In closing...

I found myself watching more this year than I have in the past winter Olympics. My favorite events had to be the Snowboarding events this year, with Snowboard Cross taking the over all top position. Congrats to Seth Westcott for bringing home the Gold in that event to the USA.

I kept an eye on most of the events and found myself watching just about every night. I would turn shows off or mute the TV when news would come up telling what had happened. I did follow the over all medal counts, but had no clue as to who or what event. So off an on I would see the USA bounce from the 5th overall spot to 3rd and then the past few days into 2nd and hold on through the end of the games.

I was happy with Germany taking the top spot for overall medals, being half German, its cool to see them do well. I tend to do that in a number of areas, I like them doing well in World Cup Soccer and I always pull for the US teams. I was even happy when the recent Pope took office to find out he was from Germany.

The US did a great job in a number of events and I can only imagine how things will be in 4 years at the 2010 Winter games. I even liked most of the Ice Skating events this year. I would have liked to see more Curling and will have to watch for that in 4 years too. Seeing Apollo take gold made a perfect ending to the games for me last night and hope to see him come back for the next games.

The Art of Reading

Time and the enjoyment of reading is really all it takes for the art of reading. Sure you have to know how to read & write to start with, but I think to really read you need to make the time and enjoy reading.

Lately I've been making the time and rather enjoy the books that I've selected to read or should I say consume. I would not have called myself a heavy reader when I was younger. I went to the library and I would pick out some books to read, but as I grew older I started reading less and doing other things.

It wasn't till I started reading the Harry Potter series that I turned into a heavy reader. I found myself moving quickly through the books and wanting more. After each book I was ready for the next and eager to see what would happen. Now I'm waiting like so many other for the last book of the series to come out, but I've found that I really enjoyed reading over those past months and want to read more.

So I moved on to the Chronicles of Narnia and these stories are a lot shorter. I also wanted to read them in the order they originally were published and started with the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe and wanted to read it before the recent movie came out. I have the nice hard back collection and was told to skip the Magicians Nephew, because it explains a lot of things that happen later and if I read it first, it would spoil some of the enjoyment of the other stories.

I'm taking a brake from reading the whole set at once and I let myself enjoy some other subject matter. I picked up a series by Eoin Colfer called Artemis Fowl and have really enjoyed the first three books. The first book has been described as "Die Hard with fairies" and is about a 12 year old criminal mastermind named Artemis Fowl, who forms a plot to divest the fairyfolk of their pot of gold. Set in modern times and filled with all sorts of techno gadgets and fantasy themes, the anti-hero Artemis is trying to regain the former glory days of the Fowls' family name and fortune.

Dan Brown's Angles & Demons and the Da Vinci Code has been the latest set of books for me to read. Quite a difference from the other books, I started with Angles & Demons, the first book for the Character Robert Langdon, who also appears in the Da Vinci Code. Both stories weave real world facts and fiction together in such a way, its hard to tell what is fiction and real. The thrillers have been a real enjoyment and I found myself reading page after page and making my way through the books. I've liked them so much I want to read Deception Point and Digital Fortress and I look forward to the third book with Robert Langdon when it comes out.

A lot of these books are later made into movies and I've found that reading the books in almost every case is by far better than just watching the movie. I guess its to be expected when they cut stories down into a 2 hour movie. I'm glad I've started reading more and my list of books to read keeps growing. Which story should I start on next, lets see...

Happy Valentines Day

St. Valentine's Day, February 14, is the traditional day on which lovers in certain cultures let each other know about their love, by sending Valentine's cards, which are often anonymous. The Greeting Card Association estimates that approximately one billion valentine cards are sent each year, making the day the second largest card-sending holiday of the year behind Christmas.

The middle of February has been associated with love and fertility dates back to the ancient times of Athens & Rome. In Athens the period between mid January and mid February was dedicated to the sacred marriage of Zeus and Hera.

In Rome, February 15 was the festival of Lupercus, the god of fertility, who was represented as half-naked and dressed in goat skins. As part of the purification ritual, the priests of Lupercus would sacrifice goats to the god, and after drinking wine, they would run through the streets of Rome holding pieces of the goat skin above their heads, touching anyone they met. Young women especially would come forth voluntarily for the occasion, in the belief that being so touched would render them fruitful and bring easy childbirth.

Now days gifts of flowers, chocolates, cards, and even fine jewelry rank high on the lists. It's a time to say I love you and do something special for that someone you love. This year I'm going to need to celebrate on the ancient Roman date. That's right tomorrow I'll do my best to be home early and spend sometime with my wife & daughter. I managed to pick today of all days to do a server switch and as you can guess, it did not go off with out a hitch. Crossing fingers I'll have better luck in the morning.

The New Spring Arrival

I'm counting down now from around fifty days out, till the birth of our second child. It's an exciting time for us and we have so much to do still. This weekend we'll be in the Child Birthing class, a refresher course I would say to help us be some what prepared for the big day.

Meanwhile, we still need to work on clearing out the old office and preparing the new babies room. I'm also working on some activities for Freya and I to do after the baby arrives.

That reminds me, I need to get her signed up for Soccer again and start thinking about practice and games. She should only have about 6 games again and they'll have Spring Break off. I better see if my brother or another parent would like to help in the event of the baby coming early by chance.

Should be a really great year and a lot of fun for all of us I think. I'm off to a busy start and expect it to be 2007 before I know it. At least I know the next 50 days will be as fast as can be fore sure.

Wireless Baby...

Contact at last... After many attempts at trying to connect wireless at the house. Finally success of sorts has arrived. The night started off with Nathan and family coming over for dinner. While the two Martin boys played with Freya, Nathan & I looked over the situation (mainly Nathan as I looked on). Joy finally met Edith at last and I found out Joy use to play Soccer (Note to self, remember to see if Joy wants to join C0-Ed team).

We tried and tried to get the laptop and wireless router to speak, but with little luck at all. Dinner was great and the kids had an awesome time together. I was really proud of how well Freya played with the boys.

The kiddos getting tried and everyone full from dinner and time ticking away, it was time to call it a night and try to regroup and figure out the wireless connection later. Well... I decided to give it another go and banged around some and luck was in my favor. Connection at last with Internet Access. Finally the hope of no wires in the house is in site. Still working on a few bugs, but for the most part I'm happy with the results.

Plus it was great having the Martin's over to visit.

Siblings is the new word for the week

We are looking at about 8 weeks till the new addition arrives. Last night was the Siblings class for my daughter and I'm glad I decided to attend the session.

She did so very well in the class and I think she's starting to get excited at the thought of a baby Sister or Brother coming soon. That's right we don't want to find out until the baby arrives and so we're not sure if its a girl or a boy.

My daughter seems to think she'll have a little Sister and we tell her that will be fine, but we also tell her the chance is there that it could be a little Brother and no matter what she'll be a big Sister soon.

So last night she learned the word Sibling and how to help take care of babies and what they do. She learned about diapers and was one of the best at changing the practice baby. She carried the baby around during the hospital tour and had a great time.

It's been great seeing my daughter grow up and I'm really proud at how she's been with the changes leading up to the arrival of her Sibling to the house. Time is starting to pick up and 8 weeks will fly by fast. This week we have our first Daddy & Daughter dance, she has her 2nd season of soccer starting, with me coaching and I'm in another season of indoor soccer myself already. We still have to work on clearing the office out and decorating before the baby arrives.

This is all provided the baby stays on schedule... I better get busy on the baby room.

One down Eleven more to go...

January is now in the books and time sure has flown on by. So I'm a good month into my program and I've only lost 10 pounds so far. Its not too bad, but I need to step up the workouts, start doing more weights, and watch what I eat more.

My lunch times at work involve walking around the building for about 20 - 45 minutes each day. The way I see it, that's 20 - 45 minutes I'd normally be sitting on my ass. I can still try and make it to the club after work and I'll already be about 20 - 45 minutes ahead on my daily workout.

It feels good getting out and moving around some each day. Nathan (a friend an co-worker) has even started walking at the same time and it sure beats me walking and talking to myself. I'm also limiting my going out to lunch to no more than once a week. Saves money and allows me to keep up the daily walking.

Soccer Champs return
I find it hard to step away from the game and so I've decided to at least return for one more season. I have the new baby coming in about 9 weeks now and towards the end of June the APHA World Show kicks back up and will take up a huge portion of my time. I'll have to take it one game at a time, but for now I'm back for at least this season. We played our first game this past sunday and came away with a tie. Should be a good season for us, this week we have a bye week due to the Super Bowl game.

Championship game draws near

Less than 8 hours till the Championship match up for my indoor soccer team. The Rookies are a co-ed team playing in one of the bottom divisions at Apex Indoor Sports Center. I've played for them less than a year now; my 2nd time to comeback and play the game of soccer after many years of not playing at all.

We've done fairly well and won more games than we have lost for the past few seasons that I've played. Pretty much sticking in the middle of the 8 team league each season.

It has been a blast for the most part and I've enjoyed helping setup goals, stop some people from scoring and even knocking a few in for the team. Last weeks game was a really good game for us with my co-worker, friend and team mate playing in goal (Something he normally does not do) and helping us get another win for the season. Tracy guided us every step of the way from his goal and as a team we shut out our opponent for a win. I even managed to knock a few shots in for our team.

Then it became a waiting game with a record of 6-1 and the first place team sitting at 6-0 and facing us next Sunday. On Thursday afternoon I had to call and see how they did and to my surprise they lost last week. No longer would it be us trying to beat them and give them a loss and winning the season by beating them and a tying record. No this weeks match comes down to us facing a tied 6-1 team now and the winner becoming this seasons champion.

I'm trying to think back if I've ever come down to a game like this before. I think the closest I've come was a 2nd place team. It's always about having fun and will always be that for me. Tonight is where the fun continues as we face the Revolution to see who can score the most and keep the other from scoring. We've had a really great season and win or loose it has been so much fun. I just hope tonight can end with a victory for us.

The Program begins

Time to go full force now with the getting is shape for 2006. The National Body Challenge has started and its time to commit to eating right and working out. I've started early as of the first of the year, well even a bit before that with dropping all sodas at the first of September 2005.

I'm planning on walking at least 4 days of the week during lunch at work. I eat my light lunch and spend my time walking around the building for 30 to 45 minutes at a nice pace. I can make about 4 to 7 complete trips around during this time.

So far I've made it to 4 Tai Chi sessions in a row now (twice a week) and find it a nice work out as well as very relaxing. Plans have come up this week and I'll miss one of my sessions for this week. I guess it says something if I'm a little bummed out about missing the class.

My goal is to keep up the classes, keep up the walking at work, increase my workouts during the evening times, and watch what I eat. Pretty much moving more and eating less and with a goal of dropping the pounds.

The Hard part will come later in the year, finding a way to keep up some of the routine during this years World Championship Paint Horse Show. I'm just not sure how I'll get my work outs in during this time. Once the show is over, I need to make sure I get back into the routine of working out again. I'll keep things updated here as I progress over the next few months as well as blog on other subjects that come to mind.

New Highs and Lows for 2006

It's time to get back to my routine of a couple years ago. We had a family challenge to see who all could loose the most weight and I pretty much won that challenge. I did not try any crazy diets like eating all of this or all of that. What worked for me was fairly simple to a degree, but it did take discipline to achieve.
My secret to loosing 43 pounds was to eat less and move more. I watched the portion sizes and I got my self active. In eating less, you take in less calories and in moving more, you burn more calories. This formula is what allowed me to start dropping the pounds.

The next year I fell out of the habits, I found myself moving less and eating more and that brings me to this year and the weight is back. So I'm making it a goal to drop the pounds and hopefully stick to the routine for the whole year.

I've also started taking a Tai Chi class and I'm really enjoying that. I've also joined the Discovery National Body Challenge again to help track my progress. I'm even setting a goal to try Rock climbing at the end of the challenge and see how that goes.

So long 2005 and see ya on the other side

Well a lot has happened during the last few months, weeks, days and even hours of 2005. Time is short an precious to say the least. Sadly over the past few weeks it seems that death has been a recurring theme lately.

Its not that anyone really close to me has passed, but some people I know and or have met have lost those close to them. Recently someone that I met through the motorcycle community lost his life on Christmas day, I met Brett Wade on March 5th at the 2005 Bike Blessing, he was really a great guy and worked at the Cycle Gear in Bedford. He was the one that would help me when I came out to the store. Today they had a memorial ride for him and about 176 bikers showed up to remember him. I only had talked with him a few short times and I've read of other bikers loosing their lives, but Bret was the first person I had met and known some what to have passed away while riding his bike.

Brett was only one of a few like I said and I can only think that it just shows how short life can be and how fast things can change. Last night could have been another example. Around 1:00 am, my wife and I had been awakened by someone ringing the door bell. We had just gone to sleep an hour or so to be awakened by a friend of mine. News at 1:00 am is never good news, well at least for the most part.

As I opened the door he told me that one of my Sister-In-laws girls was in a car accident. He said from what he knows she is ok and has a broke ankle. They had tried calling us, but we did not hear the phones ring and so he came over to wake us up. The youngest girl was still at home and they needed me to go stay with her and let her know all was ok.

The oldest girl had been out at night and was caught up in an act of rode rage. She should not have been out in the first place and was now caought in the attempted act of being assaulted, she was forced into another lane and caused a head on collision with a truck. Luck for all parties, nobody lost their life this night. The man driving along in his truck was suddenly in the middle of a head on collision and it just shows have fast things can change. The people who caused the events of course sped off and seem to have got away with the acts they have caused.

Tonight should be the annual celebration for New Years eve and its an event that normally finds the In-laws and friends over to hang out and have fun. My wife is helping my mother-in-law out for the night and the party never got of the ground. In fact this is the first time in 11 years I will not see my wife at midnight and wish her Happy New Year.

For the most part, things have been great for 2005 and sure some saddness has come recently and I can only look forward to 2006 and the blessings that will come our way. So my last post for 2005 comes to a close and I say so long and see ya on the other side. Please be safe one and all out there and have a Happy New Year to you.

Christmas Eve traditions

Well its the Christmas Eve traditions that I really love the most. At least for me and the past few years, it always comes down to certain events on this very night.

Time to do some last minute shopping for starters, its really the time I like to shop the most I guess. This year I went out the day before Christmas Eve with the family and was it ever crowded. We had to take care of some stuff, but its not exactly the time I would go normally.

Truth is I normally go to shop for just a few people and try and get some stuff done ahead of time. The thing is mainly men are out shopping at this time. Is it because they wait till the last minute, perhaps, but I really think in most cases its just easier for us to get out at that time.

After the shopping is done its time for the Christmas Eve dinner at the In-laws and something I look forward to every year. Great food and lots of fun being with family on this night. Its also the warm up I would say to the final event for the evening. Tonight is the night I watch It's A Wonderful Life, before heading off to bed and waiting on Santa.

Sure it makes it harder on Santa if I don't get right off to bed, but he's normally tied up with other houses and I don't think I keep him waiting to long. My daughter has already laid out the cookies and egg nog for Santa and even put out some carrots for Rudolph and the Gang.

Well its been a busy day for me and I have a movie to start. Merry Christmas to all and have a Happy New Year.

The 20th Annual Big Texas Toy Run

I went on the Big Texas Toy Run for the 2nd year in a row and had a blast. Sure the Cruiser crowd out numbers the Sportbike Riders, but the way I see it, is I'm on two-wheels and helping kids.

This year the crowds moved on two from three locations and all started at 1:00 pm heading towards the Arlington Convention Center. It's really a cool thing to be a part of and great for those pulling over on the sides of the highway to honk and wave as we all move towards Arlington.

Motorcyclists came from Fort Worth & Dallas just like last year and this year they added a route from Grapevine. You can either donate $10 or bring an unwrapped toy to the event. I'm not sure on the total count of bikers, money raised, and toys donated just yet. What I do know is that I plan on continuing to do this run every year. I don't expect to see Sportbikers come close to the number or Cruisers, but I'll continue to ride mine and stand out in the crowd.

I do

It was 11 years ago that I got married and it was the perfect location and time of the year. We both love Christmas time and love old homes. We had looked around at a number of places to have the wedding and stopped after finding Thistle Hill in Fort Worth.

The best part was that during the Christmas time, its all decorated up with flowers and Christmas decorations for that time of the year. We decided that we wanted certain things for our wedding and the location was perfect choice. It was also nice to have the wedding there and the reception at the same location.

The cake was the next big thing and A Taste of Europe was the only choice for us at the time. We had gone to so many wedding shows and the best part was running by to sample some of their cakes. The best cake I had ever tasted at the time and I think a big hit for the reception.

Looking back, I don't think I would have changed a single thing about that special day. Hard to believe its been 11 years, the time just flies by. I still smile when I drive by or have a chance to even take a look inside.

Christmas time...

It will always be known as Christmas time for me and I would say its my favorite time of the year. I don't think I ever thought of it as a celebration of the birth of Christ. Still I've always found it a wonderful time to celebrate, reflect, and give gifts to others.

I grew up watching some of the best shows during this time of year. I would have to say, Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer and Santa Claus is coming to Town are among my childhood favorites and all time favorites still to this day. Even Freya has taken a liking to the old classic, Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer.

This is also the time of year that we gather with Edith's side of the family for a weekend get away. We each take a turn in providing a meal and then we spend the day shopping somewhere, and on the last night, we end with the ritual watching of the National Lampoons, Christmas Vacation.

Soon it will be Christmas Eve and that's when we have dinner with Edith's side of the family and in most cases we watch It's a Wonderful Life. No mater what, if we don't see It's a Wonderful Life that night after dinner, then I'll watch it at home before heading off to bed. It use to be a regular showing on all the networks, now that is not the case and for example, NBC showed it last night and we watched some while eating and mainly let it play in the background. It just would not be the same if I did not watch it every Christmas Eve night.

We'll get up early the next morning and Freya will see what Santa Claus has brought her this year. We'll have a little bit of Christmas as well and then rush back to Edith's side for Christmas morning. Its the best time of the year for us and we really look forward to it every year. Merry Christmas to all and have a Happy New Year.

McCartney after the show

Can you think back to the first time you heard music? Now I'm sure you heard baby songs, little rhymes, and kid jingles to start with, but I mean the first time you heard real music from a band.

My parents had some old 45s and for those of you that are clueless, that is a very small record, much like an LP or Album as they were called. The 45s had an A side and a B side with a song on each side for the most part. Since most of these 45s are from artists of the 50's and 60's time, you could get by chance two songs on one side at times, but normally it was one song, a Hit song and then something on the B side.

So I grew up listening to groups from the 50's and 60's that my parents really loved. It just so happens the Beatles was one of the groups and something that I started listening to in the very early 70's, sadly I had no idea that the band had in broke up at the time I started liking them. Still it was great music and fun growing up and learning more about them.

So this past Sunday I saw one of the only two Beatles left a live perform live and it was the best I could ask for in a show. To see a member of the Beatles perform songs I grew up to was amazing. He played just about every Beatle song I wanted to hear live and it brought back memories of the old 45's, in fact he even joked on stage about the crackle sounds the old albums made.

I've seen so many concerts, not as many as my buddy who invited me, but for me this was the perfect show and nothing could compare to it. Was it better lights or sounds than another artists show, not at all, but then again the other artist was not the first one to introduce music to me or Rock-n-Roll for the fact. I still would like to see some other artists perform and I'm sure I'll enjoy their shows, but I can really say I've seen my favorite and best show at last.

Paul McCartney 2005 US Tour

Its a saturday night and my cell phone rings... I look at the time and wonder why I'm getting a call from my buddy Bob at 11:00 pm on a saturday night. So he asks what I'm doing the next day and I say, I've got a 6:30 indoor Soccer game, why?

You want to skip it? I say, what for and why? Paul McCartney concert and I've got an extra ticket is the reply. He's tried to get someone to buy it and tried to get someone to just go. No matter what, he's down to the night before and about to be stuck with an extra ticket.

I said I don't know and he tells me that they are leaving about 5:30 to head over to the show. I really don't want him to be stuck with a ticket so to speak and I can't afford it to buy it and he's pretty much ran out of options. I said I would have to think about it some more and get back to him in the morning. I said keep trying to find someone and if you do, I'll be ok not going to the show.

I love playing indoor soccer, but its not everyday that something like this falls in my lap. See I pretty much grew up listening to the Beatles, playing my parents 45's and really liked all the music as a young kid. In some ways they might have been the first band I was ever exposed to so to speak. I was to young to see them in concert and never got the chance to see some of the members after they broke up.

With Lennon and Harrison both dead, my chances of seeing any of the members perform grew smaller and smaller. Now the night before the show a phone call comes in and I'm invited to see one of the original Beatles and the ever popular Sir Paul McCartney perfrom live in a sold out concert. He has a new album out and I know little about it, but his tour has been made up of a lot of old material from the Beatles, Wings and even his band the Quarrymen, before he became one of the Beatles.

As much as I hate to miss a soccer game, I can't see passing this up and look forward to a really great show. I'm sure I'll have other soccer games to play, but I don't think I'll have a chance to see Paul McCartney play live. Its not going to be the Beatles, but from what I've heard its as close as you can get to it.

Shopz n the Hood

Growing up I remember when we only had two malls to shop at in Arlington and that was the Forum 303 Mall and Six Flags Mall. Times change and we've had the Parks at Arlington Mall for quite sometime now and its not surprising that the Forum went downhill and I guess now the same would be said for Six Flags mall.

I really had no idea how Six Flags mall had changed and it was such a long time since I visited the mall. The other day my wife wanted to check out a Baby store at Six Flags Mall and I said sure. The Baby store has access from the outside of what use to be JC Penney anchor store and I have to say its a really nice Baby store.

So I said after looking around, lets go and look at what the rest of the mall has to offer now. We passed on through the internal doors and noticed that they've cut up the old store and have an Antique store and some other outlet store taking up some of the old space. The second floor is some college and closed at the time we are at the mall.

We keep going and should have turned back. The first place I see is the old Suncoast store I worked at and it just goes downhill from there. The Structure store (Express For Men) is now called Stretz or something like that and a little further down is a music store called Eargasmic Soundz or something to that effect. They have a lingerie store that I would not recommend to anyone, (If you think Fredericks of Hollywood is risque, you have not seen anything yet). Each step that we took, kept me thinking, your ok and can turn around and never come back to this place again. The Dillards store is now the outlet store and use to be the outlet store from Forum 300 mall.

If I ever make it back to Six Flags Mall, it will only be to visit the baby store or antique shop and I don't plan of passing what use to be the old JC Penney store. I know most of the traffic has moved on to the Parks at Arlington and I have to think that the Parks will be solid mall for many, many years to come. Its just sad to think that the old malls have really died off and turned out like they are, nothing more than an indoor flee market.

3 Days in North Dallas at the Galleria Mall
I've just spent that last 3 days in a Flash training class in Dallas and the building is attached to the Galleria mall. Its been a long time since I've been to the Galleria and it was really nice to see again. I spent my lunch time walking around the mall an checking things out each day. Dallas has some other malls, but I would say the Galleria is the best of them all. If you've never been, its well worth the trip and you can spend all day looking around the 3 floors of shops. I hope to bring the family out and spend the day soon, they have a little kids play area and I think my daughter would have the time of her life there.

Victoria's Secret is now out...

Sex sells and its in your face at the Malls these days. I've noticed lately in my walks around various malls, that the what once appeared more on the inside of Victoria's Secret stores is now on the front lines and in your face for window displays these days.

It use to be, as I walked around the mall and I came to a certain window display of ladies lingerie, I knew that I was standing in front of Frederick's of Hollywood and a store that was more out there so to speak. No secret about it and the window display would catch your eye.

Now I've been trying to remember what Victoria's Secret had in the windows and I would have to say it was toned down a lot more. Now don't get me wrong and I'm not saying that the current display offends me or that I don't like what I see in the windows. What ever the goal of their marketing is, I have to think its getting the attention of people walking by these days and working.

In most cases a Fredericks store front is a lot smaller and you see only a small selection of sexy lingerie. With the current Victoria Secret stores being larger and bigger window space areas for their displays. The new sexy lingerie displays look like something out of the dressing room for Cabaret and keep your attention longer.

So if in the past you had wondered what the secret was and decided to venture inside to take a look. You might just find out from a glance as you walk on by now. Then again, Victoria might have sexier secrets inside, if that is at all possible.

It's Back On TV...
What: 10th annual Victoria Secret's show
When: Dec. 6
Where: CBS

Fall Movies here at last

This week the release of Harry Potter Goblet of Fire has finally arrived. I have a feeling that this will be the best of all the movies so far to date. I'm a huge fan of the books, thanks to my wife's introduction of the series and me wanting to see what kept her reading solid hour after hour.

I know that nothing will compare to reading the books and I recommend that you read the books to really enjoy the stories. Just the same, I'm looking forward to this movie and future movies as well as the last book of the series.

Each movie has been visually entertaining and for the most part they've done a good job in telling the story. Some things have been cut or moved in the order of things. My guess is to save time in most cases, since the books are so long it would take about 4 to 6 hours to cover everything. That is what makes the books so good I guess.

Next month will be the release of C. S. Lewis' the Chronicles of Narnia - The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe and I've been reading that series now and really enjoy the story line. I vaguely remember seeing an animated version of the story as a kid and I've really loved the book and from what I've seen and heard about this movie so far, I think it is a must see for sure and can not wait.

More and likely this will be the last two movies I see for the 2005 season. I could be wrong and something else might sneak in before the year is out, but these will be must see movies as soon as they come out.

The Polar Express on DVD is a must buy for me this year and should be out in about a week I think. I love the Christmas holidays and have read this story to my daughter about this time every year up till Christmas day. We went and saw this in the theathers and I really enjoyed it. I'm looking forward to all the extras and seating down with my daughter and watching this one and reading the book.