I just a summertime girl in a summertime world...feeling the slow shift to autumn

Welcome to August! Yes, the last month of summer, but for Long Island, NY not necessarily the end of sweltering weather. And what a summer we went through, as well as what a summer I had! There was tons that were done, and dreams not-yet fulfilled. And although I am not a school kid, and I am looking forward to crisp autumn nights...I can't help but ask 'where did the summer go?' So being that I have kind of been M.I.A. with the posting, other than my book reviews...I'll give a quick glimpse in to what's been going down on my side of town.

June 3rd brought about my 35th birthday...and on June 11th I had thrown the kick-ass 35th birthday party of the century. https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150208947082709.314887.507682708 What sucked was that the weather was HORRID, raining the entire day and putting a damper on my party. But what was AWESOME was that my 'pirate' Steven made a hit, and I not only had a 'Jack Sparrow' encounter, but made a new (cute & sweet) friend. For any of you looking for a Jack Sparrow impersonator...give Steven a whirl at http://www.thepirateempire.com/          

Later in the month of June...my dear friend Mikey who is a brother-from-another-mother turned the big 5-0 and there was a surprise birthday party thrown for him. And YES he was indeed surprised. However mom wound up taking a trip tot he E.R. that night, and long story short now has a tear in her left meniscus. Mikey's party was great...and we danced our butts off. But I have to say...my party was better. Sssshhhhhhhhh!
         

Earlier this year, I had rejoined my original paranormal investigating group...which had been revamped several times. I was unsure if it was going to be as 'drama free' as they said it was, and low-and-behold it is! What is even more awesome is...not only am I doing something I love in my spare time...but all of the TAPS Family Members took part of a TAPS Family Reunion, and I got to meet and become friends with our founders Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson. It was an amazing 3-day weekend filled with beautiful scenery, relaxation, and loads of laughter and new friends.
         


July was pretty quiet, you know just the usual: b-b-q, 4th of July stuff, and sweating in places I never knew could sweat. Oh...but I did see three awesome movies in the month of July: 'Bad teacher', 'The Hangover 2' which I thought was just as funny as the first, and 'Harry Potter & The Deathly Hollows pt. 2' Oh Harry Potter...how I miss you. Thank God for the 'Game of Thrones' book series to take your place for me. I did get sucked in to dating again, which has prompted me to create yet another new blog. If you want to check it out, can do so...I'm not embellishing anything which happens,and I'm not pulling any punches. Let me tell ya folks....dating is a battle ground...and love is getting it's butt kicked!  I also took on a 2nd p/t job...working in of-all-places a podiatrist's office! Me! The girl who LOVES shoes but HATES feet! So my time has been somewhat limited between working split shifts, and having mom home retired and hanging out with her.

Which brings us back to August. The end of the summer...and yet another jam packed month of festivities, fun, and events.

On August 9th, my sister-from-another-mister Michelle celebrates her birthday. And no way can you make me squeal how old she is. She'll beat me yo! All I can say is that this Michelle Bell (and evidently there are a lot of them, because I just Googled her name, trying to find the link to *my* Michelle's blog) is the best person you could ever want and have in your corner. Michelle and I have been friends for more years than I can remember, and yet it feels like yesterday that we became friends. She has seen my good side and bad, been through my ups and downs, and has never turned her back nor judged me. She has prompted me to be silly, and has given me sage advice, even when it wasn't something I necessarily wanted to face or hear. She is truly my gift from God...because with Michelle I can be me without worrying about being me. Everyone should have a Michelle in their life...and if you do...make sure they know how special they are.


August 18th will bring me under the needle once again as I get inked. Or RE-inked, should I say. I'm having the tattoo on my left foot repaired as it looks like ca-ca...and the tattoo around my right ankle embellished and colored to make me & mom happy. Once these are done, you know photos will be up.

August 19th brings me to seeing my future-baby-daddy/future-husband COLIN FARRELL's latest film Fright Night. I am so stoked.       Colin playing a vampire makes me really makes me want to scream one of my snarky comments 'BITE ME' but with a whole other agenda behind it. I have been in my glory watching Colin making the TV circuit to promote the film...and am counting down the days. Of course there's also the movie 'Horrible Bosses' which he is in, and mom and I have a movie date for this Sunday to see it.

And that's my summer in a nut shell. I'm exhausted just reading back all the stuff that's taken place...and reliving the good times. And OH! My favorite band Blue October also re tweeted one of my posts without my prompting them too. So yeah, that made my night/and summer too. Hope you're all enjoying your summer. Enjoy every minute of it, and try not to wish it by.

Book Review & Blog Tour: Confessions of a PTA Mafia Mom by Elsie Love

Elaine Jackerson has found herself in quite a predicament. Her husband, Bob, is sleeping with his secretary, her daughter is experimenting in the backseat with random boys, and her eight year old wants nothing to do with her.
In an attempt to get herself out of her midlife rut, Elaine joins the Herschel Grammar School PTA. Little does she know, Suni Calverson, the current president has handpicked her to be the newest member of the group. As soon as the ink is dry on the signup sheet, Elaine is thrust into a world that she never knew existed. A world where the PTA gets things done with blackmail, bribes, threats and quite possibly guns.
After stumbling across her husband and his secretary humping in his office, Elaine turns to the only friends she has: Suni and her henchmen. They convince her to let them “take care” of Bob. Elaine agrees to the plan, as long as no one dies. Unfortunately for Elaine, Suni has other plans. Before Elaine can sleep off her Mojitos, her children have been kidnapped and Bob has disappeared. Afraid that Elaine will go back on her word, Suni forces her onto a plane to hide out in a posh suite in Las Vegas that belongs to the famous French landscape photographer Gerard Ilg.

I. Love. This. Book. I love Confessions of a PTA Mafia Mom by Elsie Love. And what killed me that as I lay in bed every night with my Kobo, reading, I would drift off to sleep, when all I really wanted to do was scroll to the next page and see what would happen to our protagonist Elaine 'Lanie' Jackerson. When I first started reading this short novel, which is just perfect for summer reading at 208 pages, I was concerned that I wouldn't be able to connect with the main character because of where she was in her life, and where I am in mine. However Elsie Love writes so smoothly and without effort that you can't help but get sucked in to the novel, and wrapped up in the characters lives.

Lanie Jackerson is nothing but a hot mess, under appreciated by her daughter, manipulated by her husband, and bullied by her new 'friends' in the PTA. You can't help but root for her, hoping that she'll morph from a Caterpillar to butterfly, and give her husband a swift kick in the balls, and the wallet, should she file for divorce. What makes this novel so delicious is that what appears to be your typical 'woa-is-me' story about a neglected housewife who has lost herself is that it is actually a cleverly disguised 'who-do-you-trust.' A smug husband and obnoxious teenage daughter makes you realize how difficult it can be to be a woman and mother, and not lose yourself in the role of wife and mother. The only bright spot in Lanie's life seems to be her young son whom is equally supportive of his mum as well as embarrassed of her appearance and the nickname she has graced him with.

What is friendship, and what is false friendship? How do you know someone likes you for you or is being a phony? When Lanie gets involved with the PTA ladies she quickly has to figure out who is friend and who is foe while staying true to herself. This is something we all have to deal with in our lives. With more than one love interest for Lanie once she's hiding out in Sin City...you can't help but wish for a happy ending for her...as you hope she never goes back to her loser and abusive husband.

Confessions of a PTA Mafia Mom by Elsie Love is so fun I have informed my own mother she must read this novel now. And I urge you all to do the same. I very much look forward to Elsie Love's next books. You can purchase Confessions of a PTA Mafia Mom in either e-reader format of soft cover book at Amazon, Smashwords or on Elsie's own web site.This is book review # 7 for the Chick Lit Plus 2011 Challenge. Remember it's never to late to start to read.