Naturally Optimistic

* My legs are so frickin' sore I can barely walk down the stairs or sit down on a chair. Ay yi yi. Apparently I NEVER ever use those muscles. Awesome. *We bought a SWEET new hi-def camcorder last night. It's been on our "list" since Dahlia was born and since we leave for vacation tomorrow & got a nice tax refund...it was time. It is TINY. I love it. I can't wait to take some video. *I'm on the last chapter of the last TWILIGHT book. I think I'm reading it really slowly because I don't want it to end. Argh! *We leave for Florida tomorrow! We're staying at my in-laws condo (where we honeymooned) with them. They are driving down and picking us up at the airport. It's a cheap vacay for us - we used frequent flyer miles for the flight, we aren't renting a car, we aren't paying for a place to stay...sweet! We plan on sitting at the beach, kayaking, sitting at the beach and more sitting at the beach. I hope Dahlia is a good flyer!!!!! I...

Yesterday I decided to work out. I can't stand it any more. I'm out of shape, I'm a gross shape, my clothes don't' fit and when I see pictures of myself I cringe. I have been very lazy. I have not been exercising and I've been eating whatever I want. It's got to stop. Summer is right around the corner and then there's no hiding it! I'm going on vacation on Saturday and I detest how my (post-pg) swimming suit fits. It's embarrassing. I'm constantly pulling down my shirts and UGH. So, yeah, I pulled out the old Cindy Crawford workout - that was spontaneous - and it kicked my ass. Particularly my legs, actually. It's a wonder I can even walk today. I'm trying to eat less, eat less junk and watch my salt intake. I'm giving up a diet coke a day (I was back up to 2 a day) and I'm trying to drink a lot more water. Hopefully as the weather warms up it will be easier to get the kind of exercise I really enjoy - being outside, hiking, b...

This was the sight on Monday morning - rain & ice and more rain & ice and yet MORE rain & ice. We have a small (large?) pond by our backdoor. The sump pump (portable, borrowed) was running like crazy trying to keep water from spilling in through our backdoor! Not much we can do about the leakage into the basement for now but at least we're not floating yet!! More....to come...

Do you ever get that "pinched nerve" feeling in your shoulder/neck area? Particularly when you take deep breaths? I have that right now. Started yesterday but overnight became sleep-interrupting pain! This sucks. There is no relief. Is this just me getting old? It hurts to take a deep breath, it hurts to hold it in almost any position. It hurt last night to lay on my left side (the side that hurts), on my back AND on my right side. So yeah, sleep was not good. I can't massage it to make it feel better. I can't do anything! And of course stuff like this always happens when I have a ton of stuff to do. Hmph.

WHITE MAN'S WORLD (the film my mother calls "upsetting" - to say the least) has been chosen as an official selection of the 2009 Minneapolis-St. Paul Int'l Film Festival! Whohoo! I'll keep you posted on the screening details. The festival runs the last two weeks in April. Hope to see you there!

Ah, back home. It's good. Seeing Dahlia this morning ROCKED. She got a chance to play with her cousins some more this morning (or as I saw it, defend her territory - those boys are aggressive!!). She did great on the car ride home...started getting antsy towards Sandstone, but then again so was I. She seemed to enjoy it when I sang to her. I can't wait til I can have her facing forward so at least she can see a few more interesting things (and I can see her). I am exhausted. I have a to-do list that is a mile long but hopefully I'll get a good jump on it tomorrow. I have a lot of following up to do after my time at SXSW...I also have a lot of accounting to do & editing to tackle. And that's just business stuff. I am hosting Michelle's shower & bachelorette party on Saturday - and I need to do a few more things for that as well. It's going to be a heck of a busy-short-week. Ay yi yi. But for tonight I am going to sip this glass of wine and unwind. Hang o...

So, today is the last day that we're here. We're finally in our groove and of course we have to leave. And the weather is finally BEAUTIFUL outside...and we have to leave. Hmph. It's 70 degrees and sunny here right now. Perfect. I have spent a lot of time today just sitting outside & reading. We attended another mentor session this morning and met with a really cool entertainment lawyer. He was very interested in looking at our film and passing it on to the acquisitions department of the company he works with. Hey! We'll take it! Last night we saw the MN Film FOUR BOXES. It was a lot of fun. It was sort of a thriller; lots of comedy in it and a few twists and turns. I really enjoyed it. Justin Kirk from WEEDS fame was in it...and you all know that WEEDS is my newest obsession so that was cool and at the after party I got to talk with him which really made my day. Another actor in the film, Sam Rosen (nephew of WCCO dude Mark Rosen) was also very cool (very funny in ...

I'm old. I mean seriously. I am so old. This has been an exhausting weekend! It's day 3 of SXSW and I'm pooped! Friday night we went to a film, I met up with the INCREDIBLE and AMAZING Donna for dinner & drinks (she is so freaking awesome, btw...you should really go and meet her), and then back to the hotel. At the hotel there was probably 2 hours of DRAMA amongst my traveling companions and I finally hit the wall and went to be amidst the carnage. I couldn't take it any more. It was WAY too late of a night. Yesterday we got here 'bright & early' (well, 11am...heh) and we went to a panel about distribution and learned that we really need a sales agent or a producer's rep (duh, yes, we know). Later we had mentor sessions where we chatted with managers & distribution people where we learned, we pretty much need a sales agent or producer's rep (ding! Got it). We spent the afternoon walking around, eating lunch, not networking like we should, at...

Hey y'all. I'm here in Texas. I'm tired. It's been a long day. Got up, got myself & Miss Dahlia packed up. Drove to Minneapolis...hung out with the triplets, my sister, my Dad and Dahlia all day. Dad drove me to the airport and he & Dahlia headed to Austin. Then I headed to the other Austin. The flight was fine, we are in a nice hotel. It is "cold" here (40 degrees when we arrived, but still 40 degrees warmer than when I left Duluth). It is raining. I like the rain but hope it doesn't rain all day tomorrow. And Saturday. The hotel is very nice. I have to PAY for Wifi which is totally lame, but I am an addict so there ya go. I'm looking forward to sleeping...all night, then eating a made-to-order free breakfast, then hitting the SXSW scene. That's it! G'night!

for now.... need to come up with some ways to increase (uh, have...) revenue. need to sell a film. need to get buyers excited. need to learn how to think outside the box. *sigh*

Wow - there's been a lot happening in the last week or so... First of all Fargo. We had an awesome time. We met some great people, saw some great (and mediocre) films, and had a stellar screening on Friday night. TONS of people there, the old dude playing the Wurlitzer beforehand, lots of Q's during the Q&A, etc. It was a blast. We sold some project, shook lots of hand and made some excellent contacts. The "Framed by Women" lunch panel was not as dreadful as I thought. I was with 4 other very talented & interesting women and it went by really fast. I only said a couple of things that made me sound like an ass. I also ended up being on the lunch panel (unbeknownst to me!) on Saturday. "Unfiltered: Guests of the Fest tell All" it was a LOT of fun. I sat next to Melody Gilbert (who is quite the documentarian -from St. Paul - we met her during the 2007 Fargo Film Festival). She was awesome and I thnk could be a valuable resource & mentor. We also met...

Statesman

Last night I was talking with Steve - getting the low down on how the day went with Dahlia and my Dad and the homefront in general. They're going great! in fact.... Dahlia has slept all night ever night since I've been gone. Hmmm. WTF? I mean hallelujah! I hope it's a trend but.... And also, which I will admit made me cry a little, she pulled herself up yesterday! All by herself! My Dad got to be the lucky witness and I missed it. :( I guess she did it later too for Steve (who videotaped it). Maybe I'm a hindrance. What's she going to come up with when I'm gone NEXT week? She'll probably be driving!!!

I'm sitting on a panel today for a luncheon entitled "Framed by Women" - uh, about women filmmakers. I'm dreading it. GAH. Yesterday there were only 2 people on the panel. I hope there are more on it today. I will be quite happy when we move on to the 2nd session this afternoon. Wish me luck!

Good thing I put some video up on Dahlia's site because I am sitting here missing her so much and literally wanting to jump in the computer screen and eat her. In a good way. *sigh*

Since I forgot my gratitude journal at home I will record them here this week... I am grateful for.... -making a safe journey to Fargo. Good weather, no car problems, yay! -being appreciated for what we do. -the cutest baby in the world who slept all night for Daddy last night. -my family being understanding and helping out when I'm away. -the opportunity to have some 'me' time this week.

I'm here in Fargo tonight. We arrived about 3pm this afternoon after 5 hours in the car. It wasn't such a bad ride, considering I was in back not paying attention for quite a while. heh. Tonight we checked in, got our credentials, went to the Opening Night Party and watched the invited film ICE PEOPLE. It's been a good day, I'm missing Miss Dahlia a bit, but I know the break will be good. Of course I miss Steve too...by tomorrow it's going to be crazy intense...I'm trying to relax and enjoy it anyway... We screen on Friday and already people have been coming up to us and telling us how much they love our film! whohooo!