On Friday I went to the Kwik-E-Mart in Burbank and Griffith Observatory with Jeri and her sister Jenny. Check out the pics here. It was pretty freaking cool. If you get a chance to go to one of the actual stores, I highly recommend it. It's a shame there's only 11 of them, 2 of them being in the L.A. area. Every 7-11 has Simpsons themed stuff, though. Some clever and fun marketing, if you ask me.

I think critics were a lot more rough on this movie than it deserves. Although Evan Almighty isn't hilarious and isn't the best movie of the summer, it's got heart and is great for families.

I actually didn't expect this movie to be very good at all, but went to see it anyway because I like Steve Carrel and liked Bruce Almighty. The story is about a man who becomes a modern-day Noah when his prayers to God about changing the world are answered: God shows up and instructs him to build an ark - same size as the original. Obviously, Evan is doubtful that God is really God and annoyed by how he is physically changed to actually look like Noah. He resists at first, but soon realizes he's just a man and God is all-powerful, and he's soon building an ark with his three sons while animals arrive from the nearby nature reserve to wait for their place on the ark.

I didn't laugh out loud very often, but I smiled a lot. In other words, it's a fine little movie. The jokes would probably appeal more to a younger audience, but there are also enough references to keep the adults satisfied. Office fans will also enjoy a bit part by our very own Andrew Bernard.

My guess is that the critics revolted against the pro-God vibe of this movie. It has no curse words, people pray, there are actually a couple of deeper moral lessons than I expected, and God comes through in the end. If you watch the previews and think, "Wait a minute, I thought God promised he'd never flood the earth again!" (which is exactly what I thought when I saw them), don't worry, everything is satisfactorily explained.

I would recommend this one for family viewing. If you want to see it in the theater, I'd recommend going to the dollar theater. The special effects of the flood scenes are pretty cool, and it's something you can see without worrying about any bad content. That's pretty rare.

Check out photos of our little trip to the Kwik-E-Mart and Griffith Observatory at the gallery! I'm hoping to update a lot more of 2007 in the next couple of months.

I've got too much vacation time on my hands so I'm checking out a Wednesday morning showing of the Harry Potter movie. Anyone interested? I'm hoping most moms aren't coordinated enough to get their children to the movie theatre by 8:30 in the morning.

Long time no blog! I had a good time having all those days off work. Yes, it's awesome to get paid for holidays and bonus days.

Tuesday night we had barbecue at Liz's parents' place and we walked to the park to see the fireworks show, which was paid for by the university to celebrate its 100th anniversary. We're celebrating all year. I love all the perks, even if they're little. The show was fun, and Emily didn't flinch even once at the show. Good girl! We had fun talking until late into the night.

Wednesday Ric and I slept in, did laundry at his parents' place, and went to see Transformers. We didn't have any parties going on. It felt weird not doing anything but seeing a movie. The drive home was kind of scary, because every joe schmoe in town was launching fireworks into the sky from his backyard. Where were the cops?!

Thursday I don't remember much.

Friday, I went with Brendan and Jenny to check out the Burbank Kwik-E-Mart and Griffith Observatory. The Kwik-E-Mart was lots of fun, and I was so glad to finally see the observatory, which I had planned on visiting right before it closed for renovations several years ago. Jenny and I were quoting Rebel Without A Cause left and right. It was a full day, and a hot one, but we had a good time!

Saturday after the usual sleep-in and laundry, Ric and I went to see second Fantastic Four movie, then had Jenny over to watch the Jericho pilot and give Pip a bath.

Sunday, we didn't do much of anything. We watched more Lost episodes, worked on finances, I talked to Erika on the phone for a while, and listened a lot to The Hobbit. Oh yeah, I checked out the audio book of The Hobbit and am thoroughly enjoying listening to Bilbo's adventures. I haven't read this book yet, and it's very fun to listen to. I think I have a limited imagination when it comes to stories like this one, so I find it very helpful that the narrator makes up different voices for different characters (especially Gollum) and actually sings the songs with various melodies. It adds more texture to the story for sure.

Up this week: I guess we've got to do more preparation for moving. I was kind of lazy last week since most of the regular packing is done and now it's small things like packing lamps or taking nails out of walls or wrapping bookcases in blankets. Thursday we're going to Movies on the Fox, if anyone else wants to come along. They're playing Close Encounters of the Third Kind, which I haven't seen yet.

Kind of generic, I know, but then we are a pretty average couple.

Make your own caricature here.

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