~books to movies~

Last night I went with my mom and Dacey to see, "Eclipse", again. I was so bummed watching it the first time. There were so many differences to the book that I needed to see it again and try not to compare it. Dacey was on the same page as me. After the movie we both agreed we liked it better having watched it a second time.

Why do screenwriters feel the need to alter books so much? It is one of my biggest pet peeves! EVERY movie adapted from a book just doesn't live up to the book. I don't know why it bothers me so.

For instance, "My Sisters Keeper", changed the whole frickin book! Ages, appearances, characters, and who dies for goodness sakes!! Another one that comes to mind is, "A Walk to Remember". The date was the first change but I could live with that to make it more modern. But the whole point of the name was that Jamie was in a wheelchair and at her wedding she got out of it and walked down the aisle. In the movie there is nothing of the sort in it and for those who didn't read the book they'd have no idea what the title was about. I read, "I Know What You Did Last Summer", in 9th grade. When I saw the movie I was so put off. They made an unfortunate accident into a horror film that besides character names it wasn't the same at all. I just rented, "A Little Princess", for the girls I nanny after we read the book together. They didn't understand why everything was so different and either did I. In the book Sara's dad dies. In the movie, nope, he just has amnesia. What the crap! I could make an extensive list of all the changes in that movie but I'll spare you.

The only movie I liked better than the book was the 2005 version of "Pride and Prejudice". The book was published in 1813 so for me the language is difficult at times.

Is it possible to just take a book and put that on screen? Obviously they have to condense to fit an allotted time but the characters should be the same. They should say the same lines. It should be as close to the book as possible. I get annoyed about this too easily I suppose.

~back to work~

I'm back to work. The family I work for went on vacation so I had 5 scheduled days plus 4 days of weekend to enjoy off. I love getting paid to sleep in and do my own thing. I did get a little bored at times. I don't know what I'd do if I didn't have a job. I have to stay busy. However, on occasion, I love days when I can stay in my pajamas all day long and do absolutely nothing.



It was the 4th of July last Sunday. Lance and I decided to stay home instead of going to see fireworks since he had to get up early for work. He ended up going to bed about 9pm as usual and I watched fireworks on tv. Haha. I did see a few outside that our neighbors were doing. I really could care less about this holiday. Probably since my family never really got into it. We'd occasionally go to see fireworks or maybe go to a picnic but it just wasn't a big deal.



I was able to get some much needed gardening done on Monday and Friday which was nice. It was sooooo hot out though both days. Yuck. I was drenched. I filled up the garbage twice! So many weeds. Next to our shed on the left is just a huge weedfest! I cleaned a fraction of that out. We've been trying to figure out what to do in that area since the soil is so sandy. [Idea 1:] I would like to move our shed over but that's not an easy task. Of course Lance just wants to demolish our shed and buy a new one to place where we want it. He's all about the easy route! [Idea 2:] Another thought was to get a dog and put a kennel there. I do not like animals inside. They're dirty! So we're figuring out if we want to get a full time outdoor dog. I want a chow chow or husky. I know myself and that poor thing will be alone all winter! I hate going out in the cold! So we'll see. [Idea 3:] I might just make a huge garden there. I'm leaning towards the last idea currently.



My nephew, Noah Michael, was born on Tuesday. Now I have 4 nephews and 1 niece. I love being an auntie! Caleb will be 11 in August. I can't believe how grown up he is! He'll be taller than me probably within a year or two. Cooper is 5. He's a little daredevil and loves his 4-wheeler! Lyla will be 2 in August. She is a doll. Thank God we have a girl in the family! Joshua is just over a year. He's a little cutie. And of course Noah is tiny and adorable! I can't wait to get to know him.



I also got a chance to go shopping but didn't find ANYTHING I was looking for. It's not like my wish list is outrageous or anything either. I've been looking for a set of 3 or 4 black and white nature prints for the basement wall. I've looked all over! Nothing. I think I am just going to buy a really nice camera and take my own pictures! I have also been looking for jean shorts. All I'm finding are super-short-show-your-butt-cheeks styles. Uggh.



On Saturday we greeted at church. After service we had a Hawaii themed party for the Saturday night teams. We're among the youngest greeters. I've heard on more than one occasion by random strangers upon shaking their hand, "Oh, it's so nice to see young people." I'm not that young. Haha. It makes me feel like they think I'm 12.



So, I'm working right now. Haha. I'm working really hard! The girls are outside with a neighbor catching bugs so it's not like I'm ignoring them. We already went to the library this morning and stopped at Target. We had lunch and rest. I have about 3 more hours until I go home. We were going to go to the pool but they have swim lessons tonight so I am not going to bother.

~my yard~

This lovely daylily was the only plant I salvaged from the back garden.

Here's our front entrance. (Oops, I need to weed the hostas.) We put these in last summer after digging out hideous looking bushes. I filled in the left of the sidewalk with rock after removing nasty faded red wood chips. I absolutely hate the color of our house! Hopefully it will get painted this summer/fall.

The hostas are starting to bloom.

I love my little bench and flowers. Lance did a good job picking out the planters.