Happy Labor Day!

Are you working or playing today?

I'm doing a bit of both. The office is closed, but if I want to get paid, I have to put in some hours. I'm also waiting for our new mattress to arrive. Yay! We've waited quite a while to buy one and it's kind of a big deal -- as any of you also sleeping on a crappy mattress would know! I'm hoping it magically fixes my sleep issues. We'll see.

I'm also starting to come up with a list of more items that have vanished in the move. Actually, probably just as yet uncovered. One of those is my massive binder that I've been collecting recipes in for the past 4 years. Yep, Hatch chiles are in season right now and though it never coincides with actual chili season, I'm not going to miss out on using them this year. I bought a big pack of roasted ones and a pork roast and I'm making pork chili verde today. I started it about an hour ago and plan on cooking it until 6 or 7 tonight. We'll see how it turns out, though, because I can't find my notes from last time I made it. Frustrating!

Ah! As I was writing this, the delivery guys showed up with my new bed! Trying to tell myself that napping is not a good idea.

Anyway, I hope some of you made it to the movies this weekend. There's a ton out that I want to see right now and of those, three opened this weekend alone. All About Steve, Gamer, and Carriers are/were all on my list. I did make it to see Carriers yesterday morning, though.

Overall, I thought it was a pretty good movie. It takes place after a virus has spread all over the country. Those not yet infected have to stay on their toes and have all come up with their own set of "rules" or practices to keep themselves from catching it. Four twenty-somethings have stolen a car and are trying to make their way to Turtle Beach where they believe they can ride out the epidemic. Rule number one on their list is to avoid the infected at all cost. Of course complications occur beginning with their meeting a father and daughter who are on their own way to a facility that claims to have a cure.

There's never any explanation about the virus itself or anything about how/when it initially hit and spread. It's more a look at what has happened in the aftermath of the outbreak, and before the end. It's the kind of movie that could have gone on much longer and I would have been thoroughly entertained! And that's not a negative comment at all. The film runs at just under 1 hr 30 min and each of the characters is faced with not only their fate in regards to the virus, but the fate of their own humanity -- and the humanity surrounding them as well. Kind of a bleak look at what humans are capable of. It is a full story, but I really like this sort of thing and so my earlier statement is a testament to how well I feel it was done.

This is one of those movies that can really let your imagination run loose. I'm not sure if that was totally intentional, but I felt that some of the scenes that I wanted more of -- some of the scenes that could have been expanded upon -- are scenes that I then roll over in my head and sort of fill in the blanks myself. Yeah, my imagination has been in total overdrive since seeing the movie and I think that's just super cool.

This is kind of a sleeper, guys. Very low-key, not much advertising (at least not in my area), and there's only one theater near me that's actually carrying it. If you're in the mood for a suspenseful horror/thriller this weekend, I recommend checking it out.