What I did last week...

Last weekend I closed down our retail store, Lone Star Games. We sold poker chips. Now we are selling our inventory in an effort to recoup our losses. I'll certainly be writing more about this over the coming weeks or months, but for now just know that we gave it a good shot. While we are sad the retail venture did not work out, we do not regret trying our hand in another venture. It was fun, if expensive, and we're glad we once again put our selves, our effort, and our $ on the line. Like many have said before, it only takes once.

Since closing the kiosk I have seen a bunch of movies. On Wednesday I skipped the poker game to go see Serenity, a good western set in space. The story was enjoyable, the acting good, the writing (by Josh Whedon) very good (I reckon the dialoge was a bit western-like), and the spaceship almost looked like a horse. Rating 3.75 of 5

On Thursday I did play poker and came in fourth of 11 players. It was not in the money, but I did well for my $10 investment.

On Friday Kristi took me to see the wonderful biopic, Walk the Line. Absolutely engrossing story about Johnny Cash and June Carter. Everyone will likely see this movie and that is just how it should be. Outstanding acting and screenplay, probably the best movie I've seen all year. Rating 5 of 5

Saturday was my birthday (39) and we were going to go out with Tony and Emily, Mom and Steve. Tony took sick in the morning, so I cancelled our reservation at the wonderful Fogo de Chao (fo-go dèe shoun). We'll reschedule for the next time they are in town. And if you have never eaten at a Brazilian churrasco, you really should. Rating 5 of 5

Instead, if was a calm and lazy day, where Kristi and I took in two movies to celebrate. The first was Just Like Heaven, a light hearted romantic comedy. It's my favorite genre and this was a pretty good rendition of the standard plotline; boy meets girl, boy and girl argue, boy and girl fall in love, boy and girl save each other, boy and girl lose each other, boy and girl end up kissing as the camera spins around them. Rating 4 of 5

After dinner we went back to the discount theatre for the R-rated comedy, Wedding Crashers. Most reviewers found it unsatisfying, but we really enjoyed. It was a bit raunchy, but laugh out loud funny too. Rating 4 of 5

And finally, today, we visited with my mother a bit (she gave me pumpkin bars for a present, a tasty treat I asked for ahead of time), went down to Cedar Hill where we saw Kristi's parents and relatives from Alabama, Rick, Sherri, and Matthew.

One of the funniest lines tonight was when Sherry said, "Tony never even updates his blog, I don't even know why he has one!" She was a bit upset by his disappointing writing schedule and I thought it very funny.

Now it's time to pack and go to bed. I've got to get on a plan in eight hours.