The Saturday Six

One.

Good post by Jason Tippetts about removing his wedding ring after Kara's death. I appreciate his honesty here. There's not a set formula for this sort of thing {as there isn't for anything in life.} Even if you're not in his shoes, this is a good post to read to understand those around you who might be!

Two. 

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I listened to this podcast this week on an intriguing topic: dirty language from a professional platform. I am not even going to lie...I have been straight up appalled and offended by the volume of professing Christians who throw around offensive language in their blog posts like it's no big thing. It was a trend Lynne and I noticed {with great sadness} increasing in recent months. While for me {in that circle anyway} it really is a heart issue, this podcast explains why - moral issues aside - the choice to freely throw around rough language can hurt you professionally. How it can turn people off to the point that not only will they stop listening to/reading you, but they won't recommend you to others either. Interesting topic. There is a transcript of it available if you prefer to read instead of listen.

Three.

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I know, I know. It's October. but Christmas is COMING. And this method of stringing lights on trees is the very one I learned from our Financial Aid secretary back in the day. It really is the best, even though it requires extra effort at the time of construction. The glow is unparalleled.  

Four.

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Speaking of October...and you know what this month means! Write 31 Days is back! This is the month when many bloggers pick a topic and write on it every day for the month of October. I've found some fun blogs through this little project, so check them out! 

Five.

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I realize this is not on a major network, but is anyone else watching Last Hope with Troy Dunn? Ryan graciously sits through it every week as I sob {sssssssssssoooooooooobbbbbbbbbbbb} through every episode. He reunites families separated, usually by adoption, and I will be quite truthful in telling you I don't even care if it's embellished for TV. My tear ducts NEED that cleanse every week. He used to have a show on WE TV called "The Locator." Sobbed through that one too. Clearly this should not be my next line of work. :) 
 

Six.

Truth? I chose to review Last Chance Hero, a new novel by Cathleen Armstrong, because the plot summary described a young woman trying to fit into a football-loving town when she "doesn't know a first down from a goalpost." I figured she and I had a lot in common, and I might like her story. After having read the book, I have decided I want to move to Last Chance, New Mexico, and be friends with every single character in the book. {Well. Maybe minus a couple of the busybody ladies. I might keep them at a slight distance.}


First, let me tell you a bit about the storyline, and I promise not to spoil a thing for you. Last Chance, New Mexico, is the kind of small town you would think of when you think of small towns. Most people who live there have always lived there, everyone knows everyone, and they're not big on change. Fitting in as the newbie is...a challenge, at best. But Dr. Jessica McLeod is excited to attempt to put down roots in the charming place when she opens a private medical practice there. She arrives in town just about the same time the hometown football hero, Andy Ryan, returns to coach the high school team. He'd played for the Denver Broncos, and the entire town expects his very presence to transform their struggling team into the Glory Days team he played for back in the day - back when they had an 84 game winning streak and were really something.

Jessica has no interest in football, and no one in town can figure out why anyone wouldn't like football. And while they're all glad to have a local doctor on hand, none of them are interested in giving up their trusted doctors in the city a few miles away. Jessica may not be interested in football, but she is interested in Coach Ryan. An interesting predicament: to have a crush on a man whose very livelihood is of no interest whatsoever. And Coach Ryan's interesting predicaments totter back and forth between his own interest in the non-football-loving Jessica and his desperation to get the town to understand the Glory Days were in the past, and the team at hand deserves its own chance to make something of itself.

I learned partway through the book that this is actually the fourth book in the "Place to Call Home" series, but Cathleen did a great job of introducing me to he many residents of Last Chance, without making me feel like I was behind on their stories. And though I, like Jessica, know pitifully little about football, I wasn't lost in the details of the story.

I want to purchase the first three books in the series {which I've discovered will teach me even more of the back story of some of the other town residents} because I just fell in love with this little place and the people who live there. There's something to be said for the unique {and perhaps, at times, frustrating} beauty of small-town life, and I think Cathleen captured it splendidly. Can't wait to read the rest of the story. {And the fact that many pieces of the plot were not wrapped up with a neat bow leaves me with great hope that there will be another book to come for the story of Last Chance!}

{Revell sent me a copy of this book to review. All opinions are my own.}