Two things, no three things. Maybe four things.

1. My mother admonished me over Christmas because I had said some disparaging things about “Polar Express” to my brother while we were on the cruise. My brother, who has never seen Polar Express, said he was putting the DVD on for the girls to watch. The girls are my daughter and his two daughters.

I said, “I think that movie is one big advertisement for having blind faith and I really hate it.” Or something like that. In any case, the girls still watched the movie (or whatever it is that kids do when they are jumping up and down on a bed, talking to each other, and a movie is on in the background.)

Anyway, this conversation morphed itself into my mother saying over Christmas that I said, “I hate that movie because it has too much fantasy.” I would, of course, never say that. She told me that my brother felt “shut down” by me after that comment and that I am too judgmental. Or worse: I have too many “opinions.” Yes – what a horrible fate for me, to have turned into a woman who has opinions!

In any case, my mother and I got along splendidly over the holidays. And this little blip was not even a bump in the road. I actually had such a great time that I am openly considering moving back to Spokane before Mulan starts second grade. My real dilemma, if I move, is whether to put Mulan into a Catholic school. But that’s another blog for another time.

So, was thinking about Polar Express, and the whole “just believe” thing. Why couldn’t the boy in the movie been told to “just imagine”? Why did it have to be believe? I was reminded of this again when my adorable niece Katie showed me a Christmas present she received: some words to put on your wall – those cursive, wood-cut words. One of them was: believe. Believe!

I guess if you mean, “believe” in the sense of “have confidence in” – then I’m all for it. But I don’t think that is what most people think of when they see that word. I think it’s meant to be taken in the same way the boy learns it in Polar Express. Just…have faith.

2. The second thing I wanted to say is: being an at-home writer rocks. I love it. I am in my newly painted office in the backyard. And actually writing. Oh, my goodness, I hope I can actually finish this book and the screenplay and the cd.

3. The third thing is that I probably won’t have the cd done until after February. I feel really bad – that I probably won’t have this cd out until no one wants it anymore. But I am waiting to get the music rights and it’s taking longer than I thought. The rights for the background music is what I’m referring to. Oh dear, oh dear.

4. The fourth thing is that I booked more dates at the Groundlings to do my show, "Letting Go Of God." I have been selling out the Sunday morning shows, which is really great. This Sunday’s show is totally sold out. So, I just booked myself into the theater for nine more shows on sporadic Sunday mornings, Monday nights and Tuesday nights. If you are interested, please check the website (juliasweeney.com) to see the exact dates.

Back to work. Happy New Year!

p.s. Munich is so good. So is Brokeback Mountain. So is Wallace & Gromit. I want to go to the movies!