Best Money EVER Spent on a Movie Ticket

Movie theaters aren't plentiful around here in the Dartmouth bubble. Nor are they even close to the gargantuan multi-plex theaters that have become the modern way to watch movies on the big screen.

• In Hanover, there's one adoringly called The Nugget. What I love most about it is the old "since 1916" marquee out front and the gelato shop next door. Other than that, the theater experience is so-so. For a college theater, it's surprisingly small. Boy and I saw the final Harry Potter film over there and the second installment of Sherlock Holmes.
• Over in Lebanon, there's another one: small, cramped, and ever the slightest incline for a viewing audience. I sat in a row of tightly-spaced seats with some friends to watch The Hunger Games.

So, last month, it was time for another date night. Boy was just itching to see The Avengers and was consistently relentless in asking when we were going to see it. We drove about 25 minutes to try out the Woodstock Town Hall Theater--supposedly the best movie theater experience in the valley.

[source]

First, I adore Woodstock. It's charming in every way. The theater is inside of a gorgeous white building right off the town green. Its marquee sits at the base of the stairs with a hand-written movie title--the fact that somebody took time with a black sharpie to etch out The Avengers makes the movie experience that much more epic. Inside, there's a man at the ticket booth who collects your cash and presents you with your green ticket stub. The raffle ticket type--so cute.

What's a movie without a bowl of freshly popped popcorn? Exactly. We hit the jackpot when it comes to movie theater popcorn. They serve theirs with maple syrup drizzled all over it. Oh. My. Word. For the maple haters, don't you dare diss it. I tell ya, this popcorn experience is the whole kit and caboodle.

The seating auditorium was spacious and the big screen was positioned on a stage. No giant heads in the way, no crazy smells (just the heavenly maple syrup popcorn), no claustrophobia, no sticky floors...

We're totally coming back. 

I still miss stadium seating and the extra space to straighten out my legs, but in the meantime, timeless old-time theaters are more than okay with me.

Danish Dessert

I had one of those raw awful days that called for some emotional eating.

Sometimes crying isn't cathartic enough.

So, I pulled out a little white and red box.

I boiled a pot of water...emptied its contents...added berries.

I poured it atop a freshly baked cake slathered with creamy whipped cream cheese.

And I ate it.

Crumb by crumb.

With some help from a most willing Boy.

The calories were worth every bite.

Even though it took about two days of vigorous running to run off my cake gut.

But I still have a gut...it's called having children.

I have dreadful stomach-tightening genetics.

Thank goodness for the berries though. Antioxidants are like magic.

The End.

According to Finn

According to him, shoes are optional.

According to him, ambulances and fire trucks make completely different sounds.

According to him, candy is a treat--but donuts are a food.

According to him, he doesn't eat baby carrots because, well, he's not a baby.

According to him, he gets "tummy bubbles" when he's really hungry.

According to him, jam is the one and only true condiment for sandwiches.

According to him, the churches around here have the letter t on top.

According to him, if somebody asks where he lives, he will answer "Earth."

According to him, bugs have germs only if they're inside the house.

According to him, he's three years old, his sister is almost two, his dad is twenty, and his mom is four.

According to him, he is pretty darn smart.

Canoeing the Connecticut

Gliding through water.
Floating past strands of lily pads.
Listening to the watery silence of the New England wilderness.
Smelling the dank thickness of verdant trees growing along the banks. 
Cupping my little girl's long, twig-like fingers that lay curled in my hands.
Watching my son peering over the side of the canoe and tracing the water's edge.
Witnessing teenage boys leaping off the old railroad bridge and into the sparkling blue.
Smiling at my handsome man deftly paddling our family on a perfectly sunny July morning.

We ended a perfect morning on the river with a perfect breakfast at Lou's--home of the best buttermilk pancakes in thee universe. Thank you, Ledyard Canoe Club of Dartmouth College. We are hooked. Maybe I'm crazy, but I want a canoe for my next birthday. For Christmas, I want snow shoes. But we'll talk about that another day; I've been bitten by the bug of the Great Outdoors.

Aside from the greatness of beauty that divides the lands of Vermont and New Hampshire, I do think that I should be a candidate of eyelash implants. Lesson that should have been learned by now: au naturel eyes is a serious transgression for my stubby lashes. Vain and wishful thinking, so be it.  

Day of Liberty

chimerical /ki-MER-i-kuhl/, adjective:

1. unreal, imaginary, visionary.
2. wildly fanciful, highly unrealistic.

used in a sentence:
"To suppose that any form of government will secure liberty or happiness without any virtue in the people, is a chimerical idea."
--James Madison
(speech at the Virginia Convention, June 20, 1788, emphasis added)

Virtue is an attribute--if not the attribute--that built our nation. It is our moral compass. Every successful society should be measured by it. History has proved that without virtue in the people, civilizations slipped into a decay.

virtue /vir-choo/, noun:

1. moral excellence; goodness; righteousness 
2. conformity of one's life and conduct to moral and ethical principles; uprightness; rectitude.

I know of at least one ancestor of mine who fought in the Revolutionary War--the war that ended with the birth of this free nation. He was born right here in New Hampshire and I remembered him today as well as all other virtuous men and women who have contributed to the pursuit of freedom. 


Virtue is a principle I am trying to instill to my children. It requires constant vigilance, no doubt.

Happy 4th of July.
God bless America. 

Summer Treats

Rising summer temperatures summon some of the fine things in life:

toe treats ($2!/Gap Outlet)

feet are so ugly...especially mine

and cold treats.

I feel like each of us have already eaten our weight in popsicles and ice cream. The longer the heat stays, the more creative we are in keeping ourselves cool.

Hello, summer. And hello, July.