233 minutes

233 minutes. That's how long I spent last night watching a 2004 BBC miniseries called North and South. Not to be confused with the novel North and South by John Jakes about the U.S. Civil War (and a miniseries starring Patrick Swayze), this movie was based on the novel North and South by English novelist Elizabeth Gaskell. The "South" in this miniseries was rural England while the "North" is a mill town "in the throes of the industrial revolution." It was, of course, a love story. As Ned would call it "classic Kik." [In case you don't know it, Ned's nickname for me is Kiki or Kik for short. I have absolutely NO idea how he came up with it. My birth name is Allison Dale. But he's been using it for over ten years now so I'm sort of stuck with it. My boss (the Judge) will even call me Kik sometimes.]. My letter grade--A. It was excellent. I'm going to read the book next the movie was so good. I have it on DVD if anyone wants to borrow it.

The last paragraph sort of begs several questions.

1. You have two young children and a husband, how did you find the time to spend some four hours watching a miniseries last night? Ned was out of town for the Pitt swim meet and I had Jack down at 9pm and Bear was tuned into Camp Rock. I had been wanting to watch this movie for some time. I didn't know it was four hours (2 discs) until I opened it. I decided I would watch just the first disc and finish it the next night. Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on your point of view), Jack didn't sleep well at all last night and he was up and down all night until I put him in bed with me at 2 am. Since I couldn't get him to sleep for any period of time, I just kept watching North and South.

2. What are doing buying an obscure BBC miniseries that you had never seen? Well, it had been recommended by a co-worker of mine (Madeleine) and we have very similar tastes in books and movies. Plus, I hate to admit it because it is England and all, but those BBC literary productions are almost universally well done and top notch so I figured I probably couldn't go wrong. Finally, I can't be sure about this (I bought it about a year ago) but I'm betting that Barnes and Noble was running some kind of special like "buy 2, get 1 free" or something like that. [If you read my earlier post about figuring my latte factor, I guess I would have had to log this as a sort of frivolous/unnecessary purchase.]

3. For someone who constantly complains about their inability to get anything done, how can you justify wasting 4 hours watching a movie? I can't. This is the story of my life. I can get sidetracked so easily. It is my curse. But, it's also the reason I have all this totally useless knowledge -- for example, I probably now know more about Elizabeth Gaskell than everyone on my street. So, if Gaskell comes up at the Labor Day neighborhood picnic, I am ready to astound everyone.

It's too bad I can't channel my interests into some kind of fascinating career. Like, for example, a movie reviewer who only reviews BBC literary adaptations. Or, writing for a magazine that discusses ONLY romantic literary classics (like Jane Eyre or Pride and Prejudice) and modern day chick lit. If perhaps you see a classified ad for a job of this sort, please give me a call.

This train of thought brings up something I was discussing with my friend Jennifer over hot chocolate yesterday (yes, I am including the hot chocolate in calculating my "latte factor"). Jennifer had been to some kind of writers' workshop and she mentioned how much she enjoyed writing. I guess I knew this about her but it sort of surprised me. I told her I didn't enjoy writing (and that's a large part of my job). But, as I've thought about it further, I think I spoke too soon. I don't enjoy ALL kinds of writing. But some of the things I've done for work, I have enjoyed. [I rarely mention my job because I am not permitted to discuss it or politics. But as long as I'm not too specific, I haven't crossed a line.] And, I've kept up with this blog for over 2 months now so I must enjoy writing for pleasure a little bit. Therefore, my new line is going to be "I love writing." I think it will be a necessary prerequisite if I want to find a job of the sort described in the previous paragraph.

Speaking of writing, Bear has a nice looking "D" and "d". They are trying to work with her some at her daycare but I still think she needs more of a challenge. I went by what will be her elementary school yesterday to pick up an application for preschool. The Virginia Preschool Initiative "operates classes for four-year old `at risk' children in ten elementary schools throughout Montgomery County." (from the application itself). I don't think Bear will qualify for "at risk" but I'm hoping there aren't enough "at risk" kids in Mont. Co. and they will take her to fill the class. This happened to her friend Peyton; an "at risk" kid dropped out so Peyton got the slot. Cross your fingers.

Bear also started gymnastics today at VT. I will have to update you about this tomorrow as Ned is walking through the door and I have to rush to clean up the house.

Love,
Allie