It’s the middle of Spring Break and I made a four day weekend for this weekend. Go me! This means that I might post this on Monday because it’s already Sunday evening as I start this. ๐
Project Hail Mary – Of course I had to see this movie. Biggest reason – RYAN GOSLING. When I found out about it, I decided to read the book before seeing the movie. I ended up reading half of the book then finishing via the audiobook. I liked the book and I liked knowing a bit about the story going into the movie.
The movie was very good. I enjoyed it very much. Ryan was fantastic, of course, and he got me teary eyed at least two times. This is how I know he’s amazing and that the movie is so good. When a movie can squeeze your heart one minute and make you chuckle at another, that’s a good thing… I read that a lot of the set was practical and I think it made a difference. The movie felt real and tactile. Practical effects are the way to go, IMO. You’re not looking for digital artifacts or seeing glitches… I would absolutely recommend PHM. Everyone should see it. And that’s not just me saying that as a Ryan fan! ๐
How does it fare as an adaptation of the book? I think they did a fine job of it. They chose well in how they trimmed the story and made the science easier to understand. (The book was quite science-y, which I loved but it also had me cross eyed at times.) Ryland Grace was smart but very human and even with the book, I got teary eyed a few times. Ryan did a fantastic job of bringing him to life. Since I went into the book knowing who he was playing, I got to imagine him as the character. The audiobook had different voice than the one I had in my head when I started reading the book but I got over it after awhile. Read the book or listen to it, the story is a treat either way!
And it’s now Monday! I have the house fan on so that I don’t have to turn on the a/c until the hopefully late afternoon. We shall see how it goes! Also, how long should I run the house fan? These are things I need to learn. (I got up and turned off the fan but am keeping two windows open for now.)
Earlier this week was St. Patrick’s Day! I will use any reason to wear green and this time I busted out my Ireland shirt, which I of course bought in Ireland.
It was a good day at work. Nothing too exciting happened. I just went through the transfers on my desk and all of that. After work, we went to 311 Oak St Pub, where they had the corned beef dinner. It was very good, especially paired with a Jameson and ginger. After our meal, we headed for Hop Asylum where I had a proper (Imperial) pint of Guinness, as one does.
It was a lovely way to break up the week. I don’t mind working during break because it’s not bustling and I can get my work done with minimal distractions. I also like that the dress code is a bit more casual and I can wear jeans. Always a good thing!
Oh, and on St. Patrick’s Day, our first house gift arrived!
Thank you to the McLaughlins for the very lovely plant! It’ll the first of plants and flowers we have in the house. Once I find my vases, I plan on buying flowers at the farmers market whenever we go. Because why not, right?
After the movie on Friday, our new sectional was delivered! It’s a combination of what we both wanted – a sectional (me) with recliner (him) at each end. NICE! It’s very comfy and I’ve already taken a nap on “my” end recliner. Love it!
On Saturday we headed out to our old haunts– Modesto! Back in the early ’00s, we lived out in Salida and our “city” for shopping and restaurants was Modesto. We drove out to Vintage Faire Mall, which looked the same as the last time we were there but different from when we lived there. I ended up buying a Pop! Funko of Superman with heat vision. I just couldn’t resist.
The Johnny Carino’s is still in Modesto! It looks like it shares space (and a kitchen?) with Famous Dave’s. I had the baked cheese tortelloni and it was yummy! The bread that came out before the meal was so good. I miss have a Johnny Carino’s. We had one here in Brentwood but it has since been turned into a AAA. Alas.
Before the mall, we drove by our old house on Stillwater Drive. I didn’t take a picture but we did spend a minute or two reminiscing about living there. I really liked that house. It was tiled throughout except the primary bedroom and the middle bedroom. The laundry area was in the hallway, making it rather convenient. There was a living room and a family room and we spent the most time there. We had a nice backyard but didn’t really do much with it though I did love the Japanese maples we had. There was an above ground pool that we never used. It was taken out when we decided to sell and was replaced with grass. It looked really nice after that. We didn’t take advantage of a lot of that house’s amenities but I did love it. It was our first place with a/c and we haven’t looked back since! ๐
Driving back home from Modesto, we followed what was our old commuting path. When we lived in Salida, we worked in Concord and the commute was an hour and a half one way. So at a minimum, we drove three hours a day five days a week for work. YIKES! (My commute from Salida to Dublin was only an hour but I only drove that for a year or so.) The drive from Modesto to Brentwood looked today as it did twenty years ago or so. Time does fly.
It was nice going out to Modesto on Saturday and being in a real mall and it did awaken a bit of nostalgia. Yet as much as I liked the house there, we never made any local friends there. We didn’t hang out at any bars there and sure, we took routine trips to the mall for something to do. But we never made personal connections. A lot of it was our work schedule and maybe some of it was also wanting to spend time with our dogs. I don’t really miss much from living out there except for the house. I did like that house.
Now I’m sitting in our loft in our new house. I had let go the notion of owning a new house long ago and now here I am, living in a house that no one else has lived in. It still boggles my mind. Sometimes it doesn’t feel real yet the things in this house are our things– our bed, our dresser, our armoire, our bar. I knew that we’d have our own house again someday but I never really imagined it would be new, especially here in Brentwood, much less California. I honestly feel so very lucky. We have our own house again and we’ll be getting our steps in because it’s two stories. ๐
Now it’s time to do some unpacking. Or cleaning. Or moving stuff to other rooms. All of it! ๐
