Engagement and seriousness

Today was our engagement party! It was hosted by my parents who truly outdid themselves. We had nearly 50 guests, just enough seating, and an abundance of food. I think everyone enjoyed themselves quite a lot--there was mingling, playing of the Wii, and general good cheer. Geez, I started to sound like a bad Christmas card there....

The best part of the engagement party, for me, was getting to see my friends whom I haven't seen in varying lengths of time. A few I haven't seen in several months. A couple others, years. We were all so happy to be reunited with one another and hope to make more visits in the future (you know, before the wedding).

I was up around 7 a.m. and hit the ground running this morning. My mom had lists of tasks for everyone in the family, and although my list wasn't particularly long, my mom's list for herself went for miles. So, my sister and I helped her as much as we could in tackling her tasks. We're wiped out--we were pretty much running up and down two flights of stairs for roughly five hours. I recently had back surgery, and although my surgeon has given me the green light for resuming normal activity, my muscles are still a bit underworked. My back's a bit sore tonight, but not enough to really worry or complain. Just a little tender. I'll sleep it off and take an Aleve in the morning if it's still bad.

After the party, Robert, my sister, her boyfriend, and I all went to see The Dark Knight tonight. It was intense! I left the theater in tears at the prospect that this was Heath Ledger's final complete performance (barring his other movie in production). I hadn't expected to have such a strong visceral reaction to his performance, but it is difficult to watch without realizing that he would have had such a brilliant career ahead of him. I think part of me still hopes that he'll show up again...that his death was a horrible hoax. But, alas, 'tis none. The movie itself was very good. Brilliant script (which I can't say for a lot of movies), perfect pacing (for a 150 minute movie, it sure didn't feel long), and a complicated plot (perfect for re-watching). My only complaint is for Christian Bale's Batman. I didn't see Batman Begins, so maybe that's my own fault, but I hadn't expected such a deep, gravelly-voiced Batman. I sort of found it difficult to believe. Other than that, though, the performances were stellar. I truly loved this movie!

Oh, and I did find a hairstyle I'd like to try for the wedding. It's the "sloppy" chignon that Maggie Gyllenhaal wears during the party toward the early middle of the movie. I'm going to try to find a few good images of it, print them out, and take them to my hairstylist to let her try it out. I just think it's a light, fun, spring-y hairstyle.

It's almost 3 a.m. EDT, and I'm pretty wiped out. I should end this here and go to bed.