Priceless

Matinee tickets for three: $17

Meduim Popcorn: $4

Kids first experience in a movie theater: priceless

Ok, so I'll admit I'm stealing from a tv commercial here. Anyway, I had been seeing the previews for Narnia for weeks and told my kids I wanted them to see it with me. I especially wanted to see it because I had recently read the book (#2 of 7 in the series.) M wanted to go but V did not - until this weekend.

In her computer lab at school last week, she played some sort of game involving Narnia and liked it. So when the kids came over this weekend the first thing V said to me was that she now wanted to go see Narnia in the movie theater with me. Kewl.

So we went to the movies instead of going to church. I know, my bad. This was their first time actually going to a movie theater. I thought they'd like the movie, but wasn't sure if they would be able to sit through the whole thing without needing a snack break or to use the bathroom.

I made sure they went to the restroom before we left for the theater and they tried again once we got there, before the movie started. This because I warned them that I was not going to get up during the movie to take them to the restroom. If they needed to go *during* the movie, that they would have to hold it until the end, when we would ALL use the bathroom. To aid in matters, I only bought popcorn for them - no drinks. M and I demolished the popcorn before the previews even started. I offered some to V several times but she didn't want any. I of course, snuck in a soda for myself, knowing I could hold it if need be. As soon as I opened the can my daughter noticed and commented. Life is unfair sometimes.

The movie was excellent and I highly recommend it. Definitely needs to be seen on the big screen, though. The special effects were excellent. I think they did a great job staying true to the book. I don't think they added much, if anything. If you haven't read the book or are generally unfamiliar with the story, I don't want to spoil it for you. So I'm not going to give away any plot details here. I think they did an excellent casting job for the most part, though I would have chosen another actress other than Tilda Swinton to play the white witch Jadis. She wasn't bad in the part, just not as wickedly beautiful as the books make her out to be.

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Getting the weekend off to a good start was the Patriots winning on Saturday, dominating Tampa Bay 28-0. They won the AFC East and ensured themselves of a home playoff game on the weekend of January 7-8, 2006. Two more games to go in the regular season, then the title defense begins in earnest. Don't underestimate the champs, my friends. That's all I can tell you.

By virtue of the results of this weekends games, the Patriots opponents for 2006 are set.

HOME: Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins, New York Jets, Indianapolis Colts, Houston Texans, Denver Broncos, Detroit Lions and Chicago Bears.

AWAY: Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins, New York Jets, Tennessee Titans, Jacksonville Jaguars, Cincinnati Bengals, Minnesota Vikings and Green Bay Packers.