I hope all the moms had a lovely Mother’s Day! Mine was very nice. I had the school-made gifts from both my boys–a painted tile to use as a coaster from the younger and a iron-bead magnet creation from the older. The older also wrote a poem and the younger a letter. I’m including it in its entirety here:

Dear Mom, you are the best Mom I’ve ever had and you will allways be my faverot mom forever! I never want you to die or else all cry. I allways want you with me. If you are not with me I would be crying and I would be very very sad and mad. I would be nothing without you.

On the back is a picture of me singing, “Sunshine, sunshine” while a lizard snaps a fly off my leg with his tongue. Love it.

I got my store-bought present right before church. It was presented to me in a red Foley’s box, which makes me think I need to clean out my gifting supplies as we’ve not had a Foley’s in these parts in probably five years. Inside was a pink polka-dot shortie bathrobe, two Target gift cards (one each from my boys), and a pretty little wrapped package from Lavish, an Aveda spa near my house. Unwrapping produced a gift card and the prettily typed information that it was good for a manicure, pedicure, and a Brazilian. My eyes practically bugged out of my head, because there was no way–NO WAY–that I would be cashing that last part in. And besides, what sort of Mother’s Day gift is that? I glance up at my husband (likely panic in my eyes), and he’s giggling delightedly. Apparently he typed the info onto the Lavish card just to freak me out.

Loveable dork.

You’re probably thinking that it’s about time for another book review, right? And, seeing as it’s the first of the month, I am obliged to offer one up in honor of Barrie Summy’s Book Review Club! This month’s pick? Super in the City by Daphne Uviller.
*New feature* In case you’re interested in how this book got chosen, I’ll tell you. I stumbled across a ‘cover story’ post about this book on Melissa Walker’s blog, and immediately went in search of it. I then proceeded to read it and love it.

If you’ve been here before, you know that my tastes tend to run to light-hearted, funny, witty, often outlandish reading material, and this book is right up my alley. Let’s get a quick summary out of the way and then I’ll dish on my why I loved it.

Zephyr Zuckerman (don’t you just LOVE that name–you just know she’s something special) is caught in a ginormous rut. She is the fifth in a quintet of uber-talented friends, and her life is going nowhere. She’s dropped out of med-school, balked at law school, is currently unemployed, and still obsessing over a sleazy ex-boyfriend. So, when the superintendent of the building her parents own gets arrested, it is casually suggested that she take on the job. From there on out, the plot spirals crazily, hilariously, unbelievably around the Mob, the FBI, and an exterminator, with Zephyr as the zany vortex, until it all ties up perfectly in the end.

Okay…why did I like this book? Many, many, many reasons. First of all the plot is unexpected and fun, the characters are perfectly drawn individuals, and both prose and dialogue is wickedly clever. I’m including a small excerpt–just to give you a taste:

Zephyr: “…they should stay back in Idowa. I mean Idaho.”

The exterminator grinned. “You don’t know the difference between Idaho and Iowa.”

“Of course I do.” I sneered unconvincingly.

“Where’s Idaho?”

“I can’t explain it.”

[trimmed some]

“What…? Why are we–this is ridiculous!” I waved my hands as if to erase the conversation.

“I’m from Idaho,” he said victoriously.

“You are not.” I inspected his face for signs of Idaho-ness…

He looked directly at me and before I could stop myself, I pictured myself kissing him.

(Me again) And I admit I cut out a little, but this segues nicely into another of Zephyr’s quirks that I found hilarious and a little endearing. Despite the fact that she’s still mooning a little over her ex, this doesn’t stop Zephyr’s imagination from delving into descriptions of potential offspring, honeymoon locales, and lifelong togetherness the moment she meets a man. Any man.

I adore Zephyr’s imagaination, her wild collection of friends, her quirky view of life, and her story. I truly hope there might be another installment.

I sampled three new-to-me TV series this weekend. Here are my less-than-professional reviews:

Castle (ABC)
Premise: Someone in NY is taking a page (or pages) out of author Richard Castle’s books, mirroring the murders almost perfectly. Richard Castle is, of course, called in to consult, much to the irritation of the lead detective on the case, a woman. Case is solved, but Castle, having recently succumbed to writer’s block, has found a new muse in the not-quite-hard-boiled detective, and uses his connections to score an indefinite ride-along with her.

Review: I’ve watched three epiodes now, and I’m really enjoying it. While the detective is very serious, a dedicated, no-nosense cop, Castle is fun-loving and a good foil for her. There is plenty of snappy dialogue, a good dose of sexual tension, and some fun side characters to offload the heavy drama. Definitely plan to keep watching.

Mad Men (AMC)
Premise: Not nearly so defined. This show came off as an artsy glimpse of the Manhattan advertising game in the 1950’s. Don Draper is the show’s lead character, an executive ad man trying to juggle his job, his wife and family, and his mistress(es), and maybe even his identity.

Review: There was so much cigarette smoke swirling around on the screen, I could barely breathe in my own living room. A doctor actually lit up in the exam room–right before the…ahem…exam. Ironic that Mr. Draper was working on a new ad campaign for Lucky Strike cigarettes. But I digress… If I could sum up this show in one word, I would say intense. Or maybe skanky. The show, it seems, takes itself very seriously, whereas most of the characters don’t really seem to. Very interesting. I could watch another.

No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency (HBO)
Premise: Not entirely sure. I haven’t read the books by Alexander McCall Smith, and all I was able to gather by watching (and missing the beginning), was that the show centered around a lady detective, Precious Ramotswe, starting up her agency in Botswana. Vague, I know.

Review: It all felt very vague. Whereas I’d come in at the beginning with Castle and Mad Men, this is the end of the season for N1LDA. And while I liked the premise and even the characters, I thought the show seemed to be moving very slowly. It could be that my sensibilities are not refined enough for these cable shows–I need the rapid-fire, instant gratification of plain-jane network TV. Or it could be I was tired. I plan on giving this show another shot to win me over. (Until my HBO is no longer free and I have to let it go…)