What Weekend?

Saturday and Sunday flew by in a blur. Friday started the weekend out on a crazy note with the dreaded phone call from daycare: "TLO isn't feeling well and is running a fever of 102.5 degrees." Commence scramble to figure out how to: A) Get him home and offer comfort; and B) Juggle schedules so that STK and I honor our responsibilities as both parents and educators. I went home until 1 PM and STK covered from that point forward. Yes, we both missed a half day of work which is normally a good thing, but isn't so great when every minute of the half day "off" is spent ministering to an obviously sick child. What really sucks is that a 22 month old can only express that he hurts ("ouch, dada" & "owie, mama"), but can't yet pinpoint the exact nature of the hurt. We're pretty sure he had a headache and sore throat. STK confirmed our diagnosis as she contracted the same illness and the symptoms really revved up to speed on Saturday night. So, we spent much of the weekend in self-imposed quarantine. And that means tons of DVDs!

Superman: The Animated Series. TLO's latest obsession is "Supey." He loves his "Supey" action figure, "Supey" Thank You card (received just after Christmas and still considered a prized possession), and the animated series. We watched a couple episodes each day--I'd forgotten how much I like this version of Superman. Definitely my favorite of all the mediated incarnations. I love this version of Supergirl, too. Damn glad I invested in the series on DVD.

Six Feet Under. For the last few months, we've been making our way through this series. This weekend, we watched the six episodes leading up to the series finale (which we should receive in the mail tomorrow--yay, Netflix!). For the most part, I like the balance of dark humor and drama permeating the series. This last season, though, is short on humor and long on drama. Even though I managed to predict most of the major plot turns, much to STK's continued amazement, I still wasn't prepared for the collective descent into negativity by most of the characters. I don't know that I've ever said this about a series I've enjoyed so much--this series is right up there with my favorites--but I'm glad only one episode remains. I just can't take watching any more pain and misery for characters with whom I relate so much.

Drive. This one obviously isn't out on DVD yet as it just premiered a few hours ago. With Nathan Fillon in the starring role, we had to check out Captain Mal in an earthbound series. The series centers around a motley collection of characters who get sucked into a cross country road race. The twist is that they have no idea how long the race is in either time or distance. They receive a clue via cell phone indicating the next destination, race to that spot, and wait for the next clue. The other twist is that each of the "teams" has a different motivation for being in the race; some of those motivations are known to the viewers and some aren't. Fillon's character, for example, gets forced into the race as he searches for his missing wife. All he knows is that the organizers of the race have his wife. That's it. Some involved in the race are there for the $30 million dollar payoff. Fearless prediction: Fillon's character is hiding a secret. He's a former government agent, maybe a criminal informant in a witness protection program, or something. He's definitely not a garden variety landscaper. We'll be watching episode three Monday night. It's fun, dramatic, and has just enough quirkiness to keep us interested. Did I mention that Tim Minear of X-files, Angel, and Wonderfalls is one of the creators? That's a draw, too.