Lianne's Little Corner

I truly begin to understand why birds and other beasts head south for the winter. Especially when they live this far north. It has been SO cold. The snow is fine. I don't mind it all that much. But the sub zero temps...I was happy yesterday to find we'd gotten all the way up to 14. lol. So we're heading south for the weekend. Well, starting today. We'll be home on Monday. I am looking forward to warmer temps, even if it's still going to be cool where we'll be. I just wish it were longer than a weekend! I guess I'm not as much of a "snowbaby" as I thought. I just hope we can go somewhere a little less wintery when we leave here. So how about that cool banner at the top of my page? My dear friend, Judy, made it from this quote. I just loved that quote. My daughter told me that her teacher has it up on the wall of the English classroom. It's so fitting for me, a reader and a writer. And a chocolate lover. **g** Enjoy the rest of the week, and I sh...

I hope everyone that stops by here today has a wonderful day full of love. You don't have to be in a romance, because romantic love isn't the only kind of love out there. And even if you're far from family and those you love, or if you're all alone in the world, there is always Someone who loves you. God loves you, and He sent His Son to die for your sins because He loved you even before you were conceived. That's love! So in honor of this day, I offer you two choices of video from You Tube. It's the same song on both, by one of my favorite instrumental duos. But I couldn't decide which video I liked best so I'll put them both up and let you choose. :) It's a beautiful song called "Sometimes When it Rains" and both videos (slide shows, really) have lovely pictures that reflect the beauty of nature, showing a touch of God's love to the world. I hope you enjoy these as much as I did. Don't let the gray picture above fool you. This vid...

As I promised, here are my tree sprite lovers in the summer. I can understand why they like this spot. It's pretty no matter what time of year. So now I'll confess. I made up the legend. I don't know anything about these guys. There's no identifying plaque, so I don't even know who the artist is, what they are supposed to be (but I do think they are supposed to be tree sprites because they just kinda look like concrete tree people). But I'm intrigued every time I see it, and I figured the pair made a good "conversation piece" for this romantic time of year. As far as plans for the future...Laconia is definitely out. That was my first choice, or maybe tied with Lynchburg, VA, but oh well! Neither of them panned out. So there's a hospital in Florida that is really hot on my hubby's tale. They want to fly him there for an interview. And while I'm not too thrilled about the sub zero temperatures we've been getting here, I'm even less th...

Since I don't know where we're going to be next winter, and since I have never seen SO MUCH snow (it's snowing AGAIN today!) in my entire life, I've actually been having fun taking pictures of it. Next year we might be in sunny Florida, or temperate Virginia. No, that's not a hint of anything to come. Just throwing out places. :) But I don't think we'll be in a place quite this cold or that gets this much snow. And that's fine. While I've been enjoying the snow, I don't have to go out in it too much. My family, bless their hearts, do, and I know they are just sick of it. But now I'm rambling. Sorry. In honor of the snow and Valentine's day, I've posted another picture. Two, actually. Every now and then, when we walk down to the park, we get a glimpse of a pair of tree sprites. They're odd creatures, and not little fairy types, either. Tall, slender and willowy. Like trees. But if you sneak up on them real quiet like, you might cat...

No, nothing deep, or mean, or cute and witty today. **grin** It snowed today, here in the Heartland. Snowed alot! And I just wanted to share some pictures I took this afternoon after the snow stopped falling. Well, I'll just leave it at this one picture for now. This is the little stream that you can see pictures of on the bottom of this page. One in the summer, one in December with a little snow and some ice. But after today, you can't even see the stream! I don't think I've ever seen so much snow in my whole entire life. Well, I take that back. I saw alot of snow when we were in Vermont in February, 1999. But that was a long time ago. :) This was fun. Kids were home from school with a snow day. Only DH had to go out in it. We didn't have to, but we went anyway to get some pictures. Have a great day. :)

So today I had the immense displeasure of seeing The Planet of the Apes . 1968 version. Hubby stayed home from work, you see. Seems he's picked up the bug that went around the rest of the family the two weeks before. And so, with DH home, naturally, the TV was on all day long. Hey, it's just a fact of life. As he was flipping through the channels, here's this scene that looked to me like a bunch of cavemen running through a corn field. What the heck? I said out loud. I thought it was some new Geico commercial. Grr...Me and my big mouth. DH stopped, and we had to sit through two or so agonizing hours of really bad acting, creepy 60's movie music, and the biggest piece of heretical junk I've ever seen. I was disappointed in Charleton Heston. I expected a lot more from the man who played Moses and Ben Hur. Of course, I don't know why I still bother being disappointed in Hollywood folk. It seems they're natural inclinations are so opposed to my own that there w...

No, you won't find any Shakespeare here. I just thought it was a catchy title for this post. **GRIN** But if you read to the end, you might see the relevance. I've been a bit of a mess this week, so I'm sorry I haven't been as faithful over here. But I'm starting to feel better, and I want to get myself back up and running again. No, not literally. It is WAY too cold outside to go running. I woke up this morning to a groan-worthy low of -12. At least I didn't have to go out in it so early, but the kids and hubby did, the poor dears. At least their buses are heated. Anyway, I thought I'd pop on to say something really witty and deep. Ok, so nothing very witty has come to mind let alone deep. So let me rephrase. I thought I'd pop on to say something. Now I don't like to post just to post. Really I don't. I mean, what's the purpose in that? It seems kinda, well, meaningless. And now I'm getting repetitious. The funny thing is, when I'm f...

My family and I are so saddened tonight. We just read the headlines that actor Heath Ledger has died. I didn't know this young man personally, but a couple of his movies have brought alot of entertainment to our family. One of my favorite movies of all time is A Knight's Tale. It's not deep, yet it is. It had no really earth shattering message...yet it did. The whole thing was a case study in contrasts. So I'm very sad to think that this shining star has burned out so early. He will be missed. And now I have to vent. This tragedy comes on the heals of another young Hollywood death, that of Brad Renfro, also from an overdose, if I'm not mistaken. And that one after the attempted suicide of actor Owen Wilson. It's going to be interesting to find out what the authorities decide about Mr. Ledger's death--whether it was accidental or a planned suicide. On one hand, I'd like to believe it was an accident, but how tragic is that? However, knowing the track reco...

I had planned on writing up a really sumptuous post for today. After all, with the weekend, I should have had time to play, right? Well, the kids have been sick since Wednesday with some kind of little flu bug. Then yesterday I woke up with it. Ack! So all I did all day yesterday was sit around on the sofa and do nothing. And the brain wouldn't work to save my life. So maybe, if the plegm gets cleared out of my throat and my brain, I'll be able to get something written for tomorrow. But I did want to post something so it wouldn't look as if I'd just given up on this blog again. **grin** Have a great week, and hope to be back tomorrow or the next day.

So we were watching American Idol last night. Boy, what a circus! But the last contestant for the night was this sweet young thing, 23 or 24 years old, can’t remember which. And she started talking about herself at the judges request. Somehow it came out that she doesn’t watch R rated movies, never has. So they asked her why, and she said it was because her parents set some guidelines while she was growing up, and it just made sense. So even now that the choice is her own, she doesn’t watch R rated movies. She went on to say that along with that came the “don’t drink, don’t smoke” and that made sense to her too. So she doesn’t do those things. So I’m saying Bravo! for her. But Randy and Simon right away start to make fun. Simon more than Randy. Of course. She finally sang, after the two goofs stopped goofing, and she did a good job. She was in. But you know Simon, even if you don’t watch the show. He just had to be, well, Simon. Randy’s telling her he likes her, there’s something pure ...

So here I am, posting late again today. But I am posting. And there's nothing earth shattering here. Never is, you say. But today's post is really trivial. So if you would, bear with me, 'cuz I'm going to rant about one of my more recent pet peeves. I don't know if it's the same all over the United States, but since coming back from Brazil I've encountered a little irksome trend when I go grocery shopping. When the clerks would go to bag the stuff, they would ask if I wanted my gallon of milk in the bag. So usually I'd just say yes, please. No big deal. I mean, I didn't understand the question. Why would I NOT want my milk in a bag? But lately it's gotten worse. Now they don't even ask anymore. They just don't bother to bag the milk. Sometimes, depending on my mood, I just grin and bear it. Well, bear it, at least, without much of a grin. But with single digit temperatures outside right now, (we do the Snoopy Dance if we manage to get abo...

So rate me. How am I doing with this blog, now? Ok, ok, I know I forgot to post on Friday, and I'm late on this one. But I think I'm doing ok, don't you? And now on to the post. I know y'all are probably going to shake your heads and say, "where've YOU been?" but my family and I only recently discovered the Hampster Dance song. It was back in May sometime when a friend of my daughter's had it on a CD. We thought it was really cute. So we've listened to it, danced to it a few times, but I never gave it a whole lot of thought. Then one day I wanted to know who performed it, so I went to Google. Wow! What an interesting story behind this fun little...well, song, web site...the works. If you're not familiar with the story, here's it in a nutshell. In August of 1998, an art student was having a competition with her sister and best friend to see who could get the most hits to their web sites. So in honor of her pet hampster, Hampton, this young l...

Y'all are probablly tired of reading about my little writing saga, but I can't help myself. I'm excited about this and I can't shut up. lol. So here's what's next. I'm in the process of rewriting this story and making changes. In the original rejection letter, the editor told me that most readers of this particular line like to see romances develop between two single characters. My characters were already married, and it wasn't a "marriage of convenience" sort of plot. So the story wasn't exactly a traditional romance. I was trying more for women's fiction anyway, and focusing a little less on the romance. Funny thing is, when I originally started writing this story, my characters WERE unmarried. Now, romance writers, don't throw rotten tomatoes at me yet. Hear me out. Romance has gotten a bad rap through the years. I've not yet come across a Romance Readers Anonymous, but I'm sure there are or at least were at some point ma...

Well, "conclusion" for now. Because I hope to truly conclude this story in the NEAR (I hope) future with a post titled, Got My Contract! :-) So picking up from where I left off yesterday...Friday morning, January 4, I wrote back to the editor who had turned down my proposal. I asked if she would be willing to look at it again if I changed some of the issues that caused them to reject my book. I'm not naturally a very pushy person. Sometimes I wish I were, because pushy people seem to get things in life that we non-pushy people don't. So it took great courage for me to actually send that email. I had a dentist appointment that morning. Figured that sitting in a dentist chair with someone else's hands in my mouth would take my mind off the fact that I'd actually been audacious enough to send that email to a big wig editor from a big wig Christian publisher. Well, the dentist appointment was only a cleaning and check up. (And I got a CLEAN bill of dental health,...

So I had planned on posting yesterday's post on Friday last week. But Friday morning was quite busy and before I knew it, the day was almost over and I hadn't posted. But even had I posted, I would still have to admit to "cheating." If you've been keeping up with this blog, you'll know that I don't always have stuff to say. So to throw away such a great post (well, I liked it. I thought it was a great post.)was out of the question for me. Anyway, Thursday evening (January 3), late, I checked my email to find I'd gotten a response from one of the editors. My knees might have been knocking, only I was sitting down. Good thing, too! My fingers were sure trembling and I had to draw in a deep breath before opening the email. The whole family was around holding a collective breath. Click. "Hi Lianne," the email opens, "Thank you for the opportunity to read your proposal..." And about that time I freak out, though inwardly only because I n...

Or maybe I should say, I'm hoping. In September of 2007 I got to go to my first ever writer's conference. It was WONDERFUL. I never knew how cool it would be to sit around and chat writing with other wacky kindred spirits. I learned some good stuff, but even if I hadn't, just the fellowship with other authors was an amazing experience. I got to meet folks I'd only heard of for years, and others I'd struck up online friendships with, but had never actually met in person. So it was a great experience for me. But the book contract, you ask. Hold your horses, I'm getting to it. It's not that big of news, but for me it is kind of exciting even if it doesn't pan out. In short, I had two major Christian publishers ask to see a proposal for my story. The first one was very unexpected. The way the ACFW conference is set up, they put published authors or agents or editors to host a table at meal times. You just choose who you want to sit with, and go to their tabl...

Actually, I don't want alot. But I know already that we're going to see alot of change coming our way. You'd think my family would be used to change, and in a way I guess we are. But being used to it doesn't mean you like it. And I'm ready for a change in the changes. In other words, I'm ready to settle down and grow some roots. We've been here and there for the past 17 years. I met and married my husband in the Washington, DC area. Moved to Dallas, Texas, a year later and spent 5 years there. My two daughters were born there. Then we moved to Wake Forest, North Carolina where DH pursued his master's degree. We spent 3 wonderful years there, and they were just too short. I've always wanted to get back there, but so far, God has had other plans. From there, we moved to Brazil for the next 7+ years. That might seem like a good chunk of time to stay in one place, and it was. But the "where to next?" cloud was always hanging over our heads. DH ...

Happy New Year! I made a resolution to start being more faithful to my blog. Yesterday didn't count, because it was still a holiday and the family was all at home. (Yeah, yeah, I hear you. Excuses, excuses!) But today I start fresh, and hope I can at least keep THIS resolution. So I'm going to start by saying, don't pay any attention to my last post. The one where there's a commercial for Simpleology. I had to post that so I could get to the "free course" on blogging. Well, I did what I was supposed to do and I got sent to a page that was another commercial for the Simpleology group. Fine, no problem, I understand they need to market their goods. But when I went to a new page that said I had to sign up for something that I could try for 30 days free, well, I got nervous. I'll admit, I didn't go any farther than that, so I don't know if a credit card was actually involved. But I don't trust these "try it for free or get your money back...

I've been thinking. I know I need to get this blog going for real. So I've made a New Year's resolution a few days early to try to be more faithful to this blog. And how timely that I came across this from simpleology. I don't know yet what they'll teach me, but I can sure use some help. Anyway, here's a blurb about what they're offering: I'm evaluating a multi-media course on blogging from the folks at Simpleology. For a while, they're letting you snag it for free if you post about it on your blog. It covers: The best blogging techniques. How to get traffic to your blog. How to turn your blog into money. I'll let you know what I think once I've had a chance to check it out. Meanwhile, go grab yours while it's still free.

I'm angry, so here I am to stew a little and let off some steam. My husband just sent me a link to an article on CNN about a Maine middle school that is now going to be passing out oral contraceptives to its students. Too many middle school pregnancies, they're complaining. The school's health center has been handing out condoms since 2000, but that didn't seem to help much. Well, duh! Oh, and the best part. These kids can get this stuff without telling their parents. Wait, addendum: kids must have parental permission to even go to the health center. Yeah, but once in there, everything is confidential. So 11, 12, and 13 year old kids, who barely even know how to keep their own noses clean yet, are being allowed to make a decision about wether or not they should go on the pill??? What is wrong with these school officials??? Parents need to be informed. Yeah, I know the reasoning behind this secrecy. Kids won't speak to their doctors etc., who are SUPPOSED to be respo...