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Evangeline Bianca Logan decides to clean the house. She washes the kitchen. She cleans the bathrooms. She tidies the bedrooms. And she finds--under her mother’s bed--the romance novel that will turn her into a serial kisser. Entitled The Crimson Kiss, the book inspires Evangeline to give herself a makeover, change her outlook, and go on a mission to find her own perfect, crimson, Grayson-and-Delilah kiss.

As Evangeline sets off on her mighty quest, she encounters a series of obstacles. Namely, bad kissers. Robbie Marshall attacks. That guy at the coffee shop was a bulldozer. Stu Dillard wants a rating of all things (hoping to out-man Robbie at something). And let's not even talk about Blake Jennings.

But bad kissers aren't her only problem. For one thing, her jerk of a two-timing father won't stop calling. For another, people have started magic-marker-ing her phone number onto urinals. Her grades have started slipping. And, to top it all off, a mistaken kiss leads Evangeline's best friend Adrienne to call their friendship quits.

I must admit, I was worried.
You see, I grew up reading (and adoring) Van Draanen’s Sammy Keyes series (about a snaky and intelligent girl-detective with an affinity for high-tops [a breath of fresh, hilarious, and thankfully Nancy Drew-free air]), which seemed a far, far cry from this pink-covered, lipstick-print-ed, so-very-scarily-titled book. But I just couldn’t resist. And guess what?…I loved it. It made me laugh out loud. It made me cry. It referenced The Princess Bride. And Evangeline was nice and real, just the way I like my characters.

All in all, Confessions of a Serial Kisser is a great book. Perhaps not the deepest piece of literature I've ever read, but it certainly wasn't mindless drivel, either. I still like the Sammy Keyes books better, though (Even though they are middle-grade).

Four out of Five daggers


Relieved...

So after almost $2,000 in vet bills, we still don't have a definitive diagnosis for what is ailing Sandy. Not only that, the poor dog had surgery last Monday, and because she started worrying her stitches, Mary Poppins had to fly over to the vet on Friday afternoon to get one of those flowerpot things to put around the dog's neck.

Needless to say, Sandy was not impressed:



So far we no what it isn't: there isn't a tumor in either her gut, intestines or liver.

She does have inflammatory bowel disease, which means a different prescription dog food from the one she's already on. And she had high levels of steroids in her liver, which means she might have something called Cushing's Disease. We have to take her back to the vet tomorrow for an all day blood test that will give us a definitely answer to that.

In the meantime, she's bashing into things left right and center. It's semi-comical.

Speaking of chronic medical conditions, yesterday was the three year anniversary of my daughter's diagnosis with diabetes. Did I ever mention how much I HATE that disease?

To "celebrate", although I don't think that's the word I'm looking for, she and I had a "date". We went to see "Martian Child" with the wonderful John Cusack, on whom I've had a geek crush ever since "The Sure Thing".. Although it dragged in parts, it was a really touching film, and daughter and I were both sniffling and hugging through much of the second half.

Afterwards, we had dinner at Daughter's fave resturant, Panera (she's a cheap-ish date, unlike her mother).

Today I hit the gym while A was at Hebrew school. Ok, here's what I don't understand. I'm doing 45-50 minutes more cardio than I was before three times a week (on top of the two times I play tennis) and I'm PUTTING ON WEIGHT. HOW!?!! WHY?!!!

I think I should just go eat some more chocolate to console myself. What do you think?

But I've been very industrious on the writing front. And on the desk cleaning and on closet cleaning fronts.

Oh! And next time you're in your local Starbucks picking up a latte, pick up one of the special boxed gift sets of Listening is an Act of Love by Dave Isay. Besides the book you'll get a little pamphlet of "!0 Beloved Stories from StoryCorps" with an audio CD. And guess you you'll see/hear? Yours truly and Son! I've been hitting my local Starbucks' and buying them out of the sets, to give away as Chanukah and Xmas presents.