What We Did this Weekend:
Harry Potter and Dating 101
Apparently, Brookie and I are experts in dating. A few weeks ago we were invited to give a presentation on "creative dating" at our Stake Youth Conference. Saturday was the big day. We were scheduled for three sessions, and were told to expect about 50 kids in each (which turned out to be more like 20-30). But before we get to our swell presentation, I'll tell you about a date of our own that we had on Friday night.
Like many people, we wanted to see the new Harry Potter movie last week. After a little coordination with some friends, we decided to go to the theater on Friday night. Brookie and I toyed with the idea of going to the midnight showing Tuesday night, but ultimately thought it was a little too late on a "school night" to be spending that much time anywhere but asleep in our bed. I guess that's a pretty good indication that we're getting old.*
*Even though we're too old to do that kind of thing anymore, I really think we have to when the last Harry Potter movie is released. When we went with friends on Friday night at a normal hour, we still saw a good movie, and we still had a great time, but we may have missed out on a great show. I'm speaking of all of the people that dress up in their Harry Potter-themed costumes for the first showing, and stand in line with all of their other costumed friends.
So Friday night ended up being a little tighter squeeze for us than we had hoped. We thought we'd have time to go to dinner and then meet up with our friends at the theater, but two factors led us to settle for a drive-thru meal and some impromptu tailgating at the AMC in Independence: traffic and a lack of quick restaurants in that general vicinity.
After quitting time, we ran to the gym, showered, and headed out the door. We figured we would get something to eat close to the theater, and made fairly good time most of the way. But a recent accident backed up traffic in front of the Independence Center shopping mall, limiting our dining choices. We decided on Chili's, but saw a few parties waiting outside and so, knowing we didn't have time to wait for a table, we drove across the street to Chick-fil-a. I've talked before about how much we like their food, but for the third consecutive visit, we've been very impressed with their quality of service.
We took our food from the drive-thru and crossed the street again, where we found a secluded parking spot in front of the movie theater, threw open the back hatch and sat with our legs dangling over the back bumper as we ate our Chick-fil-a for dinner. And this time, a bonus: I found out they offer a diet lemonade that is pretty good.
After dinner, we had an hour before our showtime, so we headed up to the theater. The rest of our group joined us a little later, and we all went in to what we expected to be a big line. Instead, we were able to go right in and sit where ever we wanted to sit. By the time the movie started the theater had filled up, but I was surprised at how few people were there early.
The movie was pretty good. The Order of the Phoenix is still my favorite, but I hear that there was quite a bit left out (or changed) of the book. The good news is that now we can read book six. We read (okay, listened to) books one through five last summer, but didn't want to read ahead of the movies. We know too many people who are disappointed with the movies because they've read the books. We'd rather love the movies and then get the rest of the story from the books.
Now, back to the Dating presentation. We left the movies Friday night and when we got home, we finished putting together our presentation for Saturday morning. We finally finished our preparations and climbed in bed at about 2:30am. It was the third night last week that we stayed up late working on this project.
We were a little nervous, but we think everything went well. I'm working on uploading a copy of the slideshow we used and making it available for all to see, but still trying to determine the best way of doing so. Spliced within the slideshow are about 15 minutes of classic Coronet Instructional Films from the 1950s about What to do on a Date and Dating Dos and Don'ts. Since we were able to find those awesome clips online, we went with the whole retro theme for the slideshow and the clip art and fonts we used.
In our presentation, we tried to help the youth by suggesting some fun, cheap (or free) ideas for great dates. Hopefully something got through. You never really know with teens. They just kind of stare at you the whole time. At least Brookie and I had a good time. We think we're pretty funny. And we loved how the instructional videos came off. However, there was one comment made that stung a little, when a girl premised her idea with the phrase, "People our age..." I was like, "ouch." People your age? You're not "people" yet. You're still just kids, right? Nothing makes me feel old and uncool like spending a few hours with teenagers.
For now, that's what we did this weekend. I'll update if I'm able to get up the slideshow later today or some time this week.
Go to the board!
Like many people, we wanted to see the new Harry Potter movie last week. After a little coordination with some friends, we decided to go to the theater on Friday night. Brookie and I toyed with the idea of going to the midnight showing Tuesday night, but ultimately thought it was a little too late on a "school night" to be spending that much time anywhere but asleep in our bed. I guess that's a pretty good indication that we're getting old.*
*Even though we're too old to do that kind of thing anymore, I really think we have to when the last Harry Potter movie is released. When we went with friends on Friday night at a normal hour, we still saw a good movie, and we still had a great time, but we may have missed out on a great show. I'm speaking of all of the people that dress up in their Harry Potter-themed costumes for the first showing, and stand in line with all of their other costumed friends.
So Friday night ended up being a little tighter squeeze for us than we had hoped. We thought we'd have time to go to dinner and then meet up with our friends at the theater, but two factors led us to settle for a drive-thru meal and some impromptu tailgating at the AMC in Independence: traffic and a lack of quick restaurants in that general vicinity.
After quitting time, we ran to the gym, showered, and headed out the door. We figured we would get something to eat close to the theater, and made fairly good time most of the way. But a recent accident backed up traffic in front of the Independence Center shopping mall, limiting our dining choices. We decided on Chili's, but saw a few parties waiting outside and so, knowing we didn't have time to wait for a table, we drove across the street to Chick-fil-a. I've talked before about how much we like their food, but for the third consecutive visit, we've been very impressed with their quality of service.
We took our food from the drive-thru and crossed the street again, where we found a secluded parking spot in front of the movie theater, threw open the back hatch and sat with our legs dangling over the back bumper as we ate our Chick-fil-a for dinner. And this time, a bonus: I found out they offer a diet lemonade that is pretty good.
After dinner, we had an hour before our showtime, so we headed up to the theater. The rest of our group joined us a little later, and we all went in to what we expected to be a big line. Instead, we were able to go right in and sit where ever we wanted to sit. By the time the movie started the theater had filled up, but I was surprised at how few people were there early.
The movie was pretty good. The Order of the Phoenix is still my favorite, but I hear that there was quite a bit left out (or changed) of the book. The good news is that now we can read book six. We read (okay, listened to) books one through five last summer, but didn't want to read ahead of the movies. We know too many people who are disappointed with the movies because they've read the books. We'd rather love the movies and then get the rest of the story from the books.
Now, back to the Dating presentation. We left the movies Friday night and when we got home, we finished putting together our presentation for Saturday morning. We finally finished our preparations and climbed in bed at about 2:30am. It was the third night last week that we stayed up late working on this project.
We were a little nervous, but we think everything went well. I'm working on uploading a copy of the slideshow we used and making it available for all to see, but still trying to determine the best way of doing so. Spliced within the slideshow are about 15 minutes of classic Coronet Instructional Films from the 1950s about What to do on a Date and Dating Dos and Don'ts. Since we were able to find those awesome clips online, we went with the whole retro theme for the slideshow and the clip art and fonts we used.
In our presentation, we tried to help the youth by suggesting some fun, cheap (or free) ideas for great dates. Hopefully something got through. You never really know with teens. They just kind of stare at you the whole time. At least Brookie and I had a good time. We think we're pretty funny. And we loved how the instructional videos came off. However, there was one comment made that stung a little, when a girl premised her idea with the phrase, "People our age..." I was like, "ouch." People your age? You're not "people" yet. You're still just kids, right? Nothing makes me feel old and uncool like spending a few hours with teenagers.
For now, that's what we did this weekend. I'll update if I'm able to get up the slideshow later today or some time this week.
Go to the board!
I loved to hear about the weekend. Have to agree with you, Todd, on your Harry Potter reaction. I still like the 5th one better, too.
ReplyDeleteHate to be the grammar police here, but Weston got a chance a few weeks ago. You've got a "to" that should be "two." It's in your explanation about a quickie meal before the show.