Avon

Shop Avon with my mom. Follow the link below to her online Avon store.
http://youravon.com/cllanes

fear

one of my favorite movies of all time. . . Fear staring Marky Mark. he was his absolute hottest in this movie like underwear model gorgeous. plus he's shirtless like 8 times.

i'm going to have to run out and rent this movie. that's the only way i'll get it outta my head. how did it get there in the first place. . .you (may or may not have) asked? well . . . this week on A.I. katie stevens (which i despise) sang the rolling stone's wild wild horses. her version sounded like oatmeal, all lumpy and gross looking, but still tolerable. especially if you add lots of sugar. that's katie herself, sugar.

anyhow . . . . as she was singing i was trying desperately to place that song. where have i heard it and loved it. i sat and thought and thought and thought until it finally came rushing at me. FEAR. . . THE ROLLER COASTER SCENE! i've looked it up on imdb.com to see who was sang that version. it was the sunday's. that is going on the ipod.

more on A.I. please be sure you're voting for Siobhan Magnus. she's the greatest and should not win but should come in 2nd. (for obvious reasons). i think she'll be like lady gaga, a . . . "superstar!" . . . (ala Molly Shannon).

Charlie All Night by Jennifer Cruise

Hot! Hot! Hot!. . . This book is hot.

It's an easy read paperback I found in a junk pile of books at a yard sale marked for a nickle. It was the best nickle I ever spent on entertainment.

Allie is a high maintenance do-gooder trying to be career savvy as a radio station producer in a small town. When she meets Charlie her whole life turns upside down. He's the bad-boy who's fun to have "fun" with but no respectable girl would ever take him home, right? Turns out he's working at the same radio station with her and suddenly they are spending time together around the clock. However, its only a temporary arrangement because Charlie has a quick job to do in Allie's small town and then he'll be on his way.

When I meet other couples, or even close friends, I always like to know their how-did-you-meet story. In high school, in college, we worked together once, she does my taxes, he mowes my lawn. . . etc. It's interesting stuff. This is that kind of story. Only Jennifer Cruise has added spice. I've always said that mine and my husbands story would make a great book one day. I'll have to around to that.

The Guardian by Nicholas Sparks

One of the reviews I read on goodreads.com said that you will need an insulin shot just to read a Nicholas Sparks book. I kept away from good-ol' Nick Spark for years because of these kinda slams. I am so mad and stricken with sadness that I let the options of others keep me away from the best author EVER!!

I love this sap sappy sappiness. . . lOve it, eat it with a spoon!

Julie Barenson finds herself back on the dating scene four years after the death of her husband. With no family and only a hand-full of close friends, her husband gifted her a great dane puppy after he died to keep her company. The puppy arives four months after his death in box with a note from him where he promises to continue watching over her.

The "guardian" theme runs wild throughout the book. Its never perfectly clear who the real guardian is, but I think the author wanted it that way. Everybody is a guardian of someone. As everybody needs a guardian in this story because Nicholas Sparks has added some suspencse to this book. It is a love story before it is a triller, but still effective.

She's a young widow who's never really dated. So when Julie does start dating; she decides to date a few "wrong guys" before ending up when the right man. In the back of her mind, she knows who this right man is, but the idea of him is overwhelming and ethically questionable. However, dating turnes out to be much more than Julie ever expected or deserved.

Again, I love Nicholas Sparks and I have another lovefest lined up for review. It was a great read; totally worth the tears and fist shaking in the air. Then again, I am that kindda reader. It may not be everybody's cup of tea.

The Reader by Bernhard Schlink

The newer cover of this book has a picture of Kate Winslet on the front. It's a scene picture from the movie that came out based on The Reader. The copy that I found in a used book store and bought had Kate Winslet on the cover. As I was reading, I kept thinking to myself. . . "I know this story." I'd never seen the movie and couldn't remember exactly how the story ended but I knew for a fact that I knew the story. After several chapters, I Googled The Reader. (Because that's how all great mysteries are solved. You Google it.) That is how I figured out that I had once read this book way back when it had its original cover. However, I am so very glad that I re-read it. I don't think that I had a full appreciation of the story the first time around. Actually, I may not have even finished it.

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The story starts post-Holocaust in Germany and follows Michael Berg, a sickly 15 year-old, as he grows into a man. He meets Hanna Schmitz, a woman in her mid-thirties with average looks. They began a passionate love affair. It's unclear how long that affair lasts, however, the affects of it last Michael's lifetime. He will forever compare every relationship to this one and every woman to Hanna.

After some time has passed and Michael is older his life will once again intersect with Hanna's. The meet again when Hanna is accused of war crimes. From there he keeps Hanna in his life, but from a safe distance.

The love story and the stories from the war are intertwined in the book. Its impossible to understand the story in it's entirety without having some understanding of the Holocaust. Because of that, I found myself "Googling" the Holocaust multiple times while reading the The Reader. I had to know. I had to know why; usually ending up in tears and sickened, but it was better that way. I liked the love story. The message I got is that we love people for who they are at that time in our lives. It almost doesn't matter what they've done in their past. We can try to make it matter, but we feel how we feel.

The Danagers of The Family Life

i have been physically injured on multiple occasions since i've been a wife and mother. so many time so, that i can say with confidence that being a wife and mother is a dangerous job. yesterday i was hurt yet again, while mothering. i cried. i stood at the driver's side of the car and just sobbed. my feelings were hurt and my leg was bleeding onto my work dress.

therefore, i've decided to put together this list both as a warning to want-to-be and new parents. it's that bright yellow WARNING label that should come on babies and husbands.

1) scrapped my entire back on concrete while saving my oldest son from a bike accident at the park
2) while carrying my oldest son i tripped over a curb and then fell back first onto said curb
3) burned ALL 10 of my finger tips making a school project
4) scalded un-countable times trying to cook
5) kicked, scratched, hair pulled, peed on etc. . . . .

i am scared. so so so very scared.