Hello faithful MaNiC MoMMy readers! Thank you all so much for sticking by me and reading for this long! In 2011 I am going to be bringing some fabulous reviews and giveaways to you courtesy of some great authors and publishers and here is a sneak peek of what you can expect in the coming weeks and months!
I’ll be telling you about these authors and their great books and you can expect many giveaways as well! I’m hoping to do a review and/or giveaway at least every other week, but one thing we can count on with MaNiC MoMMy is that we can’t count on her very much! But here are some of the great authors we have lined up for future features!
Kristina Riggle – The Life We Imagined
Juliette Faye – Deep Down True, her follow up to Shelter Me, which I loved!
Caroline Leavitt – Pictures of You. I read Caroline’s book, Girls in Trouble a very long time ago and fell in love with her writing, so when I heard she had a new one coming out, I had to get her on this list!
Eileen Cook – Eileen’s a friend in real life. Her newest YA is The Education of Hailey Kendrick. We’ll also be talking about Getting Revenge on Lauren Wood – she’s got some fun youtube videos starring Lauren Wood too! Do a search and check them out.
Jennette Fulda – I am reading Chocolate & Vicodin right now – as a fellow headache sufferer, I can somewhat relate, but Jennette has had the SAME headache for several years and has written an amazing book about her tireless and painful efforts to (UNFORTUNATELY as of this posting) unsuccessfully rid herself of it! Jennette's first memoir was a hit called Half-Assed: A Weight Loss Memoir, the story about how she successfully lost half of herself through diet and exercise, another terrific book to check out!
Jenny Gardiner – Author of Sleeping with Ward Cleaver (she’s gonna kill me because I’ve yet to read it, but man, I sleep with him EVERY night! Hahah, kidding HONEY!), the memoir Winging It, about her ‘lovable’ (OK, vengeful) parrot, and Slim to None. She’ll have a story out later this year with a bunch of other famous authors writing about man’s best friend.
Catherine McKenzie – who’s book ARRANGED I am currently reading and LOVING!! It’s got a ton of OMG moments, and I’ve only cracked the surface!
Shana Mahaffey – Sounds Like Crazy. I read a review on Facebook and had to have it. 'Nuff said. The power of the internet!
Shawn Klomparens – Two books by Shawn - Jessica Z and Two Years, No Rain – both I’m dying to dive into.
Angela Balcita – Moonface: a Memoir – Angela received a kidney from her soulmate and shares the amazing story. I love memoirs and this one will sure to be a great one.
Sarah Pekkanen – Skipping a Beat, the follow-up to her incredible first book, The Opposite of Me! I’ve already read, and you will LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this one.
Stacy Morrison – Falling Apart in One Piece, the paperback edition. An amazing memoir about how she held it together amidst a divorce she didn’t ask for or see coming.
Colin Sokolowski – The Accidental Adult – fab book of essays on become an adult when you least expect to. So, so funny. And totally relatable on all accounts.
Kim Wiley – Love in Midair – a hardcover hit, will soon be in paperback. And I’ll have it to share with you!
Laura Dave – The First Husband – Laura’s third book. Her first two were AMAZING: London is the Best City in America and The Divorce Party. Read The Divorce Party and you will NEVER look at Red Velvet Cake the same again. I promise you.
Jen Lancaster – You can bet I’ll be bringing you her very first novel: If You Were Here. Can’t wait to read the stuff she makes up if the stuff that’s REAL is so freakin’ funny!
More books coming your way include:
The Girl Who Fell From the Sky by Heidi W. Durrow
Haunting Jasmine by Anjali Banerjee
Paris Was Ours by Penelope Rowlands
Dreaming in English by Laura Fitzgerald
Friday’s Daughter by Patricia Sprinkle
There are even more authors than what I have listed here coming to MaNiC and I hope you’ll stick around for it! Thanks for hanging out this long! So many great books and I can’t wait to share them with you, but not to worry, I’ll still be sharing the other mind-numbing, mopey whiny, gripey stuff I’m so good at too. Whether you like it or not!
PeaCe uP!
~MaNiC MoMMy
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Tuesday, January 04, 2011
Kids Are Resilient My Ass
Kids Are Resilient.
I used to believe that. I truly did. They bounce back from injuries like that. All three of my kids have had their tonsils out and the very next day they were eating meatloaf or chicken nuggets as if they hadn’t just gone under the knife. Kids break bones and come away from painful mishaps as if it were no big deal. They’re like rubber bands that snap back into place.
When we moved to Scottsdale seven months ago, everyone assured me that my kids would be fine.
“They’ll make new friends.”
“They’ll love their new school.”
“Everything will be fine.”
Yeah, some of it has been great.
But some, not so great.
They really miss their friends back home. Terribly.
They actually miss the snow. A lot.
They miss Chicago. I don’t know if they miss the city of Chicago or the idea of Chicago, but they miss it. A ton.
All of this, as a mother really, really sucks. Because this is something I can’t put a band-aid over. I can’t make this one better for them.
The other night, my Tukey came into my bed at 11 o’clock telling me he couldn’t turn his mind off. I brought him into bed with me. You know why he couldn’t turn his mind off? Because he is NOT resilient. I let him sleep with Mr. Manic and me. I will let him sleep with me all the days of his life that he needs to because I am his mom and that is my job. He’s my baby. That’s what I’m here for. To take care of him, and if he needs me at 11 at night, that’s what I’ll do for him.
Last night, when I was tucking Diva into bed, she began to cry. She said to me, “I know home is where the heart is, but I think I left my heart in Chicago.” No lie, this is exactly what she said. Does THAT sound like resiliency to you? Nope. That sounds like a kid with a broken heart who is missing all the things she was used to back home. That broke MY heart. I can’t put a band-aid over that injury. When will THAT pain go away?
Someone reminded me of the quote the other day, “You’re only as happy as your least happy child.” This is the truest statement I’ve ever heard. Moms can only be as happy as their least happy child. And sadly, mine are still finding their way here, and they’re not resilient, and they’re going through hard times, and it makes me mad that adults brush off kids by saying they’re resilient, just because they are kids. They’re little people, with big, huge feelings that should never, ever be discounted, and I love my kids to pieces and I want them to know how much I never take them for granted and how I want them to be so happy in their lives.
And they’re not right now. Some days yes, they are, but on the days they’re not, they are really, really sucky. And that’s what’s been on my mind lately. So that’s why I’m telling it here. On my blog. Because it feels good to share it here. Because it feels like there’s nowhere else to say it.
If you could stomach this, you might also like, What's Your Joy of Motherhood?
I used to believe that. I truly did. They bounce back from injuries like that. All three of my kids have had their tonsils out and the very next day they were eating meatloaf or chicken nuggets as if they hadn’t just gone under the knife. Kids break bones and come away from painful mishaps as if it were no big deal. They’re like rubber bands that snap back into place.
When we moved to Scottsdale seven months ago, everyone assured me that my kids would be fine.
“They’ll make new friends.”
“They’ll love their new school.”
“Everything will be fine.”
Yeah, some of it has been great.
But some, not so great.
They really miss their friends back home. Terribly.
They actually miss the snow. A lot.
They miss Chicago. I don’t know if they miss the city of Chicago or the idea of Chicago, but they miss it. A ton.
All of this, as a mother really, really sucks. Because this is something I can’t put a band-aid over. I can’t make this one better for them.
The other night, my Tukey came into my bed at 11 o’clock telling me he couldn’t turn his mind off. I brought him into bed with me. You know why he couldn’t turn his mind off? Because he is NOT resilient. I let him sleep with Mr. Manic and me. I will let him sleep with me all the days of his life that he needs to because I am his mom and that is my job. He’s my baby. That’s what I’m here for. To take care of him, and if he needs me at 11 at night, that’s what I’ll do for him.
Last night, when I was tucking Diva into bed, she began to cry. She said to me, “I know home is where the heart is, but I think I left my heart in Chicago.” No lie, this is exactly what she said. Does THAT sound like resiliency to you? Nope. That sounds like a kid with a broken heart who is missing all the things she was used to back home. That broke MY heart. I can’t put a band-aid over that injury. When will THAT pain go away?
Someone reminded me of the quote the other day, “You’re only as happy as your least happy child.” This is the truest statement I’ve ever heard. Moms can only be as happy as their least happy child. And sadly, mine are still finding their way here, and they’re not resilient, and they’re going through hard times, and it makes me mad that adults brush off kids by saying they’re resilient, just because they are kids. They’re little people, with big, huge feelings that should never, ever be discounted, and I love my kids to pieces and I want them to know how much I never take them for granted and how I want them to be so happy in their lives.
And they’re not right now. Some days yes, they are, but on the days they’re not, they are really, really sucky. And that’s what’s been on my mind lately. So that’s why I’m telling it here. On my blog. Because it feels good to share it here. Because it feels like there’s nowhere else to say it.
If you could stomach this, you might also like, What's Your Joy of Motherhood?
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
SeVeN MoNTHS ToDay
Seven months today.
Yep, It’s been seven months since we moved. What have I discovered? Lots of things:
That I am open to change.
That a heart can break watching your children leave everything and everyone they have ever loved and known.
But that it can slowly heal. Although it takes time, and that they are slow to accept these changes and still remind me almost daily how much they miss home, miss their friends, miss snow, want their friends to visit, want to go to college in Illinois, don’t like their school (only on occasion).
I love the weather here after the sucky heat breaks. December has been absolutely beautiful.
We feel at home in our new home.
We have had a gazillion visitors and are expecting a gazillion more and are so happy that everyone wants to come see us.
I like talking to and meeting new people, and am open to discovering what people are all about.
I still miss my friends, and every now and then I will get a pang of homesickness, like today, when I was at Paradise Bakery, which is like Panera, I had some Black Bean Soup, I was thrown straight into missing my friends from home, who I would go to lunch with and always have soup.
I think cacti are really pretty. There are some purple ones that are so gorgeous. I really had preconceived ideas of what I thought it would be like here, and I was wrong. AZ, I apologize.
I still have the same resolutions here that I had when I lived in Illinois. Some things DON’T change.
I won’t keep those resolutions either.
I am worrying less about my kids, but still worrying about Tukey – he hasn’t found a group of kids to settle in with.
I am worrying about Ajers because there have been some cruel kids around; I don’t know if they are jealous that he’s come in and befriended some of the other kids, or that he came in and got on the basketball team, or what, but some things have happened that don’t make me happy. I have told him to do what Jesus did – turn the other cheek. Tukey said, “The butt cheek?”
Diva’s growing up beautifully. I’m watching her right now create a piece of art work in her class. She makes me proud. They all do. I’m learning that through the hard times, they’ll persevere and become better people.
I’m learning that rain in AZ is like snow in Virginia or other places where they get little of it – people freak and act erratically (and I just learned how to spell erratically!) when they are driving. It’s RAIN people! Good God, what will they do in snow?
I’ve learned that my kids loved swimming in a heated pool on Christmas Day (our neighbor’s, not ours).
I’ve learned that there are kind people willing to include a new family from Chicago into their traditions and into their lives and that makes my heart swell, especially during a time of year when it could have been a lonely sad place for us.
I’m learning that no matter where we are in life, that as long as we are together, and that we are raising our family in a way we believe in, and that we continue to communicate with each other, that everything will be working its way to fine.
Happy New Year. I hope 2011 brings you an abundance of health and happiness, because if you have that, everything else will follow.
PeaCe uP!
Yep, It’s been seven months since we moved. What have I discovered? Lots of things:
That I am open to change.
That a heart can break watching your children leave everything and everyone they have ever loved and known.
But that it can slowly heal. Although it takes time, and that they are slow to accept these changes and still remind me almost daily how much they miss home, miss their friends, miss snow, want their friends to visit, want to go to college in Illinois, don’t like their school (only on occasion).
I love the weather here after the sucky heat breaks. December has been absolutely beautiful.
We feel at home in our new home.
We have had a gazillion visitors and are expecting a gazillion more and are so happy that everyone wants to come see us.
I like talking to and meeting new people, and am open to discovering what people are all about.
I still miss my friends, and every now and then I will get a pang of homesickness, like today, when I was at Paradise Bakery, which is like Panera, I had some Black Bean Soup, I was thrown straight into missing my friends from home, who I would go to lunch with and always have soup.
I think cacti are really pretty. There are some purple ones that are so gorgeous. I really had preconceived ideas of what I thought it would be like here, and I was wrong. AZ, I apologize.
I still have the same resolutions here that I had when I lived in Illinois. Some things DON’T change.
I won’t keep those resolutions either.
I am worrying less about my kids, but still worrying about Tukey – he hasn’t found a group of kids to settle in with.
I am worrying about Ajers because there have been some cruel kids around; I don’t know if they are jealous that he’s come in and befriended some of the other kids, or that he came in and got on the basketball team, or what, but some things have happened that don’t make me happy. I have told him to do what Jesus did – turn the other cheek. Tukey said, “The butt cheek?”
Diva’s growing up beautifully. I’m watching her right now create a piece of art work in her class. She makes me proud. They all do. I’m learning that through the hard times, they’ll persevere and become better people.
I’m learning that rain in AZ is like snow in Virginia or other places where they get little of it – people freak and act erratically (and I just learned how to spell erratically!) when they are driving. It’s RAIN people! Good God, what will they do in snow?
I’ve learned that my kids loved swimming in a heated pool on Christmas Day (our neighbor’s, not ours).
I’ve learned that there are kind people willing to include a new family from Chicago into their traditions and into their lives and that makes my heart swell, especially during a time of year when it could have been a lonely sad place for us.
I’m learning that no matter where we are in life, that as long as we are together, and that we are raising our family in a way we believe in, and that we continue to communicate with each other, that everything will be working its way to fine.
Happy New Year. I hope 2011 brings you an abundance of health and happiness, because if you have that, everything else will follow.
PeaCe uP!
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
TRaNSiTioNS & TRaDiTioNS
We’ve moved away from everything “winter” recently, when our family packed it up, left the midwest and headed to Scottsdale. It’s been almost seven months, and a huge transition, but we’re getting there.
Today, just a couple of days before Christmas, I suggested to my three kids that we take a walk to Starbucks for some treats and hot chocolates. The kids had shorts on, and the boys grabbed their skateboards. While there is no snow here, there are still tons of decorations and everyone we meet is filled with the Christmas spirit ...
To read the rest, click to the Real Moms Guide Transitions and Traditions
(I'm hoping to be back in full swing in 2011 with a new MaNiC MoMMy game plan! Thanks for your continuous love and support - can't tell you how much it means that you still pop over here to read - I don't even know who is still reading! xo)
PeaCe uP!
~MaNiC MoMMy
Monday, December 13, 2010
STiLL WRiTiNG STuFF
Hi there! Thanks for popping over to see if I'm still here. I'm here but just writing elsewhere for the moment, so if you'd like to read about what's been going on, I'd be so happy if you'd check out any of these posts, and leave a comment or two over at Real Moms Guide:
My Last Christmas With Santa ... I'm gonna miss Santa Claus!
Books By Guys Who Sounds Like Girls ... Wally Lamb, Chris Bohjalian, Philip Beard - three great dude authors who sound totally like chicks!
Extending Your Weekend ... make the most of your weekend hours!
Baby Love ... I babysat adorable twins for a whole day and LOVED it!
Big Talks with Kids ... GLEE, sex talk and more with your kids.
Adult Friendships ... making them.
I'll be back after the New Year, and I hope you're getting all of your shopping done and finding time to enjoy the holiday season! xo PeaCe uP!
My Last Christmas With Santa ... I'm gonna miss Santa Claus!
Books By Guys Who Sounds Like Girls ... Wally Lamb, Chris Bohjalian, Philip Beard - three great dude authors who sound totally like chicks!
Extending Your Weekend ... make the most of your weekend hours!
Baby Love ... I babysat adorable twins for a whole day and LOVED it!
Big Talks with Kids ... GLEE, sex talk and more with your kids.
Adult Friendships ... making them.
I'll be back after the New Year, and I hope you're getting all of your shopping done and finding time to enjoy the holiday season! xo PeaCe uP!
Tuesday, December 07, 2010
WiNNeRS oF DaWN MeeHaN'S BooK
Thank you all so much for your patience on
Dawn Meehan's You’ll Lose the Baby Weight (and OTHER LIES about pregnancy and childbirth).
Three winners have been chosen and contacted. There were so many great pregnancy stories, I ended up doing a random drawing to decide on winners. Congratulations to:
Erin T.
Cristen C.
Katie-Kat
Ladies, please email me your mailing addresses so I can ship you your books!
I hope everyone is gearing up for a great holiday season and that you're looking forward to a bright and healthy, happy New Year. Posting will continue to be light; we've got both sets of grandparents here and are enjoying their company!
However, if you've really got an itch for reading enlightening words from me (ha, do I crack myself up or WHAT?!), I'm still over at She Knows Real Moms Guide daily. Would love for you to stop by and leave a comment so they think I have friends! : )
Happy Holidays from the MaNiC family!
PeaCe uP!
Dawn Meehan's You’ll Lose the Baby Weight (and OTHER LIES about pregnancy and childbirth).
Three winners have been chosen and contacted. There were so many great pregnancy stories, I ended up doing a random drawing to decide on winners. Congratulations to:
Erin T.
Cristen C.
Katie-Kat
Ladies, please email me your mailing addresses so I can ship you your books!
I hope everyone is gearing up for a great holiday season and that you're looking forward to a bright and healthy, happy New Year. Posting will continue to be light; we've got both sets of grandparents here and are enjoying their company!
However, if you've really got an itch for reading enlightening words from me (ha, do I crack myself up or WHAT?!), I'm still over at She Knows Real Moms Guide daily. Would love for you to stop by and leave a comment so they think I have friends! : )
Happy Holidays from the MaNiC family!
PeaCe uP!
Wednesday, December 01, 2010
TiS THe BuSy SeaSoN!
Am hoping that you've been as crazed as I am and haven't even bothered coming over here to see what's been going on. I'm actually afraid that blogs are slowly being replaced by the quicker, faster, get-your-SEO-fix-on Facebook and Twitter buzz stuff these days anyway, and that no one even bothers with blogs that much anymore? Not because I don't like blogs, but because I don't want anyone to be missing me.
I haven't been 'round here (insert Counting Crows song here) all that much. Also, been so busy I missed my own six-month anniversary in AZ. Happy Anniversary to us. We're surviving. It was actually COLD here. Mr. Manic even said the other day, "I didn't really think it got this cold in the winter." We're wimps now.
We've had a ton of company, and it's been a lot of fun. Went to the Grand Canyon, and took amazing photos that I shared on FB if you care to see (you can friend me by clicking on the FB link to the right over there, yeah, right over there -- I'm nudging my head in that direction, you know, to the right -- I'm horrible with directions, even on the 'net!).
I will be choosing winners for the You'll Lose the Baby Weight books in a few days, so yes, you can still enter, and these entries have been a blast to read, so much fun, that I'll probably have to choose winners randomly! But thanks for taking the time to enter! And since the holidays are upon us, posting will continue to be really slow-going, and I'll evaluate what to do with MaNiC MoMMy when 2012 is upon us. I really wanna finish up my next novel, as I'm 25,000 words knee-deep into it and have the momentum going.
For now, I continue to blog at Real Moms Guide, and having a lot of fun there -- I just posted on a tough suject -- Big Talks with Kids -- and would LOVE to hear your comments over there -- what do YOU talk to your kids about, how much is too much? We share everything with our children, so much sometimes that I wonder if we share too much, but then I think that I'd rather they hear it from us and they hear the RIGHT stuff from us and feel comfortable knowing they can come to us with questions. So, it'd be awesome if you could pop on over to Real Moms Guide and share your thoughts on how you talk with your kids.
Thanks for sticking by me. This month marks ... HOLY SHITOLA ... Friday, December 3 marks SIX years that I have been blogging as MaNiC MoMMy. Whoa. I think I'm getting the seven-year-itch a year early. For thosebored to death interested, it all began six years ago, with a 3 year old, a 5-year old and a 7-year old ... right here.
HaPPy HoLiDayS!
~PeaCe uP!
I haven't been 'round here (insert Counting Crows song here) all that much. Also, been so busy I missed my own six-month anniversary in AZ. Happy Anniversary to us. We're surviving. It was actually COLD here. Mr. Manic even said the other day, "I didn't really think it got this cold in the winter." We're wimps now.
We've had a ton of company, and it's been a lot of fun. Went to the Grand Canyon, and took amazing photos that I shared on FB if you care to see (you can friend me by clicking on the FB link to the right over there, yeah, right over there -- I'm nudging my head in that direction, you know, to the right -- I'm horrible with directions, even on the 'net!).
I will be choosing winners for the You'll Lose the Baby Weight books in a few days, so yes, you can still enter, and these entries have been a blast to read, so much fun, that I'll probably have to choose winners randomly! But thanks for taking the time to enter! And since the holidays are upon us, posting will continue to be really slow-going, and I'll evaluate what to do with MaNiC MoMMy when 2012 is upon us. I really wanna finish up my next novel, as I'm 25,000 words knee-deep into it and have the momentum going.
For now, I continue to blog at Real Moms Guide, and having a lot of fun there -- I just posted on a tough suject -- Big Talks with Kids -- and would LOVE to hear your comments over there -- what do YOU talk to your kids about, how much is too much? We share everything with our children, so much sometimes that I wonder if we share too much, but then I think that I'd rather they hear it from us and they hear the RIGHT stuff from us and feel comfortable knowing they can come to us with questions. So, it'd be awesome if you could pop on over to Real Moms Guide and share your thoughts on how you talk with your kids.
Thanks for sticking by me. This month marks ... HOLY SHITOLA ... Friday, December 3 marks SIX years that I have been blogging as MaNiC MoMMy. Whoa. I think I'm getting the seven-year-itch a year early. For those
HaPPy HoLiDayS!
~PeaCe uP!
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