Jim's "Item of the Week"

This a new feature for our blog. I'm not sure how often I will do this, but I thought it would be fun to give our vast readership a heads-up on cool items, especially with the holidays coming up.

Today's featured item is the L.L. Bean Moonbeam clock. Carrie actually found this clock for me. My old digital alarm clock was not working correctly, so it was time to get something new. I though this time around I would try something a little more interesting that the usual boring, buzzing digital display clock - remember when alarm clocks had hands, dials and a cord?

Well, check this clock out - what great retro style!

AND it has a very cool wake-up feature - the initial alarm is a bright flashing light! "Does this actually wake you up?" you ask. Strangely enough it does. But in case you are a heavy sleeper, after five minutes, a very jarring bell does sound. After a few weeks, the bell has only gone off once (Bear shot off the bed like a rocket!), but I seemed to have mysteriously adjusted to sensing the flashing light. And, bonus, my alarm does not wake Carrie up.

Note - the first clock that we received did not work properly, but L.L. Bean has excellent customer service and we quickly receive a new, working clock.

I highly recommend this stylish, unique timepiece,which is available in 5 retro colors. I would have one in every room if Carrie would let me!

http://www.llbean.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?storeId=1&catalogId=1&langId=-1&categoryId=33149&productId=393591&qs=5686472-Google_Product_Submit

Website of the week...

You MUST take a look at this non-partisan site before election day. http://www.smartvoter.org

Under the section that says "Find My Ballot," type in your street address and zip code and it will show you exactly what will be on your particular ballot on November 4th. If you're like me, you'd like to know exactly which races you will be voting on before you show up to cast your ballot. It also lists any State Referendums, so again, you can think it over and you don't have to make a 'game time' decision.

I highly recommend this site for anyone who wants to be prepared when they walk into the voting booth next Tuesday.

Happy voting!!

Can't Hardly Wait...

I have a weakness for catalogs. They suck me in with their glossy pages and shipping discounts. My absolute favorite catalog is L.L. Bean. The only bad part with ordering clothes through a catalog is that of course you can't try them on (and you have to ship them back if they don't fit). So imagine my surprise when as I was flipping through their newest mailing, and I came across this insert...

I. am. so. excited. Good thing it is not too close to our house or I might drop large wads of cash there. But it will be open just in time for the holidays. My favorite catalog is now my favorite store. I say "go" - big time.

Autumn at Our New Old House...

Today we had a chance to do our first fall clean-up of the season (many more to come), and also capture a few shots of the changes going on around our neighborhood...

Looking across the street from the front of the house...
Behind the house...
Action shots...
Bear came out to supervise...
This is hard work!
Done until next weekend when we'll have to start all over...

Wedding Finale...

This weekend we wrapped up our 'Month of Weddings' with the celebration of Rebecca and Antwan. Rebecca and I lived together after I finished college and before Jim and I were married. I was honored to participate in their special day as a bridesmaid. They are a wonderful couple and we wish them all the best...

This is a shot of the inside of the church at the rehearsal. This is Rolling Hills Baptist- They have a beautiful sanctuary with floor to ceiling windows at the front....

The beautiful bride...

Walking down the aisle...

Ceremony photos...

Rebecca and Antwan with her parents...

Bridesmaid portaits...

First Dance...

My bouquet...

Rebecca's bouquet...

Table centerpieces...

Close-ups of my hair. This is at the end of the night so it is a bit dishevled, but you get the idea...

Jim and I...

The new Mr. & Mrs. Worsham... Congrats you guys!!

Random Acts of Honking...

What a night... At approximately 3:55am, Jim and I both woke up and said to each other "What's that noise?" It sounded like some type of alarm or siren. Something was not right. I was concerned because we had just installed a new programmable thermostat last night (yay us!) and for some reason I had visions that we had messed it up and our furnace was about to burst into flames and this was our warning... It wasn't the furnace.

We went in the office where the sound seemed to grow louder and Jim said "It's the computer- turn it off." I promptly shut down the computer, afraid that it too, might burst into flames. No luck- the sound kept wailing on.

It seemed like maybe it was coming from outside, so I asked Jim to go see if he could figure it out. The sound continued for several more minutes. I'm sure everyone in the neighborhood was awake by this point- I saw lights flicking on. Finally, the sound broke into a few short bursts and then silenced.

From the office, I could see Jim down by his car with the hood open. I was confused, because his car does not have an alarm. After several more minutes, he came inside for tools. I inquired about the situation.... It was his car horn. It somehow spontaneously started honking and then got stuck that way. So it was as though someone was sitting in the car, laying on the horn at 4am. Nice.

A cop came by and asked Jim what was going on. He suggested that Jim unhook the battery (hence the tools). I guess he figured out how to do that because I heard him come up the stairs a while later and the rest of the night passed without incident. I'm sure the neighbors were thrilled. Hopefully, no one realized we were the culprits! Between that and the McCain sign in our yard, we're bound to get kicked out of the neighborhood :)

New 'do...

For the first time in my life, I had my hair all-over dyed. I wanted to go back to my natural color, only a little warmer, which is pretty much how it ended up. I think I am happy with the results. The style is exactly the same- I just got a trim.

Jim's "Go or Don't Go" - Iron Man

I've been waiting for five months to see Iron Man. The movie came out when we were in the middle of our move, so we were never able to actually get the the theater to see it. Not that I mind all that much - I think that I actually prefer sitting in our den and watching the Blu-Ray version. But I digress.

Iron Man is the film adaptation of the classic Marvel comic superhero, created in the 1960s. The movie is a fairly faithful re-telling of the character's origins. The story follows Tony Stark, (Robert Downey, Jr.) a multi-millionaire playboy/genius who is the CEO of Stark International, a weapons company. The primary exception is that it takes place in current times - Vietnam is now Afghanistan and the bad guys are Islamic extremists.

During a weapons-testing trip to Afghanistan, Stark is captured by the fore-mentioned terrorists. Once the evil-doers realize who they have kidnapped, they force him to build one his most advanced and powerful misslies. But in an effort that would make MacGyver proud, Tony manages to trick the terrorists and build a weapon that doubles as his plan for escape - the prototype Iron Man. Imagine the Tin Man meets the Terminator.

Well, Tony does escape, but emerges from this experience a changed man; conflicted about his roll and responsibility as a weapons dealer and concerned that he needs to make his life count for something. So what does he do? Build an even more powerful weapon, of course - the new and much-improved Iron Man.

The film is very well cast. I'm not a big fan of Downey, but he is perfect as Stark; a character that I want to see again in more Iron Man sequels. Gwnyeth Paltrow was a nice surprise as Pepper Potts, Tony's loyal personal assistant and will-they/won't-they love interest. Jeff Bridges is almost unrecognizable as Obadiah Stane, Stark's second in command at Stark Industries. And Terrance Howard is Rhodney, Tony's old buddy and military connection; I really believed that these two opposites could be friends.

The key to a great super hero movie is the relationships between the characters. If you don't care about the people on the screen, then all the explosions and super-villians are simply a colossal waste of two hours of your time. Iron Man is no Spiderman 2 (the standard by which all superhero movies are judged, BTW), but it's very good. I was a little disappointed in the villian - the final battle reminded me a little too much of RoboCop. Despite this, I'm looking forward to the certain Iron Man 2.

I say "Go."

Wedding Blooper...

In keeping with the wedding theme for this month, take a look at this video, which if real, is by far the worst blunder I have ever witnessed at a wedding. The poor bride...

Love and Marriage...

Yesterday, we were honored to attend the wedding of Dan and Carrie Lynn, who both work with me at CBS. They looked fabulous and it was a wonderful day. Enjoy these snapshots...

Here comes the bride...Just married...Carrie Lynn's flowers...Bridesmaids' flowers...Table settings- the theme was "When you wish upon a star"
Favors...The beautiful bride...The fabulous cookie table...Us...Balancing act...
Not too much smashing...Congratulations, you two!

Everybody's Working for the Weekend...

So it's almost the end of the week and I'm really looking forward to the weekend... lots of good stuff planned. We're kicking it off tonight with a Blu-Ray screening of 'Iron Man' (review to follow) at our place with Brandon and Jen. Tomorrow I'm going for the obligatory flu-shot (yay). After that, we are continuing our 'Month of Weddings' with the nuptials of Dan and Carrie Lynn. Should be a great time- excited for that. On Sunday, I'm helping Rebecca with some last minute wedding stuff before her big day next Saturday. Can't believe it's almost here. Guess that sums up our plans... Hope you have a great weekend!

Jim's "Go or Don't Go" - The Five People You Meet in Heaven

So our married-couple small group (YMC) at our church voted to watch a movie as food for discussion. We decided on The Five People That You Meet In Heaven. Once that I learned that it was a Hallmark Hall of Fame TV movie, I was a little wary. I was expecting a weepy story about a disease, or maybe a sappy plot involving a mother and her estranged daughter, or maybe an estranged mother-daughter stricken with the same disease. Needless to say, my expectations were low.

The film is based on Mitch Albom's 2004 book about Eddie, an amusement park handyman played by Jon Voight. Eddie's a grumpy old sort that feels as if his life was not worth much. We learn from flashbacks that he had a pretty rough childhood and things never got a whole lot better for him. On his 83rd birthday, in an attempt to rescue a little girl form an accident at the park, Eddie awakens to find himself in "heaven."

Here, in a very Christmas Carol fashion, he meets five people from his past that have also passed away. Guiding him through flashbacks of his life, each heavenly life coach gives Eddie insight into important events of his past and teaches him (and us) meaningful life lessons.

A movie like this is at risk to be very heavy-handed and corny, but the top-notch cast, especially Jon Voight, gives real weight to the film. I thought that Voight did a nice job of making Eddie sympathetic, not just a one dimensional Scrooge-type character. The supporting performances are strong too, especially Jeff Daniels - I almost didn't recognize him as the Blue Man. Being a Hallmark production, I was surprised that the movie didn't sugarcoat on the scenes of war and death. The second half of the movie did drag a little bit for me - some editing may have helped. Having said all this, some may still find this movie corny, but I was really touched by the thoughtful truths that each character had to teach Eddie.

Before watching, I checked out some reviews on several Christian web sites to get some spiritual perspective on the film. Most liked the movie, but some could not recommend it based on a shaky theological view of the afterlife. I think some Christians often tend to get caught in the trap of missing the point of movies like these. Films like Christmas Carol, It's A Wonderful Life or even The Sixth Sense aren't trying to tell us what happens after we die, but how we should live while we are here on Earth.

Disclaimer: I tend to be kind of a sucker for this type of movie; if it's done well. Hopefully I will give you enough information to let you decide if this is you're kind of film. I say "Go."

Carrie's Disclaimer: I didn't like it - it was boring. I say "Don't Go"

Everybody Say Awwwwww.....

Fall Fest 2008...

Even though I was feeling under the weather (I only almost passed out once), we decided to head out to Fall Fest '08 with our friends from YMC. We couldn't pass on the chance to take advantage of the beautiful weather. We chose Trax Farms in the South Hills as our destination. The day's activities included a hay ride and corn maze. It leaned more toward the commercial side than we had hoped, but we had a good time anyway. Next year maybe we'll try to find a more quaint experience. Here are some moments from the day...