Let ME tell you a story about a girl on Long Island, who always tried to play life by "the rules" — as outlined in the Secret Handbook of Long Island Rules...

That girl, uh, woman, is me, Teddi Gallo. I'm the mother of three kids under the age of eleven, best friend to Bobbie (who denies there's any such thing as a secret handbook, but who knows all the moves by heart) and the daughter of June (who has inside info on the rules, but has a reserved room at South Winds Psychiatric Hospital, as well).

And if I don't have enough to send me over the edge, my too-handsome-for-his-own-good husband seems determined to drive me crazy. But why?

This is the tale of how I had to rewrite that old, dusty handbook — and while doing so, I suddenly discovered the secret to happiness was living by your own rules.

And that has made everything different.