School is in session

I know it's been a while. I should write something. But I'm just too dern tired!!!

Ah, the movies

I am currently watching movie #74. One I've had on my shelf and for some reason never watched. So far, I'm wondering why I even bought it. Well, actually, I know. It's got baseball in it! #75 will be Schindler's List later. And then I'm done. Not that I'll never watch another movie, but the summer project, and summer, is over.

Of these 75 movies, few stand out. I don't have a favorite or one I'd watch over and over. Several were pretty good: Act of Valor, This Means War, 50/50, Killers. All for different reasons, from various genres. They're the ones I can actually remember most of, and would recommend.

In this quest, I spent less than $20 if you don't count the popcorn for #73. $8 for one month of Netflix (one month was free). $1.20 for one Redbox rental (it was early in the summer and I didn't have a system down). $1.25 for late fees on 2 movies at the library. $7 for the one movie in the theater. $17.25 total! I used the public library (yay for their reservation system on line!), a free month of unlimited in-store rentals at Blockbuster, and borrowed one from a friend.

I started the summer planning on a movie every weekday. Then was enjoying it and it became everyday. I did take some days off, but would watch 2 the day before or after. A couple days I watched 2 just because, or because they were due at the library :) I ended up skipping the entire week my dad was here - we had other things to be doing!! The olympics through a kink in but I started watching the movie on my computer with the TV on mute and I'd pause for any exciting competition. It worked. After my dad left I wasn't sure I wanted to seriously "catch up" so I decided to get to 75. It is just about one movie a day for the entire summer. Sad that summer is only 75 days long!!

I must thank my friend Leslie for watching several with me, and also her hubby Quinn, and our friend Becky for also joining me on occasion.

Before I started this project, I didn't particularly like watching movies. I could watch an entire season of CSI or something without hardly moving, but a movie tested my attention span. I'll say I wasn't always 100% into every movie I watched this summer, but I am definitely a "movie watcher" now!! Free, on DVD :)

All in all, it was a fun little project. I would definitely do it again!

Wilton

Today I lost a friend. Wilton was 90 years old. He was Texan to the core. These two things meant we didn't always see eye to eye. Not that I ever told him that. I didn't always laugh at his jokes, because they were offensive, but I smiled because I knew he was just being Wilton. He and his wife Dorothy celebrated 65 years of marriage before she passed in 2008. Dorothy was a school teacher and her paddle still hung on the wall of their home. They were an old school couple who grew up in a different era and I loved them both so much. Dorothy tried to fix me up with both of her grandsons. Bobby passed away very unexpectedly in 2009 and Tex will be married in September. But I sure did appreciate the fact that she and Wilton wanted me to be a part of their family.

Just this past week, I wrote Wilton a note to tell him I had heard he was sick. I told him how glad I was that he was my friend. I am truly blessed to have had Wilton, and Dorothy, in my life. If nothing else, the love that they showed for each other, even after 65 years, was enough to make me keep looking for my forever love. I didn't put that in the note to Wilton. I didn't have any stamps and so never mailed it. I'd like to think he knew how many lives he blessed. But I still felt like I needed to get it out there for someone to read. It's a selfish part of the grieving process.

So, thank you Wilton, for the love and laughter. You will be missed.