Grammar Book No. 1

Painless Grammar--I checked this baby out from the local library.

Sounds like a good one right??

Here is where I have to admit I thought I was so much above this book.  I mean, come on...it's for middle school and high school students.

I've graduated college.  I've had English classes.

I decided that the public library didn't have a lot to offer in the way of grammar books and I was going to have to get my husband to check out a few from the university in our town.

Then I started reading and doing a couple of the practice exercises (which are not called practice exercises to try and fool you) and I realized I so don't remember/never cared to learn the intricacies of "showing possession when the noun is plural".  Sounds easy right?

Maria's cat is ugly.

Yeah, yeah... I know all about that.

Then we get into:

The boy's coat v. the boys' coats

okay makes sense

And then more...

Paul's and Miranda's cokes

versus

Paul and Miranda's coke

Yes as I type this it all seems to click like...duh.  But have I been doing all this correctly when I'm writing a mile a minute?  Uh... 

Mr. and Mrs. Jones have a new dog.
The Joneses have a new dog.
Mr. Jones's dog is new.
The Joneses' dog is new.

Pretty much what I've learned is no more character names ending in 's'. (jk)

Maybe this book is totally above you.  Much of it I am skimming over...and then I'm like wait what?  Mental note...take out crazy antecedents.

Moral of the story:  not checking out college level grammar book until I've mastered middle school all over again.  (Kind of sounds like the nightmare I had last night, who wants to go back to middle school, right?)

Wish me luck.

p.s. hapy thanxgivin' 

This is kind of how I feel in the grammar department...but I'm not giving up!