Movie Review: 21 & Counting

Last night I saw a preview showing of 21 & Counting.  A new movie by the team that brought us the Hangover.   The quick review - an enjoyable mindless comedy in the venue of a Porkys or American Pie.

The movie is raw, raunchy, and at times too much.  There were times I covered by eyes because it was making me gag.  Yes, physically gag to the point that I could have thrown up if I kept watching.  That's the bad part of this movie -- they need to know when enough is enough.

The good part is that it made me laugh out loud several times.  It is fun and irreverent.

The basic plot is two friends surprising the third friend for his 21st birthday.  Unfortunately his birthday is the day before his big medical school interview.  Not the best timing for pounding out a big night of drinking.  So the friends talk him into "just one beer".  A few hours of hard drinking later they are trying to get their near passed out friend home....only problem neither of them know his address.

No wanting to give away too much of the story here, the attempt to find their way home is funny, sophomoric, and raunchy.  If you find that kind of stuff stupid then this is not the right movie for you.  But if you find that stuff funny, then you will really enjoy this movie.

Using my personal rating scale ....21 & Counting is a Rental.  No need to see it in a theater, but still worth seeing.

Ugghhhh!!!!

I'm mad. I'm disappointed. I'm frustrated!

Uggggghhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ugh #1 - You Always Miss 100% of the Shots You Don't Take
I just got off the phone with the hiring manager for a new job I was interested in.  And she informed me the manger role is already filled.  Ugghhhhh  There is still a non-manager team leader role available.   Uggghhh
This was a very good opportunity to move up in IBM along a new management path.  I'm mad and frustrated with my myself because I heard about this change and new team almost 2 weeks ago and I had only halfheartedly tried to get in touch with this hiring manager.   She doesn't use the normal instant messaging system that 75% of all our communications go through, but that should not have stopped me.  Yesterday I called and emailed her, she got back to me today and inadvertently told me she did create the managers job now (instead of being a down the road possibility as my sources has led me to believe) and she also told me she just filled the role - so recent that she has not yet even sent the announcement about it.  Ugghh  had I talked to her a week or two ago, then I'm sure her announcement would be about me.   This just pisses me off. 

Ugh #2 - Bummed about loss of Spring
Yesterday I meet with the Orthopedic Surgeon about my knee - and guess what he's now decided the best treatment is the knee surgery to repair the torn meniscus followed by physical therapy.  The swelling in my right knee is the indicator that this can only be helped with the surgery.  His guess was I would not be able to hike, bike, or job for 8 weeks after the surgery and (bonus..not) due to an extended period out of the office in March, it may be a while before they can even get me in for the surgery.  It's an out patient procedure that he estimated would take 35 minutes - so it's a bit weird to call it surgery.   He preforms these procedures on Fridays, and you need to be off your feet and on crutches for the weekend but can start moving around better by Monday.  No driving until you can easily walk on that right leg - which he says is usually just a few more days.  I almost for sure have to board Zeus through that period - trying to take him out for bathroom breaks while on crutches did not work in December and I'm not willing to even attempt it again.  Even base case that he gets me in prior to his conference and vacation that keep him out of the office, it means I wouldn't be back on my feet until mid May.  Ugh, I'll miss the Starving Rock Mega Hike that I was so interested in doing.    Trying to put a good spin on it - they organize the Mega Hike in the Fall the weekend of September 28-29.....the downside is that is the Wisconsin-Ohio State football game and I'm probably going to Columbus that weekend.   I don't think there is anyway I can do both, so I have to miss out on something fun Ugh!

Walking the Labyrinth

There is no right or wrong way to walk a labyrinth, but if possible I prefer to walk it alone outside.  I wish one of our near by state or city parks had a labyrinth.  I think it would be great if St Dom's added one to the prayer garden.  If there was one near by I would go there on a regular basis to help calm and focus me.

Enjoy the symbolism found in walking a labyrinth. It really does mirror life, at times you are very close to the center, but after a few turns, you can find yourself on a path to the outside. The good news is that the center is never really that far away, and there is always a way back to it.


This is a list of labyrinth that are somewhat nearby.

Mount Mary College
2900 North Menomonee River Parkway | Milwaukee, WI 53222-4597


St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Parish – New Berlin, WI
12700 W. Howard Ave. New Berlin, WI 53151
 Indoor In Sippel Hall, open most Thursday in Lent from 4 - 7:30 pm

Aurora West Allis Medical Center
located at the corner of 89th Street and Lincoln Avenue 
Outdoor Healing Garden with Labyrinth
Best time to walk this is in the summer.

Calvary Church (next to Jesu)
The Labyrinth Open Walk at Calvary Presbyterian Church – The Big Red Church - On Wednesday evenings Calvary Church is open to the public to walk the labyrinth. The labyrinth is a walking meditation, a spiritual tool, that clears the mind, leads to healing, self-knowledge, and peace. Calvary Church is a family of believers focused on welcoming people of all paths as brothers and sisters in Christ.
Occurs weekly: Wednesday (5:30 PM to 7:00 PM)
Contact Phone: 414-271-8782
Calvary Church
835 W, Wisconsin Ave, Milwaukee, WI 53233
Price: Donation

St Mary's Hales Corner (Fairly close to Whitnall Park)
Throughout history, pilgrims have traveled to holy sites to encounter the sacred and to renew their faith. When the Crusades and the plague made pilgrimage to the Holy Land almost impossible, Labyrinths came into use as a pilgrimage-in-place. Pilgrims could engage in the same kind of prayer journey without leaving their native land. Walking the Labyrinth is the equivalent of four city blocks. The path to the center and the path out are one and the same. The Labyrinth is not a maze or a puzzle.
9520 W. Forest Home Avenue, Hales Corners, WI


St. John Neumann Catholic Church
2400 West State Highway 59;  Waukesha, WI  53189-6323
Near the Fox River Park [River Road (County Highway H) and Lawnsdale Road (County Highway I)]

Foot - Vulture - Mouth - Foot

It's a pet peeve of mine when you end up missing out on something because you weren't aware of some options.  When we were in Egypt in 2008, our tour group stopped at a jewelry store so that people could order gold cartouches of their names written using the Egyptian Hieroglyphic alphabet.   At the time were were only given the option of gold necklaces.   At that time gold prices were high it was costing about $200 to $300 per necklace depending on the style, number of letters, etc.   So not worth the price to me.

I wisely made the decision not to purchase one.  The necklace was a nice souvenirs but it was not worth $200+ for a necklace I would not wear all that often.  And at the time I was not trilled with the translation of "Barb" into Foot - Vulture - Mouth - Foot.

Only later in the week when the tour group went back to pick up the orders did I find out they also sold these cartouch necklaces in sterling silver and those necklaces would have only been about $25 to $40.  So worth it - I would have done that in a minute.  But I was complete unaware of that option.  It bummed me out.

Looking at the translation now, I do wish I would have gotten one.  Until recently I didn't connect the foot in my name to my love of hiking.  Its almost like my name is twice as much walking as talking, or walk before and after you talk (cause walking helps me think and process thoughts).  I now really like it!  But I still don't know how that vulture fits in!! I wish it was a cat or the water symbols instead of a bird. 

Check out your own name in this Hieroglyphic Typewriter web page:
http://www.eyelid.co.uk/hieroglyphic-typewriter.html

Lenten Promises 2013 Status Update #2

Second update...I'm hoping by posting these it will help keep me both accountable and focused.



1st Lenten Promise is to declutter for 15 to 30 minutes most days 
I'm not taking a stop watch to this tasks, so the status is more of a thumbs-up / thumps-down.

• week 1 - Feb 10- 16 - Success, but a bit sloppy/slow over the weekend
• week 2 - Feb 17 - 23 - Fairly Successful, I may try to start timing myself to help keep focus
• week 3 - Feb 24 - Mar 2
• week 4 - Mar 3 - 9
• week 5 - Mar 10 - 16
• week 6 - Mar 24 - 30

2nd Lenten Promise is to go out for at least 4 fish fries
In hindsight this is going to be harder than I thought as I look through my personal schedule.  It may end up being a bunch of lunch time take out.  

• 1 Completed - Friday, Feb 22 with the YACC alumni at St Agnes
• 2
• 3
• 4

3rd Lenten Promise is to consume no more than 2 bags of snack food per week (Sat to Fri)

• week 1 - Feb 10- 16 - Success!
• week 2 - Feb 17 - 23 - Success (but no exclamation point); the post-Valentines sale caramel popcorn almost caused a problem, luckily I got it under control in time
• week 3 - Feb 24 - Mar 2
• week 4 - Mar 3 - 9
• week 5 - Mar 10 - 16
• week 6 - Mar 24 - 30

4th Lenten Promise is attending and/or participating in 6 spiritual events this Lent 
The impromptu Stations with the YACC alumni went so well we are planning to do it again this Friday and even started throwing around the idea of going every week during Lent.  

• 1) Completed - Fri, Feb 15, Jesus Christ Superstar
• 2) Completed - Fri, Feb 22, Stations of the Cross at St Agnes, with YACC alumni
• 3) Fri, March 1, Lenten Day of Retreat (registration mailed)
• 4) Sat, March 23, Zion Passion Play (tickets purchased)
• 5
• 6

Mega Hike Planning

My knee has not gotten better since the initial swelling went down.  I was on crutches for 2 days; doing fine but not great ever since then.  I can walk but I can't jog for even a few minutes (found that out trying to get the dog to motivate).  I've gone snowshoeing and I'd like to go hiking once the weather is nicer. 

In fact I'm working diligently to pull together a hiking weekend at Starved Rock State Park in Illinois.  They have a mega hike that goes through all 13 miles of their 18 canyons in the park on Saturday, April 27.  That means I'll miss CrazyLegs in Madison, but with my knee as it is that was probably going to be missed anyway.   I kind of stumbled onto this and now I'm really focused on trying to make it happen.  This is a good (and much cheaper) alternative to the Utah / Arizona trip I had in mind.  I'll still make it to the National Parks in that area some day, but because of my knee injury it's not a good fit for this year - I could go and hike but it would be much more limited that what I want to do and therefore it wouldn't be work the expense (to me).   The park is about 3 hours south; so I'm guessing (hoping, praying) that by late April they will have really nice weather (compared to Southeast Wisconsin, not compared to Florida duh!)

This is nine weeks away and my concern is if my knee will be in good enough shape to let me still be walking after this adventure. 

At the suggestion of a Physical Therapist, I've been taking one Aleve pill daily to help reduce the swelling, but to be honest I don't think this as done anything.   I'm going to take the next week and add in some strengthening exercises he suggested and also do the dreaded icing of the knee.  And I'm setting a deadline of 1 week - if the knee is not better from these exercises and icing, then I will contact the doctor and see about a cortisone shot in my knee.

And lastly I'll look into getting a knee brace.  I am committed to finding a way to continue hiking.  I'm willing to give up running for a while, if I have to, to heal the knee.   But if I can't find a way to hike and enjoy it both the during and after - then I will be scheduling that knee surgery asap. 

I'll need to bring my walking poles with me, just in case the knee starts to bother me.  They are adjustable height and can be adjusted down to a size that can fit in my backpack.

Great Reminder for Any Pet Owner

I ran across this list on Facebook of 10 things your dog would tell you and it really changed my perspective.  A week ago or so, I was reading a self help book that pointed out its never too late to get out of something you wouldn't do if you could do it again.   And knowing what I know now, I would not have gotten Zeus.  Let me publicly state this again - I do love my boy.  But he is more work and has had a bigger negative impact to my schedule that I realized when I got him.  If I could do it over again, I would get another cat instead of a dog.  In fact after reading that self help book I set a deadline for myself that I would give away Zeus if I couldn't get to the point where things were better for both him and me (trust me I understand Zeus could have a better life with a different family that was better set up to own a dog). 

But after reading this - I'm torn again.  My mental deadline is removed and I'm going to try to be the person my dog thinks I am.

10 Things Your Dog Would Tell You.... 

1. My life is likely to last 10 to 15 years. Any separation from you will be painful: remember that before you get me.
2. Give me time to understand what you want of me.
3. Place your trust in me- it is crucial to my well being.
4. Do not be angry at me for long, and do not lock me up as punishment.
5. You have your work, your entertainment,and your friends. I only have you.
6. Talk to me sometimes. Even if I don't understands your words, I understand your voice when it is speaking to me.
7. Be aware that how ever you treat me, I will never forget.
8. Remember before you hit me that I have teeth that could easily hurt you, but I choose not to bite you because I love you.
9. Before you scold me for being uncooperative,obstinate,or lazy, ask yourself if something might be bothering me. Perhaps I might not be getting the right food, or I have been out too long, or my heart is getting to old and weak.
10. Take care of me when I get old; you too will grow old. Go with me on difficult journeys. Never say: "I cannot bear to watch" or "Let it happen in my absence." Everything is easier for me if you are there, even my death.

Remember that I love you.