The Superficial Update

Our blogging here on Team Redd has been sporadic as of late. I apologize, since I've had a million things I've wanted to blog about, and have even started about 5 posts, but somehow I just haven't gotten around to it in all the busyness. I'll get to those, soon, I hope. In the meantime, here is a roundup of what's going on with us...

We're going to be a CARES Team again beginning July 1st! We're excited about being more intentionally involved in an apartment community again, we have a dear friend as our Area Director, and we'll still be within 5 miles of our church, although that does mean...

We'll actually be moving! It'll be the first time we've moved in 6 years and the first time we've moved together since we've been married. We've got a lot to do! Even though we'll be moving up to a 3 bedroom (yay! An actual office that isn't in the same room as Jacob's crib!), I'm working on clearing out all the stuff we've accumulated, but that's easier said than done. (Do you have to have an actual yard to have a yard sale? Could I have a "parking lot" sale?) Oh, well. I'll probably just donate/give away most things and take the baby stuff to a consignment shop. Anyone want a broken laminate bookshelf that's been sitting on our porch for 6 months? The freecyclers didn't want it either. Sigh.

Yesterday, Jacob actually stood up on his own, without holding on to anything! If I can ever capture this with photographic evidence, I will share, I promise. Who knows when he will actually walk, but this is a great first sign!

We celebrated Cinco de Mayo by going on a lunch date yesterday. Thanks to Gaines' efforts at work his company had given him a gift card so we enjoyed a free meal at On the Border (Ole!) plus some cheap-as-free book browsing at Barnes and Noble. We never usually make such a big deal out of Mexican Independance day, but we figured, hey, Gaines was home from work due to some office remodeling, and a friend owed us some babysitting time, so we might as well jump at the chance to go...it was fun to have some us time. I continued the theme by enjoying ice cream with cinnamon and chocolate sauce for dessert last night while Gaines was in class. Mmmmm.

In recent movie viewing, we watched Cloverfield last weekend. Our waiter yesterday randomly struck up a conversation with us about it. Seriously. He just walked up to us while we were enjoying our chips and salsa and said "Have you guys seen Cloverfield?" Just like that. He was from NY, and said it reminded him of 9/11, and I guess he just wanted to talk about it. Anyway, Gaines thought it was a good thing we watched the movie at home instead of the theater, because the shaky cam could be distracting. I, however, really got into the story that way and felt it was a cool method of connecting with the characters. Of course, that other shaky cam movie about being lost in the woods didn't bother me, either. We both really appreciated JJ Abrams' storytelling and perspective, but thought the execution could have been a bit better. I mean, was that monster really supposed to be as iconic for Americans as Godzilla? What were those creature guys thinking?! A giant lizard, a giant gorilla...the one thing those two have in common is that they are large versions of creatures we already know and love! Giant insects, overgrown dinosaurs...those are scary! But some weird amorphous CGI alien-like being from the depths? Not so much.

On Saturday evening, we finally watched Juno. I loved it, Gaines thought it was okay. The story, the characters, the soundtrack--all quirky and delightful. I cried when Jennifer Garner's character held her child for the first time. Sometimes, though, I was so into the music I wasn't paying as much attention to the film, so in that way the soundtrack was a bit distracting. I think it deserves multiple viewings, so I would love to own a copy (hint, hint).

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