LeBlog--The Blog about life…writing, raising kids, chasing dogs, handling life and all its bit parts.

July 31, 2007

 

Miracle


This is a picture when Miracle is eight weeks old. She's just had a bath from our lab, Liberty.

Taking care of a preemie kitten when the Mother cat has no milk to give and no mental capability to help is not easy. Hershey was still suffering from her concussion. She would allow Miracle to cuddle up to her for warmth. Once when Miracle fell out of the bed, Hershey snuggled up to her on the floor. But all other motherly instincts forgot to show up. So it was up to my mother and me.

We had to feed Miracle every hour the first week of her life. Every two hours the second week. Every three hours the third. And the weeks went on. This was not a 'during the day proposition.' This went on all night long. For the first few days, my mother and I would both get up together. But once it seemed like Miracle was going to survive, we decided we should take turns at night. But the first time my mother woke up without me and tried to feed Miracle, the little stinker wouldn't take the eye dropper from her. Only me.

We also had to teach Hershey to bathe her kitten. And no, I didn't start licking the kitten myself! Ick! Hershey had not been eating, so the vet had given us this gooey paste that was filled with nutrients to get her eating again. Hershey loved it. So I would put some of the paste on Miracle and Hershey would gladly lick it off. Eventually she understood what to do.

Hershey was still in a serious battle for her own life though. She had a very deep infection in her leg that was immobile. Every day, my mother and I would have to soak her leg in warm salt water and slather the wound with medicine. It was horrific. We knew at this point she would lose her leg. The problem was the infection went all the way up into her shoulder where the vet needed to amputate. He couldn't cut through the infection without it spreading to the rest of her. So for a week we worked on her leg to try to get her ready for surgery.

Tomorrow, I'll tell you how this tale ends.

July 30, 2007

 

Meet a miracle


This is a kitten. I know, it doesn't look like a kitten, but it is! And I delivered her with my own two hands. Yep, I'm midwife. Okay, a cat midwife. And I've hung up my rubber gloves. No more kitten deliveries for me.

On March 11, 2003, we brought Hershey from the vet's to my parents' house. We gave her a nice box to sleep in and set her up in the laundry room. It was four days after we found her on the highway. We hoped she'd hold onto the rest of any kittens for a few more days and not deliver. My parents had to go out that night. Of course! So I was left with an injured cat and two preschoolers.

About 8pm, I took my kids into the laundry room to say goodnight to Hershey. My son said, "She's gone!" For the first time that day, she was out of the box. But where? Finally I found her wedged between the wall and the washer. She was in the middle of delivering this little kitten. I assisted. The baby squirmed like a little mouse. My daughter prayed. I freaked.

Because she didn't have any hair, I had to put her against my belly to keep her warm. What a weird feeling that was! This picture was actually taken when the kitten was about 4 days old.

My sweet niece, Melissa, brought an eyedropper so I could feed the baby. Apparently kittens eat every hour. I found some information on the internet on premie kittens which helped. But then, I thought I better check on Hershey again. Yep, she was delivering another kitten. That kitten looked exactly like Hershey. It never moved around as much as the other kitten. It didn't thrive. And after two days, it died.

My son named the one surviving kitten 'Eagle' then 'Barracuda.' Well, she was a fighter. I eventually changed her name to Miracle.

I'll tell more of her story tomorrow and show a few more pictures.

July 27, 2007

 

Meet Hershey



Hershey is our brain-damaged, three-legged cat. The leader of our pack of animals. She is as sweet as can be. Very loving. She has come a long way from when we found her. Here's her story:

Hershey beckoned to us from the road. I was driving my children (only 3 and 4 at the time) to my folks for the weekend. About a mile from their ranch, I saw this chocolate-red furry lump in the roadway. I always hate the site of an animal that has been hit. But this one, looked up and looked right at me.

So we dropped my three dogs at my folks, got my mom who picked up her cat carrier and back we went to rescue this poor cat on the highway. It was Friday night about 5 o'clock. Even in the country, traffic can be heavy. We found her again, pulled to the side of the road and waited for an opportunity to run out and pick her up. Before we could, an eighteen wheeler rumbled past so fast we were sure the cat had been squashed. But she wasn't. Then there was a pause in the traffic flow, so we raced out to the middle of this two lane highway and scooped her up. She was reddish brown with white. Very pretty. She was so light, we thought she was still fairly young.

We took her to my mother's vet in a nearby town. He examined her. She had a severe concussion and one of her legs was useless from probably nerve damage. He agreed to keep her in the animal hospital and watch over her, test her for any diseases while we tried to find her a good home.

As much as I would have liked to keep her and give her to my little girl who had been wanting a cat for a long time, I couldn't. My husband is allergic to cats. So am I. We named the cat Hershey because she looked like Hershey chocolate so we could pray for her over the weekend.

So we tried for 5 days to get her a good family. The only home we found was a friend of my mother's who agreed to take her out to her farm where she had numerous cats and dogs. But by then, it was apparent that Hershey might lose her leg. That didn't seem like a good option for a three-legged cat.

On Tuesday morning, still not knowing what we were going to do with this cat, the vet called and said, "We have a kitten." "Yes," my mother said. "No, we have a kitten. She had a kitten. She's apparently pregnant. But the kitten is ten days early at least. Most kittens born five days early don't live."

Unfortunately, that kitten died. But we picked up Hershey that afternoon. The vet hoped she would hold onto the rest of her kittens before giving birth to anymore. He was wrong.

Monday, I'll tell you the rest of this story!

July 25, 2007

 

Meet Liberty


This is Liberty. She is a yellow/white lab, a lazy yellow lab. Very mellow. When she was a puppy, she would insist on going to bed at 8:30 in the evening, just exhausted. She does not fetch. She can't swim. So she's pretty much an embarrassment. But we love her. She is incredibly submissive. When our Shih tzu died a year and a half ago, Liberty started losing tufts of hair for several months. She generates a lot of hair so at least she wasn't bald. But she was very stressed over the loss of our lead dog. I'll show you who stepped up to the plate in a couple of days.

Liberty is the sweetest. Very obedient. A great dog. She actually thinks she's a 'lap' dog, not a lab. She is very jealous. If I'm petting another animal, she has to nose her way in to get attention.

We named her Liberty because we got her the November after 9/11. When she was six months, we had her 'fixed.' The vet botched the job. We almost lost her. The emergency animal hospital near us saved her life by doing emergency surgery late one Saturday night. They took pictures because the vet had done such a poor job. There were remnants of uterine left, hair in the sutures, one suture had a baseball size infection, and her intestine had been perforated. When they removed the infection, her bowel turned black. They told us she might die. But she pulled through. And we are so grateful to the vet who saved her. She is truly the best dog.

Liberty was not cooperating when I took this picture. She kept wanting to lie down and roll over for me to scratch her belly. I'll have to try for a better picture.

July 24, 2007

 

Meet Bobby


On my website, you'll see several mentions of the critters that share our home. They are members of the family. So I thought I would introduce you to them over the coming days. This is our beta fish, Bobby. It's actually my son's as he bought him last year with his birthday money. My son wanted a nice home for his fish so he spent extra money to buy the SpongeBob Squarepants pineapple house. Bobby seems very happy and content. He likes to rest in the spikey green top part of his house. Sometimes he goes inside. Of all our pets, Bobby was the most cooperative and easiest to photograph.

July 23, 2007

 

New Review

I received a review today on Elvis Takes a Back Seat, so thought I'd share it with you. This is definitely the way I want to start EVERY Monday.

ELVIS TAKES A BACK SEAT is absolutely brilliantly written. Who knew that three women (and one man) could find themselves and each other on such an odd excursion, trying to find the real owner of a huge bust of Elvis? This book has everything a good read should have: some tears, a little witticism, meaningful connections, deeper self knowledge, a few good belly laughs, and hugs.
Dr. Tami Brady
TCM Reviews
http://tcm-ca.com

If you go to the review site, scroll down and click on the cover for Elvis Takes a Back Seat and the review will come up. It tells a little more about the book than I like but I do love the last paragraph which sums up the book and gives the actual review. I've posted it here for your convenience.

So what do you think, do you read reviews and then buy accordingly?

July 22, 2007

 

Books, Glorious Books!

Saw this on a couple of blogs I visit occasionall, Lisa Samson's and Mary DeMuth's. It looked like so much fun to play, so here goes. I would love to know what you've read too. I think in the coming year, I'm going to try to be able to BOLD some of these that I haven't read. How about you?

* Bold the ones you’ve read.
* Italicize the ones you want to read.
* Leave in normal text the ones that don’t interest you.
* Put in ALL CAPS those you haven’t heard of.
* Put a couple of asterisks by the ones you recommend.I
I put a ++ by those I started but didn't finish.
1. The DaVinci Code (Dan Brown) **
2. Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)
3. To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee) **
4. Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell) **
5. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Tolkien)
6. The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien)
7. The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (Tolkien)
8. Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery)
9. Outlander (Diana Gabaldon)**
10. A FINE BALANCE (Rohinton Mistry)
11. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Rowling)**
12. Angels and Demons (Dan Brown)
13. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Rowling) **
14. A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving) **
15. Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)++
16. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Rowling) (just bought but haven’t read yet)
17. FALL ON YOUR KNEES (Ann-Marie MacDonald)
18. The Stand (Stephen King)
19. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Rowling)**
20. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
21. The Hobbit (Tolkien) (my son read it and loved it so I want to catch up!)
22. The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)
23. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)**
24. The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold) **
25. Life of Pi (Yann Martel)
26. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)
27. Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)
28. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis)**
29. East of Eden (John Steinbeck)
30. Tuesdays with Morrie (Mitch Albom)
31. Dune (Frank Herbert)
32. The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks)
33. Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)
34. 1984 (Orwell)
35. The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley)
36. The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett)
37. THE POWER OF ONE (Bryce Courtenay)
38. I Know This Much Is True (Wally Lamb)
39. The Red Tent (Anita Diamant) **
40. The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)
41. The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel)
42. The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)**
43.Confessions of a Shopahaulic (Sophie Kinsella)
44. The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom)
45. The Bible **
46. Anna Karenina (Tolstoy)
47. The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)
48. Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt)
49. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
50. She's Come Undone (Wally Lamb) **
51. The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)**
52. A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens)
53. Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card)
54. Great Expectations (Dickens)
55. The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald)
56. The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence)
57. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Rowling)**
58. The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough)
59. The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood)
60. The Time Traveller’s Wife (Audrey Niffenegger) **
61. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)++
62. The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)
63. War and Peace (Tolstoy) ++
64. Interview With The Vampire (Anne Rice)
65. FIFTH BUSINESS (Robertson Davies)
66. One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez) ++
67. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (Ann Brashares)
68. Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)
69. Les Miserables (Victor Hugo)++ (LOVE the musical but haven’t finished the book)
70. The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)
71. Bridget Jones's Diary (Helen Fielding)
72. Love in the Time of Cholera (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
73. Shogun (James Clavell)
74. The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje) (hated the movie)
75. The Secret Garden(Frances Hodgson)**
76. The Summer Tree (Guy Gavriel Kay)
77. A Tree Grows In Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
78. The World According to Garp (John Irving)
79. THE DIVINERS (Margaret Laurence)
80. Charlotte’s Web (E.B. White)**
81. NOT WANTED ON THE VOYAGE (Timothy Findley)
82. Of Mice And Men (Steinbeck)**
83.Rebecca (Daphne DuMaurier)
84. WIZARD'S FIRST RULE (Terry Goodkind)
85. Emma (Jane Austen)
86. Watership Down (Richard Adams)
87. Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
88. THE STONE DIARIES (Carol Shields)
89. BLINDNESS (Jose Saramago)
90. Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer)
91. IN THE SKIN OF A LION (Michael Ondaatje)
92. Lord of the Flies (William Golding)
93. The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck)
94. The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd)**
95. The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum)++
96. The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton)**
97. White Oleander (Janet Fitch)**
98. A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford)
99. The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield)
100. Ulysses (James Joyce)

July 21, 2007

 

Harry Potter Night

What hype! Isn't it amazing how excited so many folks are over a book! I love it!!!
This summer, my kids were finally old enough to begin the Harry Potter series. They've read the first three and LOVED them. But we're stopping there for now as they are getting too dark for my kids. We'll pick up again when they're a bit older. My husband and I are hooked though. J.K. Rowling is an amazing storyteller. The phenomenon over Harry Potter is a dream come true for any author. Although, I can't imagine the pressure she is under with each book.

I read in the paper yesterday that she said, "Lightning doesn't strike twice." She knows whatever she writes next will not be as popular as Harry Potter. But I believe she will continue to write. And I bet she comes up with something interesting. It might not have as much impact on the culture as Harry Potter has though.

Last night, we took our kids to dinner then over to our local Barnes and Noble. It was about 9 o'clock. We had to stand in line to get into the store because there were already too many people inside and the fire marshall had said no more. So we waited a few minutes, for a few folks to leave, then we were in the door. The escalator had broken, so we had to wait in another line to get to the elevator. The kids section is upstairs. So we wormed our way into it and picked up the 4th book in the series. It was funny to see so many people hanging out in Barnes and Noble in their Hogwarts uniforms and capes. We saw boys sporting a lightning scar on their foreheads. The store had a few activities for the kids like face painting and guessing many Bertie Bott's in a jar. Have you had Bertie Botts? If you want some rolicking fun then get some. I sat around with my nieces and kids and laughed so hard as they tried mud, worms, boogers, pickles and rotten egg. Anyway, back to the book phenomenon, it was just amazing to see so many people excited about one book. Love it!

July 19, 2007

 

Update on a miracle

A couple of weeks ago, I shared how we had a small flood in our laundry room. Our freezer door was left open and defrosted all over the floor. Then we suspected the washer was leaking. I moved everything out of our big freezer to our little freezer. All while I was trying to finish a book and get out of town. Of course! Well, turned out the freezer didn't die! A miracle! Thank you, God!!! And the washer wasn't leaking! Hurray!

Now I have to confess...I am addicted to Hangman! I played way too much yesterday and finally reached a score of 20! Of course, since it's on MY website, I just had to check all the words, right! Really! That's my excuse anyway. So, what was your score? What?!?! You haven't played it yet? Okay, click on 'books' and then you'll see the link to the Hangman game. Have fun, but here's a warning: it is addictive!

July 18, 2007

 

Reviews and Hangman

That title makes me laugh! Makes it sound like I'm after the first reviewer who reviewed Elvis Takes a Back Seat. Such is NOT the case. I received my first review yesterday and will add it at the bottom of this post. But first, I want to tell you about a game I now have on my website! Hangman! Click on 'Books' page and at the bottom you'll see the link for the Hangman game. It's a lot of fun! I won't tell you how long it took for me to get 10 points. So have fun! Let me know the highest score you get!

Okay, now for my first review. Reviews are petrifying to a writer. I know some writers get paralyzed by a review, either good or bad or mediocre. It's just one person's opinion. But this one sure made me smile.

"I honestly didn't know what to expect when I opened
this book. Would it be a tribute to a man who's been dead for three
decades? Would it be irreverent, poke fun at the legend? Or was it going
to be one of those memory-lane books? Fortunately, it was none of those.
Nothing could have prepared me for this book.

ELVIS TAKES A BACK SEAT by Leanna Ellis is heartwarming, funny and
delightful. Clever and with a host of intriguing characters, this story
makes a journey into the past while dealing with the present and giving a
glimpse into a brighter future. I was floored by the way this book made me
feel. I laughed and cried, and through it all I was overwhelmed by the way
this author seamlessly pulled one situation into the next. The plot seems,
at first glance, to be a simple one but it's not. There are many layers
and nuances to this story, and each one is interesting.

Claudia's recently deceased husband, a huge Elvis fan, leaves her with one
cryptic message. She's charged with fulfilling his final wish to restore a
large bust of the King to its rightful place. But where did it come from?
That's what Claudia must learn so she heads to Graceland with her aunt Rae
and Ivy, a troubled teen. Their journey is one filled with love and
laughter, and highlights the bonds between women.

ELVIS TAKES A BACK SEAT is first-class entertainment."

TOP PICK!

Kay James
Romance Reader at Heart
http://romancereaderatheart.com

The review won't be posted on their site until closer to January.

July 17, 2007

 

Hi-ho, hi-ho it's back to work I go!


For the last two weeks, I took a break from writing. The first week, I had a family reunion and I just needed to have some fun and relax a bit. The second week was more work related as I flew to Atlanta for ICRS and then helped with the Faith, Hope and Love Chapter conference at the beginning of the Romance Writers of America Conference here in Dallas. So now, it's back to work. I have four weeks until my deadline and need to go through my manuscript a couple of more times before I send it off. Also, we're going on a research trip to Luckenbach, TX in a couple of weeks. In the mean time, I'm also starting on my next book which is due in February (I think!). It's always exciting and scary starting a new book. I'm excited to get to know some new characters and putting fresh words on the page. But it's also intimidating. Doubts surround me. Can I do this again? Can I make this work? Most of the time I can't. God really has to step in and help me out. For each book, He has. But it's a bit scary knowing I can't do it without His help.

One of the joys of taking time off, and one of the difficulties of starting a new project also resides in the fact that I've read a couple of wonderful books lately. I think I'm the last person on the planet to read The Kite Runner. Wow. Powerful book. I can't wait to read A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini next.

Also, I recently read Lisa See's Snowflower and the Secret Fan. It was very interesting. I almost didn't make it through the foot binding part. So hard to think of doing something like that to my own little girl. These were both powerful stories that not only entertained me but also taught me about different cultures and opened different worlds to me.

Have you read any interesting books lately?

July 16, 2007

 

ACFW Bound

Last summer, I was beating my head against what felt like a very hard brick wall. I was questioning my writing, why I was writing, if I should even be writing. I was crying out to the Lord to show me the way He wanted me to go.

I was led to the website of Deeanne Gist. She had just one her first Christy Award (she just won her 2nd last week!) I read on her blog about her editor, David Long at Bethany House. So I began reading David’s writings about the direction of CBA. I had an incredibly visceral experience with my heart pounding. Very Margie Lawson-esque (if you've taken her workshop on emotion you know what I mean). I began to wonder if God wanted me to move in the direction of the CBA. I began to pray about it and also tried to learn more about it. I emailed Deeanne and asked if she’d have a cup of coffee with me in Atlanta at the RWA Conference. Now, Deeanne didn’t know me at all. I really thought it was a long shot. Why would she want to get together with this random author? So I just prayed and said, “God, if you want me to meet her then please have her respond in a positive way.” Well, not only did Deeanne say, “yes,” but she also said, “let’s have lunch!”

So last July in Atlanta, I met with Deeanne, who is so incredibly gracious and also a great writer, and she told me all about the CBA and her journey to publication. She really encouraged me to attend the ACFW (Amercian Christian Fiction Writer) Conference in Dallas last September (it’s in Dallas this September too!). I wasn’t sure. It’s kind of expensive (at least for me anyway!) and it was a financially precarious time for my husband and I. But I told my husband what Deeanne had said and he said, “Go for it.” So with trepidation, I signed up.

I’m not sure why, but I thought God was going to tell me to stop writing at the ACFW Conference. At the time, I knew fear came from the evil one, not God. So I kept moving forward. I took my manuscript, Elvis Takes a Back Seat, and began to pull the spiritual threads I’d laid in the foundation of the book to the light. September arrived quickly, and still with trepidation I went asking God to show me His will. The first night coming home from the conference (I didn’t live too far from the conference site), my husband called me on my cell phone and told me the agent I’d submitted my manuscript to had called. Called! That’s huge. Agents don’t call unless they’re interested! It was just the first step of many but God had paved the way.

The rest of the conference was incredible. Through Mary DeMuth’s class, God reaffirmed all the things He’d been teaching me over the past few years. Through Lisa Samson’s class, I learned I wasn’t alone and was able to grieve some of the painful moments of publication. Through Liz Curtis Higgs, God really spoke to me. Through Rachel Hauck’s music, I felt God’s presence and His hand on my life and my writing.

If you feel God pulling you in the direction of the CBA, then don’t walk, RUN to get signed up for ACFW. You do not want to miss this wonderful conference with amazing speakers, wonderful writing friends and this powerful time to focus on God and His purpose for our writing.

Here's a couple of links to find out more about ACFW, go to http://www.acfw.com. To read more about the amazing things happening at ACFW, go to http://www.acfw.com/blogtour.shtml for more stories about past conferences and what ACFW has meant to other writers. Tomorrow's author who is participating in the ACFW blogtour is Deb Raney, so go to http://deborahraney.com.

July 13, 2007

 

Elvis is IN the building!



Tuesday at ICRS (International Christian Retail Show) was rockin'! B&H Publishing Group (my fantabulous publishing house) brought an Elvis impersonator -- oops! a tribute artist -- in for my signing! Harold "Elvis" Schulz was so much fun! He is not the 70s styled Elvis with big sideburns and potbelly squeezed into a white jumpsuit. Nope, he's a young, hip 50s style Elvis. All his accessories were from the 50s. Elvis toured around the convention floor and then stood beside me during my signing. I think I should have 'Elvis' with me at ALL my future signings! Thanks, B&H! And thank you, Elvis, thank you verra much!

July 12, 2007

 

Old Friends and New


This has been a crazy week! I flew to Atlanta on Monday for the ICRS conference. I flew back on Tuesday. Wednesday, I was at the RWA conference for the Faith, Hope and Love Chapter's mini conference. Today, I'm home and recovering. Over the next few days, I'll show you some pictures from my travels.

Monday night, I met with an old friend, Alison Wise. She and I grew up together at church and were roommates after we both graduated from college. She lives in Atlanta now. So we had dinner at McCormick and Schmicks. I had wonderful salmon! Much better than the pretzel dog I had at the DFW airport earlier that day.

I met several authors at B&H and had a lot of fun with them. B&H Publishing Group is like a real family. Everyone is so incredibly nice. At breakfast, Tuesday morning, I met Peter Marshall! He was such a kind gentleman. My family has read his book The Light and the Glory and From Sea to Shining Sea. He has a new historical fiction series for kids ages 9 and up. I also met Debbie Macomber. I've met her a few times when I've bought her books at RWA conferences but this time I ended up signing a book for her. Kind of a surreal experience. She's very gracious. I know she was really there to get Peter Marshall's books and meet him but I can pretend, can't I?

Tomorrow I'll tell you about the signing on Tuesday. You won't believe who showed up!

July 9, 2007

 
Every July we have a small family reunion. My mother started it 18 years ago when my nieces and my cousin's kids were small. Now my children are a part of it. It's like Christmas in July. It is a much anticipated event.

Usually the kids fish and play Bingo and Sequence. This year with all the rain we've had in Texas there wasn't much time to fish. It rained and rained and rained. I was amazed how well the kids managed. It's always so much fun to watch them interact. They've grown up and changed so much. This year, my sister put together a fabulous dvd of the reunion, showing the kids throughout the years. It was funny to see the adults' hairstyles change too!

A few years ago, we would go to Tyler and play lasertag. What fun to shoot your own relatives! But the lasertag place eventually closed. So we decided to lob water balloons at our loved ones. It's been a lot of fun. But now, the teenagers are getting bored with water balloons, so we'll have to come up with something else for next year. I'm sure we'll come up with something creative.

Do any of you have family reunions every year?

July 3, 2007

 

Water water everywhere...

Texas is soggy! Just in case you haven't seen the news lately or if you don't live in the great state of Texas, it has rained every day for a month. Or more. And still more rain is expected. At first, we were delighted. We've been in a drought for two years. We really need the rain. But this is getting to be ridiculous! It's July and we haven't had one 100 degree day yet! Which I'm actually glad about. Thank you, God! But all this rain, I'm beginning to wonder if we shouldn't start building a boat.

Yesterday when I was out and about with the kids running errands, we got stuck at WalMart because the rain was so heavy. We stood with our full cart at the entrance to WalMart with firemen who were also stuck after buying groceries. Torrents of rain came down. So we bought lunch at Subway and waited. Finally, we made it home. My roses along my driveway are almost ruined from the rain. There's no point in spraying for black spot because in thirty minutes it'll rain again and wash it off. Sigh.

But that's not the end of our water issues! We came home last night about nine o'clock, and I discovered the freezer door had been left open and had defrosted all over the floor. More water. So mopped that mess up and threw out things from the freezer door that had thawed. But this morning there is more water. This time under the washing machine. So I think yesterday's flood in my laundry room was a combination of freezer defrosting and washing machine leaking. Calgon take me away! Oh wait! No more water! Please!!!

Speaking of too much water, we took our kids to see Evan Almighty last week. Have you seen this movie? It's a lot of family fun and relatively clean humor except for some bird poop humor. And well, with that many birds chasing Evan Almighty what do you expect? Anyway, I'm starting to wonder with the movie, the rain and the laundry room flood if God isn't trying to tell me to get hammer and nails and a hunk of wood. If Amazon accidentally sends me a book called Ark Building for Dummies then I guess I'll have my answer.

Here's a funny bit you might want to see on youtube.com. It's Bill Cosby talking about Noah. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zyc1315KawQ

Until next time, glug, glug, glug.

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