memory game

this weekend i took hubbie back to the first b&b we had ever gone to 7 years ago as a valentine's gift.  it is now under new ownership but i booked us in the same private carriage house we had stayed in previously.  despite the updates and improvements to the decor, it was immediately familiar and nice to go back after all these years.

in the spirit of reminiscing, hubbie suggested that we do the same thing we had done after our first visit to the inn.  i couldn't remember what that had been, so he reminded me that we had gone to see a movie on our way home.  (it's funny -- on friday i was chatting with a coworker and she shared this one random memory she had of her parents, wondering aloud why, out of all the things she could have remembered about them, that particular moment was so vivid.  i said i thought that memories are like that; we don't really choose them, they kind of choose us -- if that makes any sense).

and so on our way home, hubbie and i stopped at a movie and he even agreed to my pick: the vow.  it's a movie inspired by the true events of a real-life couple named kim and krickitt carpenter who, after less than 10 weeks of marriage, barely survived a terrible car accident.  the wife, portrayed by rachel mcadams, suffered severe head trauma and woke up with no recollection of her husband and the years they had shared.  in real life, krickitt carpenter never regained her memory and her and kim are still married with 2 children.  it's an amazing testament to love and the sanctity of marriage.  i can't even begin to imagine what it would be like to forget all the little things my husband and i built up as a couple -- our inside jokes, the way we can communicate without speaking, the things we've learned and shared with each other.  those are all the things that tie us together, that make the vows we took on our wedding day even stronger.  so i could see how difficult it would be to lose all that and have to essentially start over again.

there was one part of the movie i especially liked.  the husband, played by channing tatum, asks his wife out on a "first" date and brings her on a retrospective tour of their actual first date, convincing her to agree to it by comparing it to reading a favorite book again.  afterwards, he tells his friends that the date went even better than the first time around. 

coincidentally, it reminded me of this weekend.

subterranean

just yesterday, i was musing about holding onto your childhood which, in a way, bled into today.  we watched super 8 tonight, a sci-fi thriller shown from the perspective of kids.  i really enjoyed that aspect of the movie.  it had a classic feel that mashed together E.T. and the goonies (both steven spielberg flicks) and had elements of lost, so i wasn't too surprised to see j.j. abrams's name in the credits.  what did surprise me was the underlying story behind the action, a very real and heartfelt portrayal of loss, healing, forgiveness, and letting go.  there may even be some symbolism in the fact that the "creature" was subterranean -- underground, hidden, just waiting to emerge.  i felt this paralleled how the main characters had been affected by their tragedy and how they were forced to face it.  i didn't expect the movie to scratch below the surface like that and provide depth and emotion, but it was a welcome surprise.  two thumbs up!

before dawn

tonight i'm going to the midnight showing of breaking dawn - part 1 with the tripod!  then i'm seeing the movie again with my twilight club from work tomorrow.  it's going to be a fun 24 hours with good company, pre- and post-movie discussions, and lots of giggles.  i'm sure of this because the entire twilight franchise is one huge cheeseball, but i don't care.  the days leading up to this night have been filled with merciless teasing which has only progressively gotten worse because i simply can not contain my excitement.  i finished the series almost 3 years ago, so today has been a long time coming.  i would rank breaking dawn as my least favorite of the books (since it felt like the semi-belieavable story quickly went off the deep end), but again, i don't care.  and i don't think any of us "twihards" do.

well, so much for trying to sneak a nap in.  off to the movie!