The Notebook


My latest obsession. Wait, scratch that. My latest obsession revisited. I know that I've mentioned that my favorite author is Nicholas Sparks. His novels are a guarantee to pull at your heart strings and have you sobbing at the last page. Typical MnM style would probably keep me sobbing for a good 5-10 minutes! Sparks' other novels that made it to the big screen include "Message in a Bottle" and "A Walk To Remember." If you've seen any of these and if you're prone to busting out the kleenex (like me!), then you know how sweet and romantic these stories are. So imagine my excitement when I heard that his novel The Notebook was coming out in movie theaters!


Hubby and I went to watch it when it first came out. I have to admit, though, that I did leave the theaters a tad bit disappointed. It stuck close to the story, but of course with creative freedom of the director, it was different in its own rite. It was still good though. I knew that I had to watch it again to really feel the story and the message that it sent about love. Corny, yes I know. But you must realize, me being the HUGE Nicholas Sparks fan there is, I have read The Notebook countless times and it never fails to bring me to uncontrollable tears.


It wasn't a question of IF we'd get it. By all means, we were going to add that to our DVD collection. I watched it the other day and boy oh boy, let me tell you! My handy dandy lil' kleenex box did its job. It was definitely better watching it the second time around. Now it may not be one of those blockbuster films, but sometimes when you're in the mood for some make-you-feel-good romance or if you're in need of a good cry, this is THE movie to watch.


Of course there are so many aspects of a movie that make it so great. The story in itself is about love, pure and simple. It's something that everyone can relate to whether or not you've been in love, wondered about love, or have had your heart broken by love. The actors, too, must be able to portray the characters in a way that we'll fall in love with their story and in this case, they do. Then, take the backdrop and location of the story. In the book, it really takes place in North Carolina, but for location and filming purposes, they chose South Carolina. It's just as beautiful. Finally, there's the musical score. Since the story takes place in the 1940's, there's a lot of oldies, but goodies. And the instrumentals? Simply haunting. The selection was just right for the movie. It makes for the perfect package. So, as hubby and I were at Best Buy today, I just HAD to get the soundtrack too!


If you have yet to see it, I give it a two thumbs up. It's definitely a date movie, or like I said, it's good for those moments when you want to have a good cry. Plus, if you like the sounds of Billie Holiday and Duke Ellington, you'll enjoy the soundtrack, too. Now if you're just a book lover like myself and in need of a new novel to check out, read The Notebook. But if you do, don't forget the kleenex.


Other News


- It snowed yet again. We got about five inches I'm guessing. If you can believe it, we had almost a week of "warm" weather. Warm being high 40's, dipping into the 50's for a day or two. I accompanied hubby downtown on Sunday night to a client site and on the way home, the roads were just so slick. Hubby decided to take an earlier exit to avoid any accidents. At around 1:30am-ish, there ain't nothing but big rigs. Scary. We exited and ended up on semi-empty roads. Cool. Cool, yet slippery as hell. The snow plows had not come thru and the roads were literally untouched. In fact, the snow was coming down thick sideways and all the street signs were unreadable. Forget about seeing the lines on the road, too! As we approached a red light, I could feel hubby start to break...but the Lex wouldn't stop! We were far enough from the intersection and we also noticed a car on our left waiting its turn to go. As much as hubby tried, we had to, yes HAD to, run the light. We had no choice. The Lex wouldn't stop...thankfully, the other car didn't budge. I'm pretty sure he could see our lil' problem because as we slid through the intersection, we even skidded. Geez Louise. In all honestly, it wasn't scary. If anything, it was funny! I say this only because it happened on an almost empty road and there weren't other cars or people to run into. Thank goodness!


Well, after our long and slick ride home, we had to deal with yet another obstacle...getting into the driveway! We had to bust out the shovel and clear a path for the Lex, which btw, was not cooperating. What can I say? The Lex just wasn't built for snow. So after all of that excitement for the night, just when we thought we were done, we decided to make a snowman. Yes, two grown adults rolling huge balls of snow up and down the driveway- LOL! Not having made too many in my lifetime, I have to say, it's a lot of work! We had a bit of fun with it, adding rocks for the eyes and nose, and even wrapped my scarf and put hubby's cap on for Kodak purposes! I'll have to see if I can post the pic one of these days!