7 More days to Oprah and the Oscars

I am starting to really get excited about going to the Oprah After Oscar Show Taping.  We are leaving on Saturday and this is sure to be a very busy week with the packing, hair, eye, and doctor appointments and of course, getting the kids all squared away.  They have projects and homework assignments to complete and I have to make sure that Chelsea's hair is braided.  All uniforms need to be cleaned and things need to be in a general order so that everything doesn't fall apart while I am away.  Chelsea even has a field trip while I am gone.  It's all a bit too much.

I went to church today and prayed that God keeps me safe as I travel and that I get back here to my kids.  I wonder if it is normal for parents to fear leaving their kids?? I'm always fine once I get there, but I have a fear that I am not very willing to acknowledge that the plane will crash or that I will get into a horrible accident.  It's just like me to torture myself.  It's ridiculous.  I know that I will have a wonderful time and that God will bless me to get me back here to my babies.

So, tonight I took a break from homework and ran over to my mom's house.  Actually, I plowed through about 8 inches of snow to go over there at midnight and watch the first of our Oscar-nominated movies.  It may be the last judging how little time I have available this week.  Anyhow, I ordered "The Social Network" on DirectTV.  It was so nice to spend some time with my mother and I know that she enjoyed the movie.  I want to make this Oscar experience as exciting for her as I possibly can.

I was a little worried about watching the movie with mom.  I wanted her to have at least seen one movie prior to watching the Oscar's.  But you have to think that the concept of "social networking" might be just a little foreign to an 82 year old woman who doesn't own a computer.  Still, she said that she enjoyed the movie and also had heard of "facebook" even if the concept wasn't quite clear. 

The movie was pretty good.  I couldn't help feeling a little sad for Mark Z. who was the brilliant mind behind facebook since his character was such a lonely asshole.  You have to admire, however, tortured souls that just happen to be genius. I was captivated by all the geek speak as I have a degree in computer science.  Hearing about programming however did not tug at any of my heart strings and the lack of excitement further cemented the notion that I am doing the right thing by bailing on the IT industry.  Still, I can't help but envy people who have brains that work like Mark Z.  The Lord knows that I was surely not one of them, but my journey of reinvention without programming is surely another story.

Back to the movie: I don't think that the movie should necessarily get an Oscar nod as it didn't make the little hairs on my neck stand or tug at any heart strings.  I must say however that it was wonderfully written being about technology.  I knew what they were talking about when the acronyms flew around, but the fact that my mother got it and enjoyed it, says a lot.  The movie, in my opinion, was less about the technology, but more about brilliance and success at the price of one's soul.  I loved watching the growth of the young characters as they danced through corporate chaos, social hierarchy and the finding of oneself.   The true test of a good movie in my opinion is one that I am replaying in my mind long after I have left the theatre.  This one does it for me and it allowed me to do something that I hadn't done in a long time: chill in bed with my 82 year best girl and watch a pretty good movie!  7 days to Los Angeles, Oprah and the Oscars.  I can't wait!