On Andy Garcia and me

The AARP Life@50+ Expo has come and gone, and I must say it far exceeded my expectations. So much to see and do and learn.

Though the connections made — and the dogs met — were delightful and well worth the trip, my favorite experience there was hands down the Movies for Grownups screening of "At Middleton," which stars Andy Garcia and Vera Farmiga.

You may recall the trailer for the film, included in this post here. (And if you don't recall the trailer or didn't watch it then, go watch it. Seriously.)

You may also recall from that post that I mentioned Andy Garcia would be at the screening. Which he was.

After the lovely movie that I enjoyed from beginning to end, Andy Garcia, along with director Adam Rodgers and Glenn German — co-writer with Rodgers of the sweet story of two parents who meet during their children's college tour — took the stage for an "At Middleton" Q&A session with the audience.

Glenn German, Adam Rodgers and Andy Garcia

Andy Garcia listens to an adoring audience member.Mike wranglers roamed the crowd, giving those in attendance the chance to ask questions. I so wanted to ask who chose the musical selections integral to the story, having seen Arturo Sandoval's name in the beginning credits (whom Andy Garcia played in a 2000 HBO film on Sandoval). But... though I can write for crowds, I sure as heck can't speak in front of crowds. At all.

So I kept my mouth shut, listened to others, and shot frame after frame of the handsome men on stage.

Then the topic of distribution of the independent film and support for it came up. Suddenly there was some mention of the support for the film on a site called Grandma's Briefs, with Andy Garcia saying something about there being a special request and... something else I can't remember at all because I somehow found myself standing and waving my arms and declaring to the men on the stage, That's me, I'm Grandma's Briefs!

And then Andy Garcia asked me to come up front.

Oh, <cuss>! I said in my head.

"Oh, no," I said out loud.

I quickly asked the gentleman behind me to please take my camera and get some photos, someone thrust a microphone into my hand (Here, take this!) and I headed up front.

Right into the arms of Andy Garcia.

Unbelievable.

I wanted to say, "Wow! What a wonderful, touching film!"

I wanted to say, "You are a good, good man, Mr. Garcia!" (I think heis. In part because he and his wife have been married as long as Jim and I, and his family is top priority. Need more? Google him.)

And I wanted to say — once we hugged and I melted into his unbelievably soft jacket that simply felt like home — "Gee whiz! Let's just stay right here and hug all freakin' day!"

I didn't say any of those things.

Instead, I said, "The other grandmas are going to be so jealous!" Yes, at that very special moment, I thought of you all.

Andy Garcia kissed me on the forehead, he thanked me for my support. And I just babbled: "Thank you, thank you, thank YOU...."

(As I mentioned, I can't speak for <cuss> in front of crowds.)

But Mr. Garcia was kind and seemingly genuine as he hugged me again — comfy, cozy hugs that, well, just felt like home. And we posed for pictures.

Then I somehow managed my way back to my seat — after a quick hug to Sue, the PR rep taking photos... whom I also thanked profusely. The gentleman who used my camera gave it back, I thanked him several times, as well, then I sat back down and tried to stop shaking.

A few questions from the audience later — what the Q was or the A that followed, I couldn't tell ya — then the whole thing was over. Just like that.

Poof!

Surreal.

When the lights came up and the crowd began exiting, the first thing I did was dial my husband. It's the normal response when a long-time married woman hugs another man, right? Tell your husband?

I simply had to share with Jim.

And Jim was immediately jealous — jealous that he didn't get to hug Andy Garcia!

But as he always is, my husband was thrilled for me.

"Was it a good hug?" he asked, as he and I put a lot of stock in a person's hug, agree that so much of one's character is revealed in their hugs.

I confirmed that it was.

And it certainly was.

Such a wonderful hug from a good, good man.

One truly unexpected, truly unforgettable moment.

Thank you, Andy Garcia.

Today's question:

Whose hugs feel like home to you?

Cheers to #LifeAt50 and GRAND Social No. 72

Welcome to a new week!

I'm excited about this week as I have a super agenda lined up: I head to Atlanta on Wednesday to attend the Life@50+ National Event and Expo as a guest of AARP Member Advantages. I'm so honored to have been chosen to attend the Expo along with some top-notch bloggers I've admired from afar and will now get to connect with in person.

The Life@50+ Expo schedule is jam-packed with wide-ranging educational and entertaining offerings. Sessions focus on making the most of life's second — and third and fourth — act we boomers and beyond are in, sessions such as Get Packing! Experience the Travel Effect; Life Lessons on Faith, Forgiveness and Grace; The Secrets of Extremely Happy Couples; Balancing Work and Caregiving; and many, many more.

Also on the schedule — which delights a movie fan such as myself — are several Movies For Grownups offerings. One I definitely plan to see while at the Expo is Middleton starring Andy Garcia and Vera Farmiga. Take a look:

What's especially cool about getting to see the movie at the Expo is that Andy Garcia will be at the showing — in person. I just might be brave enough to ask for an autograph, maybe even a photo with the star. C'mon... it could happen, right?

Andy Garcia isn't the only celebrity I'll have a chance to meet, though, as the other dozen or so bloggers in the AARP Member Advantages group and I are scheduled for an exclusive meet-and-greet with Dan Marino, James "JB" Brown and Pepper Schwartz. Plus, Whoopie Goldberg and Tyler Perry kick-off the event,  while others leading or participating in Expo sessions include Jane Pauley, Diana Nyad, Samantha Brown, Martina Navratilova and many others. I'm fairly confident I won't get up close and personal with those beyond the meet-and-greet — unless, that is, they participate alongside me in the Community Day of Service Thursday morning. One can hope, right?

If you'll be at the Life@50+ Expo, let me know — I'd love to meet you there. And be sure to follow Grandma's Briefs on Facebook and Twitter as I'll post updates and photos now and then while in Atlanta.

Cheers to #LifeAt50 (the official hashtag of the Expo).

And cheers, too, to GRAND Social No. 72. Thank you joining me!

How it works:

• All grandparent bloggers are invited to add a link. You don't have to blog specifically about grandparenting, just be a grandparent who blogs.

• To link up a post, copy the direct URL to the specific post — new or old — that you want to share, not the link to your blog's home page. Then click the blue button marked with "Add your link" below and follow the directions.

• You can add up to three posts, but no duplicates, contests, giveaways, or Etsy sites, please.

• Adding a mention such as This post linked to the GRAND Social to your linked posts is appreciated. Or, you can post the GRAND Social button anywhere on your page using the following code:

<a rel="nofollow" href="/" target="blank"><img src="http://grandmasbriefs.squarespace.com/storage/GRANDsocialbutton.jpg " alt="Grandma’sBriefs.com" width="125" height="125" /></a>

• The GRAND Social linky is open for new posts through Wednesday evening, so please come back to see those added after your first visit.


• If you're not a blogger, you have the pleasure of being a reader. Bloggers who link up would be honored to have one and all — other bloggers as well as readers — visit, read and, if so moved, comment, even if just a "Hey, stopping by from the GRAND Social."

• For another grandparent linky, visit Connie's Say It Saturday Link Party each Saturday.

Muppets, hot flashes and more: My movie trailer roundup

I am a huge fan of books. I'm fortunate to get a lot of books to review here on Grandma's Briefs — primarily cookbooks and children's books — and I share most of them in the Back Room.

I'm also a huge fan of movies, and I get a lot of press releases — sometimes even full releases — of movies to share with you, too. Back before I chose to take weekends off from blogging, I often shared movie trailers with you in my The Saturday Post posts. Because I've not been posting The Saturday Post posts, though, I have a long list of films I've wanted to share but have not yet gotten around to doing so.

Well today I'm doing so! Today I'm sharing with you some film trailers I recently received, from the upcoming Muppets Most Wanted to the now-available and not-to-be-missed Hot Flash Havoc plus a few in between that you and your family might enjoy, too.

Sit back and enjoy the show(s)!

MUPPETS MOST WANTED (rating TBD, in theaters March 21, 2014):

HOME RUN (rated PG-13, now available on DVD and Blu-ray)

THÉRÈSE (French, limited USA release August 23, 2013)

THOR: THE DARK WORLD (rating TBD, in theaters November 8, 2013)

AUSTENLAND (PG-13, limited release August 16, 2013)

HOT FLASH HAVOC (documentary, available now on DVD and online streaming) — I recently watched this one. It's brilliant, humorous, eye-opening, entertaining and jam-packed with vital information for women and those who love them. Bonus: My #GenFab friend Haralee Weintraub, owner of Haralee Sleepwear, is featured in the film. (Disclosure: I saw this film for free, courtesy the film company, but opinions are my own.)

Click this link to get a 20 percent discount on the streaming version of Hot Flash Havoc courtesy the film makers, making it $3.99 for a seven-day rental — and worth every penny.

Want more trailers? In the Back Room, you'll find trailers for Disney's FROZEN, PLANES, and SAVING MR. BANKS plus Dreamworks' THE FIFTH ESTATE.

Today's question:

What movie did you most recently see, in theaters or at home?

The Ultimate Life and GRAND Social No. 62

Welcome back, and welcome to the last full week of July! Sheesh... Where does the time go?

Last week, Jim and I had the opportunity to screen a movie that I thought many of you might appreciate and enjoy. It's called The Ultimate Life, and it serves as the sequel and prequel to 2006's popular The Ultimate Gift — though it works perfectly well as a stand-alone story, so no worries if you've not seen the first.

One reason I think The Ultimate Life will appeal to many Grandma's Briefs readers is because one's legacy — what we pass to our loved ones — is a primary theme of the film. Other themes, all of which are good to reinforce in ourselves and in our families, include thankfulness, contentment, relationship, stewardship, and purpose. (Plus, Peter Fonda plays a minor character — always a major bonus.)

Here's the official trailer for The Ultimate Life, directed by Michael Landon Jr.:

The Ultimate Life, rated PG, opens in theaters Sept. 6. You can learn more on the official The Ultimate Life website and Facebook page or by following @UltimateLifemov on Twitter.

(Though I was invited to attend the free screening of the film with no obligation, I am obligated to note that I've received no compensation for sharing this with you.)

I look forward to hearing thoughts from those who see The Ultimate Life after it opens Sept. 6.

I also look forward to enjoying the posts from those participating in this week's GRAND Social! Thank you so much for joining me — and for reading one another's links and supporting one another in this crazy biz (or hobby) we call blogging.

How it works:

• All grandparent bloggers are invited to add a link. You don't have to blog specifically about grandparenting, just be a grandparent who blogs.

• To link up a post, copy the direct URL to the specific post — new or old — that you want to share, not the link to your blog's home page. Then click the blue button marked with "Add your link" below and follow the directions.

• You can add up to three posts, but no duplicates, contests, giveaways, or Etsy sites, please.

• Adding a mention such as This post linked to the GRAND Social to your linked posts is appreciated. Or, you can post the GRAND Social button anywhere on your page using the following code:

<a href="/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><img src="http://grandmasbriefs.squarespace.com/storage/GRANDsocialbutton.jpg " alt="Grandma’sBriefs.com" width="125" height="125" /></a>

• The GRAND Social linky is open for new posts through Wednesday evening, so please come back to see those added after your first visit.

• If you're not a blogger, you have the pleasure of being a reader. Bloggers who link up would be honored to have one and all — other bloggers as well as readers — visit, read and, if so moved, comment, even if just a "Hey, stopping by from the GRAND Social."

• For another grandparent linky, visit Connie's Grandparent's Say It Saturday Link Party each Saturday.

Seven days... and the language of love

Every family has a language all its own. Sure, the words may be common knowledge to those outside the family, but the manner in which some words are strung together — and, often, the tone in which they're said — have significance far beyond the basic for those privy to a special, familial meaning.

For example, how would you feel if I were to say to you any sentence containing the phrase "love pop-can chain?" Confused, I'd venture to say.

For my funky family of five, though, any mentions of "love pop-can chain" cause hearts to warm and smiles to form as we remember one long-ago camping trip.

None of us recall exactly how it started, but at some point in the weekend, we came across a small chain of pop-can tops, you know, the kind in which you pull back the ring to open your can of sugary carbonated goodness, and are left with a dangerous metal shard in your hand (yet another thing kids nowadays know nothing about).

One by one we added our pop-can tops to the chain and eventually, for reasons I can't recall and in fits of laughter that still define many of our family gatherings, we dubbed the chain our love pop-can chain. We brought home our love pop-can chain, displayed it proudly. I have it somewhere — and am now quite unsettled because I just this moment realized I can't remember where I hung the love pop-can chain when we moved to this house more than four years ago. Because I can't recall its location, I can't share a photo. But just know that it's a chain of connected pop-can tops, linked together with love and lots and lots of laughter. For reasons understood only by my family.

Another example is the phrase "in net, under monkey." That means nothing to anyone other than the five members of my family, all of us privy to the anal tendencies of Andrea. Those tendencies once proved Andie's downfall, as she chose to keep a written reminder to herself where she hid contraband from Mom and Dad — yet kept the note neatly on her bedroom desk in plain sight. Let's just say it was hard to mete out any meaningful disciplinary action when Jim and I were laughing so hard at how we discovered her hidden stash.

Those are phrases exclusive to our Carpenter clan. Others our family utters with grins and giggles are phrases millions of others have heard, possibly repeated themselves, because they're lines from movies. But they make us smile when stated with a certain tone, at appropriately perfect times.

A few family favorites:

"I'll be right back" from Scream (not "I'll be back" from Terminator!).

"What time I s'posed to be there?" from Bill Cosby: Himself. Jim says this. Often. Making the rest of us chuckle. Often.

"Time, Mr. Carter?" from Point Break.

Another related to time — funny how so many are — is "Seven days...". It's best said in a creepy whisper, and even more effective when said over the phone. Proof that such things are understood only by my immediate family came by way of a recent interaction with one of my sisters, when we were testing out a new phone system I had hooked up for our mom.

After getting all the handsets correctly set up, I called my sister from it to ensure all systems were go. "Seven days..." I whispered to her, in a creepy manner my daughters and husband would be proud of. Her response: "WHAAAT?" So I whispered it again... and got the same response again. It had nothing to do with the phone connection and everything to do with her not getting the reference.

So I groaned, then spent far longer than necessary explaining the creepy phone call from The Ring. You know, the one characters receive after watching a video (back in the days of VHS) that they so should not have watched and now had only seven days left to live, as the creepy caller so creepily informed them. She shrugged, didn't get it. (Maybe I should have just said to my sister, "Do you like scary movies?"... which is, um, from Scream.)

Yes, we find such things funny in our family. And it's the "Seven days..." phrase that ran through my head again and again yesterday as I kept telling myself "Seven days...". But yesterday's seven days carried a far less creepy connotation, because it's, yes, a mere seven days, until I finally get to see Bubby and Mac again.

Seven days... until I get to see in person my grandsons doing Harlem Shake moves that were featured in a gut-busting video Megan recently texted to me, prefaced with a strong warning that, "This is not appropriate for sharing anwhere online."

Seven days... until I get to see in person the equally inappropriate-for-posting-online Mac as he models big-boy briefs instead of diapers. Megan shared with me the other day a sweet picture of Mac posing in his new undies, accompanied by his giggle-infused comments of "I nakey!"

Seven days... until I get to spend ten days with the lights of my life, my favorite boys ever.

Thing is, because I wrote this post yesterday, the key phrase is now "Six days...".

Only six days until I get to hug my adorable and goofy grandsons.

And that is a phrase everyone reading this likely understands and appreciates — family members or not.

Today's question:

What phrases make your family giggle though others may not know why?