Based on Melinda Thompson's monthly mailing, SWAG is a collection of humorous essays about the events in the life of a Southern woman, aging gracefully.

Swag: Southern Women Aging Gracefully

Humor & Entertainment

Thompson, Melinda Rainey

Humor

Blair

Following the success of Melinda Rainey Thompson's first book, SWAG: Southern Women Aging Gracefully, her newest collection of humorous and touching essays and lists addresses such problems as aging, becoming your mother, raising children who love sports, dealing with the unexpected, and the fate of manners. Much more than just funny (reason enough to read this, by the way), the collection captures those "exalted moments of heaven sandwiched right in the minutia of the daily grind." Thompson shares plenty of SWAG life lessons that she has learned the hard way through bumbling experience. Included are many of her most embarrassing moments, not only for the belly laughs, but to warn you away from making the same humiliating mistakes. She also has plenty of suggestions for improving society, starting with ten things better left in the past: ·Your pre-baby weight ·Sordid details of your previous marriages ·Your natural hair color ·Your prescription-medication history ·Labor and delivery stories ·Your high-school sports career ·Your overcoming-addiction stories ·Your vacation photographs ·Your college fraternity and sorority sportswear ·Family feuds

The Swag Life

The grass is ablaze, the lawnmower blade dangles from a tree, and your frustrated husband is hiding in the garage. You (a) tell him you re going shopping, (b) ask him if everything s okay, or (c) sneak back into the house and pretend you didn t see him reading the instructions.
Your wife says she s fine after an argument. You (a) assume she s fine, (b) go back to watching the game, or (c) duck and cover.
If you don t know the answers to these questions, then this book is for you. Two of the South's funniest voices have come together to write this hilarious, heartfelt collection of essays about the nature of men and women. From keeping house to romance, from yard work to money, their fresh take on these common arguments will make you laugh out loud and maybe even instill a bit of insight when it comes to the opposite sex. Also covered are quite a few not-so-common squabbles, such as proper singing etiquette and hoarding mayonnaise jars.
Written by best-selling humorist Melinda Rainey Thompson (SWAG: Southern Women Aging Gracefully and The SWAG Life) and award-winning magazine editor Morgan Murphy (Southern Living, Forbes, and Vanity Fair), I Love You - Now Hush is a pithy, gleeful read that encourages couples to laugh at their differences.

I Love You - Now Hush

Murphy, Morgan

Parenting & Relationships

"For years and years of relatively smooth-sailing childhood, my kids followed my directives," writes Melinda Rainey Thompson. "If I said, 'Let's go swimming!' they fled down the hall to pull on their swimsuits, shedding their clothes along the way. If I said, 'So sorry, the mall is closed today,' they didn't doubt my pronouncement for a moment--even if the parking lot was crammed."
And now that her kids are mostly grown?
"I was good with babies. Teenagers--not so much," Thompson admits. "I don t get many hugs anymore. Any I do get are inevitably instigated by me while they stand there like martyrs tied to a stake. Recently, when I was the rare recipient of a spontaneous hug from my seventeen-year-old, I got so excited I dropped the basket of chocolate-chip muffins in my hands. I was anxious to hug back while it was still on offer. It was totally worth the muffin loss."
Thompson's three teenagers bury her under an Everest of laundry. They send her for groceries so often that she once heard a store employee cry, "Incoming!" They leave such a quantity of half-eaten sandwiches around their rooms as to provide a buffet for roaches. They complain for hours about 10-minute chores. They spend their parents' money like it magically regenerates and hoard their own like it's the last dose of the elixir of life.
To put it another way, they're typical teens.
In her inimitable style, Thompson makes I've Had It Up to Here with Teenagers both a humorous rant against teens and a celebration of seeing them rise from the ashes of battle to become well-adjusted, responsible humans. "Parental love is fierce and illogical," she writes. "I think it is the strongest force on earth. It trumps everything, thank God: sleepless nights, hard stadium seats, endless recitals, broken hearts, losing seasons, throw-up viruses, bad grades, poor choices, and everything else life throws at teenagers and their parents."

I've Had It Up to Here With Teenagers

The Light Shines in the Darkness: Choosing Hope After a Mass Shooting

Religion & Spirituality

Christian Books & Bibles

Independently published

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Thompson, Melinda Rainey. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Thompson, Melinda Rainey