"When all you've got to keep is strong/ Move along, move along like I know you do"

Round one of editing: Done! And what does that mean exactly? Wellll, I knew going into it there were certain chapters where I was going to have to increase the description and detailing because I sort of slacked on it in the beginning. And there was a certain aspect were I needed more examples of it, so I had to write it. So I've now increased the final page count to 356 (ten page increase) and the word count is 109, 643. Do you know how insane that word count is? I think that once you go over 100,000 it can't even show it in the little box anymore. I broke Microsoft Word!

Speaking of Microsoft Word: They need to release a hip, updated, down-with-today's-lingo version. I ran spell and grammar check for the first time today and it seriously took forty-five minutes. And more often than not I was hitting "ignore" as opposed to taking one of their suggestions. Words that should be included and not get the squiggly red line of death:

-iPod, earbuds, and playlists. Yes, iTunes does play a role in the book. :)

-Woah, Geez, and "oh my gosh". For some reason "oh my gosh" gets the green grammar squiggle. Not sure why.

-homegirl, douchebag, skank. Terms of endearment? Nah.

-Lip gloss. No hyphen necessary.

-No space necesssary in "Coldplay" or "gameday"

- Text, texted, texting. Oh geez, the red is freaking out on here too. THEY ARE WORDS. Text messaging is a main form of communication today, just accept it Microsoft.

Also, I heard on What Not to Wear or maybe my sister told me after hearing it herself that purple is a color that compliments virtually every skin tone. Some of my friends (I'm looking at you HW and NV) have some of the cutest dresses I have ever seen. The color of previously mentioned dresses? Purple! So apparently, I've remembered this fact in my subconscious because anytime I've mentioned a skirt, dress, top, nailpolish on any of the female characters, what has the color been? Purple. And I feel like I'm now overcompensating on overusing purple and now it's almost been completely eradicated. I wish I could be cool and "a producer on LOST-like" and have it so that the colors are symbolic of the mood or represent an action but, I'm not that cool.

Literature also plays a role in the book and I really wanted to be cool like they are on LOST and have the books mentioned mirror themes in the book. But since I'm sort of not 100 percent sure what my "theme" is, I couldn't really accomplish that. Maybe in the next one, if there is a next one.

Also, a little vent time: I really don't care for parents who treat Starbucks like it is a playground for their kids. There are no clowns, animatronic mice or happy meals here, so please leave. This one lady, I've seen her around before and I'm sorry but she has always seemed a little strange to me. Anyway, she comes in today, by herself, and then starts talking to this other woman. A good five minutes later, her children who had apparently been playing outside unsupervised came waltzing in. They had little toy guns and were shooting people and running back and forth down the pathway in the restaurant. There is another woman who frequents Starbucks and has a cane so she has trouble walking (she gets the VIP treatment from the employees) and one little boy crashed right into her, causing her to be off balanced. Any apology from him or the mother? Nope. She is too busy yapping at the table in the complete back of the store. One little boy stood about three inches away from my table and spun in circles for two minutes straight, obstructing the path through the restaurant. It was at this point that I seriously contemplated getting out my phone and taking a picture and tweeting it. I wouldn't have even been discreet. If he (or his mother) saw me I would have said "Yeah, I'm sharing with the world what a little brat you/your kid is. You should be embarrassed." And the little boys were playing outside, again unsupervised, where there are cars and potential kidnappers. One kid was climbing onto the newspaper stand and pretending to shoot his little brother. These kids were only 4 and 6 for the record by my guesstimate. So then the four year old came in and told his mom he was thirsty and she gave him her debit card and told him to get it himself. Are you serious? A four year old? And then this sweet grandmother lady was there with her two grandkids (who were perfectly behaved) and the boys are running around and she said to the barista "I don't know who they are with" because she too was befuddled by the complete lack of parenting and supervision by their supposed mother. I seriously think you should have to pass a test or take a class or something in order to become certified to be a parent. It was truly appalling. And I have no problem with children. I have seven nieces. I've worked at a day camp. I babysit. There was even a precious little girl yesterday at Starbucks, toddling around and picking up bags of coffee and putting it back. She was precious with her little curls and light up pink sneakers. These little hellions today though, they were an entirely different story.

Oh I also apparently have a "Attention Creepy Old Men: PLEASE Talk to Me!" sign on my forehead that I am unaware of. Well this man wasn't creepy but he came up to me the other day and started telling me how he has owned several different Macs and apparently one like my iBook but it had a seam on the keyboard so he sent it back to the store. Are you confused? I was too so I just nodded my head along until he had to leave after a few minutes. Another old man raced up to me and asked if I was on the internet. I said no and that you have to pay to use it and he corrected me by saying you need a card and then just walked off. It was strange. Oh and there is a man who makes me think of Ralph Lauren and he is super nice when we have to share the outlet. I like him.

And seriously some of the conversations you overhear when your iPod is switching to the next song are unbelievable. There was a lady with a crystal hanging over a map or diagram of some sort and yelling on her phone with a client who had apparently lost someone and was very upset. Why she chose to do her line of work in the middle of a corporate company like Starbucks and not out in nature is beyond me. She also asked Mr. Fake-Ralph-Lauren if he had ever lost someone. Maybe I left out the part where Ralph Lauren is at least 65 if not 75. He answered his parents and she replied "I just knew it". Thank you Captain Obvious. Cause a 70 year old is still going to have his parents around. And they talked some mumbo-jumbo for a few minutes. And then I heard the tail of a story where she said when she turns 60 later this year she is going to get a tattoo on her butt that says "I Love Steve" cause she made a bet with herself when she was 40. She was a whackadoodle.