Movies & Bad Habits

I have a bad habit.  Well, to be completely honest, I have many bad habits, but I’m going to talk about only one today.

In an attempt to break this one bad habit that I have, I’m going to blog about it and keep you updated.

 Here it is:

 I buy movies I’ve never seen and then don’t watch them.

 I’ve always had a big movie collection, even before I got married (and then married someone with a sizeable movie collection also).  We LOVE movies.  We’re not one to watch a movie just once.  We like having movies, and like having many movies to choose from.

 So my movie collection was large as it was, and even before I moved here I had movies in my collection that I had never seen.

We use the app ‘My Movies’ to catalog our collection.  It’s super user friendly and sorts all of our movies very nicely.  When we get a new movie, all we do is open the app, scan the UPC code on the back of the movie with our phone, and it is added to our collection.

Recently, I went through and made a list of all of the movies that we own that I had not seen and/or had not seen for 20+ years.

There were 59 on the list.  Including a couple of TV seasons.  (I know, I know).

I blame Hastings.  Hastings is a wonderful chain of stores here in the Southwest where you can buy used movies for dirt cheap.  For $20, you can usually get anywhere from 4 -7 movies.  They constantly have deals going on….buy 2, get one free, buy one get one for $1, etc.  And their used movies start off as little as $1.99.  And they have a HUGE selection.  Huge.  And they easy to find, all in alphabetical order.  And, because Hastings rents movies also, they always have used new releases available for purchase as well.

So we would just go in to browse for books (oh, did I mention they have books too?) and end up leaving $20 poorer, and 5-6 more movies added to the pile.

I know some people think it’s crazy.  But they’re so cheap!  And no pressure to watch them right away.  No late fees.  No fear of the movie getting lost.  So I would browse, read the reviews online (imdb.com is the best movie review site ever in my opinion), and if the movie got a good review and it was $3, why not just buy it?  And a lot of them are those ‘4 movies on 1 disc’ deals with 4 classic movies.  I love classic movies!  Four for $4!  (I have a problem, I know)

Well…they’ve started to pile up.  And so I am determined to watch them all. 

I reviewed my list, and found 5 that were on streaming Netflix.  So I started watching those first, mostly because I can watch them on my ipad at work.  Well, half watch, half listen (with headphones of course).  As for the other ones, well I’m just going to watch them here and there.  Maybe 1-2 per week.  I have a little portable DVD player that I can set up while I’m folding laundry on the dining room table or cooking in the kitchen.

I’ve crossed four off the list since Friday:

Once Upon a Time in the West (1960s western with Paul Newman)….it was okay.  It got amazing ratings on IMDB, and I’m not sure why really.  But oh well.

Somewhere in Time.  I’d only seen it once and I was probably 10 years old at the time, so I don’t remember anything about it.  Good movie, sappy of course.

Anna Karenina (the 1948 black and white version with Vivien Leigh) – this was definitely my favorite of the four.  I love Vivien Leigh.

The Lady Vanishes.  Alfred Hitchcock.  It was good, but it can't hold a candle to Rear Window, one of my favorites.

So now there are 55 on my list.  Each time I blog I will update you with the number….hopefully it will shrink quickly!

Oh….and I am publicly vowing not to buy any more movies at Hastings until I have finished watching every movie on the list.  Yikes!  It will take me a while for sure, but I will get through it.

Paperless

The Spencer household has gone paperless.  (see above post)

Behold....our desk:

(hey, there's my blog!  And....the back end of an elephant)

 This has been no easy feat, but we’ve done it.  It’s taken a while.  On both my husband and my parts.  See, my husband used to have his own law firm.  Which involved LOADS of paper.  Paper everywhere.  Paper in the office.  Paper in filing cabinets in the garage.  Everywhere.

Earlier this year, he shut down his firm because he got another job outside of the home.  We had to do something with all of his paper.  So he borrowed a high speed scanner, and started scanning away.  Everything.  All of the files (which he is required to keep for a certain period of time).  It took a couple of months, even with the superfast scanner because there were so many files.

 Then, I went through all of our personal files and scanned those.  Tax info.  Health Insurance info.  Retirement info.  You name it.  Nothing was safe.

If it was something that we did not need a paper copy of, I shredded the paper copy.

We have a folder labeled ‘important’ with our marriage license, birth certificates, etc.  Obviously, we will keep these paper copies, but I wanted to scan the originals as well, just in case.

We got everything down to one small filing cabinet from Ikea. 

And it's maybe just half full.

However, I was not satisfied.  After assessing what was left in the cabinet, I wanted to do more.  What was taking up the bulk of the cabinet?

Manuals.

Appliance manuals, electronics manuals, household manuals, etc.  Manuals for items we no longer owned, you name it, it was there.

The first thing I did was sort through them and get rid of any for products we no longer owned.

Then, Google became my best friend.  I did a Google search for each and every product manual that we had.  I found most of them on this website:

www.manualsonline.com

Once you type in the make and model of what you’re looking for, if they have it you can view it as a PDF and save it directly to your computer.  If they don’t have it, they direct you to the company website so you can search for it there.

I was able to get rid of most of the bulky manuals and the plastic they came in.  The ones I couldn’t find online, I manually scanned (no pun intended).  I then created a folder for each room in the house and saved the appropriate manuals to each folder.

I was left with one small plastic envelope of manuals.  Happiness!

(My label maker and washi tape were my best friends during this project)

We’ve even gone paperless with most of our spiritual literature.  

We currently keep just the current year of magazines on hand.  The back issues can be found online if we need them.  I went through our books and definitely kept a couple of shelves full, but the magazines were the main items taking up space.  

I know some people may be hesitant to do this.  I was at first, but it didn’t take me long to realize how nice it was not to have all of that paper everywhere being a dust collector and fire hazard.  We have a reliable computer, plus a backup drive within that computer.  And most of the manuals can be found online (along with the magazines), even if both of our systems fail.  And I don’t think we’ve EVER referred to the manual itself if we have an issue.  If we’re troubleshooting with one of our electronics or appliances, we Google.  As do most people.

So far, I am loving this.  I hate clutter, especially paper clutter.  We try to deal with mail each day as we get it and not let it pile up.  After I pay the bills, I scan the statement and save it to it’s folder on the computer.  Then it gets shredded.  No paper pile-up!

If you don’t have access to a scanner, no worries.  If you have a smartphone or an iPad or other tablet of some sort, there are tons of apps out there that allow you to take a picture of the item and then email it to yourself as a PDF file.  I downloaded Turbo Scan ($1.99) for my iPhone, and tested a few items out.  They came out great as PDFs!  It really couldn’t be easier.  I think I will use Turbo Scan the most for single sheets of paper, like the monthly bills we get, although the app does have the ability to save multiple pages in one document.

The only ‘going paperless’ project I have yet to tackle is my recipes.  I need to find an app out there to store my ‘loose’ recipes – ones ripped from magazine pages, copied down, etc.  I’d like to get rid of my unsightly binder that holds my magazine clippings, my random recipes printed off from websites, etc. 

I mostly use allrecipes.com on my iPad while I’m cooking.  I keep it propped up on my cookbook holder, ha ha.  The modern cookbook!

This definitely was time-consuming.  But the hard part is done.  Now it will just be ‘maintenance’ and scanning thing (with the Turbo Scan app) as they come in.  Easy-peasy!

Random

 

*I’ve been absent for a while.  I have no excuses, other than I’ve been in ‘project’ mode.

 

*Currently, I am finishing up a major project that involves no paper.  Intrigued?  Stay tuned.  I am almost finished writing up a mega blog post about it.

 

*Tonight we’re going to a baseball game with some friends.  Albuquerque vs. Omaha.  I’m torn.  Who do I root for?

 

*I love that commercial with the Apple folks and the Android folks that get into a fight at a wedding.  I am an advocate for Apple products and would totally jump in on their side.  Ha ha.  And after owning nothing but Apple products for our phones/computers/tablets, I can now totally understand how Apple people become nutty like they do and insist that Apple products are the only way to go.  Ha ha. 

 

*I never thought I would ever say this, but I’m a bit of a car snob now.  Before we traded in my old car, I told everyone I didn’t care about cars.  Until I got REALLY used to my Honda CRV and then had to be without it for 3 days a couple of months ago.  They gave me a Nissan Rogue to drive.  I whined for 3 days about that stupid Nissan and whined about not having my backup camera and not being able to control the volume of the stereo from my steering wheel.  I’m ashamed just typing that out.

 

*Our 1:00 Saturday meeting for French (public talk and W. Tower study) is going to be moved to4:00 starting in August.  Which is a good thing…although it’s going to make every other Saturday a really long day.  Service in the morning, French Bible reading class at 2:30, meeting at 4:00, home at 6:15 or so.  But it’s okay, because the following Sunday will be a ‘free’ day.

 

*I’m hoping to blog on Sunday about my latest project.

 

*It has finally cooled off a bit here and we’ve been getting some decent rain.  Still in a major drought, but things aren’t as crispy as they were a few weeks ago.

 

*I think that’s it!  (sorry about the lack of photos)

TV

I've posted a lot in the past about my favorite movies, but I don't think I've ever posted about my favorite TV shows.  Probably because I just don't watch much TV.  I'm busy, and quite honestly there's just not much on that I am interested in.

However, I do have some favorites.  Some are current, some are old.  If you're interested, keep reading.

(first....all of these pictures and descriptions come straight from imdb.com)

1.  Gilmore Girls:  "A drama centering around the relationship between a thirty-something single mother and her teen daughter living in Stars Hollow, Connecticut."

My all time favorite series.  Seven seasons of drama, comedy, quirkiness, and just plain fun.  This is the perfect series.  I have watched the entire series multiple times.  I haven't kept track, but I'm guessing it's at least 10 or so.

2.  Downton Abbey:  "Beginning in the years leading up to World War I, the drama centers on the Crawley family and their servants."

My #2 favorite.  I was hooked after the first episode.  At first I didn't think I would like it because of all of the characters and didn't think I'd be able to keep track of them.  But the whole series is so beautifully done that it just sucks you in and all of the sudden you're so drawn into each and every story line.

Mary and Anna are my two favorite characters.  Mary is a strong-willed young woman with the whole weight of the world on her shoulders.  And Anna is just a saint.  

3.  The Office:  "A mocumentary on a group of typical office workers, where the workday consists of ego clashes, inappropriate behavior, and tedium.  Based on the hit BBC series."

This show is amazing.  Season 2 was the best.  Michael Scott (Steve Carrell) in all of his glory.  It continued to go well even after Michael Scott left.  Season 8 lost me a little bit, but the farewell season (9) was absolutely amazing, and the finale was the best series finale I've ever seen.  Epic.

4.  Parenthood:  "A family tree with Zeek and Camille Braverman serving as the patriarch and matriarch.  Each family will face their own challenges, but how they propose to deal with them is what will keep them together or tear them apart."

I didn't think I would like this show as much as I did when I first seen it.  But Lauren Graham is in it, so I thought I would give it a shot.  I'm so glad I did.  It is, at times, an emotional roller coaster and I usually cry in every single episode (which is partly because of the music they choose...excellent).  It was renewed for a 5th season and I can't wait!

5.  Call the Midwife:  "The story is about a group of midwives based in East London in the 1950s."

This is another series that I was skeptical of...but now I love it.  A group of midwives that live in a house with nuns in the 50s spend their time delivering babies in the slums of East London.  It is so good....another masterpiece from BBC.

So there's my top 5!  Two of them are done, and 3 have many more seasons to come I hope!

Day Off

Today is July 4th.  Which for us, means a day off!

I love days off.  I love sleeping in a little bit, and that feeling of not really having anything too pressing to do (like work).

This morning I woke up around 7:00 (about an hour and a half later than I usually wake up).  My husband and I then took our dog Max to the vet, where we dropped him off for his yearly comprehensive exam and physical.  

Then we dropped off a bag at the Goodwill (I've been keeping a bag in my trunk for Goodwill items, and when it's full, we drop it off).  Not rocket science or anything, but I really love this system.  That way the Goodwill stuff isn't cluttering up the house.

Then we had a nice leisurly breakfast at Weck's.  Then we headed to Home Depot to return a doorknob for my mother-in-law (long story).  Then to Best Buy, then Hastings, then back to the vet to pick up Max.  

After we got home (around noon) we had some cheese and crackers for a snack and I completely cleaned out and organized our kitchen cabinets.  I conveniently only took a couple of  'after' pictures.

Then I decided to blog, which I am doing right now from my iPad.  I'm not sure what I'll do next.  I may do some laundry.  I may watch a movie.  We're in for the rest of the day and night, so I have plenty of options.  

It should be a fairly quiet night because we live in a neighborhood of mostly retired people.  I haven't heard a single firecracker in the past week and none today so far.  

This post doesn't really have a point except that I LOVE DAYS OFF!!!!!!

You know what the best part is?  I have tomorrow off too!!!!!

Art!

I've never really done a post about art, probably because it's taken us a while to build up our collection.

We have a little bit of everything, some originals, some prints, some very random items....I'll just share a few pieces here.

An original painting:

From World Market (I love circles):

A print of my favorite painting from the Art Institute of Chicago:

A card from Etsy with a quote from my favorite movie:

And a wooden movie poster of my favorite movie (of course):

A card from Paris:

A Super Girl print signed by the artist who painted it:

Quite the variety, right?  The comic stuff and movie stuff we hang in the office.  The rest is throughout the house, mostly the living room and the bedroom.

My whole point of this post though is that we recently got 3 new pieces of art that I wanted to share.  The first one is the anniversary gift that I got from my husband in April:

I had seen something like this in Chicago when we were there last July and I mentioned how cool it was.  He remembered and got me one!  You can pick the letters you want (they have a variety of each letter).  And each letter he picked has a special meaning.  The 'S' is for the path we're on together, the 'P' reminded him of a 'p' on a parking garage in Lincoln, Nebraska (where we first met a long time ago), the train tracks because we love traveling together, etc.  I love it!  (It spells out our last name by the way).

We hung it over the buffet in the dining room:

The next piece is really cool...unfortunately though it didn't get to stay here at home.  It now lives at my husband's office.

My husband is a huge Daredevil fan.  He likes all Marvel characters, but especially Daredevil.  Daredevil is an attorney who fights crime.  My husband is a prosecuting attorney who puts bad guys in jail.  See?  It makes sense.

He got the original artwork from a Daredevil comic book which was the pencil drawing and the inking.  It is of Matt Murdock (a.k.a. Daredevil) falling off a building.  He is clearly in his attorney get-up, but as he's falling, you can see his Daredevil suit underneath.

Sorry for the poor picture....I didn't want to take the wrapping off of the frame because he was transporting it to work.  Pencil is on the left, ink on the right (although I'm sure you could have figured that out.

Cool, huh?  He's hanging it in his office at work.

The last piece is something we got at an art fair last year while my family was here visiting.  It's my lovebirds!

This photo does it no justice at all...the coloring is so much more vibrant in 'real life'!  I hung it up in my entryway.

So that's it.  We finally got around to framing them, which was a good feeling!

I'm no art expert or anything...I just like what I like.  Whether it be Super Girl, an Eiffel Tower from Paris, or a love birds painting.  There's always something to look at our house!

The Newest Member of Our Family

Ok, so maybe it's our extended family.  This is Bella.  Well...her name is not 100% yet, but I have a feeling that will be her name.  We adopted her from the shelter for my mother-in-law.  She's wanted a dog for quite a while and when we seen this one we got that feeling.  She was the one.  

She's been at my mother-in-laws since 3:30 this afternoon.  She's been cuddled, received hundreds of kisses, eaten dinner, played outside, and inspected her new home.  She seems to like it.  She has her own bed, playpen, and many toys.

She is so loved already!!  We are glad to have another fur baby in the family.