A Day at the Movies

Two and a half years ago when I stopped homeschooling Ashley and sent her to a bricks and mortar school I made a mental list of all the ways I could spend my new found free time. I would clean out every closet, volunteer, make amazing meals every day, bake lots of homemade treats, and check out all the new releases at the matinees.

I'm not Donna Reed or June Cleaver, but most nights I do make a home cooked meal, and sometimes I even bake treats (last week I made Scotch Bars for Don's birthday). As many of you know, I do volunteer, sometimes too much. My closets still need to be cleaned, though. Until yesterday, I did not see a single matinee.

Yesterday my running buddy, Sharon, emailed me to see if I wanted to see "The Impossible" with her. She is on a quest to see all the major Oscar nominations before the awards ceremony next month. My first inclination was to say no. I had a to do list a mile long. The kitty was at the vet being spayed. The usual Monday chores (groceries, laundry). A 45-minute run was on my training schedule and the forecast called for temps in the 50s, even though it is January. 

As I was mentally listing my reasons no, I remembered this simple desire I made to myself. The wish to see more movies. Plus another goal to say yes to new adventures.

There are a lot of movies styles I don't care for -- psychological thrillers top that list. I quickly Googled the movie, decided it was one I would enjoy seeing, plus I would go with a friend. Why not?!

The run happened. The groceries were purchased after the movie. The kitty was picked up after the groceries. Lunch was eaten two hours late (probably should have picked up a sandwich from Wegmans while I was there to eat on the drive to the kitty clinic, but was feeling indecisive). The to list was pushed off to today. Alls good.

As for the movie, I enjoyed it. I was enthralled by their adventure, even though I was quite certain they all lived until the end. Some parts of it would have been deemed as contrived had they not been part of their true story. 

My take away was "buy trip insurance in case the horrendous happens." 

I wondered what happened to the lives of the family post-movie. A Google search (yes, as a trained librarian I should be able to use a source better than Google) brought up two good articles:

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/woman/real_life/4727569/boxing-day-tsunami-maria-alvarez-the-impossible.html

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/real-life-stories/real-story-behind-the-impossible-miracle-1519067

As a warning, the first article will spoil the movie if you plan to see it.

Today's lesson: when a friend invites you to do something fun, say yes and worry about the details later.

One last thought -- the first showing of movies is only $6 at the local megaplex in Hamilton.