A Favorite on My List

Jennifer Crusie, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways!

1. Sassy, irreverent, curvy, smart, witty, can-hold-her own, but could use some help, female characters
2. Smart, handsome, becomes-amazed-by-the-woman male characters
3. People, places or situations that are a bit quirky
4. A wonderful cadence to her writing that just gets me giddy reading it
5. A way of connecting the reader to the character that makes me totally "get" her characters
6. Strong female leads in all the books
7. Has written lots of books for me to read (I guess you can read them too)
8. The Dempsey family
9. She gets him in the end and he finally, and irrevocably, he gets her in the end
10. Tells a wonderful story, time after time.

If you haven't had the opportunity to read Jennifer Crusie, please, with all haste, get thee to a bookstore and pick up one of her books. You'll be glad you did :)

Counting Down Until Christmas

Just finished wrapping the rest of the gifts. Made a huge Christmas play list for the iPod. One more day of work, then home with the family. Madison & Dan coming home on Christmas Day. Five family Christmases to do before the season is over.

Merry Christmas!

Satisfied at Last

Sigh...New Moon...well, I'm very happy to report that this time they got it right! The makeup, the special effects, the hair, the clothing (except for Carlisle's scarf he wears with the sweater - a bit too much people!) and the acting (for the most part). The only thing that stuck out as terribly goofy that earned some unintentional laughs from the audience was the scene Aro was getting from Alice that showed Bella (having been turned) and Edward running in the forest. They just looked a bit goofy, so it'll be interesting to see how they handle that when Midnight Sun, the movie, comes out.

I was able to see the movie twice within 24 hours and was very appreciative of the change that took place in Jacob (collective sigh). The big publicity was that he packed on 30 pounds of muscle for the character and let's face it, he needed to for the character. The physical change that Jacob went through in New Moon was an important component to the story. I was surprised at how much I ended up liking Jacob's character. More so than when I read the book. I was always staunchly in Edward's corner, but Taylor really came across as very sincere and has a great attitude and smile.

Looking forward to seeing the movie again. It's a keeper.

New Moon Week

All righty! It's New Moon week. I just purchased tickets for the 10:30 a.m., Friday, November 20, show at Broadway. You can get them on Fandango

So, I'm curious to see how this movie is going to play out. As you know, I was soooo disappointed by Twilight, the movie. The makeup, the acting, the meadow scene done improperly...it just didn't add up for me. Based on the trailers for New Moon, I am cautiously hopeful that the movie might do well. Certainly, Edward's and Jacob's pecs and abs will have a staring role and be very entertaining, but I'm not sure if pecs and abs can carry a whole movie. It'll be fun to see Dakota Fanning in her role of Jane. Will she be able to bring the terror of the Jane character to the big screen? And will Stuart be able to properly convey Bella's anguish over losing Edward? In the book, Meyer simply titled different pages with the months and we could see the months slipping bleakly by for Bella as she struggled without Edward. I have to admit what Edward did really did peeve me off. I mean, who is he to know what's "best" for Bella. Seriously, if someone did that to me, they'd be in traction. And I don't know if he really made it up to her. I think she let him off a little too easy. Anyway, before I digress any further, if you want to come and see the movie with me and then go have lunch after, so we can talk about it, give me a call or email me.

Pleasure, Desire and Passion

Larissa Ione's Demonica Novels features three brothers who have the same Seminus father, but different mothers, which brings each of them different attributes.

Eidolon, featured in the first novel, Pleasure Unbound, can heal and establishes an Underworld General Hospital that provides emergency care for demons who are injured above ground. He meets Tayla, an Aegis warrior, who fights and slays demons. Of course, they are destined to meet and join forces before the S'genesis takes over and he goes mad.

Desire Unchained focuses on the second brother, Shade and his love Runa who is a warg. As they are captured and fight for their freedom, they must acknowledge their love and use it to fight a madman's evil plans.

Wraith, the youngest brother, drives Passion Unleashed. He has been tormented for most of his life, but finds redemption with Serena who holds the key to Heaven.

I typically like books that are heroine driven, but these guys rock as do their women, who are tough, smart and resilient.

Turning Back the Clock

Can you believe how quickly time is flying by? My last post was October 1 and now it's the 19th!

Yesterday, was my birthday and I celebrated throughout the whole weekend. In fact, it started with dinner at the Palms last Tuesday with my mom, Friday afternoon was shopping and time with JWo, Saturday was golf, lunch and pedis with Tiff, Saturday night was dinner with Randy, Sunday the guys made me dinner and gave me presents, Monday I got an awesome, shake your booty card at work, (they made me stand up to open it, because they know me so well and knew I would start dancing the moment I heard the song playing) and a gift certificate to spend at Julie Vogue's (a favorite bling-bling store of mine :), then tonight I'm going out to dinner with my boys and then tomorrow I finish it up with a birthday lunch with JWo and me :)

So a nice week of birthday celebration. I'm not terribly fond of the age I turned. My age has never really been an issue for me. I look a lot younger than I am (everyone says so, it's not me saying it) and Randy is 10 years older and that made me feel young...but now I'm closing in on a BIG number and it's weird. So, I think I'm going to hunker down and stay at 39 for a while. It's a good number. I have a lot of friends who are that age. In fact, they might turn 40 and I'll still be 39 and then they'll become older than me lol! I amuse myself.

Madison on GMA

Back to Work Success Stories

Madison was highlighted on Good Morning America this morning regarding how she found her new job. Check it out!

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