Happy Birthday Mom!



Today my beautiful, supportive, loving mother turns 56. I wish I could be home with her to celebrate, however Andrew and I have ensured that she will know how much she is loved and appreciated on this special day of hers. I could not have asked for a better mother than the one I have. I am thankful for her every day of my life, but especially now, on this day she was born.

A Must Read



"This is another dark, haunting book by Alice Sebold. The author describes her brutal rape while in college and how the police tell her she is "lucky." The story follows Alice as she and her family deal with the aftermath and the profound effect it has on all aspects of her life. The pain and trauma just goes on and on through many twists and turns of the story."

I will be anxiously awaiting the next book by this author. Her style of writing is both gripping and endearing at the same time. That she was able to lay her story on the line like this is incredible - I'm sure many women can relate to the emotions she has portrayed so honestly and brilliantly, no matter what their story - I know I did.

MOVIE REVIEW



As our Sky Satellite is down at the moment, I ended up renting three movies this weekend:

1. Ned Kelly: Starring Heath Ledger and Orlando Bloom. It's based on the real-life Australian outlaw, Ned Kelly (Heath). I did enjoy the movie actually and found it quite amusing at times, despite the doom that surrounds the Kelly family and their friends. Orlando plays Joe Byrne - I have to say, he took the lime-light from Heath Ledger in this one. He again did a terrific job and I was very taken with the character. I find Orlando Bloom cute, but in this movie he was actually quite sexy.

2. Calendar Girls: This movie has a great cast (Julie Waters, Helen Mirren) and is both sad and funny all at the same time as it tells the (basically) true story of women from Yorkshire England.

3. Tears of the Sun: I don't know why I'm always drawn to war flicks, as some are pretty monotonous, however this one starred Bruce Willis, which was the main attraction for me, sad may that be. I however did like this movie as it had a different story to tell and took place somewhere other than Europe, Vietnam or the Middle East. If you don't like war movies though, don't bother.