September 05, 2016

Sad news

September 05, 2016/ Lisa Carpenter

I have written about my mother-in-law many times since starting Grandma's Briefs in 2009, posts such as this one, this one, and this one.

My mother-in-law, whom I usually call Granny as that was the name my daughters — and oodles of other grands and unrelated children — best knew her by, was a shining light in my life, pretty much the best example to me of loving unconditionally, finding joy in joyless situations, and loving Jesus with all one's heart and soul.

September 02, 2016

Weekend movie review: The Light Between Oceans

September 02, 2016/ Lisa Carpenter

Regular readers of Grandma's Briefs likely know I'm a huge fan of movie trailers. I share them often here on my blog. I always ensure I get to the movie theater in plenty of time to see all the previews preceding a feature film. I even went so far recently as to set my DVR to record an AXS TV program called "Nothing But Trailers" — three full hours of trailers every Monday night.

About six months ago I stumbled across the trailer for THE LIGHT BETWEEN OCEANS. Deeply moved by it, I passed it along to my oldest daughter, who was so deeply moved she purchased the novel, written by M. L. Stedman, within 10 minutes of watching the trailer. She in turn passed along a glowing, nay, raving recommendation of the book so I then purchased it too. Hardcopy versus her digital version that she couldn't share with me.

I was as enthralled by the book as my daughter, and we agreed when the movie came out, we absolutely must see it together.

the light between oceans movie

Needless to say, when I lucked out and was invited to screen THE LIGHT BETWEEN OCEANS earlier this week...

August 29, 2016

They're back!

August 29, 2016/ Lisa Carpenter

For many years and through most seasons, we could count on seeing a small herd of seven or so deer in our neighborhood at various times throughout the day. Mostly in the evenings or when I walked the dogs (now just dog) in the mornings. Up until about three months ago.

We started noticing the absence of the neighborhood deer the beginning of summer and throughout, except for …

August 27, 2016

Saturday movie review: Special Correspondents

August 27, 2016/ Lisa Carpenter

Not long ago, my husband and I saw a Graham Norton Show (our favorite talk show) episode in which his guests included Eric Bana and Ricky Gervais. They were plugging the upcoming release of their Netflix original feature film, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENTS, written and directed by Ricky Gervais. From the giggles and guffaws their banter elicited from the host and other guests — as well as my husband and myself — I figured the comedy would be a fun diversion and quickly added it to my queue.

We finally got around to watching it last week, and it was indeed a fun diversion. Far different from most everything else in my Netflix queue, but far more fun, for sure.

special correspondents netflix film

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENTS stars Eric Bana as Frank Bonneville, a self-absorbed radio journalist who hasn't reached the career level he hoped for and believes he deserves. Problem being...

August 24, 2016

10 rituals and rules I read by

August 24, 2016/ Lisa Carpenter

Every avid reader has a favorite genre as well as a favorite reading spot for snuggling up with a book.

Every avid reader likely also has a few personal (private, perhaps) rituals and rules by which they read. The following are mine — some of which I hope you won't hold against me.

August 22, 2016

Pool party!

August 22, 2016/ Lisa Carpenter

Pool parties have long been a favorite way for kids to celebrate their birthdays, whether it be in their own backyard swimming pool or a paid party option at the local public swimming spot.

My daughters never got to have a pool party for their birthdays when I was in charge of party planning. In part because I can't swim and the thought of being responsible for little ones bobbing about in a body of water, large or small, scared the bejeezus out of me.

August 20, 2016

Saturday movie review: Recent stinkers

August 20, 2016/ Lisa Carpenter

I've recently had a bad run of films in my quest for under-the-radar-but-awesome movies to review for you. It's fairly common to come across a stinker or two between several movies I'm happy to watch and pontificate upon here on Grandma's Briefs. Rarely does it happen, though, to have three in a row — on DVD, not streaming — that just plain stink.

Such a trio made an appearance on my big screen this past week. Each one I had added to my Netflix queue, requested be mailed to me ASAP upon seeing their trailers. Because each one had a trailer that made me think This will make a great review!

Each one stunk. Big time. Leaving me feeling overwhelmingly obliged to tell you to avoid it. Regardless of how good...