Bring On Lemons

Thank you Providence Book Promotions for allowing us this opportunity to participate in the book blog tour of The Last Weekend Of the Summer by Peter Murphy. What a fabulous book! A little bit about the book before my review... Synopsis They have been coming to their grandmother Gloria’s lake cottage since they were babies. Now Johnnie and Buddy have families of their own and C.C. has a life full of adult drama and adventure. And this trip – the only stated purpose of which is to bring the family together for the last weekend of the summer – seems full of portent. Gloria has been hinting that there’s more on the agenda than grilling and swimming, and when the three siblings learn that their estranged father will also be in attendance, it becomes clear that this weekend will have implications that last far beyond the final days of the season. A touching, incisive view into the dynamics of a family on the verge of change and filled with characters both distinctive and utterly ...

WOW! Where to begin... August 11th is my wedding anniversary. Last year, like every year, I put on my wedding dress. It still fit. I should have been pleased as I was 42 years old and have birthed and nourished 6 lovely children with my strong body. But...I looked in the mirror and felt I owed it to myself and my children to get healthy. I imagined myself at age 60 when our youngest will graduate highschool. I was nearly 300 pounds and wondered if my knees would need to be replaced. They didn't bother me, but several of my classmates had already undergone knee replacement surgeries and it only seemed logical that losing weight would help me avoid some serious health complications. I also knew my husband found me attractive, but I guess I wanted to have less of a "mom bod" and more of a "hot bod" like some of the younger parents of school age children. That was the first time I had really entertained getting healthy. I started wondering if maybe I could do ba...

Interestingly enough, not everyone is interested in living my life. Of course, I knew that ... in fact, I wasn't particularly excited about my life a year ago, and sometimes things work like that. Here's an example that may help you understand: My ex-husband would plan these elaborate vacations and I would fight him tooth and nail. Of course when I got to the destination or while I was enjoying the carriage ride through historic Charlotte, NC or touring the Vaderbilt Mansion, I was loving the vacation. I would often say "honey, this was such a great idea; thank you!" and he would sort of roll his eyes at me. Apparently I was so difficult during the planning stages (and even during the travel) that he had considered never letting me leave the county. That's just how I'm wired. Now that I've been to those places, the thought of going back makes me smile and I'm relaxed about it. I think it's a sort of stage fright and it applies to my everyday life. ...