those pictures later this afternoon, being that i forgot to take my camera with me currently.

Tax Free Summer Days

Yes, its true. Some states (almost half) have days were they remove sales tax from assorted purchases. Bear with me if this is old news to you. Since Mississippi is one of the states in our Union that does not have tax-free days, I didn't know about this phenominon. But, take heart if you are in Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Alabama, or Louisiana (among many others)! You have days very soon where you will not have to pay sales tax on purchases such as clothing, school supplies, energy efficient appliances, or basically any other personal property item, excluding things like eating at restaurants. An example, according to AOL.com today,

Tennessee
Date: Aug. 1-3

Tax Savings: 7%

Eligible Products:
Clothing and school supplies worth $100 or less. A single purchase of a computer, software and/or computer accessories with a combined value of $1,500 or less.

(Cost is per item unless otherwise noted.)

or

Louisiana
Date: Aug. 1-2

Tax Savings: 4%

Eligible Products:
All "tangible personal property" — except vehicles, meals and services — worth $2,500 or less.

(Cost is per item unless otherwise noted.)


I guess I'll have to do my shopping in LA next weekend!

Review

It really amazes me how much Knox is learning so quickly. It seems like every day there are new words that he says, things that I don't even know he has heard before. Yesterday we practiced saying "Happy birthday, Daddy" so that he could tell it to Wesley when he got home. It came out as, "Happy Daddy, Birthday." It was really cute. :o) That got me thinking. I am starting to realize what a challenge it must be for him to learn a whole vocabulary in English (and what Spanish I can remember). Sometimes he gets his words a little mixed up (as in "happy daddy birthday") but he always stops and thinks for a while and tries really hard to get out what he wants to say. Really, it reminds me as if someone picked me up and dropped me in China, or somewhere. The thought of just being alone where I have no idea how to speak the language is terrifying to me.

Last night Wesley and I went to get sushi from a local Thai place. It was good! :o) It had been a long time since I had eaten sushi, so I was ready for it! I couldn't even think about sushi my first trimester, so it has been a pleasant change. I got my usual: Shrimp tempura roll & the Philadelphia roll. I like alternating the creamy & the crunchy. Mmmm. Wesley got a Spider roll and a Planet Thailand Special roll. I don't remember what was in either (although I do know the Spider roll had Soft Shell Crab, mmmmm) but they were both Really good. Then we saw Dark Knight. It was so good, and so creepy! Truely the character of the Joker is such an evil villain!

Well, I guess that's all I can think of for now. I'll get back to eating my cajun turkey on whole wheat and baked ruffles.

24

Today Wesley is Twenty-Four. We are planning on going to dinner to one of our great little local restaurants and then going to see Black Knight. We have been looking forward to seeing it for a while, but whenever the opportunity presented itself, we weren't able to go for one reason or another. So tonight is the perfect chance to see the movie, I think. Wesley and I are going to High Cotton, a wonderful gourmet cooking class here in town Friday night for both of our birthdays. I am very excited about the class. We went to one about a year ago and it was so much fun. Each class has a different food theme, and last time it was grilled seafood. This time I'm not sure what it is, but I know I will love it. We learn and participate in making a 4 or so course meal and then everyone sits down and eats it afterwards!

So far

This week Wesley & I (and Baby X) have been in Nashville scoping out jobs and housing. We have some leads on each, but if you happen to know of a job in the Nashville area, give us a buzz! :) So, anyway, we found a nice apartment that is spacious that looks promising, and (even better) a possible rental house with a yard (!!!) in a cute little neighborhood outside of Nashville that would be ideal. So, we are basically waiting to hear back about Wes's job interviews.
In other news, on the drive home yesterday, Wesley felt the baby move for the first time. The baby gave a big 'ole kick, and there was no questioning that our little boy could be a great soccer player. Our older son, as expected, told us "shoot" & "dangit" when we arrived to pick him up from Pop-Pop's house. Oh, he smiled when he saw us, and told us all about the cement truck (in his own language, of course, with the occasional "cement tuk" mixed in) that he was excited about, but none-the-less was a bit upset to go home with us instead of his grandfather. I guess I'd probably feel the same way. :o)

I did a photo shoot for my sister's dog Ellie Bean not too long ago. Here's one of my favorites from the session.

These are photos my mother-in-law took of the little man playing on the phone. He likes to say "what?? oh, really?"

And last, but certainly not least, our little man (the first) eating "moat-meal."

The Weekend

This festive weekend we have mostly visited with family. Thursday night Wesley's grandmother came in town (one of the first times she's seen Knox in person) so we came to visit Friday for most of the day. My mom being also in town, we visited with her over Mexican food for lunch before making the trip out to the country to see Mamaw & Papaw. Knox had a big time looking at the chickens and riding in the boat. He gets so excited about chickens and boats, but mostly boats.

While we were there, I sorted through some of my mother-in-law's cookbooks from her extensive collection, and found some really great sounding recipes that I have high hopes for this week. I'll try to remember to post how they went. Two in particular being Overnight Sticky Buns and a variation of Roast Chicken. Tonight we had breakfast as usual with my Dad, which was nice. Then we spent the day together as a family, and while Knox napped, Wesley & I watched The Spiderwick Chronicles. I enjoyed it, knowing ahead of time of the fantastical nature of the storyline. I don't think we could have watched it with Knox, though, which Wesley & I were both suprized for a PG movie. It was a bit too action-y and slightly grotesque at parts for him yet. Tonight my in-laws watched Knox so that Wesley & I could go into town to watch a movie that the downtown development group was playing for free. It was so nice to sit there in the street with a bunch of other locals just there to watch a movie. We watched Independence Day, which oddly enough, I had never seen. Wesley thought that was particularly funny, but it let me enjoy the movie that much more. After 1.5 chili dogs and 1/2 a funnel cake and a good movie, we were ready to call it a night.