Shadows of Lancaster County

Mia learned a valuable lesson today: you can't dance with a cup of yogurt in your hand, or at least you shouldn't! She asked for some of her Trix yogurt as a snack this afternoon and brought it to me to remove the tinfoil covering. She wasn't out of my sight for five seconds before I heard, "Uh-oh" then she stepped back into the room. "Mommy, I sort of had an accident." She had yogurt splattered across her legs and skirt, and her entire arm look liked it had been tie-dyed in blue and pink. I jumped up and directed her to the bathroom to wash off, but as I entered the living room, I found tie-dyed swipes on the floor, the footstool, and the back of a TV Jesse had left on the floor. I grabbed a wet rag and started washing the carpet and tried to swallow the growl that wanted to come out of my mouth.

"What were you doing Mia? How on earth did this happen?" She stopped on her way to the bathroom and said, "I was just, you know, dancing, like this." And as she swung her arms back and forth again, more swirly yogurt flew from the container onto her shirt and face. Thank God that it was already almost empty. She quickly stopped her dancing and looked at me before racing the rest of the way to the sink and bursting into tears. I threw the rest of the cup away and finished scrubbing the living room. She changed clothes, and I tried to keep my scolding as mild as possible while mentally counting the days until school begins again.

I took one last look around the living room and didn't see any more offending blue or pink tie-dye, so I headed back into my bedroom, only to be stopped by Mia once more. "Mommy, there's some on your door." Even my bedroom door had a wide swath of the stuff. I'm curious how the company manages to fit that much yogurt into such a little container, and for the future, I'll be sticking to Go-Gurts instead of yogurt in a cup. Just an FYI: there are 59 days until school starts again.

Shadows of Lancaster County by Mindy Starns Clark if a suspense novel chockfull of twisting plots and unexpected discoveries. Anne Bailey has created a new life for herself in California. Far away from her childhood home in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania and from the crime that destroyed her future. When her brother Bobby disappears leaving behind pregnant wife Lydia and son Isaac, Anne sets out to find him. That quest sets her on a course that will unearth secrets about DNA, long-lost gems, and the Amish. I'm a huge fan of Clark's work, and in the hands of any other author, this story would have been overburdened by all of the different plotlines and twists, but she handles them deftly, keeping readers flying through the pages. There's a lot of info about genetic testing and gene therapy that end up pulling the various story threads together. Clark's novel will appeal to readers who love the growing genre of Amish lit, as well as romantic thriller fans.

Tomorrow I'll be rerunning my John Dillinger post in honor of the release of Public Enemies. I can't wait to see it!