Movie review.

I watched this the other morning with Lynn, she'd recently read the book and was keen to have a look at the movie. She's managed to get herself hooked on Nora and is at present reading Daring to Dream, the first in the Dream Trilogy. We grabbed a cuppa, popped the DVD into my new PC and sat back to watch.
I loved this book when I read it and I have to say I'm very pleased with the movie. The town of Angels Fall is gorgeous, and the mountain shots breathtaking. Except for the fact that there was snow everywhere and it looked damn cold (I hate the cold) I was ready to pack my bags and move on in. Brody's cabin is a must see and the diner was everything I expected it to be. They stayed true to the book, which is always a worry when someone decides to turn one into a movie, and I was pleased with the casting. Heather Locklear was good in the role of Reece and even though I felt she was just a little old for the part she did a brilliant job with the character. All the characters were as I remembered them and even though I knew what was coming it still managed to keep me hooked. Great job to all involved bringing this great book to life.
You can get the DVDs from Nora's website www.noraroberts.com and her books are in all good book stores.

Rachel C

The best of Plans.

I had great plans for Friday, review a couple of books get some writing done and generally clear my desk so I could enjoy my friend Lynn's visit. She's here all the way from Melbourne and we planned on shopping, shopping and more shopping. That was before Robbie. Robbie is the youngest of my kids and let me tell you he's what I refer to as high maintenance. This week he's got an ear infection and just to add some spice to the mix he thought tripping while running a relay race at school would be really cool, especially if he broke a bone when he fell. I won't bore you with too many details but the little shit now sits in the lounge room, arm in sling sporting a broken collar bone. Let me just add a little background. The week before his 5th birthday he broke his nose, the first season of football he broke his arm, the second season of football he broke his collar bone, five days into the broken collar bone he did a slide tackle playing soccer and ended up with seven stitches in his leg. His excuse for playing soccer was the doctor said no football, he didn't say anything about soccer. In between all this he's broken his nose another two times. Did I mention high maintenance?
Needless to say, no writing done. And I had to send one of the girls to the airport to pick Lynn up while I waited in the doctors office for xrays and results. We did manage to sneak out yesterday and get some shopping done. Retail therapy always helps. The next few days will be quiet while I struggle not the kill him. I guess having Lynn here as a distraction will help.

I love him, I love him, I love him.....

Rachel C

I've been TAGGED!!!

I've been tagged by a fellow aspiring author. Now I've got no real idea what the hell that means so I've done some investigating. So here's how I understand it, someone you know tags you by naming you on there blog, it comes in many shapes and forms and everyone seems to be doing it. You're supposed to link back to the person who tags you and link to the people you tag. Link?? What's that? (computer ineptness shining through) So I've done it the way I think it's supposed to be done. I'm also taking a lot of it from Tami directly, it is her fault after all.

I've been tagged by Tami Brothers ( http://www.tamibrothers.blogspot.com/ )

These are the 'rules' :-
1/ you link back to the person who tagged you. (done even if it isn't a proper link)
2/ post these rules on your blog. (almost done)
3/ share six unimportant things about yourself. (that'll be hard cause everything about me is important)
4/ tag six random people at the end of your entry. (random?)
5/ let the tagged people know by leaving a comment on their blogs. (I can do that)

Alright, six unimportant things about me :-
1/ I hate slimy things, and yes that includes cream, custard and the like.
2/ I don't own any make-up. And before you ask, no not even lip gloss.
3/ I can't spell and I suck at grammar. There's a dictionary in every room of our house and I hate not knowing how to spell a word or what it means.
4/ I married my husband of 20 years at 19 after dating for 3 months.
5/ I have 3 sugars in my tea. Hey, I've cut back! It used to be 4.
6/ I once jumped of the second floor balcony as a dare. I think I was about 9 at the time and I could out boy any boy in our neighbourhood.

How's that for unimportant? Well the sugar's important because if you get that wrong there'll be war, especially first thing in the morning. So now to the tagging others part. I have no idea how to do the link thing properly so I'll do it my way then I'm off to find out how to do it.

First, Nicole Austin because I just love her. She's a great cyber-buddy and a fantastic author.
http://www.nicoleaustin.wordpress.com/

Second, Amie Stuart because yet again, great cyber-buddy and fantastic author.
www.amiestuart.com/blog/

Third, Sandie Hudson because she's a fellow aspiring author and a great cyber-buddy.
http://www.sandiehudson.blogspot.com/

Forth, Jayde Marchelle another great fellow aspiring author and cyber-buddy.
http://www.jaydemarchelle.wordpress.com/

Fifth, Annmarie McKenna, brilliant author who once asked why nobody ever didn't know who she was, plus she's a great cyber-buddy as well. (Plus this might get her to update her blog.)
http://www.annmariemckenna.blogspot.com/

Sixth, but certainly not last, Eden Rivers, another brilliant author who's just started a new blog that's worth looking at.
http://www.edenrivers.blogspot.com/

Jump on over and check out these lovely ladies for yourself. Meanwhile, I'll be leaving little notes to let them know they've been tagged. Then I'm off to investigate linking.

Tag, you're it!

Rachel C

Birthday pressie.

Last night I got to use on of my birthday pressies. No, not one of Nora's movies, the Santana tickets! It was great, he was so active and sounded just as good live as on CD. The man is 60 and performs like a 20 year old. The rest of his band were older as well but they had no problem putting on a great show. They took to the stage at 8:30, no support act just straight into Santana, and by the time they did 2 encores they didn't leave it until after 11. If I'm half as active at his age I'll be happy. He played old on new, classic and some not so classic Santana and the demographic of the audience was astounding. From really old (I'm sure one man was in his 90's) to really young (the kid in front couldn't have been more than 12) and everything inbetween. And it didn't matter what age everyone got up and danced. I haven't been to a concert since I saw Nickelback in Australia nearly 2 years ago. Although, I did see that Maroon 5 are here in March. It's just a shame I don't work for Ticketek anymore and can get freebies or really good seats. Still, even though our seats were on the cheaper side we had a great view and could see everything clearly, in fact we were so close I couldn't see how the higher priced tickets would have been any better.
After such a great night it's hard to get back into the work.

Life. Love it! Live it!

Rachel.C

No dieting allowed.

Outside our room, which was on the 32nd floor, the atrium was full of all these lights, it was an amazing sight. We made our way to dinner where I got a rose and a bottle of Pure Poison perfume. The meal was seven courses of the most amazing tasting food, oh, except for the fried ducks liver which Chris said was like eating a wet sponge. How he'd know what a wet sponges was like is something I'm not even going to ask.


This is our breakfast tray. Delivered to our room. Underneath is our cooked to order bacon, eggs, muffins, toast, pastries, hashbrowns and grilled tomatoes. It's a wonder we didn't roll out of there on Saturday. When I won I was told it was valued at over $900 Singapore but we did a little calculating and with the room, dinner, champagne and breakfast it was more like $1500. The room alone is worth $1000 a night! And people live like this all the time! It was a fantastic night and because we don't do things like this very often, well, never, it was even more fantastic.

It's a whole different world!

This is the room we stayed in at the Pan Pacific hotel Singapore. Actually make that rooms. If the lounge/dinning room wasn't enough the bedroom was just as big and I was a bit scared I'd never find Chris in that bed! The champagne and strawberries on arrival were very nice and we managed to enjoy them before having to get ready for dinner.

Off for some serious pampering!

Tonight's the night!
Yes, Hubby and I are off to enjoy my prize. We're going later this afternoon and won't be back until after lunch tomorrow. I'm having my hair done later today so I look put together for our lovely candlelit dinner for two. I still don't know what to wear, I'll probably just throw something on at the last minute. Fashion conscious I'm not! But I will make an effort. Eventually.
I haven't done nearly enough work this week because I've been busy playing with my new toy, which still isn't hooked to the net and I've just loaded office onto it so now I can upload all my files. I got the printer hooked up and the PDA. Oh, and the wireless mouse is fantastic! I love it. I usually get the mouse cord all tangled up, now I won't have to worry.
So, I'm out of here. Gotta pack. Something? I know, I know, it's only overnight, but I hate not having all my stuff with me because I know I'll get there and think damn should have brought such and such with me. Oh well, as long as I take clothes and PJ's we'll be fine. Yes I've been known to go places without PJ's before. I know it's a romantic get away for two what could I possible need PJ's for? Did you forget about the breakfast in bed bit? I'm sure we don't want to be scaring and poor roomservice people.
Okay, really am going now.

Love is an everyday thing.

Rachel.C

SVEN is back!!

Woohoo...
Sven is here again.
Beginning March 1st 70 days of sweat with Sven is on again. And the Sven sure knows how to make you sweat. So if you're up for the challenge head on over and sign up.
http://70daysofsweat.com/wordpress/
The sponsors are back again and already the names are stacking up. Last time I pretty much lurked but this time I'm in for everyday interaction. Plus with the new PC I'm all set for some serious word count totals. I just have a couple of weeks to get used to the new system and then it's full steam ahead. Now I have added incentive to get On A Wing And A Prayer finished before the end of Feb. I'll need to be ready for Sven.
So who's up for the challenge?
Rachel C

Too busy to blog?

Things have been busy. First, last week was Chinese New Year so the kids had Wednesday, Thursday and Friday off, Chris had Thursday and Friday, so we've had a bit of a holiday. We stayed home and just hung around the pool, on Friday night we had a last minute BBQ with a group of Aussie families living here in our condo. It was a great night and for the second time in less than a week I had a bottle of champagne. Gotta say I'm getting a little worried about how easy it is to drink a whole bottle. Anyway, it was a great time and we're planning to do it again.
Saturday we went to the home of Chris' boss and were introduced into the culture in a big way. On Chinese New Year you're supposed to give out little red envolopes with money in them to all the single people. The money has to be new notes and in even numbers. The kids grumbled and groaned for three days about going but when we got home and they counted up their little red envelopes they were asking when were we going to the next place. They ended up with $74! Each! I think Chinese New Year is a hit.
I spent some time writing even with the kids and Chris around, I actually managed to get a few things sorted out. I'll update the word count some time today. We're getting close to the end now and things are a little tricky, especially now that the 'big' secret has popped its head out of the box. Trey hasn't quite worked it out but he's not far off. I was planning for the secret to be revealed just before the black moment but as usual it's not my decision and I don't have my hands on the wheel. I'm just along for the ride.
On Saturday and Sunday I had organised to take part in an online workshop. The thing was it was based in the US so time zones kind of got in the way. When I was awake they were asleep and vice versa. Luckily it was done in a forum so the time zones didn't affect it too much. I still learnt plenty and got some really great resource material, plus there were quite a few published authors attending as well so I took the opportunity to ask questions.
Monday morning and everyone was back to school and work and I had peace and quiet again. Chris came home early so I thought oh oh, bad day. I of course was in the middle of finishing a review but for some reason because I'm sitting in the house no one thinks I'm actually working so they just start talking like I'm sitting there waiting for them to come home. I was getting a little cranky with him when he asked if I had much more to read before I was finished. I really wanted to tell him to POQ but being the good wife I put the book down and said okay what? He wanted to show me something. Show me something? Jeez the man can be annoying, but I went along with him anyway. Yes I had to leave the lounge in our room where I was comfortable but hey, it's best to give in and then they leave you alone, right? So I follow him to the lounge room when he starts carrying on about it not being a very valentine's type present but it's to show his support of me in my aim to be published, plus it's an investment for his 'kept man retirement' and I'm thinking the man has lost it completely. Finally after all the years in the high stressed job his poor little brain has up and left the building. He's pointing to these two big boxes like he's the best thing since sliced bread and I'm looking at them wondering what the hell he's getting at. But then I took a closer look.
OH MY GOD!!!!
It's a PC!!
He's bought me a brand new PC!
I now have on my desk, not that I've got it all worked out yet and we have to get the thingy to hook it to the internet, but it's sitting there on my desk all shiny and new. Plus it's from Dell so it's a custom order or something and he's gonna go through it all with me later. It will apparently be really fast and it has so much memory that I won't have to worry about keeping all our photos on a back up device and pulling it out whenever I want to use any. I still think he's gone a little mad because it didn't take nearly as much nagging as it usually does. I think it might have helped that we had to do the crash and rebuild of my laptop the other week and it's better now but still has some interesting issues. The only problem is it's got vista and I'm on XP plus I'll have to get used to word 2007 which is different from 2003 and I only just got the hang of that! But who cares, I got a new PC!
Things will be a little quiet while I work out what's what and get myself organised, again. I still hope to get On A Wing And A Prayer finished in the next few days then it's polish/edit and submit. (scary) I still have my laptop, and believe me it's a laptop at the moment. Once I've got the internet on the PC things should be a lot easier.
Now I'm off to work out how to transfer files and things. Should be fun. NOT! You know me, not very computer savvy but I'm learning.

Excercise, stretch the mind as well as your muscles, learn something new.

Rachel C

Movie review.

I couldn't decided which movie to watch so Chris picked. Blue Smoke was the winner. I loved this book when I read it. Twice. I have to say that as usual there was so much in the book that was missing from the movie. Par for the course though with any movie based on a book. So there we were in bed watching Blue Smoke on Chris' laptop. It wouldn't work in the Aussie DVD player but worked a treat in the laptop. For those that haven't seen it and might or those that haven't read it but might, I'll try not to reck it for you. As well as missing pieces, none of which detracted from the movie at all, there were a couple of minor story changes. Very minor. And as Chris pointed out it was a bit predictable, mind you, he said this in the last 15 mins of the movie. I knew the story so yes it was predictable to me, but over all it was well made and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Remembering that this was made for TV, it was very well done. Sure it lacked some of the special effects magic of big budget Hollywood movies but it was still worth watching. Even if you're not a fan of Nora Roberts you'd enjoy this film. But if like me you're a big fan then get yourself a copy.
The information on how to buy them is on the Nora Roberts website. www.noraroberts.com
You'll have to come back and see which one I watch next. I'm thinking Angels Fall. Not tonight though, it's late and the kids have got to be up early for school. They've got the rest of the week off for Chinese New Year so we won't need to be in bed too early.

Rachel.C

Check out the birthday stash.

Check out all my goodies. I'm getting spoilt today.
Rachel.C

Happy Birthday to Me.

So far I've had the best birthday. I got a cup of tea in bed (always a good thing), when the kids finally got up I got some pressies. Now I knew about the Nora Roberts DVD's but they were still very exciting. I've been dropping hints about new sunnies ever since I wore a friends ones. Sooo, I got a new pair of Maui Jim sunnies. They look really cool and go great with the new haircut. Then I had another pressie to open that was about as big as my thumb, but when I opened it there was only a piece of paper inside. It was no help, all it said was 'yes you're going'. Going? Going where? Then Chris handed me some tickets. Oh my god! Santana! I'm going to see Santana! I had no idea he was coming to Singapore. How Chris managed to keep this a secret is beyond me. I think he's kept about three in the whole time we've been together. So the rest of the day I'm going to laze around doing nothing, I can't decide which Nora DVD to watch so I might need to get one of the kids to choose. I've just got back from having a massage and I'm so relaxed it's a wonder I can sit in the chair to type. Besides the celebration fireworks I've included a photo of me and the girls that was taken on Friday when we had lunch. For those a little confused by the lack of hair I'm the one in the middle. LOL. Gotta love birthdays!
Rachel.C