Getting to know my 17yr old daughter...sigh...

Let me qualify what I'm going to share with you, the fact that I love my daughter. She is very smart, taking AP classes in high school and college courses through the Christian college she wants to attend. Gotta love her, right? Unfortunately, common sense isn't her forte.

We got home from Chicago after a 8+ hour trip, around 6:15pm. Brieanne was going to small group and had to eat and take a shower. She left for small group a bit after 7pm. I got a frantic call from her around 9pm.

"Mom, there's something wrong with the car. Oh my gosh, I'm going to run off the road. It's shaking really bad." Me, "What's going on?!" "It's shaking and I'm going off the road." I told her she probably had a flat tire. The change in her voice was obvious, "Really? I thought there was something wrong with the engine." She gets out of the car and I hear her laughing. Mind you, it's after 9pm!

I was not amused. I asked her when she noticed this "problem" and she answered, "when I left the house." Small group is about 7 mi from our house. She was about 2 mi from our house when she pulled over. So I head out to get her.

I get there and the tire is off the rim! Who knows how long she'd been driving like that. One of her best friends had stayed with her until I got there, thankfully. So, I called our mechanic, who had Brieanne's car (she'd been driving my '00 Neon). I told him we were headed over there to get it and about the car on the small highway.

We get to Tim's Auto (his house) a little before 10pm. Brieanne tells me she's not taking her car if her door isn't fixed. Uh, ok, wonder how she was planning on getting to work with no car! Some people's children! I told her to get into her car. She heads over to it, puts her stuff in and shuts the door. She's standing outside of her car looking through her keychains (yes plural). I'm yelling out my van window that her keys are in the car. I yelled that a couple times as she's still fingering through all her keys. She walks over to me begging me not to hate her. "Um, Brieanne, your keys are in the car. How do you think Tim moved it around?" From Brie, "Mom you have to promise you won't hate me." I sat there waiting, not understanding. "I locked the door and shut it...with the keys still in it." "WHAT?!" So, I call Tim and ask him if he's home (he works nights) and he is. I tell him what's happened and he starts laughing. Now, I realize it's not the best idea to threaten the mechanic who is your only source of help but I told him, "I swear, Tim, if you're laughing, I'm going to break through your door and beat the crap out of you!" More laughing and louder. "That's it, I'm beating the crap out of you!"

1/2 an hour later, he's into her car. I explained to Brieanne that it's a good thing this is an old car because the slim jim and screwdriver are chipping your paint! Brie remembers the people she babysits for has her on their AAA because they consider her their Nanny. So, since my phone is dead, I use her phone on our way home to call them to see if they'll change a tire. Thank you God, they do! Brie heads home and I head to the Neon to see if there's even a spare tire. There is and I call AAA back. They said it'll take about an hour for someone to meet us at the car. It's 10:43pm. I run home to get Brieanne.

We bring our books back to the car and wait 45 min. The tow guy shows up at 11:30pm and he's forgotten his cell phone or has misplaced it in his truck. He uses Brie's cell and he comes back saying it's at home. 5 min later, tire's changed and he's on his way. I explain that you can't drive really fast with a spare tire, blah blah blah and she finally just gets in the car. I see the tow truck's headlights fading in the distance. We drive about 1/2 a mile, if that, and I hear some weird noise. The next thing I know, Brieanne's pulling off the road again. Her spare tire is off the rim!!!!! UGH I can NOT believe this is happening. I can't even call the tow guy because he doesn't have his stinkin' phone. She gets back into the minivan and we head home.

I call Tim in the morning and he agrees to meet Brie out at the car at some point and tow it to his house. I am still shaking my head in wonder at everything that transpired from the moment we got home until I went to bed.

I had NO downtime last night. Got home, cooked pizza, unpacked the minivan, cleaned out part of the hall closest to fit in Brie's college gear that we loaded up on at Linens_N_Things, friend came by to drop off house key, different friend came by to pick up one son, and then Brieanne's call! I barely remember going to bed last night.

Now tonight I have about 7 girls coming to my house for a sleepover that was planned by my teen girls. Sigh...I'll be holing up in my bedroom and reading Gatekeepers by Robert LIparulo because my review is coming up on the 2nd. Peace and quiet! Yippy...

This is what my life is like living with Brieanne. Eh, who am I kidding? This is what life is like being me. My friends and family have said each time something to the affect of, "This could only happen to you," "Your life is never dull," and lots of laughing.

Shopping Mania

Well, we're big shoppers after Thanksgiving and Christmas. My girls and I get up at 3am the day after Thanksgiving and head into the darkness for good deals! So, the day after Christmas I wasn't really in the mood to wake up early. Heck, I haven't wanted to get up before 9am all week! It's been glorious!

So, my nutty SIL, Liz, my 17yr old, Brieanne, and I headed out for a "morning" of shopping. Since the kids and I haven't celebrated our Christmas yet, I figured I'd get their Hallmark ornaments after Christmas. Cheap or a bargain shopper, you pick. The problem with waiting is possibly not finding the things you want. Our first Hallmark wasn't promising. They had some serious disco on the PA system and that's cause to "get down". Of course, that's what Liz and I did, who wouldn't? She encouraged the rest of the folks to boogie with us, but no one seemed to be in the spirit. Must've been the bloating after Christmas that kept them from pointing their finger in the air. Wasn't sure if there was another Hallmark around and if there was if they'd have more or less. I bought 2 for the boys and took my chances for the girls. Bummer, I found more and better ornaments at the next Hallmark. Oh well. Ornaments are taken care of this year.

The day before and the day after Christmas I picked up 4 bargain books at the Family Bookstore! Brieanne also bought 2 books. Let's see if they get read any time soon with all my review books in front of me.

I've never eaten at Jimmy Johns sandwich shop so we popped in. Have you ever been there? If not, you should go in just to read the signs and there were a LOT of them! One said something to the effect of "We'd love to see you NAKED but federal law says shirts and shoes required". I read the rules of ordering and really enjoyed knowing what they expected. I headed up to the counter and yelled, "I WANT A NUMBER 4". Scared the stink out of the kid making sandwiches. He said, "Oh my G--" (naughty mouth). I told him I was making sure I didn't mumble and was only doing what the sign asked. The girl next to him said she appreciated it. Thank you for encouraging my obnoxiousness! :) The boy said I scared him. Brieanne was trying to hide and Liz was laughing. Ah, it's good to be with Liz!

Made the rounds to a number of other stores but the best by far was the Linen-N-Things going out of business sale. They had 80% off! I have a weakness for sheets and comforters, probably because I have very little of both. Oh, we hit the mother load. With Brieanne heading off to college in the Fall, we filled up on XL Twin sheet sets for $6/$8. We got her a Hamilton Beach toaster that was originally $70 and I paid $14! Paula Dean's dinner set for 4 was $90 and we paid $18. There were lots of other little purchases. In the end, I spent $103 and saved $384. College, here she comes.

The down side of this is I can't find my checkbook. Most of the stores are closed and I've gone through all of my bags and van. Sigh...I have no idea what my last check written was and there was $20 cash. This is the kind of stuff that happens to only me it seems.

Last night, to give you another example of stuff happening to me, we went to my brother-in-law's brother's home for Christmas dinner. We put Rugby, our 8mo old puppy in the bedroom I was staying in. We were gone for about 6 hours. He had tried, a bit, to get out of the room. Thankfully he didn't do a lot of damage. What I did find was my son's Wall*E Blu-ray disc chewed into. The person who gave him this DVD didn't seem to know we don't have a Blu-ray player. The plan was to bring it to Wal Mart today to exchange it.

So, off to Wal Mart we went and I prayed the entire time; 1st that we'd be able to return it and 2nd that God would give me someone who would show grace and let me exchange it. Well the girl who worked with me at first understood that I'm telling her my dog chewed it, but since it had been open they'd only be able to give me another Blu-ray. That wouldn't do me any good since I still didn't have a Blu-ray player. I told her I'd be willing to explain it to a manager. The girl tried to convince me that they'd say the same thing, but I think she knew I would still be willing to try it.

Miss Wal Mart headed to the lady a few registers over and in a hushed voice explained my "story". The manager asked to see it. By that time, the lines had really drifted to only few people so I leaned over and gave an extremely condensed version of what happened. Ms. Manager could see that I didn't just open it, burn a disc and then am trying to return it. She asked me if I wanted the regular DVD and I told her I did. She told me to go get it! I was stoked and almost started to cry. I wouldn't have been able to buy the Wall*E DVD on my own at this point and my kids are tired of our puppy using there things as teething toys.

Tomorrow will commence the store calling to find my check book. Please pray for me as it has a LOT of receipts in it and I don't remember my last check. The good thing is, being in Chicago I can't use checks so my last one would've cleared by now.

Happy day after CHRISTmas...

Praise God. Called Office Depot and they have my checkbook! For a moment when she was describing it I thought, "oh, it's not the right one" because I thought she was describing the cover, which is blue. My checks are breast cancer awareness checks. I kept saying, "Praise God!"

Merry CHRISTmas

I want to wish everyone a blessed Jesus Christ birthday. This day means so much more than many of us give it, me included. My hope is that one of these years our only focus will be Jesus and His birth.

Every year we head out of town whether it's to VA to visit my family or to the Chicago area to be with the in-laws. Yes, we still spend the holidays with them even with the separation. Also, every year I want to stay home. It's so much easier.

I'm the only one to do nearly all of the packing, except for my teen daughters stuff. I have to remember the food, the gifts, the clothes, toiletries, activities to do in the car, get the tv set up for videos, etc. All stuff that used to be done in tandem. I get tired of doing it and as soon as we get into the swing of things I get weary of it.

Of course, none of the kids would imagine staying home. What's the holidays without spending it with our family? Until we get where we're going I can hardly agree. Some days (before we head out) I think staying home, cutting down our own tree, and having a relaxing Christmas is very appealing.

If we don't go to one of the families' homes they feel jipped because it's their year. Sigh...I want a year. :) The drive to the in-laws typically takes between 7-8 hours. This year we did it with our puppy. The drive to VA takes 3 days.

Then we arrive at our destination and I wonder what I was thinking. How could we not be where we are. As time goes on I wonder why we didn't take 2 weeks off instead of just 1. Yes, the cousins fight, people get bored, there's too much junk food, and so on. The fellowship isn't to be missed. All the craziness is what makes us our family.

3 families spending days together under one roof can get a bit cramped, but none of us would trade it for the world. We love being together and love being family. It's something I didn't grow up with and feel it's important for my kids to have.

I didn't have cousins or aunts & uncles to share the holidays with. I had one cousin that I'd seen when we were all really little, and another cousin I've never even met. That's on my dad's side. My mom didn't have siblings. Every year the only family we really saw was my grandma who flew in from Brooklyn to wherever we were living at the time. When we lived in CO my stepdad's parents and brothers would spend Christmas Eve with us, but then we moved to WA when I was in 8th grade. We were famililess, aside from Grandma Banks.

During this time of year, family is everything to me/us, no matter how far we have to go for it. So, as Christmas Eve comes to an end, we're all cuddling up to watch Wall E which was a gift opened for Christmas that a nephew received.

Remember since CHRISTmas is about family, you are part of His family. How far did he go for you? How far are you willing to go for Him? Contemplate this during this next year.

Point of Grace singing How You Live

I have been a fan of Point of Grace for at least 13 yrs. So many of their songs are poignant and touch our hearts. This song is probably one of my favorite PoG songs.

I've heard people say for years that we shouldn't use our good dishes only when guests come over, we should use them every day. I suppose if I got them out and put them with my other dishes, I would use them. Yet, in my china hutch they sit.

How You Live will encourage you to look at your every day life in a new way, hopefully. Can we make everything we do count? I know we're not perfect, but is there some way we can ask God to give us His eyes in the everyday things? Think of the impact we could have on those closest to us.

"dance with your wife, tell your husband you love him every night."

I want to apologize because YouTube deleted the music video that PoG created and I had downloaded to my blog. So, I've grabbed a different video of them singing live. I love their music video of the song and if you have the chance to see it, I would encourage you to watch it.

The Winter of Candy Canes by Debbie Viguie

It is time to play a Wild Card! Every now and then, a book that I have chosen to read is going to pop up as a FIRST Wild Card Tour. Get dealt into the game! (Just click the button!) Wild Card Tours feature an author and his/her book's FIRST chapter!

You never know when I might play a wild card on you!

Today's Wild Card author is:

Debbie Viguié

and the book:

The Winter of Candy Canes

Zondervan (October 1, 2008)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Debbie Viguié has been writing for most of her life. She has experimented with poetry and nonfiction, but her true passion lies in writing novels.

She obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree in Creative Writing from UC Davis. While at Davis she met her husband, Scott, at auditions for a play. It was love at first sight.

Debbie and Scott now live on the island of Kauai. When Debbie is not writing and Scott has time off they love to indulge their passion for theme parks.


The Sweet Seasons Novels:

The Summer of Cotton Candy
The Fall of Candy Corn
The Winter of Candy Canes
The Spring of Candy Apples


Visit the author's website.

Product Details:

List Price: $ 9.99
Reading level: Young Adult
Paperback: 208 pages
Publisher: Zondervan (October 1, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0310717523
ISBN-13: 978-0310717522

AND NOW...THE FIRST CHAPTER:

Candace Thompson was once again eye-to-eye with Lloyd Peterson, hiring manager for The Zone theme park. This time, though, she felt far more confident. She had already spent her summer working as a cotton candy vendor, and she had worked one of the mazes for the annual Halloween event. She had even saved the park from saboteurs.

Now she was back, and this time she was interviewing for a job working the Christmas events at the park. Surely after everything she had done for the Scare event, she had nothing to worry about. She tucked a strand of red hair back behind her ear as she gazed intently at the man across from her.

“So you want to work Holly Daze?” he asked.

She nodded. Christmas at The Zone was a big deal, and the park began its official celebrations the day after Thanksgiving.

“You keep hiring on for short bursts of time and then leaving. Do you have some sort of problem committing to things?” he asked, staring hard at her.

She was stunned, but answered, “I don’t have any problem with commitment. I signed on to do specific things, and the jobs ended. That’s not my fault. I didn’t quit.”

“So, you plan on making a habit of this?” he demanded. “Are you going to show up here again in a -couple of months expecting me to give you some kind of job for spring break?”

“No, I — ”

“I know your type,” he said, standing up abruptly. “You’re just a party girl. No commitments . . . no cares . . . just grab some quick cash and get out. You think you can handle Holly Daze? Well, you can’t! You’re weak and a quitter. You’re going to bail on me as soon as your school vacation starts, and then what? Well, let me tell you, missy. You aren’t wanted here. So just pack your bags and get out!”

By the end of his tirade, he was shouting, eyes bulging behind his glasses and tie swinging wildly as he shook his finger under her nose. Candace recoiled, sure that he had finally flipped out. I’m going to end up as a headline: Girl Murdered by Stressed-Out Recruiter, she thought wildly. Well, I’m not going down without a fight! She jumped to her feet and put some distance between her and the wildly wagging finger.

“You need to calm down!” she said, projecting her voice like her drama teacher had taught her. Her voice seemed to boom in the tiny office. “Pull yourself together. You’re a representative of this theme park, and there is no call to insult me. Furthermore, I’m not a quitter. I’ll work for the entire Christmas season. Then the next time I come in here, I’ll expect you to treat me with some respect. Do you even realize what I’ve done for this park so far? Seriously. Take a chill pill.”

She stopped speaking when she realized that he had gone completely quiet. She held her breath, wondering when the next explosion was going to come. Instead, he sat down abruptly and waved her back to her chair.

“Very good. You passed the test,” he said, picking up a pen.

“What test?” she asked, edging her way back into the chair.

“The ultimate test. You’re going to be one of Santa’s elves.”

“Doesn’t Santa, you know, have his own elves?” she asked, still not sure that he was completely in charge of his senses.

“Of course Santa has his own elves. However, when he’s here at The Zone we supply him with courtesy elves so that they can continue making toys at the North Pole,” Mr. Peterson told her.

“So, I’m going to be a courtesy elf?” she asked.

He nodded and handed her a single sheet of paper. “Sign this.”

She took it. “What? Just one thing to sign?” She had expected another huge stack of forms that would leave her hand cramped for hours afterward.

He nodded curtly. “You’re now in our system as a regular seasonal employee. All of your other paperwork transfers.”

“Regular seasonal” sounded like some kind of contradiction to her, but she was still not entirely convinced his outburst had been a test. She scanned it, signed her name, and then handed it back to him.

“Good. Report to wardrobe on Saturday for your costume fitting,” he said.

“Okay, thank you,” she said, standing up and backing toward the door.

“Welcome back, Candy,” he said, smiling faintly.

“Thanks,” she said, before bolting out the door.

As soon as she was outside the building, she whipped out her cell phone and called her friend Josh, a fellow employee of The Zone.

“Well?” he asked when he picked up.

“I think Mr. Peterson has seriously lost it,” she said. “He totally flipped out on me.”

Josh laughed. “Let me guess. You’re going to be an elf.”

“So he was serious? That was some whacked-out test?”

“Yeah. Elves are considered a class-one stress position, and it can get pretty intense.”

“How hard can it be to be an elf?” she asked.

She was rewarded by a burst of laughter on the other end.

“Josh, what is it you’re not telling me?”

He just kept laughing.

“Okay, seriously. You were the one who convinced me to work Holly Daze. I think it’s only fair you tell me whatever it is I need to know.”

“Sorry!” he gasped. She wasn’t sure if he was apologizing or refusing to tell her.

A girl bounced around the corner and slammed into Candace.

“Josh, I’ll call you later,” she said, hanging up.

“Sorry,” Becca apologized.

Becca was one of Candace’s other friends from the park, one who had some sort of bizarre allergy to sugar that made her uncontrollably hyper. Candace looked suspiciously at Becca. Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes were glistening, and she was hopping from one foot to the other.

“You didn’t have sugar, did you?” Candace asked, fear ripping through her.

“No! Promise,” Becca said.

“Then what gives?”

“Roger made me laugh really hard,” Becca explained.

Roger had a crush on Becca and had wanted to ask her out since Halloween. It hadn’t happened yet.

“Oh,” was all Candace could think to say.

“So, are you working Holly Daze?” Becca asked.

“Yeah. I’m going to be an elf.”

Suddenly, Becca went completely still, and the smile left her face. “I’m sorry,” she said.

“Why?” Candace asked.

Becca just shook her head. “I’ve gotta get back to the Muffin Mansion. I’ll catch you later.”

She hurried off, and Candace watched her go. Okay, now I know there’s something -people aren’t telling me.

She debated about following Becca and forcing her to spill, but instead she headed for the parking lot where her best friend Tamara was waiting. She walked through the Exploration Zone, one of the several themed areas in the park.

The Zone theme park was created and owned by John
Hanson, a former professional quarterback who believed in healthy competition at work and play. His theme park had several areas, or zones, where -people could compete with each other and themselves at just about anything. Almost everyone who worked at The Zone was called a referee. The exceptions were the costumed characters called mascots. Most of them, including Candace’s boyfriend, Kurt, were to be found in the History Zone. -People visiting the park were called players, and the areas of the park they could reach were called on field. Only refs could go off field.

Candace cut through an off field area to get to the referee parking lot. She waved at a few other -people she recognized from her time spent working there. Finally, she slid into her friend’s waiting car.

“So are you going to be the Christmas queen?” Tamara asked.

“What am I, Lucy VanPelt? There’s no Christmas queen in Charlie Brown’s Christmas play, and there’s no Christmas queen in The Zone,” Candace said.

Tamara fake pouted. “Are you sure? I think I’d make a beautiful Christmas queen.”

Candace laughed. Tamara was gorgeous, rich, and fun. Her whole family practically redefined the word wealthy, and, with her dark hair and olive skin, Tamara was usually the prettiest girl in any room. She didn’t let it go to her head, though. Anybody who knew Tamara would vote for her as Christmas queen.

“Although I think you would, they’re only hiring elves.”

“You’re going to be an elf?” Tamara smirked.

“Hey, it beats being a food cart vendor,” Candace said.

“But you’re so good at it. Cotton candy, candy corn . . . you can sell it all.”

“Thanks, I think. So, what are we doing tonight? Kurt’s going to swing by at six to pick us up.” Just mentioning her boyfriend’s name was enough to make Candace smile. She closed her eyes for just a minute and pictured him as she had first seen him — wearing a Lone Ranger costume. With his charm and piercing blue eyes, she had fallen for him right away.

“You told him my house, right?” Tamara said, interrupting her thoughts.

“Yeah. So, who’s this guy you’re taking?”

Tamara sighed. “Mark.”

“Uh-huh. And?”

“Remember my cousin Tina?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, she broke up with him over the summer, and he’s been all shattered since then. He won’t date other girls; he just mopes over her.”

“Attractive,” Candace said sarcastically.

“Tell me about it. Well, Tina asked me if I could help him get his confidence back and get over her or something.”

“A pity date? Are you kidding me? You want Kurt and I to double date with you on a pity date?”

“You don’t think I’m about to go by myself, do you? No way. That’s the best-friend creed. When you’re happy, I’m happy. When I’m miserable, you have to be too.”

“Great,” Candace said, rolling her eyes. “So, where are we going?”

“That’s the problem. I was thinking dinner, but then we’d have to talk, and frankly, I don’t want to hear him go on about Tina. Then I thought we could see a movie.”

“You wouldn’t have to talk to him,” Candace confirmed.

“Yeah, but what if — ”

“He tries to grab a hand or put his arm around you.”

“Exactly, and I don’t think me giving him a black eye was what Tina had in mind.”

“I guess that also rules out any kind of concert possibilities?” Candace asked wistfully.

“Yup. Sorry.”

“So, what did you come up with?”

“I was thinking . . . theme park?”

“No way. Kurt doesn’t like to spend his downtime there.”

“I thought he took you to that romantic dinner there over the summer.”

“It was the nicest restaurant he knew, and he got an employee discount.”

“Charming,” Tamara said.

“Plus, ever since we got trapped in there overnight, he’s been even more adamant about avoiding it when he’s off work.”

“I can’t believe you two get to be the stuff of urban legend, and you don’t even appreciate it.”

Candace sighed. It was true that she and Kurt had spent one of the most miserable nights of their relationship trapped inside the theme park. Urban legend, though, had since transformed the story so that they were supposedly chased through the park by a psycho killer. It was still embarrassing to have -people point at her and say that she was the one. Around Halloween she had given up trying to correct -people. They were going to believe what they wanted.

“Earth to Candace. Helloooo?”

“Sorry. So, what does that leave us with? Shopping?”

“No need to torture both our dates,” Tamara said.

“Then what?”

“I don’t — miniature golf!” Tamara suddenly shrieked, so loudly that Candace jumped and slammed her head into the roof of the car.

“Tam! Don’t scare me like that.”

“Sorry. Miniature golf. What do you think? Built-in talking points, lots of movement, and zero grabby potential.”

“I like it. I’ll have to borrow one of your jackets though.”

“At least you’ll have an actual excuse this time,” Tamara teased.

A few minutes later they were at Tamara’s house and upstairs raiding her wardrobe. As Tamara considered and discarded a fifth outfit, Candace threw up her hands.

“Maybe if you’d tell me what you’re looking for, I could help.”

“I’m looking for something, you know, nunlike.”

Candace stared at her friend for a moment before she burst out laughing. She fell to the floor, clutching her stomach as tears streamed down her face. Tamara crossed her arms and tapped her foot, and Candace just laughed harder.

“I don’t know why you think that’s so funny. You know I don’t go past kissing.”

“Tam, nuns can’t even do that. And if you’re looking for something that will completely hide your body, then you’re going to have to go to the mall instead of the closet. You don’t own anything that doesn’t say ‘look at me.’ I’m sorry, but it’s true.”

“Really? Maybe we should go to your house. Think I could find what I’m looking for in your closet?”

“Not since I started dating and mom made me throw out all my old camp T-shirts,” Candace said with a grin.

“Then hello, you’ve got no call to laugh.”

Candace stood up, stomach still aching from laughing so hard. “Tam, I’m not criticizing. I’m just telling you, you’re not going to find what you’re looking for.”

Tam reached into the closet. “Oh, yeah, what about this?” she asked, producing jeans and a black turtleneck.

“If you’re going for the secret agent look, it’s a good choice.”

Tamara threw the jeans at her, and Candace ducked.

“I could wear some black pants with this. Would that be too funereal?

“For a pity date? Go for it.”

Candace opted to borrow Tamara’s discarded jeans instead of wearing the skirt she had brought with her. They turned out to be slightly tighter on her than they were on Tam, and she had to admit when she paired them with her red scoop-neck top that she looked really good.

When Kurt arrived a few minutes later, he whistled when he saw her.

“Keep the jeans,” Tamara whispered to her. “Obviously, they work for you.”

Kurt then looked at Tamara and frowned slightly. “Did you just come from a funeral?”

“No, but thank you for thinking so,” Tamara said with a smirk.

“I don’t — ”

Candace put her finger over his lips. “Don’t ask,” she advised him.

He smiled and kissed her finger, which made her giggle.

The doorbell rang again, and Candace turned, eager to see the infamous Mark.

Tamara opened the door, and Candace sucked in her breath. Mark was gorgeous. He had auburn hair, piercing green eyes, and model-perfect features. He was almost as tall as Kurt, and he was stunning in khaki Dockers and a green Polo shirt.

“Hi,” he said, smiling.

Tamara glanced at her and rolled her eyes.

“Hi, Mark.”

Kurt drove, and Candace was quick to slide into the front seat with him, leaving Tamara and Mark to the back. She shook her head. Mark was not her idea of a pity date in any sense of the word. Maybe Tamara would come around if she actually talked to him.

They made it to the miniature golf course and were soon on the green. Candace got a hole in one on the first time up to putt, and Kurt gave her a huge reward kiss.

When they moved on to the next hole, Tamara whispered in her ear, “Thanks a lot. This is supposed to be a no grabby zone. Now Mark will be getting ideas.”

“Tam, you really need to relax a little.”

They made it through the course in record time, and Kurt gave Candace another kiss for winning by one stroke. After turning in their clubs, the guys headed inside to order pizza while Candace and Tamara went to the restroom.

“This date is the worst,” Tamara groaned once they were alone.

“What’s wrong with you? He’s gorgeous.”

“Really? I guess I just can’t see past the Tina mope.”

“What mope? He hasn’t even mentioned her, and he’s done nothing but smile all night. You should totally take him to Winter Formal.”

“No way. This is a one-date-only kind of thing. I’m not taking him to Winter Formal.”

“Fine. Suit yourself. I’m just telling you that if it weren’t for Kurt, I’d be taking him to Winter Formal.”

Tamara laughed.

“As if. There’s no way you’d ask a guy out.”

“I don’t know. You might be surprised.”

“It’s a moot point anyway. I’ll find someone to take.”

“You could always take Josh,” Candace suggested.

“You’re not setting me up with Josh, so just forget it.”

“Fine.”

“Find out for me, though, if Santa needs a Mrs. Claus,” Tamara said.

“You’re going to find some way to be the Christmas queen, aren’t you?” Candace asked.

“Even if I have to marry old Saint Nick.”

They both laughed.

I haven't read the first two books in this series, but that didn't stop my enjoyment of this book. I plan on finding the first two and definitely reading the 4th! I'll hand this one off to my teen girls, but they won't read it until I get my hands on the first 2. They'd never dream of reading books out of order if they can help it!

So, I meet Candy and she is back working at The Zone, where the first 2 books take place. For me, she's your typical teen with very un-typical things happening to her. I know that if I were her I'd rethink working at The Zone. It doesn't sound like she's had a lot of good luck there.

We also meet the people in her life; family, friends and coworkers. I love her bff, Tamara. Of course it was hard to like Kurt, even a little bit. Josh is the guy the girls never seem to notice, but should.

Debbie is able to rouse feelings inside of me as a mom reading a YA novel. When Kurt bailed on Candy, I knew he was bad news. Then the inevitable happens at The Zone and I just think, these parents need to give their children discipline! Ugh, you should've seen me reading this book, going through the gamut of emotion. Again, as a mom.

I can't wait to read the rest of the 3 books in this series. For me, it was delightful and something I felt my teen girls could relate to.