I Love C.S. Lewis…

Who can’t love a guy named Clive Staples who started a book with the line… “There once was a boy named Clarence Eustace Scrubb, and he almost deserved it?”

Well, today on Facebook, my friend Anita had this as her status.

“I hope you will not misunderstand what I am going to say.  I am not preaching, and Heaven knows I do not pretend to be better than anyone else.  I am only trying to call attention to a fact; the fact that this year, or this month, or, more likely, this very day, we have failed to practice ourselves the kind of behavior we expect from other people.”

One healthy reminder that Matthew 7:12 was not a suggestion… eh?

We Have a Winner!!! *The Bridegrooms*

Two winners tonight!!!  Congratulations Sharon and “Kin”.  Snort.

We Have a Winner~ ** Forget Me Not**

Congratulations Christy!  I hope you enjoy your book!!!

We Have a Winner~~ * An Absence So Great

Ok… so we only had 5 people who were interested at all…

Martha!  Congratulations!  Send me your address and I’ll ship your book!

Book Review: The Bridgrooms

Title: The Bridegrooms

Author: Allison Pittman

Publisher’s Synopsis: It Only Takes an Instant for Love to Strike

Tragedy hits the Allenhouse family on a hot summer night in Ohio when a mother of four vanished. Eight-year-old Vada virtually grew up overnight and raised her three younger sisters while her father lost himself in his medical practice in the basement of their home.

Now, Vada is a grown woman, still making her home with her father and sisters. Her days are spent serving as an errand girl for Cleveland’s fledgling amateur orchestra; her evenings with Garrison Walker, her devoted, if passionless, beau.

Dizzying change occurs the day the Brooklyn Bridegrooms come to town to play the Cleveland Spiders and a line drive wallops the head of a spectator. The fan is whisked to the Allenhouse parlor, and questions swirl about the anonymous, unconscious man.

Suddenly, the subdued house is filled with visitors, from a flirtatious, would-be sports writer to the Bridegrooms’ handsome star hitter to the guilt-ridden ballplayer who should have caught the stray shot. The medical case brings Dr. Allenhouse a frustration and helplessness he hasn’t felt since his wife’s disappearance. Vada’s sisters are giddy at the bevy of possible suitors. And Vada’s life is awakened amid the super-charged atmosphere of romantic opportunity.

This book was not at all what I pictured.  I imagined the American version of “bonnet drama”– the wide open prairies, bonnets, and mail order brides.  I avoided reading it for a while.  I looked at it.  I didn’t even bother to read the back.  I wanted to read it… but I dreaded the review that would follow if I didn’t like it.  Enter, this afternoon.  I was tired, didn’t feel well, and after making half a card before crashing, I decided to take the book and go to bed.  I read it.

Now, maybe it was just the perfect day to read the story, but I liked it.  There was so much depth to each character.  That is always a difficult thing to achieve when there is a large supporting cast of characters.  If you give them too much attention, you take away from the soul of the book and leave the reader floundering from person to person.  If you don’t give them enough attention, the book falls flat.  This book tugs you in, fills you up, and leaves you smiling at the end.  There were times during the story that I wanted to slap every single character in it.  It ended quite satisfactorily, which is a feat in and of itself.

This is one of those rare books that has a very deep undertone.  On the surface, it’s just a light fluffy story for a balmy spring afternoon.  However, if you immerse yourself in it, there are deep and amazing spiritual truths played out before your eyes.  Be careful… they could just change your life.  I know in a tangible way, this book changed mine.

So, obviously I recommend it.

Furthermore, I have two copies to give away thanks to the generosity of Multnomah who provided it for review.

So, if you’d like to win a copy, just post and tell me if any novel has made a significant impact on your life!  I’ll draw soon.  I’m needing to get stuff out of the house!

Spring Is Here…

Can you hear it?  The birds are chirping.  I wonder.  Are they talking about what to have for dinner, or are they quibbling over the placement of string and dried grasses for their nest?  Can’t you hear the wife?  “It’s too high!  You know that I can’t see it way up there.  Put it a little lower… it’s not straight… over that way… there you go.”  Mr. Bird, on the other hand, just wants it done so he can go worming.  He’s done about all he wants to do.  He’s just… well, done.

The breezes are wafting through the rooms of my home.  All the windows are open, and the curtains flutter as the fresh air blows in from who knows where.  The sun is shining.  How I love the brightness of desert sun in my house!  Each room is so bright and cheerful on a sunny day.  Thankfully, we have a lot of those sunny days.  When I chose to do an all white kitchen, including the wall paint, I had no idea how much I’d love it.  After all, when we moved into this house we had a white floor, white walls, white cabinets… and I hated it.  Then again, maybe I blamed the white cabinets and walls for the ugliness created by the pink tile and the gold-flecked yellow counter tops!  As it is, I look into my kitchen, see the white cabinets, the white walls, my white appliances, and then the splashes of black metal and it makes me smile.  I love my kitchen.

Of course, days like this have their downsides.  I always feel like I can accomplish anything on days like today.  I see the prints on walls and I ache to get up and scrub them.  I see chipped paint and want to do a quick touch up.  I glance around my living room and suddenly I’m eager to make new shades, reupholster the couch, and order new pictures for the walls.

And, if that wasn’t enough, I can’t wake up.  Maybe it’s the balmy breezes… they feel a little like blown-out Santa Ana’s…  perhaps they are.    Maybe it’s the warmer weather or just my own personal quirkiness coming into play.  I’m tired.  Very, very tired.  I do think, however, that I have just enough oomph to go change the sheets on my bed.  Can you imagine crawling into fresh sheets at the end of a perfect day like today?

No, my sheets aren’t nearly as elegant looking as those, but it made me smile.  Maybe I’ll be back with a picture of my sheets on my bed…  or maybe not.

We’ve Done It! 100 Facebook Fans!!!

Thanks for securing the page for me!  I appreciate it.

Go HERE to see if you won!

Techno-Author~

Back in October, I got on Amazon and started the process to becoming Kindled.  Now, Kindling isn’t the kind of thing you’d think.  While some books might light a fire under you, I’m talking about the Amazon electronic book thingie, “The Kindle.”  Let’s just say, it was a nightmare.  I filled out every question, answered every one, and waited.  I got an email.  “Please prove that you are who you say you are.”  Oh gee.  How thoughtful of you to ask.  Well, I can spell the name correctly.  Shouldn’t that be enough?  You’d think, right?

Well, then I found a new POD publisher.  I like Createspace.  It’s my friend.  I have a much FASTER trek to Amazon and I don’t have to pay to get on Barnes & Noble with them.  The Amazon thing makes sense.  After all, they own Createspace.  What I didn’t get was why they made it fast and easy to get on their competition.  Whatever.  I’m thrilled.

Well, last night, I was doodling around Amazon and decided that since I’d moved all my books to Createspace, maybe it’d be a faster process to do the Kindling now.  So, I tried it.  They tell you it takes 24-36 hours.  HA.  Twelve hours later, I’m officially Kindled!  YIPPEE!

Check it out!  We’re talking the latest thing in books!  I’m on the cutting edge of technology with my un-techy stories!  So, here they are!

Ready or Not

Noble Pursuits

Argosy Junction

Ain’t it just COOL!

Craft Challenge: Week Eight Results

Week 8: Organize Your Stuff

This was another “No Brainer” week for me.  You see, this week we’re supposed to organize all of our unfinished scrapping projects.  Well, I don’t have any.  I don’t have any unfinished card projects either, so there was nothing to organize.

I did decide that if I ever do have UFOs, I’m going with this kind of idea.

So, that was easy.

Onto the next.

My Book Signing…

To learn more, check out Just the Write Escape.

Here’s a picture…

Book Review: Forget Me Not

Title: Forget Me Not

Author: Vicki Hinze

Publisher’s Synopsis: Crossroads Crisis Center owner Benjamin Brandt was a content man—in his faith, his work, and his family.  Then in a flash, everything he loved was snatched away.  His wife and son were murdered, and grief-stricken Ben lost faith.  Determination to find their killers keeps him going, but after three years of dead ends and torment, his hope is dying too.  Why had he survived?  He’d failed to protect his family.

Now, a mysterious woman appears at Crossroads seeking answers and help—a victim who eerily resembles Ben’s deceased wife, Susan.  A woman robbed of her identity, her life, of everything except her faith—and Susan’s necklace.

The connections between the two women mount, exceeding coincidence, and to keep the truth hidden, someone is willing to kill.  Finding out who and why turns Ben and the mystery woman’s situation from dangerous to deadly.  Their only hope for survival is to work together, trust each other, and face whatever they discover head on, no matter how painful. But will that be enough to save their lives and heal their tattered hearts?

WOW.  What a page turner!  I loved this book.  I’ve never read anything by Vicki Hinze before this, but I’ll be looking for more.  This book starts you off on the edge of your seat and won’t let you up until the end.  I couldn’t stop reading, even when I wanted to.  When forced to do it, I went to bed and dreamed up scenarios.

The main character’s faith is wonderful.  She has that kind of faith that all of us want, need, and respect.  She also, thankfully, is real.  She’s not perfect, she has her moments, but she’s CHARACTERIZED by a complete and abiding faith in the goodness of God.  Oh, and I didn’t mind having my theory that a person with memory loss would still have the Holy Spirit in them and they’d know that they knew the Lord.  My own character, Ella, was just validated by this book.

This isn’t an easy book to read.  There are several subplots going on at one time and she literally drops you into them all almost at once.  As you read, you peel back the layers of this story until, at the end, you see the whole picture.  I found myself rereading portions to be sure I understood what I read and to find out who someone was again.  There are a lot of characters.  There are a lot of plots.  She does a great job of juggling it and keeping the book moving forward, but this is not a lazy read for a hot summer afternoon.  Save it for a day when you’re ready to engage your thought process as well as your heart.

I loved how the relationships developed, but I’ll admit, it did feel awfully sudden.  It’s a personal pet peeve of mine to read about people falling for each other within hours/days of meeting… particularly when there are murder attempts, amnesia, and deep grief in play.  Just sayin’.  That part seemed a bit implausible to me, but I’m not a natural romantic, so what do I know?  Aside from that little quibble, and a few places where the writing was awkward (minor minor quibble but I tend to tell all), Ms. Hinze did a masterful job of telling this story in a way that kept you reading… long after you should have been sleeping.

Would I recommend it?  OH YES!  I definitely do.  Without caveat.  Buy. The. Book.  Period.  If you don’t like tension and suspense, well then maybe not, but otherwise, you’ll be entertained, your mind engaged, your sympathy alerted, and your soul nourished by the example of Susan/Kelly/Karen’s faith.

I want to thank Multnomah for providing this book for review.  They’re nice that way.

They also provided a copy for giveaway.  I’m here to give that book away.  So…  post a comment and tell us if you’ve ever known anyone who suffered from amnesia of any kind!!!  I’ll draw soon.

Moving…

As a child, I moved often.  From Oklahoma to California, over to Arizona, and back to California, all the way to Missouri, down to Arkansas, back to California, a short jaunt to Texas, and then finally to the town where I now live.  And, in each of those states, there were several dozen moves.  Thirty to be exact.

I remember the process.  Boxes littered rooms as mom and I loaded them with our possessions, wrapped paper around the delicate items, folded the tops onto themselves, and then stacked them up for the U-haul.  We never used a moving company.  Not once.  Always a U-haul.  Sometimes a trailer… others a truck… but never any other company.

I remember the odd sensation of wandering around a house and seeing most of the contents, gone.  The phonograph no longer on that wall, the doily and Fenton glass basket boxed for the new house.  Rooms seemed to echo.  Everything was sparse.

That’s how I’ve felt for the past two days.  Yep, I was moving.  First, I packed up everything and put it in “boxes”.  Then, I took the boxes to our storage unit.  It took FOREVER.  Just sayin’.    By the time I got done moving everything, decluttering, and throwing away all the extraneous stuff of my “house”, it was time for the move.  Of course, the landlord had to prepare the new “house” for occupancy.  It had all kinds of stuff on the walls, furniture I didn’t need, and such.  Once that was done, he kindly helped me move in.  First he moved my big furniture.  He set them exactly where I need them, and helped make sure the wires and cables were in place for things that had those, and anchored the bookshelves to the walls.

At last, I stepped in.  I did all the work that my handy landlord couldn’t.  I unpacked the boxes, put my things where I need them or used them, and now I’m all set.

I miss my old laptop… but this new one is a blessing.  I’m already starting to feel “home” on it.

Tree-Man-Dous Hole~

Kevin decided that he needed to take time to be holely.  So, he holed up in this here pit and played Joseph while muckin’ through the caliche.

For those of you not attuned to the fine art of living with the lovely stuff, caliche is calcium carbonate that combines with other minerals and stuff, usually in clay soil I think, and makes an almost all natural cement.

For example, last night, this hole was only *cough* about 3 feet deep.  He filled it with water.  This morning, he went out there and there was still water in it.  Just sayin’.  That caliche will NOT let the water drain.  Can you imagine what happens to that poor tree’s roots if the water ever sinks in at all?  It just sits there, trapped by that nasty caliche.

However, if you take the same thirteen, multiply by two, twenty-six hours… wait, wrong timing.  This isn’t a Roger Miller song!  Anyway, if you take that caliche, hack it out with a pick axe (or hammer.. yeah… done that), voila.

He looks kind of beat, doesn’t he?  Well, he was.  The guy was worn out.  Can you blame him?  He went down at least another foot after that.

Then, he loaded it with water and guess what!  DRAIN CITY!  Oh yeah!!!

See that shirt?  Awesome Dad?  In the sense of cool vernacular… of speaking of great things on earth, it fits.  He’s not God, but he’s a nice guy to have around nonetheless.  Or, as he likes to remind us… frequently… he’s brilliant and handsome too!

Is he hot?

Embarrassed?

Is the camera wonky?

Doesn’t Lorna look like a leftover from the ’70′s?

Yep…I think she does.

As for Ethan, I like the tree on his shirt.  It seems to say, “Hm yep, the tree is gonna look good right about here…

Now, can someone tell me where to find pants that do not get SLITS (not holes, SLITS) across the knee?  Ethan needs some.  Just sayin’.

Now, if I’d been smart, I would have told you that my kids were being “Phineas and Ferb” and tunneling to China!

I am not smart.

Just sayin’.

What is Ethan doing anyway?  That just looks odd to me.

Here’s tree one.  We put in Chinaberry trees.  Also known as Persian Lilac and Texas Umbrella trees.  Just for those who live in places that call them things other than Chinaberry.

I chose it because it’s

1.  Pretty

2.  Fast Growing

3.  Dense shade

4.  Pretty

5.  Pretty.

See our house sans siding?  The stucco is almost all patched and ready for paint.  We’ll be painting most of it white, but we’ll be adding trim around doors and windows and across that wooden section.  That’ll all be black.  Just skinny bits of black to give it POP next to the red geraniums that I wanna put up.   I can’ t have much black.  This is the desert y’know.

Here’s the other one.  For you internet stalker freaks, those are our bedroom windows.  Don’t you think that wood needs scraping?  I do.

Just sayin’.

I was thinking about naming the trees.  The problem is, I wanted to name them Myrtle and Hazel and the trees got offended.  I mean, come on, name trees the names of other trees?  So, I’m calling them Ming and Ling.  Which is which?

Take your pick.  They’re young yet.  They won’t know if their names get switched around.

Oh, that black stuff that looks like wonderfully rich dirt and way out of place in desert soil?  Nope.  Mulch.  Just sayin’.

Ready or Not… IS READY!!! ** Win a Copy**

Step on over to Just the Write Escape and get your entry in!  Drawing is April 30, 2010.

Inspirationally Speaking…

Rewards.  Have you ever tried to use them for yourself?  “I’ll just finish folding this laundry, and then I can relax and read a book…”  Sound familiar?  If I buy something to decorate with, I often tell myself I can put it up as soon as I get the room spotless, decluttered, and perfect.  It usually works.

But once in a while… and I’ve never been able to pinpoint what makes it happen, it fails.  I stare at my pretty new thing and I cringe.  I don’t want to scrub the walls, declutter the closet, scrub and oil the floors and furniture, and vacuum the couch and chairs.  I just want my________ (fill in the blank) so I can enjoy it.

I used to resist.  Yes, I did.  I resisted.  I punished myself for having anything TO declutter or clean and wouldn’t let myself have fun with whatever I was doing.  Yeah.  I’m mature.  Well, it happens once in a while.  I get realistic.  Yesterday was one of those days.  I bought this vinyl cling tree with tiny little individual leaves (Just in case you ere curious… it took FOREVER to get up and my muscles are still exhausted).  I’ve had it for a week.  I didn’t touch it because I wanted to be a “good girl” and clean up the room and finish some of the things I’ve been putting off for a while.  You know, things like cleaning off the table, scrubbing and oiling the floor, scrubbing the dirty walls, and oiling the kitchen counters.  The problem is, it failed.  Big. Fat. Failure.  Just sayin’.

So, yesterday, with the help of my super strong and thoughtful daughter, Braelyn worked hard to put it up.  I wasn’t going to have something so encouragingly pretty (and in my direct line of sight) sitting in a brown tube forever.  Besides, I need the tube to ship the poster I have for the blog contest.  Just sayin’.

Well, something I always forget is how inspired I am to work AFTER I do something pretty.  It’s like I can’t stand to have my new decor surrounded by dirt and clutter.  It works.

Thought you oughtta know.

Oh, and the tree?  A lovely Decor Element from Stampin’ Up!