If you're not careful...

If you're not careful...
...you might miss it.

If you're not careful...
...and let yourself think that shopping is drudgery
...and crowds are annoying
...and things are so expensive this year
You might miss...
...the fun in finding something that's just perfect
...and knowing you're going to make someone you love really happy
...and realizing everyone else has someone to make happy too
...and feeling grand inside because it will all be worth it

If you're not careful...
...and you think a fresh snowfall means trouble
...because you have to shovel again
...and the roads might be bad
...and you can't wear those sassy new shoes because they have no traction
You might miss...
...the quiet beauty of gently falling snow
...the fun of catching a snowflake on your hand -- or on your tongue
...the beauty of a layer of white over everything dormant
...the reward of building a snowman or -- if you're too old to play --
...the benefit of a work out with the snow shovel

If you're not careful...
...and you think a calendar full of parties is complicating your life
...and all those letters you have to sign are making you crazy
...and all those goodies you have to bake are wearing you down
You might miss...
...the fun in connecting with friends who believe, as you do
...that all this is to celebrate an eternal gift we were given
...a gift of a Son by His Father, a gift of sacrifice by the Son
...and then you'll want nothing more than to celebrate by giving
...by loving, by appreciating, by sharing, by sacrificing
...by living busy, full, generous, crazy, rewarding, fulfilling lives

Don't miss anything.

Holiday lament

Wouldn't it be only fair if it were as easy to lose two pounds as it is to gain two pounds?

Movie review

The vote was 2 to 1 and I lost. Not surprisingly, the guys in the group wanted to see Quantum of Solace. My preference for seeing the movie Australia would have to wait until the odds were more in my favor.

I know nothing about Australia except that the picture in the ads looks a lot like the picture that has said Gone with the Wind all these years. And that Hugh Jackman is in it.

That's enough for me.

But it will have to wait.

So here's the synopsis on 007's latest:

Chase scene with cars -- check.
Chase scene on foot -- check -- with bonus: over rooftops of Sienna.
Chase scene in boat -- check.
Chase scene in airplane -- check.
Death defying leap from airplane -- check.
Broken glass -- check -- check -- check.
Destruction of historical renovation work -- check.
Destruction of contemporary complex -- check.
Destruction of you name it -- check.
Body count high enough to rid the world of all bad guys in one fell movie -- check.
Miraculous bullet dodging by main characters throughout -- check.
Gruesome murder of woman after sexual escapade -- check.
Relationship with strong-willed hard-to-guess-which-side-she's-on beauty -- check.
Tough-talking conversations with M -- check -- with bonus: she gets around more this movie.
Plot that's hard to follow -- check -- with bonus: has an environmental twist -- water over oil.
Anger and betrayal -- check.
Violence and destruction -- check.

Script writers these days have it pretty easy. They just take the above list and fill in a bit of conversation depending on whether their hero turns into a spider or a bat or is a British spy or an American with amnesia.

Chick flicks are in their own kind of rut. Fill in the conversation around the following and you've got one made:
Obligatory relationship with communication issues.
Obligatory argument over misunderstanding.
Obligatory ditching secondary someone at the altar.

Thank goodness there are movies outside the box.

But when you go to an action flick, you're saying that you're willing to suspend disbelief and love of innocence and peace and harmony and justice and take what comes, just as when you attend a chick flick you go in knowing you're going to have to suspend disbelief and accept that all the right people will eventually leave the wrong people for the right reasons at the wrong time. It's your choice.

So, did she like the movie, you're asking yourself?

I liked the shots of Sienna.