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We saw Avatar in 3D on our date night last night.  It is a movie I had zero desire to see, so I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it.  The special effects are amazing; considering I don't care much for special effects in movies, that's really saying something.  The story line was a bit obvious, but was entertaining enough for me while I was watching the movie itself.  It's one of those story lines that, while it's being seen for the first time, it's not that bad.  However, once you start to dissect it after leaving the theater it just gets more and more one-dimensional and simplistic.  Some movies have story lines that continue to inspire and/or challenge you after leaving the theater; some, like Avatar, have story lines that allow for an enjoyable movie watching experience, but don't leave much of a lasting impression afterward.

We arrived 30 minutes early and bought our tickets on Fandango and we were still at the end of a massive line of people to get into the theater.  Fortunately, we got decent seats.

Walking

I have been quite good at keeping up with dog walks for the past week, so this pleases me.  We've also noticed a correlation between taking pre-naptime walks and the quality of Avery's nap.  If I time the walk such that she either goes down for her nap immediately upon return, or we eat lunch then she goes down, she seems to go to sleep easier and to sleep for longer.  I think it's the fresh air. That provides me a little extra motivation to make it happen. 

I tried out my new trekking poles today.  They definitely help when walking down the hill in terms of stability.  I was surprised to find they helped when going uphill, too.  The down side is that they're somewhat of a pain to get set up.  It only takes 30 seconds or so, but when that 30 seconds is spent with dogs running off at full speed away from me, it's a loooooonnnggg 30 seconds.  I'm sure with time, I'll get better at getting them set up.

Workouts

We are off to workout this afternoon after Avery wakes from her nap.  I hope to do cardio and weights today.  I loaded up my iPhone with Body for Life pictures to help me with weights.  As I have a mental aversion to actually lifting weights at the gym (intimidation isn't the right word, but it's something akin to that), I need a little help in telling me what to do.  A while back, I scanned in all the various exercises the book notes to train various muscle groups.  Having those on my iPhone (or iPod, whichever one I'm using that day) really helps to just keep me on track.  I am quite sure I could probably find a podcast or video that I could download and use to follow.  For now, I will do what has worked in the past.

Avery's getting better at going to the "gym gym" (we're not sure why she says it twice since neither of us ever called it the gym gym).  She still says she "no like gym gym!" but this last time she didn't cry at all when I left her and was happy when I showed up to get her (though she did start crying when she saw me and couldn't immediately run to me since she was stuck up on a some sort of play structure).

Sleeping In

D's been getting up with Avery in the mornings a disproportionate number of mornings while he's been on vacation, thus allowing me to sleep until 9 or sometimes even 10 or 11.  So awesome.

Reverse Date Night

If a date night for us is us going out, then the reverse must be staying in so we can watch the G kids while the G's go out.  Tonight is our reverse date night.  Nolan* has a break out of eczema, is transitioning to a sleep sack from a swaddle making him wake every 45 minutes or so for the first part of the evening, and doesn't fall asleep as easily as before, so it will likely be a less easy reverse date night than usual.  However, I still can't wait!   You see, I love it when I get to try new organization.  Since we moved Avery's crib to another room when her big girl bed arrived, we now have a crib just for Nolan!  I have been dying to try this out for weeks, but this will be our first opportunity


* All this information comes via RHG.  Considering how easy Nolan has been for us every time we've had him for a reverse date night, I'd say he's more than entitled to a night of waking up and/or being less than stellar!