Mommy Brain

It’s been a wild and crazy week. On Monday, Kevin called from work and said he wasn’t sure if his van would make it home, so please stay by the phone in case he needed picked up. This wasn’t a surprise. His van is a 1992 Grand Voyager with close to 200,000 miles on it - he’s pretty much driven it into the ground. It needs thousands of dollars of work, but isn’t worth even a thousand.

So, Tuesday, we went out and bought a new van - you can see a picture at Nan’s blog. Actually, it’s not new - it’s a 2003 Plymouth Voyager, but that’s the closest to a new vehicle we’ve ever come. He will take my 1995 Ford Windstar, and I get the new one! I love the color - and the best thing is that it only has 31,150 miles on it. Oh, and it has sliding doors on both sides, so when I go shopping and there are too many bags to fit in the back, the kids can get out without cracking the eggs.

Other than that, nothing much is happening around here. We’re still plugging away at school, and enjoying the nice warm days amid the rainy, thunder-and-lightning ones.

~ My brother-in-law Hans just completed a composition course at Moody Bible Institute in preparation for starting at Covenant Theological Seminary in August. His final paper was titled “For Goodness’ Sake: How a Particular Longing for Purity Can Undermine the Spread of the Gospel”. You can read it here - it is very well-written and he makes some great points about engaging culture.

~ Chris at Book-a-rama posted this YouTube video of various BBC actors playing Consequences with the books they are reading in honor of the 2008 National National Year of Reading.

~ Michelle e-mailed me the link to this blog that is all about bookshelves. Be sure and scroll through the past pages, there are some amazing and bizarre ways to shelve books.

~ Entertainment Weekly has posted a slideshow list of 24 Bad Romantic Comedies. Hat Tip to Robin Lee Hatcher. Okay, I’ll tell you which ones I really like - or even love - if you’ll share, too. I liked Maid in Manhattan, Nine Months, Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, I Love Trouble, and How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. I LOVED Fools Rush In, Father Goose, and Two Weeks Notice. I guess I’m just a sucker for a romantic comedy. Anyone have a bad one that should have made their list?

~ Switchfoot has recorded a song for the closing credits of the upcoming Prince Caspian movie. You can watch the video - which has scenes from the movie - here. Hat tip to Challies.

~ Think you can trust Amazon reviewers to be objective and unbiased - the common person’s review? Think again.

Full disclosure: It was late at night, in a fit of furtive self-Googling, that I discovered the first Amazon customer review of my debut book of fiction. “Superb,” wrote Grady Harp of Los Angeles. “Fascinating … addictive.” Not to mention “profound.” Such extravagance should have aroused suspicion, but I was too busy basking in the glow of a five-star rave to worry about the finer points of Harp’s style. Sure, he’d spelled my name wrong, but hadn’t he also judged me “a sensitive observer of human foibles”? Only when I noticed the “Top 10 Reviewer” tag did I wonder whether Grady Harp was more than just a satisfied customer. After a brief e-mail exchange, my publicist confirmed that she’d solicited Grady Harp’s review.

~ If you’re nostalgic for the ’80s, check out this collection of the Top 15 Most Awesome Celebrity Mullets. Hat tip to Cindy Swanson.

Have a great weekend, everyone - and Happy Mother’s Day to all of my mom readers.