My agent requests are out (2 partials, 1 full)–hooray–so I’m taking some time to relax. My husband and I rarely ever get the chance to go to the movie theater these days, but we do rent an occasional DVD. In an effort to keep this blog somewhat interesting and entertaining (please, don’t groan! I CAN be interesting and…er…somewhat entertaining, I think), I’m going to start blogging about my opinions to some of these movies.

Starting with a fun, fluff movie that I saw a few weeks ago:

First off, let me say that I am not a big Hugh Grant fan. I have never really understood his appeal. However, in this movie, he comes across as a very charming hero and I found myself drawn into his portrayal of a has-been pop music star. I loved his humor in the movie, as well.

In case you are not familiar with this movie, here is a synopsis from Amazon.com:

First you’re hot, then you’re not…and then you’re Alex Fletcher (HUGH GRANT). So when the sizzlingest tween-queen on the charts asks the has-been ’80s pop sensation to write her a song, he grabs for another chance at stardom. Problem: Alex can say it with music, but he sure can’t say it with words. Enter Sophie Fisher (DREW BARRYMORE), his beguiling if quirky plant lady, who has a green thumb for lyrics. Together, they go after songwriting success — and discover that if you want to write the perfect love song, it helps to fall in love.

The cool thing about this movie is it has the perfect romance novel setup. You can pick out the GMCs for both Alex & Sophie, watch them barreling toward the black moment and finally, witness their HEA. Sophie makes a comment to Alex about his lyrics, saying he’s written “dessert” when he really needs to write “dinner”. This embodies Alex’s conflict–his fear of writing ‘dinner’, only to fail miserably at something he’s put his heart and soul into. Sophie, on the other hand, hides behinds her own fears, until Alex encourages her to help him write the perfect love song.

With great chemistry between Grant and Barrymore, awesome music with catchy lyrics–seriously, these songs will stick in your head and they are fun to sing, a great script, and a poignant and wonderful ending, MUSIC & LYRICS has become one of my favorite romantic comedies.

I’m jumping on the Thursday Thirteen bandwagon this week with a quick list of songs currently shuffling in my MP3 player. It’s kind of an odd mix, but it works.

First Thirteen Songs Shuffling in My MP3 Player 1. The Other Side by Richard Marx (Album: My Own Best Enemy) 2. Again by Richard Marx (Album: My Own Best Enemy) 3. The Riddle (You and I) by Five For Fighting 4. For These Times by Martina McBride (Album: Waking Up Laughing) 5. If I Could Be Like That by 3 Doors Down 6. If I Had Your Name by Martina McBride (Album: Waking Up Laughing) 7. Trying to Find a Reason by Martina McBride (Album: Waking Up Laughing) 8. When Did you Fall In Love by Chris Rice 9. Jealous of the Moon by Nicklecreek 10. Angel by Sarah McLachlan 11. For You I Will by Teddy Geiger (Album: Underage Thinking) 12. The Good Kind by The Wreckers 13. Listen to Your Heart by DHT Links to other Thursday Thirteens! 1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)

I am happy to report that I have finally crawled out of the cave I’ve been living in for the past couple of months. It’s great to have the sun shining on my face again, that’s for sure!

I’m also thrilled to report, that HER OWN BEST ENEMY is done (complete, polished, and ready for submission–hence the “big celebration” of this blog title). My next hero, Cam, is bugging me about his story already, but I told him I needed a mini-vacation before I start tackling what should be a complex and exciting tale.

What’s going on with me? I’m so glad you asked!

I finally have a few pictures of my sons’ bedrooms to share with you all. They still need trim and a little touch up, but I’m pretty happy with the way they turned out. First, Daredevil’s “Rainforest Room”:

Next, a few pictures of Science-boy’s “Ocean Room”:

In addition to new rooms, the boys also have new pet rabbits!

Here’s ‘Zoom’, Science-boy’s rabbit:

And ‘Storm Cloud’, Daredevil’s rabbit:

So, since I’ve been holed up in “The Cave”, I’m looking to catch up with the goings on around the blogs. Tell me what’s new with you!