Relief, Regrets, and a Review

Sunrise Over Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina, USA

Our trip to North Carolina’s Outer Banks was a joy, as always. We took longer than normal, so coming home felt better than ever. Besides relaxation, this translated to two solid weeks of an unusual diet and inadequate exercise.

The other day, I had to go to my primary care physician for prescription refills. While my doctor is pretty laid back, I anticipated unhappiness at the weight scale and dreaded going.

But here’s to the relief in my title – she didn’t weigh me. It seems I don’t look as bloated as I feel. And now I have the opportunity to get back to the gym on a regular basis. Breakfast so far today has consisted of a boiled egg. While we split just about every meal out on the road, it’s nice to go light and simple when I want.

Hurray for the incredible, edible egg!

But here’s where (minor) regret comes into play. The more I leave the house for activities like resistance training, the less I want to do things like grocery shop. And while my dear spouse has been super supportive, often going solo to the store, his purchases aren’t always what I expected.

As a result, my L-lysine supplements are twice the normal dose. While that’s not a big deal, they are tough to swallow and I could have waited a few days had I known the store was out of stock. It didn’t seem worth returning them, so I’m hanging in there.

And let me tell you, I sure haven’t suffered any canker sores!

But some of the food item replacements have been disappointing, like receiving gooey cheese filled pretzel sticks instead of plain soft pretzel nuggets. And when I request canned salmon, it’s because the skin and bones are the best part. He brought me the fish packaged in envelopes gleefully advertising the product to be skin and bone free. ~sigh~ I will say the guy stepped up and ate some of it when he prefers salmon as baked fillets.

Even better, he trusted my judgment and went with me to the theater on Tuesday. After first seeing a single trailer for the film I became obsessed with “Bad Times at the El Royale”.

I won’t give you any true spoilers, but know that it’s set in the nineteen-sixties. We love our period pieces around here. And the motel was sort of its own character. That is always fun.

All the actors gave stellar performances. Chris Hemsworth, however, stole every scene.

Kudos to the wardrobe department, also, as they kept Mr. Hemsworth bare-chested much as possible. My husband got a good laugh at my observation on the way home, by the way.

It was a joy to watch Jeff Bridges, Jon Hamm, Cynthia Erivo (I would never have guessed in a million years that this talented singer is British!), Cailee Spaeny, Dakota Johnson, and Lewis Pullman play their parts. I learned beforehand that Bill Pullman’s son co-starred. Not knowing he had an acting child, I enjoyed picking him out by his physical features and subtle mannerisms.

And what a performance. Mr. Pullman’s character proved the biggest surprise.

The only detriment we found is the length. Other reviewers agreed, so at least I went into the theater forewarned. Believe me when I say I sipped that diet cola. Some scenes dragged on longer than necessary; I wasn’t bored for long.

If blood and violence are a turn-off, this film is not for you. I didn’t mind. None of it was gratuitous. In fact, I’m happy to report there were no sex scenes. The storytelling didn’t need that distraction.

I say well done, Drew Goddard, who wrote and directed the film. It wasn’t a huge surprise. I got a similar flavor from a very different but also wonderful flick he worked on with Joss Whedon, “Cabin in the Woods”.

Have you seen any good movies lately?

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