Hello. My name is Linda. . .

. . .and I'm a romance novel addict!

I'm actually an addict when it comes to a lot of things. The size of my ass will give you a big clue that I'm a food junkie! But I also have issues with scrapbooking, rubber stamping, dvds, and jewelry is my latest vice.

My biggest addiction, however, is romance novels. Borders is my crack house! I stop there at least twice a month and drop anywhere from $25 - $50. Oh how I hate when I buy the same book too! I've done that at least five times in the past few years.

I've not counted how many I own, but "shitload" seems to be the closest mathmatical figure I could put on it. The bookshelf pictured here at the left holds my "keeper collection"--novels I love and must keep. As you can see, my shelving unit is packed. All these shelves are at least two deep in books. (Methinks I just need to get another shelving unit!?!) As well as this bookshelf, see those boxes and books hidden in the corner? They are also FULL of books that I have read but deemed not worth keeping but still can't seem to get out of the house! Then, there's the TBR (to be read) pile on the end table by my bed. There are about 20-30 in the pile at any given time.

But I'm here to tell you that romance novels have been the biggest factor in keeping my sex life alive and well after almost 20 years of marriage. I constantly tell my husband that he is lucky to have a wife like me (in oh-so many ways, right girls?! LOL) but mostly because I still have a strong libido! A lot of my friends complain about their husbands wanting sex all the time and their not being interested. I'm just the opposite, thanks to the romance novel! (There are actually times I've marked pages and FORCED John to read them!) Men really could learn a thing or two about a woman by picking up a romance novel and reading it. It's like a car manual on romance and a woman's mind!

These novels are more than just the sex too. Reading a good romance novel can give you that "spark" feeling you and your significant other had when you first were dating. I love that. That ache in the chest, tingle in your gut kinda thing. After 20 years, that's barely a memory for me! LOL

Brushes with Fame

Growing up in good old DeKalb, Illinois, you wouldn't think I'd have much interaction with future famous people. . .but more than one gal has been rescued from the corn fields around these parts.

Cindy Crawford, probably our most well-known celebrity, was a senior when I was a sophmore. I got to double-date to a few dances with her (yes, I'm that cool!) as my boyfriend was in her class and she dated his buddy, Bill Cordes. He was the quarterback of the team and a bigger DICK you'd not meet! I must say, she was pretty wild her senior year but after being a total bookworm the first few years of high school and modeling most of her junior year I guess she was allowed to let her hair down.

Soap star and minor movie/tv star Melissa Dye was also in the class of 1984. She's a fellow daughter of a university professor and I well remember hanging out at her cool "A-Frame" 70s house in my youth.

This weekend I reconnected, in a way, with our most NOTORIOUS native daughter: Amy Damkroger (aka TJ Hart). In school, we knew her as a quiet kid. But she has apparently outgrown that stage and is a big star of PORN movies!! I'd heard rumors about that over the years but never knew her "stage" name til this weekend when a group of HS buddies and I got together for a girl's night out and we started in on town gossip over the past 20+ years.

So, instead of the "chick flick" we intended to watch we called around and found a male friend who had some of her movies in his collection and made him bring one over! Oh how our husbands missed out, huh? It lasted all of 3 minutes. (There are just things about my classmates I don't ever need to see or know!) We kept trying to hear some dialogue, but hello! Der. It's porn. . .

There is no talking in porn like there is no crying in baseball.

Shorts, Coat, Shorts, Coat: Why I hate spring

I admit it. Even though my birthday falls in March (and usually on the first day of spring), I hate this season more than every other. I like the weather getting warmer, but “mess” that goes along with it sucks! Living on a gravel road in the spring is the worst. It’s pointless to wash it because the one mile drive down our road turns it from it's nice white color to nice muck-brown. Plus, there’s the joy of getting the kids (and HUSBAND) to make sure to clean off their shoes before they come in the house. It’s like asking Bush to pull out of Iraq. Impossible!

I’m always oh-so prepared for the warm weather too. I mean, can we get a bit of warning before it goes from wind-chill temperatures to an almost 80 degree day? Nah. Let’s do it overnight and force me to scramble in everybody’s closets in search of summer clothes.

Oh yea. That’s right. Lauren doesn’t HAVE any summer clothes because I knew she’d be grown out of her crap by now. (Thank the Lord, MINE still fit!) So off to Old Navy to stock up on a new wardrobe for this nice weather.

BTW, it’s supposed to be in the 40s for the next week. Yep. God, she’s a gal with one BIG sense of humor!