A couple of weekends back Rita came north for a quick visit. When it came up in conversation that none of us had seen The Departed yet, we headed over to our local second run theater to see it on the big screen. In short, I thought it was great; a totally enjoyable and immersive cop-gangster movie with a great story and some excellent performances. Mark Wahlberg and Alec Baldwin had supporting character roles, and both were truly entertaining. And Leonardo Dicaprio, who I have had mixed opinions on in the past, gave a strong performance as well. It definitely felt like a Scorsese movie, there was plenty of violence, but there were also some surprisingly funny moments. And all the Boston references, footage and accents were icing on the cake for me.

So, in case you’ve been wondering what Aaron and I have been doing with our free time lately, here’s the story – we’ve been canvassing our area looking for a house. We’ve seen some good, some bad, but nothing quite right yet. The above shot is of me, admiring some “creative” wiring at one of the many properties we decided not to pursue. We’ve been to private showings and open houses, we’ve seen properties being sold by a seller’s agent and other’s by the owners themselves – the experience is different each time we go out looking. It can be quite exhausting, but we’re prepared to be patient until we find the right one for us. We’ll keep you all posted.

This past weekend we saw, Pan’s Labyrinth. The movie is set in post-Civil War Spain and tells the story of a girl who goes with her mother to live with her new step father, a Captain leading soldiers against resistance fighters. The girl creates a fantasy world to escape to, to hide from her very grim reality. The story then shifts back and forth between these two worlds for the duration of the film. The movie is visually powerful and full of beautiful and horrific images. It’s a dark, gruesome and often disturbing film. Honestly, I haven’t decided yet if I liked it or not, but I’m still thinking about it, so I suppose that says something. If you like the fantasy genre and don’t mind brutality in films, go see it and let me know what you think. Maybe we can process it together?

Justin has officially progressed onto baby food. I suppose this is a good sign in terms of his development and all and that’s good – but really we’re excited for the photo ops. I mean who doesn’t love a picture of a cute baby with some bright colored food all over his face. Click on the photo above to see the small album of Joe feeding Justin carrots for dinner. It was quite entertaining.