Celine Dion Concert & HOT Captain Wentworth!

What a crazy couple of weeks! Some days I feel that I have the most mundane, unimportant life ever, and other days I still feel that way....but feel as though I'm flying by the seat of my pants from one second to the next. There are so many things I overlook! I've had Valentine's cards since the second week of January, and STILL haven't mailed them. I have a couple of packages I need to mail, but just don't want to face that silly post office after work. Sigh. I'm feeling a bit like a lost cause. How do people do it all, and why can't I?!?

Anyway, I HAVE been reading, as it's really my one way of letting go of my stress and frustrations, but I haven't read anything of great importance lately. I'll quickly review a book I listened to on my drive to and from work though. Sleeping Arrangments, by Madeleine Wickham, was rather interesting. Wickham is actually Sophie Kinsella, the author of the Shopaholic series and others, which I really loved. Anyway, I'm not sure about her Wickham novels. I'm wondering why she's publishing these under this new name? Although, I have to say that for the two I've read/listened to, I haven't liked them as well as her Kinsella novels. Anyway...the story is about two families both promised a vacation stay at their friend's vacation home in Spain. The problem is, he doesn't tell them he double-booked them. The husband of the one couple, and the "girlfriend" (since they've been together for like 15 years but never married) of the other were once a couple that had a sad falling out and misunderstanding. You think that the story is going to be about the two of them leaving their spouses/partners and children to go with the other, so you watch to see what the background story is that's driving them together (and secretly wonder what is wrong with these two!?!...you just want them to get a grip).

To be quite honest, it was a bit jumbled in its telling. The two main characters bounced back and forth between mature clarity, and sappy romantic sympathies for one another so often that I had no faith in the development of the characters; you didn't honestly feel that these characters were reflective of real people that might be in this situation. I don't know...if I ran into my ex with his family some day down the road, I'd be more likely to run him over with my car than trying to hook up with him! :) So, not my favorite Kinsella novel...but interesting story idea.

Besides feeling paralyzed by the barrage of papers I have to grade, the daily demands of students, and all the "adult" problems of bills and household, I've been just trying to figure out my headache issue. I think I can isolate what's causing them, but I'm seriously going to beg for a lobotomy soon if they won't stop slowing me down! Anyway, I bought tickets for Celine Dion's world tour about a year and a half ago for my mom as a Christmas present. Well, mom arrived in November for the concert, but it ended up being cancelled until this past weekend, so Doc got to go with me to it. Besides starting at 8 pm (yes, I'm feeling like an old person...with a 5:15 am wake up call every day, anything that late is a nightmare), I downed a bunch of Advil to ward off the headache sure to come with those hideous noise levels you get at these concerts, and off we went. What can I say? Celine is a brilliant performer and amazing talent. She sang acapella a couple of times, showing that it really is her voice, which was AMAZING. She would sing her songs, climb these ramps, and hit high notes as if it was nothing! Honestly, she's one of the best, most talented vocalists that I've ever heard. In the end, she didn't sing one of my favorite "get me going" songs "That's the Way it is," but overall, she sang so many great ones that I love, that it didn't matter too much. In fact, she sang her duet with Andrea Boccelli, "The Prayer," which honestly got me through BYU after my dad died. These giant screens dropped to show Boccelli (since he obviously wasn't going to fly in for one song), and she sang the duet with him. SO BEAUTIFUL. Anyway, it was really great, and I'm sad my mom had to miss it. She would have told me it was too loud though.


Oh, so last week we had registrations for next year. To do that, they took all my juniors during English class. So in my AP classes, I let my seniors watch a Regency film to coincide with our reading of Tess. Being the loving teacher that I am, and SINGLE, I suggested (highly) that we watch the new version of Persuasion. If you haven't seen it yet...RUN to see it. It's SO good. Sigh... Makes me so happy. Unfortunately, I let it slip a couple of times how hot I think Captain Wentworth is in this version. Hot, hot, hot. I have to say though that I did have students (yes, all girls) that stayed after class to see the end of the movie, and those who couldn't have been begging me to bring it back to school and show them the ending. A couple of the boys in my classes said, "I don't get why you all think he's so hot!?!" One girl remarked, "He loved her for 8 years!!!" :) They made me giggle a little. I need to watch more of these films with my AP students. Their insights are so funny sometimes! Sigh... So, my recommendation for this week is to pick up the newest BBC remakes of Jane Austen classics. I obviously, and especially, loved Persuasion, so there you go!


Well, I have to run. I'm at school...as always. I need to get myself together for class today, so I better run. Until next time...adios!