Music Monday: Beach Boys - God Only Knows

We watched Love Actually over the weekend.  For about the millionth time.  I love that movie!  If you haven’t seen it, do yourself a favor and watch it. 

The opening scene is one of my favorite scenes ever, and I can’t watch it without getting a little teary eyed.  It’s a good cry, though.  The video is short, only a minute and 17 seconds, so I’d encourage you to watch it.

The last scene plays one of my favorite songs, Beach Boys God Only Knows.  I just love this song!

So what about you?  Have you seen Love Actually?  Did you like it?  Are you a Beach Boys fan?

Thrifty Thursday - The Decluttr Edition

One of the things I want to do this year is finally get the clutter in our house under control.   We’ve been making much more of an effort not to bring in things we don’t really need, and to get rid of things we aren’t using.

However, books are a major weakness for both of us.  Nick and I are both readers, but we don’t read the same things.  I mostly read fiction, and a few biographies.  I also have an addiction to cookbooks.  Nick mostly reads non-fiction.  He enjoys reading textbooks as well.  We’re both suckers for a good book sale, which our library has yearly.  Needless to say, the book situation in our house was getting out of control.

Movies are another weakness of ours.  When we were first together we didn’t have cable (still don’t) or any streaming service, but we did have a Blockbuster membership.  We usually bought a few movies a month.  The used ones were always pretty cheap, and we’re both homebodies.  A quiet evening on the couch with a good movie makes us both really happy.  We’d also each get several movies a year as Christmas gifts, so our movie collection has grown quite a bit.

We decided it was time to seriously cull the books and movies.  It was that or get more shelves, which we don’t really have room for.  We each went through our books and pulled out the ones we’ve read and won’t realistically read again.  We also pulled a few that had been given to us that we didn’t have much interest in reading. 

We also went through all of the movies, and grouped them by type.  We pulled the ones that we’re highly unlikely to watch again.  We pulled a few that only one of us like.  Nick got rid of a few horror movies, and I got rid of a few romantic comedy movies. 

By the time we were finished we had amassed a large pile of books and movies.  We were also able to fit the things we kept on our shelves. 

One of my coworkers is beginning to downsize, and told me about Decluttr.  It’s a site where you can sell your books, movies, CDs, and some tech gadgets online.  You can download an app to scan bar codes (I didn’t because there wasn’t room on my phone) or you can manually enter the numbers (I did that, and it’s really not hard).  The site tells you right away if it’s something they’re buying, and what they’re paying for it. 

It works kind of like reverse online shopping.  You scan or enter all of your barcodes, and it puts everything they’ll accept in a cart.  Once you’re finished with that, you process your order.  They pay the shipping, you just print out a packing list, shipping label, package it all up, and send it to them.  We opted to be paid via Paypal since I already had an account, and we received the money in less than a week both times.  We’ve done two shipments to Declutttr.  The first time we received exactly the amount quoted.  The second time we received about twenty cents less than the amount quoted due to a quality issue.  They didn’t specify which item, but I really didn’t think such a small amount was a big deal. 

Selling books and movies to Decluttr is about the fastest and easiest way we’ve found to get rid of the ones we don’t want anymore.  A few thrift stores in our area won’t take them anymore, and it’s kind of a hassle to drive around to different thrift stores dropping different things off.  I like one stop shopping, etc.  I suspect if we had been willing to invest the time we might have been able to sell at least some of the books and movies for more on Amazon or Ebay, but I didn’t really want to take the time to take and upload pictures, and create listings for dozens of books and movies.  For us the goal was more to get rid of things and reduce clutter than to make money.  We did earn enough from our Decluttr payments for dinner out, and to buy our favorite sauces from the restaurant to use at home, so that was definitely a nice perk. 

In case you’re wondering, Howard has not been deemed clutter in need of being shipped off to Decluttr.  Pictures of boxes of movies and books or bookshelves are pretty boring, so I thought I’d take this opportunity to share Howard’s latest meerkat picture with you.  I think he’s adorable in it.

So what about you?  Do the books and movies get out of control at your house?  Do you have a system in place for limiting the amount of books and movies you own?  Have you sold books and movies online?

Icy Roads, Books, and Movies

We still haven’t gotten above freezing, and our neighborhood hasn’t been scraped yet, so I’m home again today.  It’s supposed to warm up to the 40s tomorrow, so hopefully everything will be back to normal by then.

Between the cold, snow/ice, and being sick between Christmas and New Year, I’ve watched a lot of movies and TV and done a lot of reading lately.  So I thought I might share some reviews, and ask for recommendations.

Movies:

The Secret Life of Pets - This one was hugely disappointing.  We wanted to see it in the theater, but things kept coming up, so we didn’t get to.  I’m honestly glad we didn’t waste the money to see it in the theater.

From the previews we first saw it looked like it was going to be largely about all of the things the pets do when the people are away.  It looked like it was going to be funny, and really resonate with pet parents.

It turned out to be more of an “epic adventure” that didn’t really make any sense.  I realize cartoons aren’t based in reality (that’s what makes them fun), but it was just too over the top, and really not what the previews we saw lead us to expect.

Zootopia - This one was a wonderful surprise.  I’d seen a preview or two, and thought it looked like it might be good, but I wasn’t super excited about it.  It turned out to be great.  It was hilarious, and the music was excellent.

I think it’s the best cartoon I’ve seen since Inside Out.  I highly recommend both of them if you haven’t already seen them.

Pollyanna - This is one of my absolute most favorite movies.  Ever. My obsession with Pollyanna has been going strong for 30 years, and isn’t going away.  It’s a happy, feel-good movie about looking for the good things in life and the power of friendship.

I watched it as 2017 rang in because I wanted something positive and happy to start the new year off with, and Pollyanna absolutely fit the bill.

TV (Technically Netflix, but TV shows, so I’m counting it as TV):

Criminal Minds - I realize this one has been around for a long time, but I didn’t watch it when it first aired.  I started watching it on Netflix a couple of years ago, and finally finished all of the seasons that are on Netflix.

I like the characters, and I enjoy crime/mystery shows, so I really like this one.  Honestly, I’ve scared the daylights out of myself with it a few times when I’ve binge watched while Nick has been working nights.  It seems like that’s always when the episodes feature women home alone getting murdered.

Even though it creeps me out sometimes I still enjoy it, and am looking forward to whenever the next season is available on Netflix.

Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries - This series is excellent.  It features Phryne Fisher, a lady detective in 1920's Australia.  The mysteries are intriguing, the characters are great, the dresses she wears are gorgeous, and don’t even get me started on the shoes.  It also has some really great music.

There’s an ongoing mystery through most of the first season, as well as the smaller mysteries that are typically resolved within an episode.  There’s also a little romance.  There are enough storylines to keep it interesting, but not so many that it just feels like they couldn’t decide what kind of series they wanted to make.  I highly recommend this one!

Books:

Thrice the Brinded Cat Hath Mew’d by Alan Bradley - This is the eighth book in Alan Bradley’s Flavia de Luce series.  Flavia is a young amateur sleuth with a passion for chemistry in a small village in post World War II England.  She comes from a once wealthy family and lives on a declining estate with her two older sisters, father who’s dealing with PTSD from the war, and a couple of household servants.  She spends her days conducting chemical experiments and solving crimes.

I love this series!  Quite honestly, I had no interest in reading it when I first heard about it.  I thought it wasn’t something I’d enjoy.  I’m not a kid person (Flavia is 11 years old in the first book), and I have zero interest in chemistry.  It didn’t seem like my kind of book.

One of my co-workers basically forced me to borrow the first book, The Sweetness At The Bottom Of The Pie, and I had every intention of giving it back without reading it.  She kept bugging me about it, though, so I started reading it on a Sunday night. I had the plan of forcing myself though the first two or three chapters and then returning it on Monday morning, telling her I’d tried, but just couldn’t get into it.  I ended up staying up until 2:00 in the morning reading half of the book.  I’ve been hooked ever since then.

I’ve given all of the books five stars, and the most recent one has lived up to the standard set in the rest of the series.  I do recommend reading them in order.  There are a lot of what would be spoilers in Thrice the Brinded Cat Hath Mew’d if you haven’t read the rest of the series.

The Scent of Rain and Lightning by Nancy Pickard - I first discovered Nancy Pickard in a bargain bin at a used bookstore when I stumbled across The Whole Truth.  It was excellent, and I’m currently reading the third book in that series, The Truth Hurts.

She has also written a few stand alone books, which is what The Scent of Rain and Lightning is.  It’s a mystery that takes place partly in modern day and partly in the 80s.  

It is extremely well written, there are some great plot twists, and she does a great job jumping between times.  It’s smooth, but doesn’t leave you going back a few pages to figure out which time frame you’re currently in.

I highly recommend this one, and I’m planning to read all of her books now.  I’ve loved all three of the ones I’ve read, and am really enjoying the one I’m currently reading.

So what about you?  Have you read or watched anything good lately?  Anything you’d recommend as a must?  Or anything you’d recommend not wasting time on?

The Five Best Halloween Movies

I actually meant to write this post earlier in the month, but as usual, time got away from me. Nick and I like to start breaking out the Halloween movies (and candy) in the weeks leading up to Halloween, it’s sort of our fall tradition to have a Halloween movie marathon weekend with chili and candy. 

I’ll go ahead and admit that I’m a total chicken when it comes to scary movies (or scary anything for that matter), so most of my picks are on the lighter, funnier, quirkier side.  If you’re looking for hardcore, scary, gory Halloween movies, I am not the person to ask.  So here are my five favorite Halloween movies:

Arsenic & Old Lace - This one is one of my all-time favorite movies!  It features Cary Grant, crazy family members, and Halloween.  It just doesn’t get much better than that.  It also has one of my all-time favorite movie lines, “Insanity runs in my family.  It practically gallops.”  If you only watch one Halloween movie this year, I highly recommend making it this one.

Hocus Pocus – This one is just funny and cute.  It’s usually what we watch on Halloween night. It’s kid friendly, so fine to have on when trick-or-treaters come to the door.  We both grew up watching this one.  I suspect it is most loved by people who were kids in the 90s.

House of Wax - I hadn’t heard of this one until a few years ago when my husband convinced me to watch it.  It has Vincent Price and is creepy without being too scary.  It’s a great one for a late night Halloween movie marathon.

Edward Scissorhands – This one actually really scared me the first time I saw it as a kid, (I told you I was a chicken!), and I refused to watch it again for several years.  But it has Johnny Depp, and you can only resist Johnny Depp for so long, so I gave it another try a few years ago.  I love it.  It also has Winona Ryder, who I think is an incredible actress.

It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown – Can you really have a list of Halloween movies without this one on it?  It’s timeless, and one you’re never too old for.  It just seems to have come to mean the beginning of the fall season, and that Halloween is coming soon. 

So what about you?  What are your favorite Halloween movies?  Do you prefer scary or cute and light?