Wednesday 3 December 2008

Candles and chick flicks

Ahh, sweet bliss...my husband went out for the evening.

Heartless much? I know. But he's unemployed. I work from home. The past five months and three days of constant hubby are starting to drive me a bit stir crazy.

So, yes...sweet bliss.

I rented a girly movie, bought some chocolate for me and green licorice ropes for the boy, lit some candles and had a lovely relaxing husband-free evening.

We've had a couple other evenings like this. The green licorice ropes are a tradition (the first "treat" the boy ever had - he giggles like mad when he sees them on these very rare mother/son nights). The girly movies are also a must, my chance to watch something that the husband isn't interested in. And chocolate - well, chocolate needs no explanation.

I've been taking these infrequent opportunities to watch Janette Oke's "Love Comes Softly" series. Tonight we watched the sixth one, "Love's Unfolding Dream". I'm a bit ashamed to admit that I've never read the books, just watched the movies. I'm rarely impressed with Christian fiction, but these do make wonderful movies so perhaps the books are good as well.

(Speaking of Christian fiction, I just finished an amazing book. It was Angela Hunt's "Magdalene", a historical fiction book. I don't even know what to say about this book other than read it. It is rare you will get a Christian fiction recommendation from me, but this was at, or nearly at, the level of Francine River's "Mark of the Lion" series. And that is high praise indeed, given the caliber of those books.)

It was a great night all around. The movie was excellent, the boy loved all the horses in it, green licorice ropes are always good fun, and candles are a rare treat for me. (As an added bonus, I took the opportunity to pluck my eyebrows without my husband barging in on me to tell me the latest hockey score or news article or WoW quest or random factoid. Woohoo!) There was lots of tickling, laughing, wrestling, chasing and mad giggling fits. We drank chamomile tea and had the sweetest, easiest bedtime we've had in a long time. My adorable sweet funny boy. I love nights like these.

It was a good night.

15 comments:

  1. I have only watched the movies as well! I love them! I am happy for you that you had such a sweet and special night. God bless you.

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  2. the books are totally different, of course. (and better, of course)

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  3. I've only watched these movies as well. Honestly I really only liked the first two or three, then I felt like there were no original characters and I was sad, but at least you had a great husband free night. I think it's great to enjoy those every once in awhile ;)

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  4. Glad ya'll had a good time! :) I like the first few movies,but after about 3 or 4 it got I dunno. I just didn't like it. I heard the books are much better,as Nicole said. And yes chocolate needs no explanation. hehe

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  5. I love nights like that!

    I grew up reading the Jeanette Oke books. My mom and I would eagerly await each new release. I still read them sometimes when I'm sick. They are not the best written books out there and the plots are predictable but it's the nostalgia factor that brings me back time and again. You just come to love the characters after a while and wish they were your family!
    Francine Rivers is awesome so anything compared to her must be good! I'll have to give it a try.

    Jennifer

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  6. I'm jealous your kid sits still long enough to snuggle and watch a movie *laugh*. If I had candles going he'd want to blow them all out, then relight them, and blow them all out again, and then run in circles for a while :).

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  7. Oh! Karyn! Be reassured - there was about five minutes of snuggling while the licorice was still a novelty, and then there was an hour or so of dancing on the bed, running around the house, climbing on Mom, blowing raspberries, and being generally silly, with the occasional pointing out a horse in the movie (I was impressed, just the sound of horse feet was enough for him to whip his head around and point at the screen).

    And the candles were up high. I tried to show him how to blow them out, but this is not a skill he's mastered yet (this was only the second or third time he's even seen a candle lit).

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  8. Ahhh, sounds delightful. My aline time consists of going grocery shopping at the Whole Foods store. Hehe. I am glad you got a little quiet time.

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  9. It does sound like a great night. :) How fun.

    Thanks for the mention of that book. I have yet to find anything comparable to the Mark of the Lion series, so this sounds like something I definitely want to check out!

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  10. For my birthday (in July) we went to a Chinese restaurant where they brought me a piece of cake with a candle in it. HE WAS AMAZED and has since been totally upset. We like scented candles around the house anyway, but he never noticed them until my birthday, and since has been completely obsessed. We went through about a week of sitting on the floor lighting and blowing out candles for a half hour at a time, lol. Then we'd only stop because my thumb hurt from relighting so much. The other night we had a power outage and lit a bunch of candles for light, and he got to blow them all out... and was then mad when there were no more and we wouldn't relight them. *Sigh*

    It is good to know your boy is a restless have-to-be-moving little guy, too. You had me all jealous that he'd snuggle for long periods of time, lol, as that's something Raiden only does when he's sick!

    Your boy hearing horse feet and knowing it was a horse reminded me of something mine did recently, too. The TV was on but he was in the next room. He heard an allergy med commercial come on, stopped in his tracks and yelled, "Dat!" Yes, there's a cat in that commercial. My in-laws have the TV on way too often *laugh*.

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  11. What a lovely evening you had. :) I've only seen some of the movies. I have the book but never have read it. I'll have to look up that book you mentioned.

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  12. Yep I'm with Nicole, the books are better. But I do love the movies, well the first 4 that I've watched. I'll look up that book, because anything that compares to Francine Rivers has to be good.

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  13. to add to the list - the books are good, and the movies are not the same as the books but i like them both (plots, stories, etc are different in the movie than the book, just some of the same characters) it's kinda like the little house series - with wholesome family values. i'm a big reader so maybe i can check out the book you mentioned. i've recently discovered susan may warren and have read 3 of hers and also diann mills.

    sounds like you had an incredible evening!

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  14. I've always wanted to watch those movies - I keep hearing about them. :) Glad you had a great night to yourself (and Jacob).

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  15. Hey Cynthia!!

    I forgot that I had bookmarked your blog eons ago!!

    We need to get together soon - and get the little ones together too! :)

    Hugs
    Trace

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