I never heard back from the 1st winner, so I had to pick a new winner. Congrats!!! I am emailing you!

 

My 8 year old, Taj, is ALL about dogs. So he was thrilled when I told him I had the opportunity to review the DVD The Dog Who Saved Halloween. He couldn’t wait for the weekend so we could pop some popcorn and settle on the  couch for movie night!

Everyone’s favorite four-legged friend Zeus (voiced by Joey Lawrence) and the Bannisters are back in The Dog Who Saved Halloween, an all-new adventure jam-packed with family-friendly thrills and chills!  When George, Belinda and their kids Kara and Ben Bannister move into a new house – just in time for Halloween! – everything seems to be fine…until they notice eerie glowing lights and strange sounds coming from their neighbor’s house where creepy Mr. Cole (Lance Henriksen) lives with his protective pooch Medusa (voiced by Mayim Bialik).  When a black cat suddenly goes missing, George Bannister (Gary Valentine) insists on investigating the matter himself – and ultimately enlists an odd yet familiar pair (Dean Cain, Joey Diaz) to help.  But after the trio and Belinda Bannister (Elisa Donovan) get trapped inside the spooky house, it’s once again up to Zeus to save the day!  The paw-fect new film for “ghouls” and boys of all ages, The Dog Who Saved Halloween (SRP: $19.98) follows on the tail of the hugely-popular The Dog Who Saved Christmas and The Dog Who Saved Christmas Vacation DVDs from Anchor Bay Entertainment.

The verdict: Taj LOVED it!!! It was a cute movie and just perfect to start the Fall season off right. It was a great family movie. Being the nerd I am I was excited to have Joey Lawrence and Mayim Bialik work together again. Remember- they were on “Blossom” together!?!? Can I get a “WOAH!”   You can even follow Zeus the dog on Twitter: http://twitter.com/doghalloween and you can become a fan on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DogHalloween. I did!!

I am so excited to host a giveaway for one of my readers. You can win the same fun DVD!! Here’s how to enter:

MAIN ENTRY Answer this question in the comments: What are you dressing up as for Halloween?

BONUS ENTRIES After you have answered the initial question, you can leave additional comments for each of the following:

Disclaimer: I was provided a copy of the dvd from Anchor Bay Entertainment to review. No compensation was received and all opinions are my own- and Taj’s.

• Tristan, Alec and Isabel are at the ex’s now. Let’s just hope there’s not a repeat of last summer.
• Sei and I went to dinner and a movie with my brother and SIL. Ok, DON’T see “Drag Me To Hell.” You will lose brain cells. I jumped a lot, but I think I laughed more than anything. A goat talked in it- if that helps you decide NOT to go see it. On a positive note, the “Mac” guy is in it. He’s cute.
• I have some major excitement coming up on my blog. I can hardly wait!!!! Visit Stitchblade Designs and Not So Average Mama for a clue. Not So Average Mama is also hosting another cool giveaway you should check out- especially if your child wears glasses!! Check it out HERE.
• Lakers are in the finals. I live with Sei- the Kobe fan. Gag. But I did read THIS and it made me feel a lil better. Please read some of the comments and take the poll!!
• I’ve been cutting carbs a lot and have lost a few pounds this week. I’ve been doing it without diet pills, but I’m not above using them. I wanna look good on vacation!!
• Taj found an old birdcage and naturally he has his pet FROG inside it. I love my Tajy.
• Speaking of Taj, he’s quite the swimmer. He’s been swimming floaty-less since last summer. This year he swims underwater a lot, which is cool but scares me at the same time. Here’s a short video of him. No looking at my husband.

Thank you all for your “Get Well Wishes.” I am feeling about 90% back to normal, so that’s a huge improvement. Kelsea and Isabel are outside playing as I type. So- YAY!

Ok, now for the reason for my title. Sei and I rented the Sandra Bullock movie “Premonition.” I admit, I can be an obnoxious person to watch a movie with. If I’ve seen it before then I’m quoting it the entire time and if I haven’t seen it and I don’t understand it I am totally irritated and asking questions. I didn’t get “Premonition.” The whole time I was trying to put all the pieces together and when I finally did (SPOILER)- her freakin’ husband died anyway and it was her fault because she told him to turn around. Whaaa??? That sucked, but that’s not the part that bothered me the most. I was so disturbed by this movie that I was crying- hard- afterwards. Why? Because her husband was on his way to meet a woman he planned to have an affair with and on his way there he realized he was stupid, called the chick and told her he wasn’t coming, called his wife to tell her he loved her, then he died. I’m probably just confusing you, just as I was confusing Sei as I laid there and cried- hard. It’s no secret that I am easily warped by movies. But this one depressed me. I’ll do my best to explain…

As I laid there after watching that stupid movie all I could think about was 2 things: 1) I don’t think I could live if Sei died. 2) I think I would rather him die than to learn he was cheating on me.
I’ve never made it a secret that my 1st husband cheated on me- a bunch of times with the same woman (and possibly with others before her). So, I know how I felt then. But I also know I love Sei so much more and in a different way than I’ve ever loved anyone in my life. I wouldn’t want to know what it would feel like to learn something like that about Seiuli. I know I won’t ever have to. I truly trust him with ALL my heart. I know he loves me. He shows me & tells me continuously each day. So, really this is a non-issue that my warped brain makes an issue.
I can honestly say I hold nothing against my ex for cheating on me. What good would it do to waste energy on that? My issues with him stem directly from his role as a parent. But I hate that his actions changed me in such a way that even when I try my hardest not to think EVERY woman in the world is out to steal my husband, I still do think that. (Well, not EVERY woman. Just any that come in contact with my husband. haha)
I guess I don’t really have a point. It was just another lame movie where the guy sucked. I mean, yes, his marriage was kinda crappy, but that’s still not the way to “fix it.” Duh. And then to top it off- on Army Wives, Roland full on cheated on his wife in a steamy love scene. Bad! Bad Roland!!! (Even though I think your wife if lame, you still DON’T CHEAT!!)

I’ve always been the sensitive type when it comes to watching movies. I don’t even have to see the whole movie, just certain parts, and I’ll cry. For example, on Mulan when Mulan decides to go to war in her father’s place: the music changes, she cuts her hair, she puts on his armor, etc… I cry on that part everytime. The kids will call me in “Mom, it’s your part!!!!” and then stare at me to see I turn on the waterworks. Never fails. Another movie, A Walk to Remember. I’ve actually only seen the entire movie once, but I’ve seen the last 30 minutes about 15 times on tv. Last nite I watched literally the last 7 minutes and I was crying. It’s very touching and sad. Sei was laughing at me. He likes to act tough and say, “Cute babe.” But when he kissed me goodnite he said, “Don’t get leukemia.” See- the movie affected him too.
Those kinds of movies only affect me for a few minutes, but there have been some that have stayed on my mind for days, months and years. Life Is Beautiful was so upsetting to me for several reasons: 1) The little boy looked like Tristan. 2) I was 10 days postpartum when I saw it and an emotional wreck. 3) The trust that little boy had in his father was awesome!! 4) **SPOILER** I was not expecting the dad to die. For days I was upset. I’m still sad when I think about it, but I think it touched me in a good way.
Normally I try to stay away from movies that I know are going to warp me or put images in my head that I don’t want there. That is why we are counseled not to see rated R movies and now I don’t. But before I rebelled against ANYTHING ANYONE told me I couldn’t do- hence the stupid tattoo on my ankle. I used to have a crush on Brad Pitt. I loved him in Legends of the Fall. I loved the movie. It’s actually pretty good- if you cut out all the bad. But anyway- I loved Brad Pitt, so I was excited to see his movie Sleepers. Ok- I am still mad at myself for not leaving the theater. Brad Pitt was in the movie- kinda. He was Brad Renfro’s character grown up getting revenge on juvenile detention officers that sexually abused him and his 3 friends while they were in the jail after accidently hurting a hotdog stand owner or something like that. I do remember it was an accident. Anyway- 2 of the friends shot and killed Kevin Bacon’s character- one of the bad guards- when they were adults. Brad Pitt was an assistant DA who helped get his childhood friends off. That part was actually kinda cool- how they got back at all the evil guards who had hurt them. That wasn’t the part that warped me. It was the abuse you heard and saw while the kids were in the detention center. Oh WHY DIDN’T I LEAVE !????????????? Stupid. And I still remember when I was leaving the theater I heard a couple of teenage girls saying “That was the best movie I’ve ever seen!” Are you kidding me??
The reason I am off on this trip is because last week sometime the movie Unfaithful was on tv. It stars Richard Gere and Diane Lane and Duey from Malcolm in the Middle. Anyway- I knew it had been rated R mainly for sexual content- like major sex scenes. But on tv that was all edited and my curiousity got the better of me. I watched the edited version and I’m warped. Yes- the sex scenes were all cut out, but the affair wasn’t. I didn’t realize it would affect me the way it has. I’m so pissed at Diane Lane’s character. She was married to a hottie (Richard Gere) and he loved her. It’s obvious. Her son loves her. She lives in the suburbs and is a busy, happy (I thought) wife and mom. I don’t know WHY she had an affair. My best guess is boredom. She met this pansy French guy (the French don’t impress me) and he helped her when she fell down outside his apartment. He sold books and gave her one to take home. It had his phone number in it. This is what makes me mad- SHE totally went after the guy. He didn’t call her or even really do anything that would have been a turn on, in my opinion. If I had been in her position I, first of all, wouldn’t have gone in some strange guys apartment to get a bandaid and secondly, would have felt totally uncomfortable by him. I like my space and he was all up in hers. So, anyway- she started calling him and stopping by his apartment and eventually they started knockin’ boots. She even gave him a snowglobe (she collects them) that her husband had given her. Eventually her husband knows something is up and hires a PI. When he finds out the truth he goes to Frenchy’s apartment to confront him. Frency is such a freakin’ jerk. (Oh- I forgot- he also has another girlfriend and an estranged wife you find out about later.) He is so smug with Richard Gere and almost rubbing it in his face. Richard is respectful and trying to stay calm as his heart is totally breaking. He looks so pained. Then he notices the snowglobe.
Richard Gere: “Why would she do that?”
Frenchy (with fruity accent): “I don’t know. Perhaps she wanted to buy me a gift.”
Richard: “She didn’t buy it. I gave it to her.”
He sits down on the bed because he feels dizzy. Then he suddenly stands back up and hits Frenchy on the head with the snowglobe. Frenchy ends up dying. Richard freaks out realizing what he’s done. He cleans up the mess, wraps Frenchy in a rug and dumps him in a landfill. He didn’t notice his wife’s number by Frenchy’s phone. Police start questioning Diane Lane and Richard when they find the number, but they don’t have any evidence, although they do find his body- blah blah blah- not important. Diane one day notices the snowglobe that she gave to Frenchy back on the shelf at her home and then she knows. Her husband knows about the affair and he killed Frenchy. They talk, they cry, they panic, they try to work things out over a period of time… It’s very sad.
Eventually he says: “I’ll turn myself in.” She says, “They don’t know anything.” He says, “We would know.” A very profound line, I think. The movie ends with them sitting outside the police department in their car, hugging and crying. The reason I think this movie has stayed with me this past week or so it because that woman’s selfishness ruined the lives of everyone she cared for. Frenchy is dead. Her husband is going to jail for murder. Her son will no longer have a father in the home. She will no longer have a husband. Why did she do it? Her husband didn’t abuse her or her son. He loved her. He provided well for his family. He was a good father. Frenchy didn’t have anything to offer her except for kinky sex, basically. That makes me sick. And what’s really sad, is it happens all the time. Watch Maury and you’ll see that. People throw away everything for an affair. It’s “the grass is always greener” crap. People who are bored and want to have an affair need to really look at their lives and ask themselves “Is it worth it??” If you’re bored, take up a new hobby. Exercise. Join a book club. Write a blog. Or better yet- what can YOU do to make your marriage better? It’s easy to blame the other person for everything. When my ex-husband cheated on me I knew I wasn’t the perfect wife, but I tried. He just decided to stop trying. I thank him now for being an idiot, but at the time I could not (& still don’t) understand his selfishness. That’s what an affair is- pure selfishness. And this movie portrayed that perfectly. I didn’t mean to get on a soap box and preach. But it’s been bothering me for days now and I had to get it off my chest. The movie also made me so thankful for my husband. I have trust issues, but I trust him. I may never get to see him, but I know he’s not with another woman. I know he loves me. He loves our kids and he’s the most unselfish man I know. I may be bored with my life occasionally, but I would never look for a Frenchy. I just look forward to the time I do get to spend with my husband. It makes it that much more special.