May the Force {if not The Last Jedi} be with you...
Although recent events have taken place in this season of fall, almost winter, this story begins in the middle of summer. At the stroke of midnight, the stillness of a summer night was interrupted by the sound of an iPhone's alarm clock chiming. The chiming iPhone's owner was Donnie. His mission was simple but important: the night of his slumber ending alarm was the first night that tickets went on sale for the Last Jedi. The movie wasn't coming out until December 14 but tickets went on sale (at midnight) six months prior to that date. Donnie was worried that tickets to the show may sell out so he forewent some sleep to ensure that he, Alyssa, Abby and Jacob had tickets (I've seen nary a Star Wars movie and didn't plan to see this one so he didn't get a ticket for me). He bought tickets for Friday, December 15th, one day after the opening. The kids would have school on Friday so he didn't think they should watch the movie on a school night.
As summer gave way to fall and the accompanying change that such a season entails: flip flops, sleeping in, sunscreen, schedule free days reluctantly fell to the wayside as school began. Not just school but fall activities drastically changed the cadence of the days- soccer practice, fall play practice, soccer games and the like formed our new normal. In the backdrop of such changes was the knowledge that soon, well, fairly soon, the new Star Wars movie was coming out.
As fall gave way to the cold and the season, though still fall, became that of the Christmas season, the changes were a little more subtle but still evident: soccer ended, the fall play ended, "thankfulness" was supplanted by "joy" and "believe," oranges and browns were replaced with green, red and gold. Against the backdrop of such changes was the knowledge that soon the new Star Wars movie was coming out. In this time period, a kernel of apprehension formed in Donnie's mind. Since the movie was coming out on December 14th but he and the kids weren't seeing it until the evening of December 15th, how was he supposed to insulate himself from popular culture/ social media/ the news on Friday, the 15th, such that he wouldn't find out spoiler alerts about the movie prior to seeing the movie? The only plausible solution to the problem was to see the movie on the 14th and to ignore the pesky irritation of the kids having school the next day. One night of going to bed considerably later than usual wasn't likely to do lasting harm, right? And so, Donnie bought tickets for a showing of the Last Jedi for Thursday. Naturally, they'd still go to the Friday showing as well since they had tickets.
Donnie and Abby were particularly giddy with anticipation. Jacob and Alyssa like Star Wars quite a bit but they aren't as life affected as Donnie and Abby are when it comes to Star Wars :). In fact, Jacob decided that he didn't want to see The Last Jedi two nights in a row so he declined to go to the Thursday showing.
The following is a brief run down of our Star Wars The Last Jedi weekend:
Thursday: THE DAY WAS FINALLY HERE for the Star Wars enthused. Donnie and Abby could hardly contain their excitement. Abby did Alyssa's hair in Rey buns for the movie and Alyssa wore part of her Rey costume. Donnie and Abby decided before the movie started that they weren't going to risk sullying the experience of watching the movie with eating popcorn. They needed 100% of their attention focused on the movie. Apparently, the act of placing a hand into a popcorn bucket and then placing the hand with popcorn into their mouth was a possible distraction and that was not acceptable. Alyssa was much less on board with an apopcorn movie experience; she was mollified by knowing that popcorn would be consumed at the Friday watching of the movie.
Abby sent me this picture from the theater on Thursday before they saw the movie
Thursday evening while Donnie, Abby and Alyssa were at the movie, Jacob and I went to Graeter's for ice cream. When we arrived home, I ran, showered and waited up for the Star Wars fans to arrive home from the movie. When the Star Wars fans arrived home, much to my dismay, it was with an air of dejection that Donnie and Abby described their reactions to the movie. To wit, Donnie and Abby's expectations were not met with this movie. Some not positive things about Disney and the movie were said. Alyssa thought the movie was good.
Friday- Ever an optimist, Donnie's mood about the movie improved on Friday. While it certainly failed to meet expectations, there were surely some good things in it, right? He and Abby would try to watch the movie for the second time with an open mind. Donnie's firm had its in office holiday party on Friday afternoon. A $15/gift gift exchange is part of the party. Every year, when Donnie comes home from his office party, I always ask if the gift he received was a dud or not (there's a number that's randomly assigned a person that dictates the order in which he or picks a gift. No one buys a gift with a particular person in mind for the gift exchange). I asked Donnie on Friday if he'd received a dud and was happy to hear him say, "No!" very enthusiastically. I knew that receiving a $15 present that wasn't a dud wouldn't compensate from the disappointment of the movie, but all positive things in a day add up. The gift he ended up with was Star Wars related and he loved it :).
About as good of a $15 gift that Donnie could hope to receive...
Friday evening, Donnie, Abby, Alyssa and Jacob went to see the Last Jedi. The good news is that Donnie and Abby liked the move a decent bit more than they did on Thursday. Jacob didn't like the movie too much. Alyssa still liked it. When Donnie bought the tickets for the Friday showing back in the summer, he had to pick seats in the theater. Much to his and the kids' surprise, when they arrived at the theater, it turned out that good friends of theirs had picked out seats right next to them (the friends also picked out seats when they purchased tickets beforehand- it was completely luck/ random that they picked out seats next to Donnie and the kids).
Saturday- Donnie and I spent part of the day going over what we'd purchased for the kids for Christmas, what we still planned to buy, etc. Donnie showed me a picture of a Star Wars item he was sure the kids (or at least the girls) would like. It was a remote controlled/ voice activated BB-8. Alyssa has the very small voice activated BB-8 that came out two years ago (I believe). This one was considerably bigger. I told Donnie I was sure the girls would like it but that they didn't need any more big presents. I promptly forgot about it. Donnie did not. I should have known he was up to Star Wars shenanigans when he announced he needed to go to Target and would pick up dinner on his way home. When he walked into the door, he had Chick-fil-A in one hand and a huge bag from Target in the other. "You're going to be mad at me," he said, with a little chuckle. He knows that if he walks in the door with CFA, I won't be mad at all or least not for long. He had purchased the BB-8 "for the family." He said he needed to purchase it before Christmas so that BB-8 could be with us on Christmas. Okie Dokie. I think he needed some Star Wars levity after the disappointment of the Last Jedi.
Sunday- Celebrating Jacob's 17th birthday (thankfully!!) overshadowed Star Wars/ Last Jedi angst. BB-8 completed charging on Sunday and Donnie and the girls played with BB-8 some. BB-8 was a good distraction from the disappointment of the Last Jedi. While Donnie and Abby recovered from their initial dismay of the movie, they remained disappointed in the movie.
Finally, I would be remiss to not mention my contribution to the kids and Donnie's enjoyment of the season: I purchased this guy for 75% off last year after Christmas. Funny, though, that I seem to be his biggest fan (the biggest fan of the inflatable, not the Star Wars character himself).
As summer gave way to fall and the accompanying change that such a season entails: flip flops, sleeping in, sunscreen, schedule free days reluctantly fell to the wayside as school began. Not just school but fall activities drastically changed the cadence of the days- soccer practice, fall play practice, soccer games and the like formed our new normal. In the backdrop of such changes was the knowledge that soon, well, fairly soon, the new Star Wars movie was coming out.
As fall gave way to the cold and the season, though still fall, became that of the Christmas season, the changes were a little more subtle but still evident: soccer ended, the fall play ended, "thankfulness" was supplanted by "joy" and "believe," oranges and browns were replaced with green, red and gold. Against the backdrop of such changes was the knowledge that soon the new Star Wars movie was coming out. In this time period, a kernel of apprehension formed in Donnie's mind. Since the movie was coming out on December 14th but he and the kids weren't seeing it until the evening of December 15th, how was he supposed to insulate himself from popular culture/ social media/ the news on Friday, the 15th, such that he wouldn't find out spoiler alerts about the movie prior to seeing the movie? The only plausible solution to the problem was to see the movie on the 14th and to ignore the pesky irritation of the kids having school the next day. One night of going to bed considerably later than usual wasn't likely to do lasting harm, right? And so, Donnie bought tickets for a showing of the Last Jedi for Thursday. Naturally, they'd still go to the Friday showing as well since they had tickets.
Donnie and Abby were particularly giddy with anticipation. Jacob and Alyssa like Star Wars quite a bit but they aren't as life affected as Donnie and Abby are when it comes to Star Wars :). In fact, Jacob decided that he didn't want to see The Last Jedi two nights in a row so he declined to go to the Thursday showing.
The following is a brief run down of our Star Wars The Last Jedi weekend:
Thursday: THE DAY WAS FINALLY HERE for the Star Wars enthused. Donnie and Abby could hardly contain their excitement. Abby did Alyssa's hair in Rey buns for the movie and Alyssa wore part of her Rey costume. Donnie and Abby decided before the movie started that they weren't going to risk sullying the experience of watching the movie with eating popcorn. They needed 100% of their attention focused on the movie. Apparently, the act of placing a hand into a popcorn bucket and then placing the hand with popcorn into their mouth was a possible distraction and that was not acceptable. Alyssa was much less on board with an apopcorn movie experience; she was mollified by knowing that popcorn would be consumed at the Friday watching of the movie.
Abby sent me this picture from the theater on Thursday before they saw the movie
Thursday evening while Donnie, Abby and Alyssa were at the movie, Jacob and I went to Graeter's for ice cream. When we arrived home, I ran, showered and waited up for the Star Wars fans to arrive home from the movie. When the Star Wars fans arrived home, much to my dismay, it was with an air of dejection that Donnie and Abby described their reactions to the movie. To wit, Donnie and Abby's expectations were not met with this movie. Some not positive things about Disney and the movie were said. Alyssa thought the movie was good.
Friday- Ever an optimist, Donnie's mood about the movie improved on Friday. While it certainly failed to meet expectations, there were surely some good things in it, right? He and Abby would try to watch the movie for the second time with an open mind. Donnie's firm had its in office holiday party on Friday afternoon. A $15/gift gift exchange is part of the party. Every year, when Donnie comes home from his office party, I always ask if the gift he received was a dud or not (there's a number that's randomly assigned a person that dictates the order in which he or picks a gift. No one buys a gift with a particular person in mind for the gift exchange). I asked Donnie on Friday if he'd received a dud and was happy to hear him say, "No!" very enthusiastically. I knew that receiving a $15 present that wasn't a dud wouldn't compensate from the disappointment of the movie, but all positive things in a day add up. The gift he ended up with was Star Wars related and he loved it :).
About as good of a $15 gift that Donnie could hope to receive...
Friday evening, Donnie, Abby, Alyssa and Jacob went to see the Last Jedi. The good news is that Donnie and Abby liked the move a decent bit more than they did on Thursday. Jacob didn't like the movie too much. Alyssa still liked it. When Donnie bought the tickets for the Friday showing back in the summer, he had to pick seats in the theater. Much to his and the kids' surprise, when they arrived at the theater, it turned out that good friends of theirs had picked out seats right next to them (the friends also picked out seats when they purchased tickets beforehand- it was completely luck/ random that they picked out seats next to Donnie and the kids).
Saturday- Donnie and I spent part of the day going over what we'd purchased for the kids for Christmas, what we still planned to buy, etc. Donnie showed me a picture of a Star Wars item he was sure the kids (or at least the girls) would like. It was a remote controlled/ voice activated BB-8. Alyssa has the very small voice activated BB-8 that came out two years ago (I believe). This one was considerably bigger. I told Donnie I was sure the girls would like it but that they didn't need any more big presents. I promptly forgot about it. Donnie did not. I should have known he was up to Star Wars shenanigans when he announced he needed to go to Target and would pick up dinner on his way home. When he walked into the door, he had Chick-fil-A in one hand and a huge bag from Target in the other. "You're going to be mad at me," he said, with a little chuckle. He knows that if he walks in the door with CFA, I won't be mad at all or least not for long. He had purchased the BB-8 "for the family." He said he needed to purchase it before Christmas so that BB-8 could be with us on Christmas. Okie Dokie. I think he needed some Star Wars levity after the disappointment of the Last Jedi.
Sunday- Celebrating Jacob's 17th birthday (thankfully!!) overshadowed Star Wars/ Last Jedi angst. BB-8 completed charging on Sunday and Donnie and the girls played with BB-8 some. BB-8 was a good distraction from the disappointment of the Last Jedi. While Donnie and Abby recovered from their initial dismay of the movie, they remained disappointed in the movie.
Finally, I would be remiss to not mention my contribution to the kids and Donnie's enjoyment of the season: I purchased this guy for 75% off last year after Christmas. Funny, though, that I seem to be his biggest fan (the biggest fan of the inflatable, not the Star Wars character himself).
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