Sheep Talk: My Christmas Experience! (Plus a movie review—Jumanji—as a sidebar...)

Reviewer Jeanie G shares her story... as well as a review of Jumanji and SharonS adds her thoughts on Jumanji too!

Traveling to our children's homes for Christmas is always packed with a myriad of activities and rushing. Wrapping then packing a truckload of gifts and hoping for decent weather is always the first hurdle. This year, not so bad. We made it to our daughter's the 23rd of December and had plenty of time to prepare for our Christmas Eve get together. We are her "basement renters" in the winter when we visit the area...as my 7 year old grandson reminds me! It's easier for him to visit us in his basement than it is to travel 4 hours...plus he thinks he can play by Nana's rules down there instead of Mom's rules upstairs. Sly dog!

Anyway, Christmas Eve afternoon and evening was hectic with the adults, two 7 year olds, a 5 year old and 2 one year old children. Trust me, you couldn't walk through the house without kicking a kid, dog or present. My son in law is a little OCD so the wrapping paper was his nemesis for a couple hours. It all was heartwarming and fun of course.

Christmas for us was up at 5:30 to be at our son's by 6 to watch the 3 other grandchildren open their gifts. Then back to our daughter's to finish watching the other 2 finish their gifts and help put some supper together. Trust me after those 3 days, I was ready for some quiet time! SOOO...the day after Christmas my husband and I asked two grandchildren (7&5) if they wanted to see a movie. I figured "Great", two hours being entertained then some supper then home to kick the feet up. HMMMPH.!

We get to the theater about 20 minutes early for the 1:30 showing of "Jumanji". I noticed the parking area was packed so as my husband was parking the car, we went in to get tickets. Not a long line (Whew). But that was because the 1:30 showing was already SOLD OUT! The ticket sales lady said "we still have some seats for the 3:00 movie but they are almost gone". Of course I ask for 2 seniors and 2 children before she had time to put out the closed sign!

We decide to eat a late lunch before returning 30 minutes prior to show time. Hey, I saw the lines at the first visit! Again my husband drops us off to park and while walking in I take the tickets from my purse and YIKES, there are only 3 tickets. Now, I didn't count the tickets when I received them earlier, nor did I even look at the amount I paid while swiping my card. I rush to the ticket window and plead for just ONE more ticket..even if it's just a space along the wall...but NOOOO. So, I have to give my husband the bad news that only one of us gets the pleasure of seeing the movie with our angelic grandchildren! I could tell how crestfallen he was as he hurried back the way he came yelling..."I'll be back in a couple hours" over his shoulder. Traitor.

Remember, we are 30 minutes early (25 by this time) and as we go find the theater number I notice a snaking line down one wall turning to snake down the opposite wall... hmm... I'm thinking maybe it's for the bathroom. No such luck. It's the line to enter the theater for the showing! Again, remember I have a 7 and 5 year old that I am sure are going to ask for candy or popcorn any minute and I am NOT giving up my place in line. As luck would have it, they didn't, I didn't have to leave the line, and they opened the doors after 15 minutes of waiting in line.

Trust me, if I hadn't already promised the movie, I would never go through all this headache. I couldn't understand why it was so crowded on a Tuesday afternoon with 2 theaters showing the same movie. Then I looked at my tickets again and someone said: "it's always busy on $5.00 Tuesdays!" OOOHHH, school is out and all movies, all day are only $5.00! Sort of makes me wish we were staying one more day and went to the movie on Wed.!

Jumanji (2017)

Directed By: Jake Kasdan

Written By: Chris McKenna, Erik Sommers, Scott Rosenberg, Jeff Pinkner
Dec 20, 2017

Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Jack Black, Kevin Hart, Karen Gillan, Nick Jonas, Bobby Cannavale 

Rating: PG-13 (for adventure action, suggestive content and some language)

Genre: Action & Adventure, Drama, Kids & Family, Science Fiction & Fantasy
Runtime: 112 minutes
Studio: Columbia Pictures

When four high-school kids discover an old video game console with a game they've never heard of--Jumanji--they are immediately drawn into the game's jungle setting, literally becoming the avatars they chose: gamer Spencer becomes a brawny adventurer (Dwayne Johnson); football jock Fridge loses (in his words) "the top two feet of his body" and becomes an Einstein (Kevin Hart); popular girl Bethany becomes a middle-aged male professor (Jack Black); and wallflower Martha becomes a badass warrior (Karen Gillan). What they discover is that you don't just play Jumanji--you must survive it. To beat the game and return to the real world, they'll have to go on the most dangerous adventure of their lives, discover what Alan Parrish left 20 years ago, and change the way they think about themselves--or they'll be stuck in the game forever...

Jeanie G's Review

SO, on to the movie. "Jumanji " was worth the wait. I am glad I bought the 3:00 tickets and I'm glad I waited in the line to get a seat. I really loved the first Jumanji movie with Robin Williams and I also loved the sequel. They did a great job of making the old new and keeping the humor and excitement alive. The first movie took place in real life "outside" of the game. This edition takes place "inside" the game and I thought that was brilliant. If you are any type of gamer (experienced or not) you will appreciate the storyline and innuendos written into the script. High school students serving detention find an old Atari game (ancient to them) while cleaning out a storeroom and decide to play. After choosing their characters then get "transported" into the game and must save the world of Jumanji to get out alive. The "Rock" Johnson, Jack Black and Kevin Hart are hilarious. I had not seen any reviews or looked at any ratings and didn't even know who was starring in this film. If I had I might have been a little leery of the type of humor but I was pleasantly surprised. 

Now even though they kept it clean (even for a PG-13), I counted a couple of "Oh shits" and a couple "bad ass" and two chaste kisses. No harsh foul language or nudity or sexual innuendos. WHEW! Of course, what does my 5 1/2 year old (going on 20) remember most about the film? One of the high school girls was a "bad ass" and there were two kisses. Plus, one of the girls was turned into a male character and she had lost her phone that had been "attached" to her hand!

I don't know the critic's rating nor do I care, the three of us laughed out loud during the move, neither of them asked to get out of their seat for anything and the movie was highly entertaining! I would see it again and I rarely give that kind of accolade. Only "Dirty Dancing" and "Sixth Sense" earned that from me.

If you get a chance, grab a grandchild and spend the day eating, standing in line and laughing at a really well done movie!

The whole day got 5 "gleaming" sheep from me!

Sharon's Review

The Breakfast Club meets Tomb Raider.

Went to see Jumanji with my husband and 16-year-old daughter. The trailer pretty much sums up the movie. It was silly fun with 13-year-old boy humor (dick jokes galore) but predictable. Pretty much a cookie-cutter action comedy with stereotype characters aimed at the preteen crowd.

It is worth checking out if you like that kind of movie, but you can wait for the DVD. It would have gotten a 3 Sheep rating from me, but Dwayne Johnson is nice to look at, and the ending was touching.

We all gave it 3 1/3 "Dance fighting" Sheep

SharonS

FlockTalk: Trials of a Camping Book Reviewer

Recently my husband and I bought a travel trailer to act as a residence near our adult children (with our grandchildren) who normally live about 4 hours away from us. Now they are only 30 and 40 minutes away. We spent a couple years contemplating moving entirely but WOW what an undertaking to dispose of a house you have lived in for 30 plus years! So we decided to be campers!

Now, mind you, we we loved having 5 acres, horses, a multitude of animals, barns, bonfires, etc. but never, never did we take our kids camping with limited comforts. So we still think it's just fine to go from a 4000 sq. ft. home to a 340 sq. ft. travel trailer! After all, I am hooked on "Tiny Houses" on the FYI channel.

We found a campground that allowed us to leave our camper all year. "GREAT," we said. It even has free Wi-Fi and water. The price was fantastic. I'm thinking to myself..."Holy cow, I will be able to read so much more with all the time I save not having my house to keep up with." Silly me!

I find myself in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by cows, cornfields, woods and a small lake. Pretty, for sure. But I also find that no one wants to put in reliable internet or phone service. Timed out applications, "no service" available notifications and even the Millersburg General Store has a big sign saying if we want to pay with debit or credit cards to have a seat because it may take a while to get through! Are there really still places like that around?! How am I to survive in the wild?!

Try cooking most of your meals on the grill and showering in a 1'X4" tub with only a 6 gallon hot water tank. ONE!, yes I said only 1', TV that might pick up a couple channels on the digital antenna built into our trailer. A closet the size of a wardrobe and a bed that you have to walk around sideways. Hmmm...maybe I didn't think this through, entirely.

The biggest problem is getting email and phone service. I even went so far as to get a "hot spot" for my phone but it's "not so hot" when there still isn't cell phone service readily available. Hmmm...that would be a waste of 40 dollars/month! SOOO, I read in between batting flies and mosquitoes. I type up reviews and trek a few miles to upload. Even that is sometimes slow, depending on how many people are huddled around the tables trying to do the same thing I am. I have met many people that way!

Now, I know I sound like a spoiled brat but when did we become so dependent on current technology that we forgot how to survive without it constantly at our fingertips? We are all spoiled and sometimes need to be reminded that there is a whole world of wonder, even outside our books. I wake to the sounds of birds chirping, the quiet of the sun rising over the lake and the wildlife scouring our area for food. I could get more reading done but have decided I enjoy sitting outside or lying in the hammock watching the world go by one day at a time.

I am slowly realizing that life passes way too quickly and we need to condition ourselves to enjoy the small things. The phrase "stop and smell the roses" has new meaning for me. I never thought I would get to this age and wish I would have been able to see what was always right in front of my eyes. I use books to escape (and always will) but I also now "escape" into some quiet bits of nature that seem to have helped replenish my soul. I highly recommend it!

JeanieG