Crazy Lady at the Pool

Okay, Amanda,

The way I see it is Someone's gotta do it; may as well be someone who tans easily and wears it well, someone not ashamed of spending hours sitting by the pool. In fact, make it someone for whom the act of poolside lounging is something of an art. That is, Pick me.

Of course today, I was a little less than artful and dignified when I got to the end of Love Walked In and started weeping. There wasn't time for me to talk myself out of crying. Just, boom, the detail came, I read it, and the tears came out. For the first minute, I was okay with it, given the fact that I was wearing big, dark sunglasses. What the heck, no one knew. But then I thought I might go blind. The painful concoction of the salt of my sweat and tears and suntan lotion and residual mascara in my eyes left little room for dignity and discretion. I grabbed my beach towel and started to rub. That, of course, did nothing to take away the sting, so in the pool I went. Like I was on fire for f**k's sake.

That's a hell of an endorsement for Love Walked In, wouldn't you say? If I were an author, I could blurb, "you'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll jump in the pool." Interestingly, I read Belong to Me first, not knowing that it was a sequel, really, to this first one of hers. I'm glad, however, that I did read them out of order. I few details change or are forgotten, I think, in BTM and I might get mad about that. As soon as I get my copy of it back from L, I'm going to look up how she handled a couple of things. And, since you'll be reading them in order if you pick up LWI at Costco, I'll be interested to hear your take. But enough on books.

Yay! A weekend at the beach for you and your family! How nice. I'll pray for good weather for you and hope you all get the distance from home you need, the peace and quiet of a little time away. And what a nice gesture. Shoot, I could use a little kindness like that bestowed upon me right now. (Hey, B, here's a couple hundred bucks to get you to your first paycheck so you can enjoy your last couple of weeks of vacation. Pay me back when you can. Better yet, pay it forward.) But I guess I'd have to do something worthy of that kindness, like you and J have... Anyway. I'm glad you're getting away and hope it's a great time for everyone.

If you don't have a chance to write again tonight, I hope you get a minute to read my heartfelt Have Fun, You deserve it! wishes and pass them on to everyone.

Safe travels and love to everyone, too! Barb