SuRViViNG BaCK-To-SCHooL SHoPPiNG

Usually when I have to go back to school shopping, I try to take one kid at a time, but now that we’ve moved to AZ, and we have no one else around to watch the other kids, we’ve been hitting the stores together, all four of us. I’m trying to make it as fun as possible, but we know how much boys like to shop, right? NOT AT ALL! Although now that Ajers is almost 13, he enjoys oogling the girls while we are shopping, so that’s a plus! At least I don’t have to drag him out of the house anymore. He jumps when I tell him it’s time to go shopping!

I have found that there is a completely different mindset when it comes to boys and girls and shopping and trying on clothes, as I’m sure you’ll agree. Here’s a perfect example of what happened while shopping the other day with Ajers. First, he couldn't find the fitting room even though I pointed it out to him. "Mom, that's the ladies fitting room." Apparently, he could only look to his right because oh boy, look to his left and there you have it, the men's fitting room! I asked him to try on some stuff. He comes out with a pair of shorts on.

"Those look nice. What about the shirt?"

"Uh … I'll go try one on."

Why don't boys try on a WHOLE outfit at once when trying clothes on? Meanwhile, Tukey is frustrated because, at almost nine, and with a new nickname of “The Beast,” he is just big enough that he no longer fits into the XL in the kid section but the Men's Small are just too big for him, so he's not finding anything. There's a mope fest going on.

And Diva, who is the epitome of “Tween Angel” at eleven, just wants expensive stuff now. And with the way she is oogling the latest hot styles, and how her eyes bulge out any time we're near a shoe department (where the heck did she get this shoe fetish, and how are we now practically the SAME SHOE SIZE?), I've also got to get a budget in place!

I want a latte; or better yet, a nice glass of chardonnay and a personal shopper to do this for me!

These are some of the challenges that I’m now facing as a mom to three kids who all need clothes for school! We’re all looking for something more in our shopping excursions, and it's time that I branch out a bit, so I've got to seriously enlist my shopping strategies!

Here's the MaNiC list of musts and must nots:

~The kids MUST try on the clothes I am buying for them. I'm not lugging everything home only to find out that nothing fits and we have to do this all over again.

~We MUST agree on what's appropriate clothing. Yes, I want them to define their personalities, but No, I'm not going to let them wear some crazy Goth psycho stuff. A skull here and there in good taste is fine (yes, it's POSSIBLE to find tastefully designed skull clothing, I swear!), but no head-to-toe black skull and crossbones!). And ONE Jacob t-shirt is OK, even though I'd much prefer an Edward t-shirt -- but it's NOT me going back to school now, is it?

~We MUST not throw a fit if I say no to something. If we do, we're outta there and they can wear what they wore last year. Besides, we just moved here. No one is going to know that they're wearing last year's clothing anyway. My kids know we have to compromise on what we're buying, and they also know I'm NOT going to give in.

~We MUST NEVER BUY FULL PRICE. Sorry, but I refuse to do this. I'm not a crazy sale shopper, but come on! It's NOT necessary to purchase anything full price. In fact, this brings me to my next tip ...

~We MUST explore whatever is ON SALE. You can get about 75 percent more items by scouring those sales racks. Mr. Manic has shopped with Ajers and Tukey on like two occasions (because I won't let him take them anymore!), and while he thinks he comes home with some good sale items, he still pays TOO much for stuff that doesn't last the boys very long. HE DOESN'T SHOP VERY WELL!

~We MUST withhold our need to buy items because “everyone else is wearing it too Mom!” I really want to instill in my kids that they’ve got their own fashion-sense and they don’t need to follow the pack in order to fit in.

~ We MUST not go crazy over shoes. None of the kids can EVER have shoes that cost more than mine do. And I don't think I've ever spent more than $40 on a pair of shoes. Not lying here. Told you I'm not a shoe freak.

~ We MUST show a little bit of our personalities, and have fun while shopping, because if you're not having fun, and if you're not comfortable in what you wear, and if you don't exude your personality in your clothing, then what's the point? And on that note, here are a couple of Diva's latest finds ... think she'll win 'em over at her new school?

People, it’s really all about balance. Remember growing up and DYING for that Levi’s jean jacket that EVERYONE owned, or begging your parents for the pair of $54 Jordache jeans? Well, I never got THAT pair of jeans, but I did end up with a very nice pair of Gloria Vanderbilts, the next best thing (well, maybe that pair wasn’t THE very next best thing, but somehow, my mom had convinced me that it was. And I survived!) -- BARELY!
If you want more tips than what MaNiC MoMMy has to offer, then check out this No Tears Shopping Guide!

Want to get in on a Community Discussion? Clothes Wars 2010

And here are 10 Things a Teacher Wants You to Know! Cuz, yeah, they don't call 'em teachers for nuthin!

GeoRGia'S KiTCHeN BooK GiVeaWay & aWeSoMe CoNTeST

Update: Georgia's Kitchen

 Winner Announced:

Congratulations to Kristin of Let's Take A Road Trip! You have won a copy of Georgia's Kitchen! Send me your address and I'll send you a copy!




Hey you guys! So, part of my new job is that I get info on awesome debut books and today Jenny Nelson's new book came out! ... BOOK GIVEAWAY!

Georgia's Kitchen!

Here's a quick blurb:

Talented chef Georgia Gray, 33, has everything a woman could want—the top job at one of Manhattan’s best restaurants, a posse of smart and savvy gal pals who never let her down, and a platinum-set, cushion-cut diamond engagement ring courtesy of Glenn, the handsome entertainment lawyer who Georgia’s overbearing mother can’t wait for her to marry. The table is set for the ambitious bride-to-be until a scathing restaurant review destroys her reputation. To add salt to her wounds, Glenn suddenly calls off the wedding.

Brokenhearted, Georgia escapes to the Italian countryside, where she sharpens her skills at a trattoria run by a world-class chef who seems to have it all—a devoted lover, a magnificent villa, and most importantly, a kitchen of her own. Georgia quells her longings with Italy’s delectable offerings: fine wine, luscious cheeses, cerulean blue skies, and irresistible Gianni, an expert in the vineyard and the bedroom. So when Gianni tempts Georgia to stay in Italy with an offer no sane top chef could refuse, why can’t she say yes?

An appetite for something more looms large in Georgia’s heart – the desire to run her own restaurant in the city she loves. But having left New York with her career in flames, she’ll need to stir up more than just courage if she’s to realize her dreams and find her way home.

And to celebrate, Jenny's hosting an awesome kick-butt giveaway. Here are the details:

Georgia’s Kitchen Giant Giveaway!

When you order Georgia’s Kitchen the week of the book’s release (THIS WEEK - THROUGH AUGUST 6 ONLY!) and email your receipt to jennynelsonauthor@gmail.com, you’ll be entered to win this fantastic giveaway. (Any bookstore, online store, will do!) Send in your receipt (TO JENNY at the above email address) and you could win a basket full of books, magazines and foodie goodies, including:

Everyday Italian by Giada DeLaurentiis
After You by Julie Buxbaum
Super in the City by Daphne Uviller
She’s Gone Country and Flirting with Forty by Jane Porter
Girls in Trucks and Men and Dogs by Katie Crouch
I Loved, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti by Giulia Melucci
Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

A one-year subscription to either: Food and Wine, Bon Appetit, Fine Cooking or Everyday with Rachael Ray

A $50 gift certificate to Crate & Barrel


Details can be found at: Jenny Nelson's Website

You can find her on Twitter to Re-Tweet the contest at: www.twitter.com/jennygnelson

Or on Facebook to Fan & Share at: Jenny Nelson's Facebook Page

Links to BUY the book:
Amazon: Georgia's Kitchen on Amazon

B&N: Georgia's Kitchen on B&N

And yep, because I love you all, I am going to give away a copy here on MaNiC MoMMy, since you've all been hanging around for so long listening to me blather on about snakes and such (You heard we had our THIRD snake, didn't you? See previous post for details AND a picture -- YUCK!).

So, just leave me a comment and I will choose a winner soon. And I do also have the three previously mentioned books to share with you and give away soon too - Jenny's book was just released today and this contest is only being offered THIS WEEK so we had to put a RUSH on it. So go out and buy it now for yourself, send the receipt to Jenny to enter to win that great basket full of books and prizes mentioned above, and then enter here to win another copy as well!

I love sharing great books with you and hope you enjoy it too!

PeaCe uP!

~MaNiC MoMMy

iS aNyBoDy ouT THeRe?

Tap tap tap ...

Hello?

Is anybody out there? Anyone still listening in MaNiCLaND? I wouldn't fault you if you're not. It's been so long. And there's so much to blog about, I don't know where to start. Nothing major, just trying to concrete my life. Yeah, I know that doesn't really make any sense, but those are the words that came to me. I'm trying to make my life "stick" into place. Nothing bad's been happening, so that's been good. We're plugging away, and the next major step is school, which starts 2 weeks from today. So, quite possibly, you could be reading a post 2 weeks from right now that's filled with tears and angst about how my kids hate school and wish they were REALLY back in Chicago. But for now, things are getting "concrete" and it's OK. So, for a quick update, I'll just bullet-point some things that have been happening, with promises to update more. Because, I *think* there are a few of you still out there? And if you are out there, then thank you for still coming by...

*No snake sightings. However we did go to a place called The Horny Toad in Cave Creek, AZ and as we were leaving (btw, it's a restaurant!), we almost stepped on the HUGEST cockroach you'd NEVER want to step on in your life. My friend who was in town visiting got video and photos, but I did not.

****UPDATE---I WROTE THIS LAST NIGHT AND THIS A.M. Diva finds a dead snake in the sticky trap in our garage!!! THIRD ONE in ONE MONTH! And our neighbor who is 12 and has lived here her whole life has NEVER seen a snake EVER! OMG! Diva freaked out!!! Picture on FB. Still freaked. What is up with these snakes!!!

*My friend C came to visit! We had an amazing 48 hours together: pedicures, shopping, awesome lunches, appletinis, sushi, movie: The Kids Are Alright (really good, but I wanted a different ending and I wondered how real lesbians thought about the actresses -- did they act really gay or were real lesbians disappointed in the performances?), she made her homemade spaghetti for my kids which THEY LOVE (OK, me TOO!), she brought us a panini maker! (I now make pancake paninis filled with peanut butter and chocolate chips -- TRY 'em!) ... we did so much in such a short time and it was awesome -- we weren't sad at all, just happy to be together and to know that no matter where we are that getting together is easy and fun and we slide right back into our friendship! Love you C!

*I got a job! I have alluded to this a bit but I am working for BookSparksPR and LOVE it! I get to promote authors and books -- and you all know how much I love, love, LOVE reading, authors, books, writing, words and AUTHORS and BOOKS and all that goes with it! It's so exciting and I LOVE the people I work with and there are some fun things coming up. It's kinda crazy because for so long I have been doing giveaways on MaNiC MoMMy and now I'm on the flipside asking bloggers to do this (so hey, if you're a serious book blogger and want in on some of the fun, email me at stephanieelliot@gmail.com so I can send you pitches for upcoming books - we've got a great bunch of clients!)

*JUSTIN BIEBER! Yep, I saw the little munchkin in concert! Sean Kingston opened for him. The show was really good, even though I totally spilled Diva's BLUE slushie before the concert, fortunately NOT on ME or HER! He is a very talented performer. I watched him and thought, "Wow, what is going through this 16 year old's mind, watching all these screaming girls?" I hope he was thinking, "Man, this is so cool and I'm so lucky and I'm going to appreciate this and never lose sight of how grateful I need to be." His songs are goofy little lovey girl songs, but that's what sells. And yeah, I'm still singing, "Eenie Meenie Minie Moe Lover!"

*I will be still doing giveaways on MaNiC and in fact have THREE awesome ones coming up! The first one will be later this week and it's a fun humorous take on why men suck. Ha, that's my 'take' anyway! It's called "It's Not PMS, It's YOU! ... a totally non-hormonal analysis of male behavior By Deb Amlen.

And I'll have 3 copies to give away. I'll also be giving away My Formerly Hot Life by Stephanie Dolgoff. And last but not least for this round, I have A Maze of Grace, A Memoir of Second Chances by one of my very good friends, Trish Ryan to give to you! So bear with me, it's been a long couple of months getting "cemented" here in AZ, so I'll let you know when these contests are coming! Soon, I promise!

*I'll also be posting more about what it's like to be a mom of tweens and teens as my oldest will be turning 13 very soon. And let me tell you, things are GETTING INTERESTING! He met a girl at the Boys & Girls Club I sent them to for the week (AKA the PRISON they called it), and she gave him her phone number. While we are new to the area, I asked him if he would call her. He said probably not. His reasoning -- he wants to keep his options open for when school starts -- after all, he doesn't know what kind of fish are out in this AZ sea yet! And with my Diva -- Oh boy, we've started shaving, and getting big-time attitudes, and NOT wanting anyone to talk about anything PERSONAL in front of her! And all sorts of new and amazing things are happening with my BABIES! What happened to my BABIES?? Some days I really miss the days where our sole purpose was to set up camp in front of Sesame Street and Dragon Tales, lay out a bunch of blankets, grab the sippy cups and mini bowls of goldfish and have a party. Those were fast and furious days.

So, there's a quick little update. I hope if you're even out there, that I haven't bored you to tears, and if you're still there, I truly appreciate you hanging in there with me. It's been a hectic couple of months (we made it past the two-month anniversary of being in the desert on July 29), and it looks like we might survive this big move. Thanks for being there with me!

PeaCe uP!

~MaNiC MoMMy

aNoTHeR SNaKe eNCouNTeR & JuSTin BieBeR (ToTaLLy uNReLaTeD?)

You're not going to believe this, because frankly, I don't even believe this myself, but THERE'S BEEN ANOTHER SNAKE ENCOUNTER IN THE MANIC RESIDENCE!

UNBELIEVABLE I KNOW, BUT TRUE.

And it happened just 9 days after the first sighting, but fortunately, this time, the slithering demon was discovered DEAD!

I was pulling out of the driveway and something caught my eye, something bright orange and black and white laying on my driveway. Immediately, I knew it was a snake and I thought maybe I ran over it, but it didn't really look flattened and it wasn't squirming or splatting blood like I had just rolled over it, so I figured maybe it might not be dead, maybe it was just PLAYING dead.

So I got out of my car; I was by myself, and the kids were in the house, so I called Ajers from my cell and said, "AJers, don't say anything, but come outside because there's a dead snake out here but I don't want the other kids to know."

And he goes, "OH MY GOSH, NO WAY!"

So then all three kids come out. And I still am not sure if the snake is faking being dead or really dead so I tell the kids to stay away and I throw a rake at it, cuz that's what you're supposed to do when there's a snake encounter, right? Throw a rake at 'em. It's in the "Is That Snake Dead or Alive?" Handbook.

It doesn't move. And then I see there's blood all over the driveway and also some guts hanging out of the snake so it's definitely dead. Then I remembered I had heard some catlike squealing outside the night before, almost like cats mating or fighting or terrorizing the neighborhood, and I wanted to look outside, but it was dark and did I really want to go out and investigate some crazed animals fighting late at night? Nope. So I forgot about it. Good thing, because it was probably a coyote or a mountain lion murdering the snake.

Good to know that wild animals are keeping me safe from the snake den we apparently now live on huh?

And yeah, I had to dispose of the dead bloody gutty snake. I wanted to throw it into some bushes next door but someone brought up a good point. Dead decaying snake might attract more wild animals, and so far, in the six weeks of living in AZ, I've had enough of slithering animals. My neighbors have NEVER even seen SNAKES and they've lived here 15 years!

So we bagged it up in a Ziploc, and of course, we took video, specifically for your viewing pleasure:



And also, something else equally as exciting as dead snakes in my driveway, I'll be attending the Justin Bieber concert on Sunday night. I'm sure a full blog post dissecting the tween phenom will be explored! I'm just hoping there's going to be wine served in the luxury box and perhaps a pull-out bed. I think I may be bringing ear plugs and an eye mask too!

aNd HeRe a LiTTLe BiT CRuMBLeS

Today didn’t start out very good. The boys came into my room and said, “We have no water.”

How can we have no water?

We had no water.

We apparently didn’t tell the water utility company that we were moving in and we needed water, so they turned it off. Not a big deal. We now have water. But this was the start of the day. We have lots of water now.

Especially my tears.

I haven’t cried this much since the day I pulled into the Jack In The Box and let the flood gates open the second week we were in the house. I thought I had been doing pretty good. I didn’t think this was coming today. But today Tukey whispered in my ear, “I don’t really like living here all that much.”

I know he has been sad. He has been coming into my room in the middle of the night.

“I can’t sleep,” or “It’s too hot,” or “I have a stomach ache.” These are the clues. I envisioned right away in my mind that we’ll give it a year and then OK, let’s move back to Chicago and make it all right again. Just get back to our regular Midwest lives with the people we know and love.

Everyone we feel comfortable around. People we can go to for help when the water is turned off, or when there’s a snake in the backyard, because right now, like for instance, when I called Mr. Manic to tell him the water wasn’t running, he started to say, “Call a neighbor” and then he stopped. Because guess what? We have one freaking god-send of a neighbor we can call to ask for help at this point. ONE. Thank God for them or we’d have NOBODY.

That’s a very lonely place to be.

For a family who used to have everyone they could call for help when they needed something or someone or a favor or help or a laugh or a ride or a Starbucks or a anything. And now we’ve got this godforsaken hotter than shit place and my kids are trying to be so brave and strong and they haven’t even met really anyone yet and next week I am shoving them off to another week of a camp that they don’t even want to go to because I think it will give them a place to make some friends for when school starts, and yes, I am feeling completely and utterly sad and sorry for myself at the moment and forgive me but this is my blog and usually I am cheery and upbeat but I don’t feel like being that way right now.

The kind of tears I’m crying right now are the ones that you try to hold back because you’re trying to be strong and you’re tired of being strong for everyone else and you know how you drag your tongue through your mouth to make your tears stop and then you also kind of make those whimper noises to stop the tears? Well, that’s what I’m doing now, and my nose is stuffy too, and my whole family is out there watching Everybody Hates Chris and I hope to God no one comes in and catches me crying. It’d be worse than if they came in and caught us Mushy Kissing.

OK, well, you see, I am already starting to feel a bit better by jamming all of these words out of my soul and onto this document so I’m just going to next have to share them with you. I am breathing a little bit better and I’ve stopped crying.

I am just worried about when school starts – who will sit by them at lunch? Will anyone bother to say hello to them? I’m scared for them, my children, who have been so brave to do this. They don’t even know how brave they are, and how proud I am of them, and see, now I am crying all over again. I just wish they knew how much I loved them and how I know how hard this must be for them, and I’m trying to make this experience exciting and fun for them, and I can see how it must be miserable for them because it’s so hot and there are no kids in the neighborhood right now, and I know fast-forwarding is not the answer, and I need to be thankful for what we have, which is a close-knit family who loves one another and we are blessed and they will find friends and they will be fine and all will be good, and this is just a blip in the scheme of things, but why do the blips have to hurt so darn much sometimes?

MuSHy KiSSeS

This post is not for the family members that want to hear about our sex life. So click to another page now.

Or not.

Yeah, I figured you'd still be here.

Thanks for that. Your call if you wanna keep reading.

But don't you DARE pretend that you didn't read this.

Anyway, the past six weeks have been, obviously, a very trying time in our lives. Between packing up a house, and moving I don't know how many miles away from home to a whole new culture-shock place, filled with cacti, and snakes, and desert, and hot, and changes beyond belief, well you can imagine how it puts a riff in your life. Add to that, children who need your attention adjusting to the new ways of living, a husband who is traveling to one country and two other states in a matter of four days just last week (to give you a snapshot of his schedule), and well, there's not much time for each other.

You see where I'm going with this right?

Let me add to it further.

Our master bedroom is now on the main floor right off the garage and the main powder room, really right in the flow of traffic, off the kitchen and family room. There are french doors that lead to the patio and swimming pool. Two entrances to our bedroom. There is also NO door into our bathroom area. Our closet door is sliding mirrored doors. In our old house, we had an upstairs bedroom off the main part of the house. We had a door to our bathroom. We had a door to our closet, where we could often go to "fix a shelf."

We had PLENTY of privacy.

Here. Not so much.

So put ALL those factors into your black magic hat and the "don't come-a-knockin'-cuz-the-bedroom-is-a-rockin" rule has not been applied much.

Except twice.

And twice it has been a MAJOR FAIL.

The first time all three kids went to the neighbors to swim. We ran into the bedroom like teenagers whose parents had gone away for the weekend. And without going into too much detail, our bedframe busted just as someone else was busting.

The whole king-size bed collapsed.

I told HIM to make SURE the movers put that crap-ass frame together PROPERLY.

The next incident happened today.

The kids were all outside in the pool. They had JUST gone out there. I figured we had at least the required 2 minutes it would take, right?

Wrong.

"Hurry, hurry, hurry." I pled, in what I thought was a seductive, yet not unhurried voice.

And then, we heard the door handle turn.

THANK GOD THE LOCK WORKED!

Then, there was a knock.

It was Diva: "Why is the door locked?"

I seriously almost answered, "BECAUSE WE'RE HAVING SEX!!!!!"

Instead I said, "I'm getting in the shower!" and I jumped up and got in the shower and left Mr. Manic to deal with it. HAHAHAH!

Her eyes were stinging so she came in and I had gotten into the shower and I told her to rinse her eyes out. If the door wasn't locked and she would have seen what was going on, her eyes wouldn't have just been stinging, her retinas would have burned and she would have gone blind!

Later, she came to me and asked me, "What were you and Daddy doing?"

I said, "What did Daddy say we were doing?"

"He said you were mushy kissing."

(That's our family code for making out or whatever the kids think it is and she HATES that!)

I said we were and she got mad about that.

I told her, "We were hugging and kissing and we wanted privacy and we were NOT making babies (that WAS true!), if that's what you were thinking we were doing. We love each other, and you should be happy that we love each other so much because so many parents are divorced and we're not."

I explained to her that we haven't been on a date since we moved here and it's been difficult for us and that mommies and daddies need time alone too, and she should really be glad that we want to be together, and it's OK for us to want to hug and kiss each other.

And I also told her that Daddy better have enjoyed all that mushy kissing because it's the last time he's ever getting sex IN THIS HOUSE because it's just too traumatic for me and he's gonna have to start forking over the money for a resort from now on because I can't take the stress of all this anymore!

The End!

BooK GiVeaWay: FLy aWay HoMe By JeN WeiNeR

CONTEST CLOSED!

WINNERS have been announced!--
Congratulations to Autumn and Bridget who are the two winners of this giveaway! If you'll both email me, I can give you details on how you can get your books!
And thanks all who entered! I will have another great book for you next week - A Maze of Grace, by Trish Ryan, a great friend of mine, and fabulous author, so check back. I also have some exciting news -- I GOT A JOB! (No, I'm not cleaning toilets!)

Book Giveaway!

JeNNiFeR WeiNeR'S FLY AWAY HOME

Jennifer Weiner's next book, Fly Away Home comes out THIS Tuesday and I'm halfway through it, and trying to slip away from the duties of mom any chance I can to finish it. But I will tell you when I got to page 20 I was like, OH.MY.GOD! My husband was sleeping next to me and after reading page 20, I felt the urge to reach over and attack him! What a SCENE! HOT! HOT! HOT!

FLY AWAY HOME is being described as “hilarious, heartbreaking, and insightful” and features a sister duo (I love Weiner’s books with sister combos!) and a politician’s wife. The three women take refuge at the family beach house after Dad’s extramarital affair makes headlines.

I am loving all three of the women characters -- each are written so uniquely as only Jennifer Weiner can write them. Strong women, with quirky personalities, and I'm so anxious to find out where the story goes. I am hoping beyond hope that the hussy who breaks up the family shows up in the book -- SHE'S JUST GOT TO! A regular Monica Lewinsky! I just can't wait!

And I know you'll want to know too!

I wonder if there's a cigar and a blue Gap dress in the story too? Hee hee!

Jen has graciously offered to give away a copy here to one winner (US residents only.) And guess what? I have an EXTRA copy to give away too!

Fans of Jen's who read her blog, A Moment of Jen, may have heard of her recent contest where she asked readers to submit parent travel horror stories after she had a nasty run-in with a crotchety woman on a flight. I had a story to share, so I submitted it, and Jen chose mine as one of the top 12 entries out of 400! You can read it HERE (the ninth one down, my name is there), along with the other fab winners. And because I received a signed copy from Jen, I am going to give away my Advanced Readers Copy of Fly Away Home to a winner here on MaNiC MoMMy, which means two of you have a chance to get the book here instead of just one of you.

So, leave a comment here on why you love Jen Weiner's books, and I'll pick two random winners. Sorry, but you must be in the U.S. to win! And I'll choose at the end of the week! Oh yeah, and you must leave an email address so I can contact you if you win! Thanks!

And next week, I have another great book to give away from my friend and amazing author, Trish Ryan, A Maze of Grace, so keep coming back, and who knows, maybe I'll have another story or two to share about hunting down snakes in the backyard!

And Jen, thanks for sharing your great books with us! And readers, if you didn't read Jen's short story, The Half Life, in Redbook this month, check it out! It's HOT! And the second part comes out in August!

PeaCe uP, STay CooL!

~MaNiC MoMMy