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

December 30, 2007

 

A National Treasure?

We adored National Treasure, the original movie. My kids loved learning which historical facts were correct or skewed for the movie. The second movie just came out and we were there on opening day. My kids loved the movie! Loved it! The movie takes Nicholas Cage to European countries. I enjoyed going in Buckingham Palace. Since the first movie did even better in foreign markets, the producer wanted to give the 2nd movie more of an international flavor. But it still has an American feel. And the treasure hunt ends in America. I won't give away any of the important details. It's a fun, rollicking ride, so be sure and see it if you enjoyed the 1st movie. But the first one was best.

Seeing that the movie was #1 over the long holiday weekend and made $65 million, I'm betting there's a 3rd movie on the horizon.

Have you seen any good films lately?

December 29, 2007

 

What a Christmas Wii had!

Yep, a Wii was under the Christmas tree. And Santa is to blame. But we're having a marvelous time with the bowling, baseball and such. The kids thought their brains might explode on the Brain Academy game. I think mine imploded.

Actually, my son has been sick and I've lost a couple of nights' sleep giving breathing treatments every few hours. He's finally getting over the hump, but I haven't recovered yet. So please forgive any misspellings or grammar problems.

All best,

Leanna

December 19, 2007

 

What color Christmas tree should you have?




You Should Have a Blue Christmas Tree



For you, the holidays represent a time of calm, understanding, and peace.

You avoid family fights, and you don't get too stressed out - even when things are crazy!



You like to make Christmas about making everyone's life a little bit better.

You don't get caught up in greed or commercialism. You're too sincere for that.



Your blue tree would look great with: Lots of silver tinsel



You should spend Christmas Eve watching: It's a Wonderful Life



What you should bake for Santa: Chocolate chip cookies

What Color Christmas Tree Should You Have?

 

Peekers Club

Confession time! When I was about six, I remember my parents going out one Saturday morning to run errands. I was left home with my older sister and brother. Trouble. It wasn't long before Christmas, so there were presents already under the tree. We started peeking. My grandparents used that foil paper. Tape comes easily off foil. I became quite an expert at peering around tape, peeking into the folds of the paper to see the label on the box. I managed to slide one curious box out of the paper. See what happens when you don't tape the paper to the box? Inside was a pair of fluffy pink slippers. I tried them on, walked around the house in them. When it was time to put them back, the paper seemed to shrink and I couldn't slide the box back inside. Panicked, I looked to my sister. She shrugged mildly and said, "Guess you'll get in trouble." I bawled! I suppose she decided she'd get in trouble too and she managed to help me put the box back inside the paper and reseal the end. Whew! Crisis averted!

But then another box happened to get jostled and banged up under the tree. No wonder! I used to rearrange the packages, counting them again and again. My mother noticed the ripped end and put the present on top of the refridgerator. She said, "I may just send that package back if you've been peeking!" How could I tell her it was the ONLY present under the tree I didn't know what was inside? So I found myself staring at that present, praying it wouldn't disappear, that Santa wouldn't take it back with him to the North Pole.

Now I don't do any of that anymore! Really! I promise! Okay, if you were to bring me a present in one of those bags with the tissue paper sticking out of it, well, then I might not be able to help myself. But really, I don't peek anymore.

But it does make it perfect, since I love presents early, that my book has been spotted early this year! So now I'm going around to all the bookstores in the DFW area peeking on their shelves. By the way, here's a hint: you'll find it in the 'christian fiction' section. If you spot it, please let me know!

Want to take a guess what was inside that box that got stuck on top of the fridge?

December 18, 2007

 

Impossible gifts


When my son was three years old, he wanted Superman underwear from Santa. Okidoke. Well, that should be simple. It wasn't. There was Spiderman and Batman and Ninja Turtles galore, but NO Superman underwear. So I bought plain underwear and iron on Superman insignias, and with Gramma's help we ironed the big S on the back side of underwear and put it in his stocking.

But that wasn't all he wanted that year. My son also asked for a remote control tornado. That gave us pause. In case you don't know the toy market, these are not available. I did find a tornado in a little bottle. When you shake the bottle in a rotating fashion, a tornado appears. Not quite the same but that was the best I could do.

But today, I was reading in my bible study about how Joshua was battling an army. He looked up and he asked in the name of his Lord God for the sun to stop so they'd have more daylight hours for victory. The sun stopped.

You see, God can do the impossible. And He loves us to ask the impossible.

Not too terribly long ago, I was praying to sell a wacky story about a woman and an Elvis bust. Well, here's proof positive that God does big things.

I found Elvis Takes a Back Seat on the bookshelf at my local Barnes and Noble this weekend. God can do BIG things in your life. Just ask Him.

December 16, 2007

 

What reindeer are you?




You Are Cupid



A total romantic, you're always crushing on a new reindeer.



Why You're Naughty: You've caused so much drama, all the reindeers aren't speaking to each other.



Why You're Nice: You have a knack for playing matchmaker. You even hooked Rudolph up!

Which of Santa's Reindeer Are You?

December 14, 2007

 

Look out!

question: What did an apatosaurus do when he saw Elvis?


answer: He applauded!

Thanks to my 9 year old son for that joke. The reason for the joke? According to my publisher, my book, Elvis Takes a Back Seat, has shipped to stores. Be on the look out! Please let me know if you see it on book shelves at your local store! Thanks!!! Yea God!

December 13, 2007

 

The Tarnished Compass

Yep, I saw it. The Golden Compass. Controversy is so interesting to me. Since there was so much surrounding this movie, I thought I'd check it out. While my kids were safely at school, I went to the movie theater. Not sure why everyone is up in arms about this movie, because I believe it will limp off into movie oblivian. It was a clunker. The story world and story question were never really established. It was a bit confusing. I frankly nodded off a couple of times. I didn't care about the characters. Seeing Daniel Craig in all of the movie trailers, I expected him to be a main character but he was rarely seen. Which I will admit was ashame. I do love polar bears but that part wasn't particularly interesting either. First, here's a question that was never answered: why give a compass to a child (a precocious and disobedient child at that) who is going off with Mrs. Coulter? Especially when you don't want Mrs. Coulter to get the compass? Didn't make sense to me.

All this hoopla over the movie has reminded me of the DaVinci Code. I read the book, eagerly anticipated the movie which was a huge disappointment.

I really wish Christians wouldn't jump aboard the bandwagon of shouting alarms until they see a movie or read a book. A case could be made for both movies that they are anti-Catholic church. What's wrong with that? Now to a Catholic, I understand that could be heresy. But hopefully most of us here have a relationship with Jesus not blind loyalty to a church. Frankly, the Catholic church has done some horrid things. Frankly, a lot of Christians have done horrid things. They're human. But the church does not equate with God. If Christians and the 'church' welcomed questions, hard questions, and were honest about failures then maybe we could shine the light on the flawed doctrines of some of these stories. But instead, the 'church' reacts in fear. How many times in the bible are we told not to be afraid? A lot! We have nothing to fear, the outcome is certain. We know the victor.

December 12, 2007

 

Christmas Crisis


Yesterday, my children acted like they had completely forgotten what a chore is. Make bed? How about a pile of blankets and pillows and stuffed animals? Brush hair? They looked like punk rockers. Teeth? Let's not go there. So I pulled out one of those old liners that mothers around the world rely on this time of year. "Oh, you better watch out... Santa Claus is coming to town." That got their attention. But it ended up biting me right back.

At lunch, my 8 year old daughter brought up a couple of things that my 9 year old son told her. Two years ago, he found stuffed animal boxes BEFORE Santa gave them to him. Then he saw a stuffed animal in Mommy's trunk BEFORE Santa put the animal in his sister’s stocking. So my daughter was mad and adamantly wanted to know if Santa was real or if some family member was 'trying to pretend to be Santa.' Love that. Trying to pretend and apparently not doing a very good job!

I honestly didn't know what to do. I am honest with my kids. Like a couple of weeks ago when my daughter asked if there was still slavery. Not the kind she meant, but there is slavery with women and children being put in prostitution. I told her there is slavery. But I didn't tell her what kind. But I hate for her not to 'believe.' I hate for that magical time of childhood to be over for her.

The kids decided if Santa was real, they wanted him to give them a picture of Rudolph flying. My son also suggested that his aunt could do geneology research on Santa since she does that all the time. So I called my husband. He ususally defers to me on these matters. So I'm sure it unnerved him that I didn't know what to do. He finally said for me to tell the kids we'd discuss it when he got home.

About thirty minutes later, he emailed a note from Santa. The big red guy told him he didn't like being questioned about his existence, that it reminded him of the Ploar Express which he was an uncredited source for the movie. He sent a picture (above) of Rudolph with his antlers all tangled in repelling rope (purple) because he ran into the mountian climber in the Himalayas and had to rescue him.

My kids laughed and laughed over that. Then my daughter said, "Thank you, Mommy. I do believe now." And she's perfectly happy now. Christmas crisis averted for now.

December 11, 2007

 

Hard times


For some this season is tough. Maybe they're stranded away from family. Maybe it brings up difficult Christmases of the past. Maybe it emphasizes their aloneness. Maybe it brings out family strife. Maybe it brings out frustrations and fears. Two years ago, exactly two weeks before Christmas (which is where we are today), we suffered three blows.

I had taken my two kids for a day of shopping with their aunt, my sister. It's a tradition for us. We eat lunch out, shop for last minute presents (or in my sister's case she begins Christmas shopping). At the end of that fun filled day, I called my husband to see if he wanted to meet us for dinner. I could tell something was wrong. So I asked, "What's wrong?" My husband had been laid off that day.

We had been praying about my husband's job for about 3 years, not knowing if he should leave, stay there, what. Well, there was our answer. But, oh, how painful it was!

But that wasn't all.

Then he told me he'd arrived home and found out that my oldest dog, Muffet, the shihtzu I got when I first started writing, way before I met my husband, had died in her sleep. Again, we'd been praying about her for a couple of years. She was blind and deaf. We knew the end was coming. But oh, how hard it was to say goodbye to my sweet little companion.

But of course, I mentioned three things that happened that day. Why do disasters, difficulties always seem to come in triplets?

When I arrived home, tears streaming down my cheeks, my children crying for Muffet, I found a great big brown envelope that had arrived in the mail. A big brown envelope that I had written my return address on. If you're a writer you know what that means: a rejection. Of course, I'd been praying about my writing for years. This was simply a "no, not the right publisher." But it hurt.

But God had a plan. I wish I could say we just waltzed through that time of unknowing. But no one does. You slog through it. You learn things God wants you to learn. You cling to the foot of the cross. It was a difficult time. And it didn't end in a short month. My husband consulted for a year and a half. God blessed us during that time with more than he would have made at that job. But with consulting, you are truly walking in faith every day. God had a plan for my writing. That following summer, he had me change courses. I've already blogged about all of that so I won't go into it here again. You can read about it in my old blogs if you want.

But what I'm trying to say here is that no matter what you're going through, God has a plan. Keep walking forward in faith. Keep clinging to the foot of the cross for your support. Keep believing. He will reveal his plan in his time.

Came upon this today. It seems appropriate. Hope you'll go check it out: http://www.ksbj.org/eblogs/morningShow/

December 10, 2007

 

December Rush

Do you find yourself rushing around this time of year? I certainly do. Between writing (trying to finish a rough draft), kid activities, shopping (which I love to do), decorating and holiday baking, I'm one busy woman. But I also love to take the time during this season to watch movies. So many good movies are out or coming out. And I LOVE to go to the movies.

Yesterday, I saw August Rush with my 21 year old niece and my 8 year old daughter. We loved this movie. And I was pleasantly surprised to see one of the writers as James V. Hart who I took a screenwriting class from last January. He's written other things like The Last Mimzy and Hook.

Have you seen any good movies lately? Anticipating any?

Here's my list:

Noelle
Atonement
P.S. I love you
National Treasure: The Book of Secrets

Have a blessed day!

December 7, 2007

 

A jolly elf


Here's my jolly elf husband. Now I know what he does all day at work!

My children are learning all kinds of Christmas songs on the piano. They're playing Frosty the Snowman, Angels We Have Heard on High, Joy to the World, Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer, Hark the Herald Angels Sing, etc... We're listening to Christmas music on the radio. We have a radio station in Dallas that plays Christmas music 24/7which means Christmas music starts around here way before Thanksgiving. Which is okay by me! I love Christmas music. I play Christmas music on the hottest days in July and August. I have a ton of Christmas cds. But I'm always on the lookout for more. Some of my favorites are Celine Dion, Michael Buble, Josh Groban (his new one just came out! Have you heard Oh, Come All Ye Faithful? Fabulous!) and Kathy Mattea. What are some of your favorites?

Have you heard a really whacky Christmas song lately? One of the strangest and funniest I've heard is All I want for Christmas is a Hippopotamus. My kids love that one! What's the weirdest Christmas song you've heard?

December 6, 2007

 

Dancin' Around the Christmas Tree

I am having Dancing with the Stars withdrawals. I didn't know what to watch Monday night on tv. Football? My husband was all for that!

I was happy that Julianne Hough and Helio Castroneves won last week. Did you hear that Julianne, after winning back to back mirror ball tropheys, is going to record a country album? It's releasing this April.

Waiting for the next season of Dancing with the Stars to begin, I'll just have to dance around the Christmas tree. No cameras please! Maybe I'll get the Dancing with the Stars wii game. Shhh my kids don't know they're getting a wii. Luckily they're too young to be blog surfing.

And by the way, an update on my pathetic tree -- the lights were fixed and my daughter has put a few ornaments on but it still needs a lot of work.

December 5, 2007

 

Not a creature was stirring ...


Not even a mouse. Or was it a rat?

My husband was rummaging in the pantry the other day. He got this panicked look on his face and froze.

A bag at the very back of the pantry was moving.

"Is it a rat?"

Please God no!

"Could it be a mouse?"

Nope. Just our wicked cat. She'd chewed a hole in the bag of cat food and was chowing down. The rat.

December 3, 2007

 

Contest!


B&H Publishing is running a contest to promote my upcoming book! You don't want to miss this. So go check out: http://www.bhpublishinggroup.com/elvis and sign up for the contest. You might also want to check out the video shot last summer while I was in Nashville.

 

Why, God, why?

There's a song from the Broadway musical, Miss Saigon, called Why, God?. It is a powerful song. Recently a friend was asking me that very question. It's a hard one to answer.

I don't have the answers and I won't pretend to. I'm not a theologian. I'm just an ordinary woman trying to be a wife, mother and writer. Most of the time I just don't know the answers either. But here are a few of my thoughts.

I was watching the movie Amazing Grace the other night. (Fabulous by the way.) Afterward, my eight year old daughter said, "Is there any slavery anymore?" Oh, I hate those questions! I have to be honest with her even though I wanted to say, "No, baby, there's no more slavery." I told her not the same type of slavery. But there are women and children in slavery. "Are they being hurt?" Yes. My daughter was mad. MAD! She said, "I want to go to heaven right now and tell God to stop it." She wanted to storm the gates of heaven, march right into the throne room of God and get his attention. I love that! It led to a wonderful discussion about prayer.

But I was left with lingering thoughts and doubts in my own head and heart. Does God not see the suffering? Just as my friend was wrestling with some atrocities, I've struggled with similar questions all week. But what I have come to is: yes, he does see. And he uses people like William Wilbur-whatever-his-name-is (from Amazing Grace) to make a difference.

Most of us have such blessed lives. Really! We do! We're so spoiled here in America. But God gives us the privilege of seeing something really unpleasant, places where real people are hurting and need help. Painful things. Things that pain him even more than us! And He asks people like me, like my friend, like you to make a difference.

Because it's a choice. It's a choice for us to act or not act. It's a choice for those hurting the innocent to cause pain or give grace. God gives us that free will.

My sister is making a documentary (she's a film maker) of an experience I had with my kids where we rescued a cat on the highway and then nursed the premature baby she delivered. The real message of that experience is that there were hundreds of others on the highway that day. They zipped right past that little wounded animal. They were busy. They were in a hurry. They had other things to do. But when that little cat looked up and right at me, I had to act. I'm nothing special. I don't have a degree in animal husbandry. I don't know anything about cats. In fact, I'm allergic! But I learned a lot during that long sleepless month when I had to feed a premature kitten every hour to keep it alive.

Oh, how much easier it would be if God just fixed everything! If little animals didn't end up as roadkill. If women and children weren't bought and used. If there were no suffereing. I wish he would step in! But he doesn't. He wants us to make a choice. The right choice. And do something about it.

I was listening to Dr. Phil's wife, Robin McGraw, this week. She has a book out. She talked about how her sister was driving in a car and some horrible person dropped a bottle of sulphuric acid off a bridge which went right through her windshield, shattering her with glass and acid, burning her skin over her face and most of her body. Why? Robin wanted to know. But her sister never asked that question. Because she said if she did then it was like asking why wasn't someone else besides me burned like this. And she wouldn't do that.

I think it is okay to ask why. I don't think that's a sin at all. God wants to hear those questions. Because frankly he just wants us talking to him and then hopefully listening to him, then maybe we'll act, even if it's just sitting with a friend in a hospital room, holding their hand.

What is God showing you that needs to be fixed? Are you like me, saying I'm busy? I've gotta ... then list a dozen things on my 'to do' list? Or are you willing to storm the throne room of God and ask him, "What can I do to make this situation better?"

December 1, 2007

 

Bravo! Brava!

A nearby high school was giving a performance of Phantom of the Opera tonight. My daughter and I love that particular musical, so I bought tickets. Little did I know what a special occasion it was. Apparently, the rights are not available for small venues such as high schools. When the director of Carroll High School looked into it, she found out they were doing a test, choosing six high schools from across the country to test how Phantom of the Opera would work in a small venue. Carroll High School was chosen. They were sent the script and the score. That's it! Andrew Lloyd Webber's company has worked closely with the high schools to help them, but basically the kids had to come up with the scenery, costumes, props, not to mention the talent.

The show was supposed to start at 7:30. Well, they had a few technical difficulties. If you've seen Phantom of the Opera, then you know what a technical show it is from the chandelier to the boat. The show started over an hour late but it was well worth it.

I stand and salute them tonight because they did an outstanding job! I was so proud of them! From the orchestra to the backstage crew to the choir and lighting, along with the amazing talent of the cast, what an accomplishment you achieved! Congratulations Dragon Thespians! Bravo! Brava! Well done!

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