a less than perfect holiday

so today . . . the movie theater won.

our family loves to be together. i have fun doing all kinds of things, but if i want to have the most fun ever, i will do something with rollie and diandra. even though the three of us live in the same house, it seems like sometimes the only time we see each other is when we pass in the doorway as one of us is going out and another one of us is coming in. so time spent together is something we look forward to, and christmas day is one of those times that we set aside to be together.

of course, i am speaking here of early christmas. (if you didn't read yesterday's blog, you should stop right now and do it. then come back here and finish this one.)

early christmas was scheduled for today, but then we decided to have it yesterday. so we did not have to get up early to do the whole gift exchange thing this morning. instead, rollie got up and went to play basketball, and diandra and i slept in. and then this afternoon we went out to lunch and a movie.

i take no responsibility for the way the rest of the day went. i did not make any of the decisions. perhaps i should have . . .

first we had to decide where to have lunch. rollie, as usual, picked rubio's. diandra, trying to make healthy food choices, picked jack in the box. (ok, pick your chin up off the floor. they have really good grilled chicken strips there.) i didn't care as long as the food was hot, because it was raining today. so we compromised and went to subway . . .

we went to subway at 12;30, even though the movie we were going to see didn't start until 2:30. i thought it seemed kind of early to go get lunch, until an hour later when we were sitting there and rollie and diandra were watching me eat my soup (yes, subway had their delicious broccoli and cheese soup today--yum!) they were watching me eat, because they were both done. they had finished six inch subs and chips, and were just sitting there watching me eat my bowl of soup. and then diandra said, "THIS is why we have to come so early to get lunch!" i could have been offended, but i chose not to be--it was christmas, after all . . . about 20 minutes later i finished my soup and decided i had better take my chips with me--because the natives were getting restless!

we got to the theater half an hour early, which is just the way rollie likes it! he stood in line to get tickets and diandra and i entered the lobby, only to be immediately stopped by an employee who informed us that we could not bring our subway sodas into the theater. i was a little surprised, because even though they have signs posted saying "no outside food or drink allowed," usually no one seems to care. but this guy took his job very seriously--there was no way we were getting past him with those sodas!

i know that when you are only paying $2 for a movie ticket, they have to make their money somewhere, and that seems to be the food . . . so we went back out into the rain to leave our sodas in the car. i just decided i didn't need a soda to get me through the movie. they might not let me bring my outside drink in, but they couldn't make me buy a $4 diet coke!! i was, however, going to buy rollie some raisinettes--even though he wouldn't say the word raisinettes--because it was christmas today. and then he decided we should have a drink too. ok, fine. we will buy one drink and he and i will share it, but that is all--one drink and a box of raisinettes.

as i am standing at the counter, waiting for diandra to make a decision about if she is going to get candy (the battle between healthy eating vs. movie treats was raging) the guy behind the counter says, "you know, since you are already buying a large soda and a box of raisinettes, you can get a large popcorn for only $2.50 more." ok, i NEVER buy popcorn at the movies. never. and i am already buying more than i had planned to, since i am sort of protesting the absence of my subway soda pop. but diandra and i decided that maybe popcorn wouldn't be as bad for her as a box of candy, so we got the popcorn. and he wasn't kidding--it was HUGE!! and as he handed it to us, he said, "oh, and by the way, you can get a free refill on the popcorn." are you kidding me?!?! there is no way we are going to be able to eat one bucket of this stuff, let alone get a refill!

and yet, their evil plan worked, because i did buy a $4 soda, not to mention the raisinettes and a large bucket of popcorn . . .

as we walk away with our food, today's blog starts forming in my head, and i decide that i need a picture. after all, i have this new phone with a camera. and we are so early that we can't go in and sit yet. so we set up the food and i take a few pictures--at which point the same employee who said i couldn't bring my own drink into the theater, tells me that i can't take a camera into the theater--you know, in case i want to pirate a tape of a movie . . .

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!?! first of all, i doubt anyone would pay for a copy of a movie shot with my camera phone. and then diandra tells me that my new phone won't shoot video anyway! and let's not forget that we are at the cheap theater, which means these movies are just about ready to come out on dvd. and is this guy seriously telling me that i can't take my phone in with me?!?!?

i am usually a very nice, calm person, but for some reason i was on the verge of coming unglued! thankfully diandra stepped in, and with a few quiet words kept me from becoming a raving lunatic and seriously hurting someone. with my contraband phone.

we made it to our seats without further incident, and settled in, expecting to be entertained for a couple of hours--and then spent the next couple of hours watching the worst movie ever! well, maybe not the very worst, but certainly one of the top five worst movies i have ever seen. really. usually when i see a movie, i am kind of sad when it ends--a good movie leaves you wanting more.

but not this one. this was the movie that would not end! i kept thinking of ways it COULD end, but it didn't. and then, of course when it did, everything was the fault of aliens. more lazy story telling . . .

so this was not the most perfect of days. but still, we made some memories. this was definitely a christmas we will not forget. for years to come, we will be saying, "do you remember the year it rained on christmas?" or "do you remember the year diandra picked that awful movie??" or "do you remember the time it took mom forever to eat her lunch?"--no wait, they can say that almost any time we go out to eat.

the thing is, even the less than perfect memories are still fun to remember, because we 'suffered' together--and managed to have a good time doing it.

oh yes, and here is the picture that drew attention to my phone's photographic capabilities . . .it's probably a good thing it doesn't take video. i would have wanted to do it, just to prove i could!