Take that taste and eat it. Mmm. Tasty.

So, Mother's Day wasn't so bad. In fact, it was pretty good great amazing. Thanks to the hubs, my daughter, my physical friends and you. Every comment, email, blogger award, phone call and text really drove it home for me this weekend. It's not about the agent, the publisher, the everything you don't have. It's about the friendships, the relationships, the love and support. The everything you do have. And guess what I have? More friendships, relationships, love and support than ever.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

So, let's talk grit. My weekend started with a fine okay lovely day at Mother Candyland's, where I read an entire book in two hours. Uhhhh, if you know me, that's insane. I barely have time to pizzle without tugs on zee pant leg, let alone read several pages at a time."If I Stay," by Gayle Foreman caught me off guard, but not in the ways you might think. 

Now, tsk tsk, we're all divinely, beautifully different. One person's book "treasure" may not even register on another's radar. You may loveloveLOVE Harry Potter. It's not for me. I may loveloveLOVE books like Crank, (Ellen Hopkins) told in verse. You may hate it.

With that said, I have mixed feelings about the book. It's a powerful story, made me cry more than once (ugly cry) and kept me up Friday night thinking of how hard the decision would be. But for whatever reason, I can't get past the small things (rule breakers). 

-A slow start. It's not until page 15 or so, the real stuff begins 

-There's a ton of back story (I felt to be irrelevant)
-I found myself skimming whole paragraphs because I was bored

-Strange phrasings or words teens probably wouldn't say

-References to musicians and songs teens probably wouldn't refer to. I say this because I have the mind of a teen (fo shiz) and my cuz is an actual teen (they DO exist!)

You may have read it and have a completely different opinion. Whatv. 

My point is, we all take something different away from books. It's absolutely a matter of taste. So when an agent rejects you, remember this: Your story may be perfect, brilliant even. They may have laughed, cried, and thought about it all night. But if something was off, enough for them to not be head over heels, it just means it's for them. No undertones. No hidden codes. It's all taste.That's how I feel about this book. I loved the heartbreak, the unknown, the choice. But something was missing, for me. (Plus all the broken rules made me mad. grrrr).

*Cough*

Back to my Mother's Day shenanigans. Saturday, the hubs and I got the offspring new duds, went to Sephora and bought new makeup (the angels sing when I go there), had a fantastic dinner with friends...

Emily learning chopsticks. Not the song. 

And yesterday was perfect. I did almost nothing, went to the dairy farm so Lilliana could feed animals unlike our cats (but still hairy)...

No, we can't have a goat. I pleaded, but no wishes

 were granted in the making of this photo.

Had dinner out (yeah no cooking!) and my phone's inbox was full of well wishes. Oh, and Lilliana was great. Not a single tantrum. Did someone say hells yeah?

Mother's Day kisses from my angel.

So overall, the hubs mastered M-Day (for once...) and now I'm trying to get into the swing again<--Not an easy task after this weekend.

Okay, so score one for you this year.

 Sooooooo...How about you, friends? What did you do? Tellmetellmetellmetellme.

Candyland. OUT.

P.S. Have you entered THE BIG CONTEST yet? <--------Enter or suck

P.P.S. Special Internal Conflict Blog Fest, Wednesday, hosted by The Alliterative Allomorph

P.P.P.S. Thanks for all your QT emails. Uh stress bubbles full of pressure? YEP. But Imma be just fine.