Boredom Begets Boredom

Before we even get started, four words: Adam Lambert's album cover.
You know what else that cover needs? A unicorn.

Just when you thought it was safe to shop at the mall…Ashley and Mary Kate Olsen are now designing for JCPenney.  Go ahead and put THIS outfit on your Christmas list. Or THIS one.  But don't buy THIS one because I'm already on a wait list (along with Eddie Vedder), and if we all showed up to the same New Year's Eve party in it, then that would just be embarrassing.

Don't forget I'm giving away three SETS of the Miracle Girls series by May Vanderbilt and Anne Dayton. I think this is a good YA series, so get in the running. Last day to enter the drawing is Friday at midnight. See the juicy details on Monday's blog. The third book in the series, A Little Help From My Friends, is the final installment. It's the story of Zoe Fairchild, a junior in high school. Zoe's parents are having some major issues. They're kinda hippie-ish, and Zoe calls them by their first names. If I had called my mom by her first name, I probably would've spent my growing up years sleeping outside in my playhouse. (Oh, shoot–I hear parents coming. I have Oreos in my teeth. Someone get these things OUT of my STEELY GRIP!!!)  (Oreo teeth update: parents walked on by. Whew.)  Anyway, Zoe has a boyfriend, but Mr. Tall Dark and Slightly Rebellious comes on the scene. And for once the female protagonist doesn't stay away. That's what I liked about this book. Because don't we always pull for the (slightly/kinda) bad boys?  Yet how often does the girl in a Christian fiction novel do anything but say, “Get thee behind me, Boy Who is Not Perfect.” Often. (For those of you who read the Stephanie Plum books, I'm Team Ranger.) But I won't tell you if it's for keeps. In fact, I've probably said too much already. But I thought that was a total selling point.  Anyway, if you'd like to read more about the book, you can see a summary and first chapter after my signoff.

So I'm at parent-teacher conferences (day two…) right now as I type this. So far I've talked to two parents, emailed half a dozen teachers, shared my bag of Oreos I bought in a moment of weakness, and dog-eared every page of the new Pottery Barn catalog. And I still have over two hours to go. So bored….

What do you guys do when you're bored but can't turn on the TV, plug in your iPod, or practice your break dancing head spins? I should grade papers, but I don't want to. I should plan some lessons. But I don't want to. I should map out my next chapter…but I don't want to. Because it's hard to get into anything when a visitor could swing by any second. I must be ready. I must look busy…yet not be busy. I know…I'll go eat.

Okay, I'm back. It's baked potato night. I don't even want to talk about what last night's selection was. And we know I'll eat ANYTHING. But last night I waited 'til I got home and had (you'll never guess…) cereal.

Bored. Bored. Bored.

Hmm….what to do. Did you know Justin Timberlake had to get a restraining order today? I swear it wasn't me. It's SOOO hard to stalk people from Arkansas. One of the drawbacks of living in this state. But easy access to pork rinds makes up for it.

Okay, if the fact that I had to retire all my khaki pants this week won't make me put down the cookies, maybe this will. Have you seen this little kid? That ain't right. That just ain't right.

Thanks to my friend Rhonda, the queen of good comics, for passing on this one with the message: Even God wears flip flops.

Amen, sister. Is it socially acceptable to get an entire comic tattooed on my butt?

Okay, that's all from me today. Have a great rest of the week. Here in Arkansas we are about to float away–days and days of rain. Very uplifting for the spirits. Don't forget to chime in for the drawing Friday night. And don't forget to workout–like a six year old.

See you Friday!

JEN

This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
is introducing
A Little Help from My Friends
FaithWords (October 15, 2009)
by
Anne Dayton & May Vanderbilt

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

ANNE DAYTON graduated from Princeton University and is earning her master's degree in English literature at New York University. She works for a New York publishing company and lives in Brooklyn.

MAY VANDERBILT graduated from Baylor University and went on to earn a master's degree in fiction from Johns Hopkins University. She lives in San Francisco, where she writes about food, fashion, and nightlife in the Bay Area.

Together, the two women are the authors of Miracle Girls series

ABOUT THE BOOK

Zoe is used to being overlooked. As the youngest and shyest Miracle Girl, she was happy to fade into the background last year. But when she sheds her baby fat and shoots up four inches the summer before her junior year, everything changes. Now she's turning heads at school, and this new attention is beginning to strain her relationship with her sweet, serious boyfriend, Marcus.

Pressure builds when Zoe's assigned partner for history class is Dean Marchese–a handsome New York transplant who isn't afraid to show her how he feels.
Just when she needs her three best friends the most, the Miracle Girls are suffering from boy troubles of their own.

Even Zoe's rock-solid home life begins to shake underneath her when her parents' relationship frays in the face of serious financial burdens. As this uncertain year of growing pains comes to a frenetic head, the quietest Miracle Girl must find her voice at long last and take control of her own destiny . . . with more than a little help from her friends.

If you would like to read the first chapter of A Little Help from My Friends, go HERE