UPDATE: The winner is…Kerry Pruett!
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As I start typing, I can tell this is going to be a meandering post. Sorry—not sorry.

I had a good night’s sleep. I’ve had my first cup of coffee. I’ve been reflecting that the summer is off to a good start. The kids have activities lined up. Opportunities for earnings (special chores). I have little fetch-and-carriers who can run up and down the stairs so I don’t have to as I work away at my desk. The pool is gradually getting clearer. (We added clarifier last night, so hopefully, the last of the fogginess will dissipate.) We want to be able to see the snakes.

Anyway, we’re finding our summer groove. One thing we love to do is watch movies, whether in the theater or at home. Usually, in the summer we limit our ventures to the theater to once a month, if that. It’s so dang expensive to take six people to the theater! But to kick off the first week of summer, this past Thursday, we drove the 45 minutes to a neighboring city to catch the movie If. The kids and I loved it. My daughter and SIL complained that it wasn’t as crazy/zany as they would’ve liked. Yes, I cried too many times during the second half of the movie, but I couldn’t help it. Folks reuniting with their imaginary friends… Who wouldn’t want to live that? When I watch a movie, I’m in the movie. It’s my experience, too.

Yesterday, the 15 and 10 year-olds joined me in my living area to watch Interstellar. I’ve made it a goal this summer to watch every Christopher Nolan movie, and since the 15-year-old and I are the only ones in the house who LOVED last year’s Oppenheimer (the others thought it was too long, too boring–what!?), but she was as riveted as I was, so she and I have committed to watching CN movies this summer together. I hadn’t seen Interstellar since it originally came out, so I’d forgotten a lot about it. The three of us (even the 10-year-old) were again riveted.

Aside from my stated goal of watching every Chris Nolan movie ever made this summer, months ago, I bought a poster I adhered to my bedroom door—one of those “100 Greatest Movies Ever Made” things. It’s a big scratch-off list, and I’ve decided I am going to force myself to watch every movie on the list, and hopefully, find some company in the house to do it with me, too. I worry the kids are too fixated on their phones or TikToks and need a little film history education. So, I scratched off the first one—Shawshank Redemption. My dd and the 15-year-old watched it with me. Great movie, just not one I would want to repeat because admittedly my favorite genres are Sci-Fi, action, and comedy. Next up on the list is The Dark Knight—which will kill two birds with one stone—it’s a Chris Nolan flick!

So, that was my long meander. Sorry (not!). For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, solve the puzzle, then tell me whether you ever had an imaginary friend when you were a child.