weekend wanderings

doctor: "you have beautiful teeth, but the bad teeth you have are really bad."

that's the gist of the oral surgery consult on friday. i'm scheduled to go under on tuesday, and subsequently determined to fully enjoy the weekend, as i will probably be in pain for the majority of the week.

saturday morning marked the first therapeutic riding session. as i had hoped, it was much much better than the three hour training session lara and i had been forced to endure. for one, this time i expected to be outside and prepared for the temperature. and once the kids were there, the time seemed to fly. within the 3 1/2 hour volunteer block, there are three riding sessions, so i had the opportunity to 'sidewalk' for three children, ages 3, 5, and 7. all with varying abilities and quirks. all in all it was a succesful first time out, marred by only two minor frustrations--one of the other volunteers who kept insinuating i was not doing my job correctly, yet could or would not 'lead by example'. the other was the extra time we were asked to spend recovering some of the information addressed in the training session. there had been several and lara and i were in the last, so it all seemed rather redundant. but i suppose for those who were in an earlier session, a refresher was not such a terrible thing.

at any rate, the session wiped me out a bit. it may have been in combination with the lack of sleep from the night before, but the result was a total crash. there went my saturday afternoon!

finally, i woke up, hopped in the shower, and went to meet katie for dinner. we have been trying to get together for months, and it just finally worked out that last night was the night. she is one awesome girl, and i'm so glad we were able to get caught up! after a yummy dinner, we went to see 'eight below'.

man, somebody should have warned me. if you are a dog lover, this movie is tantamount to torture. i have never been so terrified sitting through a movie. my entire body was tense, my knuckles white, and i felt a bit nauseated. worse than any horror movie i have ever seen, i nearly left several times. i simply was not capable of watching these dogs struggle (and in some cases die) without an extreme emotional reaction. don't misunderstand me. the movie was excellent. paul walker is looking good, the dogs were amazing, and the storyline flowed smoothly..if only my sensitive animal disposition had not reared it's ugly head, my review might be a little less emotional.

i couldn't get home fast enough. all i wanted to do was rub my nose in cyra's fur and shower her with kisses. and that is exactly what i did. i can't say that i will ever watch 'eight below' again, but it was extremely well done.

today i get to find out how my oscar picks will fair, and am mostly excited to see if isaac mizrahi gropes anyone on the red carpet!

laws of attraction:

eight below:

Nominee Category	Your Predictions	Actual Winners
Best Picture	CRASH
Actor in a Leading Role	Philip Seymour Hoffman - CAPOTE
Actor in a Supporting Role	Jake Gyllenhaal - BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN
Actress in a Leading Role	Felicity Huffman - TRANSAMERICA
Actress in a Supporting Role	Rachel Weisz - THE CONSTANT GARDENER
Animated Feature Film	WALLACE & GROMIT IN THE CURSE OF THE WERE-RABBIT
Art Direction	MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA
Cinematography	BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN
Costume Design	MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA
Directing	BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN
Documentary Feature	MURDERBALL
Documentary Short Subject	GOD SLEEPS IN RWANDA
Film Editing	CRASH
Foreign Language Film	PARADISE NOW
Makeup	THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE
Music (Score)	MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA
Music (Song)	"It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp" - HUSTLE & FLOW
Short Film - Animated	THE MOON AND THE SON: AN IMAGINED CONVERSATION
Short Film - Live Action	OUR TIME IS UP
Sound	WAR OF THE WORLDS
Sound Editing	KING KONG
Visual Effects	WAR OF THE WORLDS
Writing (Adapted Screenplay)	BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN
Writing (Original Screenplay)	CRASH