All in the Family

(This story will make sense if you know that my dad and his half of the family are Mexican. And it is also makes sense when you know the eating habits of many Latinos is to eat with some sort of bread scooping whatever food is on the plate.) :)

For Thanksgiving, I went to San Antonio, Texas- the place of my birth and the city where most of my dad's family still resides.

So we are at my aunt's house for the actual Thanksgiving meal. I am sitting at the dining room table with two of my cousins, their grandma, and my uncle. I, of course, loaded up my plate with lots and lots of yummy food. And at the end of the meal, I used my remaining roll to pick up the remaining juices and bits of food.

My cousin, Jimmy, is watching me and says, "Cassie, you may look white, but you are all Mexican."

It made me proud. :)

Excuse the Expletive

I live near a hospital, and I live near the hood. So I hear sirens and other activity fairly regularly. I've learned that when you hear a helicopter pass over once, it is on its way to the hospital. However, when you hear the helicopter continue to fly overhead, it is looking for someone in particular.

Well, this past Saturday I experienced one of those "oh shit" moments. I was at church helping set up for the Thanksgiving extravaganza the next day. The Northeast neighborhood of KCMO is a neighborhood with more activity at night, if you know what I mean. Well, as I drove down Benton between Independence Ave and Truman, I saw a cop car with its sirens on coming towards me. I pulled over, but it turned before it passed me. As I looked at where this car had pulled over, I heard a helicopter. I then saw the police officers walking along the street pointing their flashlights towards a front yard and house. And then as I drove past, the helicopter light shined a few feet from my car on its way to the house. And in my brain, all I could think of was... "oh shit."

I wasn't in any immediate danger, but being that close to searching lights is a bit much. It's been a while since they've been searching directly in my neighborhood.

(And mom and dad or any other relative that may read this, I'm ok. I wasn't in any immediate danger. Just a friendly reminder of living in a heavily urban area.) :)

Robin Hood-esque

So today I was going to the movies with a friend, and we were planning on seeing In Time at 4:45. We showed up to the movies, and it wasn't on the screen. We asked the ticket lady, and she said they were experiencing some technical difficulties, but they were giving a free ticket for the inconvenience. After some discussion, we decided to watch Tower Heist which had just started, have some dinner, and make it a double feature by seeing In Time at 7:25.

Best decision of the day!!!! We got to see one movie for free and pay $6 for another. Awesome!!!

Tower Heist was quite comical. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. Very much a stickin' it to the rich man... which every loan-overwhelmed recent graduate can celebrate. ;)

In Time was also superb. Action good, acting good, film overall enjoyable. And it was way more deep than I anticipated. I knew the overall premise and figured what it would involve. But there were certain monologues or quick remarks that just got me in the chest. The fact that there is enough for us all- if only we shared. How change may last for a while, but human greed will keep fighting back. How those 'with' may not be evil, but so many continue by just 'closing our eyes.' Oohhh... so good. I recommend it for those that want something to chew on, and I recommend it for those who would like some quality time staring at Justin Timberlake. lol For real though, super good movie- still thinking about the story and so many of the details laced throughout it.

And so now, I wish that I could somehow spread the wealth to those less fortunate. Of course, another theme for these two movies was not just about the money. Relationships and the (near or actual) loss of loved ones was a huge driving factor. But I don't want to get too sappy here... so I'll just leave it with saying that you should go see both of these at some point in time.