Stupid Computer

{Nicky}

My computer is on the fritz. I think. It's acting strangely and slowly, and I can't upload any photos right now...boo. And Jacky is so cute, with his new haircut!!

Meanwhile, Scott's home now every 4th day. Which is better than nothing, so we're happy with that! And then next Friday, we'll load up the kids and head to Ohio to meet Mom and Dad and Leslie, and make the transfer!!

Good times coming up!!

Does Anyone Else Remember...

{Nicky}

...disposable income?? It seems all of ours is rapidly disappearing into gas tanks and larger grocery bills.

Also, I hate headaches. Especially ones that linger the whole damned day. I thought I could shake it with a nap, and might have, if I hadn't woken myself up with an extreme coughing fit. As I lay gasping for breath, I realized that not only was my headache back, it was stronger.

Ugh.

Unpredictability

{Nicky}

We were lucky this weekend. Scott's schedule on the ship had changed dramatically, and for the worse, but we were able to score a whole weekend together to take care of things around the house. Our garage sale went well, and we cleared out a lot of "stuff", so that was great. We also got Jacky's hair cut, and saw The Incredible Hulk.

And then it was Monday. And Scott was ordered, along with the rest of his department, to move onto the ship. For an undetermined length of time. And once again, we stumble into the Navy's world of no solid plans, and unpredictable days.

So I'm plugging along. Work, home, work, home. Thank God for my friend Gabbie, and her son Andrew. Her husband is deployed overseas right now, and once more, we find ourselves in the same pea pod. Without her, I think I'd go crazy, because things around here just seem crazy lately! My kids at school are off the wall...wild, emotional, and yeah, they're four, so most of it's within reason, but it's getting a little extreme. Is it a summertime buzz? Is it all the smoke from the North Carolina wildfires? I don't know. I just know that my day is spent consoling hurt feelings ("You are pretty, no matter what anyone else says...") and handling booboos ("No, Honey, you don't need a band aid...no, that's not blood, in fact, I can't even see your owie..."). Oy. The trials and tribulations of a four-year-old.

Well, when I get the emotional energy, I'll post some pics of Jacky's haircut. In case you're dying to see it! :-)

Don't Mess With...

{Scott}

Before I get into the review, I've got a few matters to address. I want to quell anyone's fears about the lumps that Nicky mentioned a few posts ago. We visited the clinic last week, and her Primary Care Manager (a verbose, dissembling painful phrase if ever there was one...just call it a doctor!...and yes, I know he's a physician's assistant, but for our purposes, he's close enough) identified them as swollen lymph nodes. Nothing to worry about, he said, and all a normal part of Nicky's getting better. He also prescribed antibiotics to speed the process. Hopefully she'll be fiddle-fit soon.

Also, I'd like to invite everyone to join me in congratulating Nicky. For those who haven't heard, she's been chosen to publish a short work of hers in the upcoming Cup of Comfort for Military Families. I won't spoil it, but she writes about some of her feelings and experiences as a (still relatively new) military wife. I hope everyone gets the chance to read it. She's talented!

On to the Zohan!

In the months before I went on my last deployment, I attended Arab Sensitivity Training: a two day class about Islam, the Arab world, and Arab culture, psychology and politics. After seeing You Don't Mess With the Zohan, I realized that I'd wasted sixteen hours of my life. Everything you need to know about the Palestinian and Israeli cultures, including how to solve the centuries of conflict between them, is found in this film, tied up in a Star of David spangled bow.

Mossad agent and legendary defender of Israel Zohan Dvir (Adam Sandler), vacationing on a Mediterranean beach, is recalled to duty. The Phantom (John Turturro), a deadly and elusive Palestinian terrorist, has surfaced, and only the Zohan can recapture him. A one-man wrecking squad, Zohan plows through Phantom's defenders, and faces the terrorist in single combat. At the peak of battle, though, Zohan fakes his own death, moving to New York to pursue his true dream: "to cut and style hair". Unable to find work at his dream employer, Paul Mitchell, he takes a job in a struggling salon owned by a Palestinian (Emmanuelle Chriqui). A beautiful, single Palestinian, of course. Chaos ensues when the Zohan, supplementing his styling income with a little "somethin-somethin", is recognized by a Palestinian immigrant (Rob Schneider).

The good stuff:
- Adam Sandler. Don't let the previews...or big chunks of the film...fool you. This is one of Adam Sandler's most restrained performances. There's nary a Happy-Gilmore/Billy-Madison-esque bellow in sight, and Zohan is definitely a role that could have been taken over the top. It's somewhere between the understated, non-explosive part of his role in Spanglish and his slightly out of step with the world take in The Waterboy. His compelling boyishness works its way though the Paul-Mitchell feathered hair, and that almost always works for him.
- Some of the cameos work very well, particularly Dave Matthews as a redneck, everything-hating gangster enforcer. He's not on screen very much, but he's damn funny. Lainie Kazan also looks like she's having a blast.

The not-quite-as-good stuff:
- What initially attracted me to the film was the concept, the idea of a superspy giving it all up to pursue an oddball dream, since the trailer wasn't all that strong. Unfortunately, the concept was the most innovative thing. Zohan combined the most current-events-driven Romeo-and-Juliet relationship (Israeli boy + Palestinian girl = comedy and dramatic gold) with the "save the community center" plot, which was already overused 30 years ago. The conclusion, involving a never-before-established ancient Israeli-Palestinian chant? just lies there.
- I also didn't really buy Zohan's motivation to fake his death. Nothing precipitates it; he wants to be a hairdresser, but other than a not-very-compelling couple of lines about being tired, he doesn't want to not be Mossad, and his faked death is too significant to not have an event to drive it. Did he lose a compatriot? Did this near-superhero have a brush with death? A lost love back in town reminding him of a childhood dream? We don't know. It's almost as though James Bond suddenly left Casino Royale to become a roofer. There would have to be a very good reason.
- The main villain of the film, urban developer and shopping mall-builder Walbridge, is played by Michael Buffer. Who is Michael Buffer, you ask? This guy. He's got a very specific skill that he's very good at, but that skill isn't, I'm afraid, playing main villains in films. He's not terrible, but the role could have been filled better by several other Sandler-verse actors.
- Some of the jokes go on just a little too long, and hummus, I'm looking at you. Yes, I get it. Israelis like hummus. On chocolate. For teeth-brushing. As a firefighting agent. Yep, just a bit much.

As usual when I look at comedies, I ask one basic question: did it make me laugh? In that sense, You Don't Mess with the Zohan was at least somewhat successful. Some of the jokes wore out their welcome, but there were enough that hit to keep my interest, as did Adam Sandler's engaging charm. I recommend it, not emphatically, but it made for an entertaining Friday night.

Oh, and in a totally unrelated matter, I undercalculated my working hours on our new schedule, and reported so to Nicky. It will actually be 126 hours per week.

Just Another Navy Gift...

{Nicky}

In all their gracious glory, the Navy gifted Scott with work hours this weekend, rendering our day (yes, singular) that we had planned together shot. This week, he also starts a new schedule, which puts him on two days in a row of duty, then training, then a day off. He calculated out his rate of pay with all those hours on the ship, and it came out to a $1.89 more than I make an hour. And believe me when I say, I don't make a lot an hour. How sad.

So this weekend I've been cleaning, and attempting to price items for our rummage sale next weekend. (Which Scott may not be able to help with now--lucky him--but at least my good friend Gabbie will be there.) I've also been preparing for my first set of conferences at the school this week. Hopefully those will go well, too.

Otherwise, it's been hot here. We're averaging about 97 degrees a day. Ugh.

Our Giant Dog and Other Events as of Late

{Nicky}

Although you might not believe it, Scott and I do stay busy with other things than movies. We love our movies, don't get me wrong, but from time to time, we manage to squeeze a few other items into a day.

For example: This weekend, I gained my re-certification for infant, child and adult CPR, while Scott had duty. Then, the following day, we took Dixie to PetSmart for her seasonal haircut. It's been warm here (high 80s to 90s), and her baby-bear-cub look wasn't doing much for her in this heat. In an effort to not get slammed with a $100 grooming bill each time the dogs need a cut (Jacky's getting a little scruffy, too) we decided to alternate groomings for the dogs, so Dixie goes, then Jackson in a couple weeks. We felt pretty smart about that. Until we realized we had to buy (in addition to Dixie's Day at the Salon) a large bag of puppy food, a large bag of dog food, and a medium bag of cat food. I swear...PetSmart stays in business simply due to our needs.

At any rate, we picked up our Dogter later that day, and were so pleased with how sleek and lovely she looked! Then we brought her home, where she was more than enthusiastically greeted by her brother. Who suddenly, next to our newly shaven, slim almost-six-year-old, looked huge. I mean, it's no big secret that Jackson's going to be a big boy, but DAMN. The dog is only 8 months old, and he looks as big, if not bigger, than she is! He is all muscle, too. When we walk him, the power that he puts on that leash...let's just say, he could be his own dog sled team! The funniest thing is, is that we don't think he's done growing yet!He's a moose. That for sure! But he's so sweet...his nature is really very kind and playful. And while we do have a trim planned for him in the near future, I love the way his fur flips and curls on his back!

Anyway, having taken care of the above errands, we began our work week. Scott and I both had yesterday off, to take another trip to D.C. for some medical tests. (And, we were able to score Chipotle and cupcakes from a store called CakeLove!) All is well. Although, I did discover two lumps in my lower neck this week. I'm going in for those tomorrow. Luckily, the appt. is actually here in town.

Beyond that, I am going to be driving to Ohio on 4th of July to meet my mom and my sister. Mom and Leslie will be taking the puppies for us for a bit. Supposedly, to help us out as we traverse back and forth from D.C. and get our home ready to sell, but in reality, it's just a scam for Mom and Dad to coddle their grandpuppies for awhile!

And we're more than happy to oblige!