Life sucks

Why must I always be a victim...and how do I stop? Does it have something to do with my only seeing 2 options to a crisis, avoid or bail. Notice that dealing with it is not an option. I'm not equipped with dealing, because I am not strong enough. If I try to deal with something, I feel like it will crush me.

Funny, I know down deep somewhere, I can handle it. I was in an abusive marriage and I managed to get out. The thing is, I tell myself it is because of my kids. One night my oldest witnessed the abuse and that led to me leaving. So even then I cannot credit myself with the strength to leave. It's like I had an excuse to get out of a bad marriage.

I tend to react to life rather than acting. Acting would take confidence in myself. So a what point to I start living life instead of letting it happen to me and how do I do it???

The Ultimate Reality Show

The Ultimate Reality Show by Clay Jacobsen is centered around Jack Forrest, A high school football coach who is about to loose his job. As he sends his players off the field a chopper lands and is followed by a black suburban with a camera crew. Vince Sinclair, a TV host, approaches and tells Jack, "Congratulations, you have been selected, you are the next contestant on the Ultimate Challenge! You will return in seven days or less depending on how well you do. You could win ten million dollars. Your first challenge is you must decide to get into the chopper in the next 60 seconds or forfeit your position."

Jack has never seen the show and he could win ten million, which would be good if he does loose his job. On the other hand, the school board was meeting that night to discuss his possible dismissal and he should be there to defend himself. His friend and the vice principal, Kathryn coaxes him to go.

He makes the decision and signs the standard release form and is promptly shot with tranquilizer. He awakes on a plane with 9 other contestants, all of whom were plucked from their daily life. This show is much like Survivor, there are challenges and eliminations, unlike Survivor there are personal challenges that must be done to remain in the game, and they must be kept secret. The only rule in this game is there are no rules.

I am a big fan of Survivor so I thought this would be great. I did enjoy the book. It was a fun quick read. There was a side story that I thought was a bit predictable, but there was a twist to it. This is a christian book and I felt that side of it, at times was a little forced and trite. Overall it was good.

I give it a 3 1/2 out of 5

Lean Mean Thirteen

Lean Mean Thirteen is the latest installment of the Stephanie Plum adventures by Janet Evanovich. I happened upon this author when she came out with One for the Money and I knew she was going to hit it big. I love this series, it is different than anything else I have read.

In this book, Stephanie's ex-husband ends up missing, and since she was last seen with him, trying to inflict bodily harm, she's the prime suspect. As other partners in her ex's firm end up dead, things are looking worse and worse. Stephanie's a bounty hunter, and since she fell into this job after losing her job as a lingerie buyer, she's still honing her skills. Between her sometime boyfriend, Morelli and a hot bounty hunter, Ranger, someone has to make sure she keeps from harming herself in the process of hunting her own FTAs and trying to clear her name.

I always find myself laughing outloud at the situations Stephanie gets herself into, and dreaming of the two hot guys that keep her on her toes. If you love reading even the littlest bit, this series is a must!!! I cannot wait for Fearless Fourteen which comes out in June.

I give this a 5 out of 5.

Things that should never be said...

I thought I would share some insight I have discovered during my 40 odd years of life. There are something that should never be uttered out loud to your spouse/significant other...

1. "Now you know how I feel"

I kid you not, my husband said that to me just today. I had just come home from a trip to pick up pizza with my 2 daughters. They are 19 and 21 and they are polar opposites. This means anything one says will most often piss the other one off to no end, and a bitch-fest ensues. That is what happened today, and since I have had a week of stress compounded by many doubles at work ...I did what any normal woman does.. I yelled and cried. When we got home my husband asked what was wrong, he knew I was upset and he knew it about the girls, cause they were in an equally dismal mood. I said nothing, he said is it a girl thing? I said yea...just hoping he would leave me alone. He said, "Well, now you know how I feel." Okay, now, not only is that what a 5 year old says...how is that supposed to help ANY situation? What does that statement really mean??? Finally you have a bad time with the girls...finally they piss you off...finally you have it as hard as I do???? Seriously, all that statement did was show immaturity and piss me off.

2. "...but..." (a.k.a. the back-handed compliment)

Anytime you use "but" in a sentence you mean as a compliment...you WILL negate said compliment. For example "You look pretty, but don't you have another dress?" This means, "I appreciate your effort, but you don't really look good in that." Or, "The house looks good, but it looked fine before." This means, "You wasted your time." When it comes to this, please keep your compliments to yourself.