Good News!

My good news for the day is that Brayden found my phone in the car. So I guess Chad really did flush the toy phone down the toilet. I feel much better about that!

My count of books read for the year is now 46. I'm currently reading "Eat, Pray, Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert. My goal for the year was 50, but I'm glad to see I will surpass that and I can raise my goal to 75. I read "Sarah, women of Genesis" by Orson Scott Card. I really love these books. It gives us a great interest and insight to the women of the Bible and what their lives may have been like. It is in novel form, but whatever it is, it does give an insight to these amazing women. I highly recommend them. Another great book is "Black Like Me" by John Howard Griffin. Very small but very enlightening. It is about a man who colors his skin from white to black and goes to the southern states during the 1960's to really see what it is like to be black in that day. It was a true eye opener! Even though I am obviously not racist, it does help you realize that regardless of skin color outward appearance we all decide what we think this person is like or at least make an educated guess. I always try not to judge people, and this book helps me want to try even harder. I was amazed at how he was treated from one day of being white and the next black, by the same people. First, respect and friendly and the next with contempt and disgust. He changed nothing about the way he talked or dressed or even his name...just his skin color. Read it. And tell me what you think.

The beginning of a ? day

Well, I'm still trying to figure out what kind of a day this will be. Jason got home a 7:30am and I had to get up cuz Chad was up. I fed my boys and settled down on my favorite chair in the living room to read for a while. In the meantime Chad went on a rampage. I heard the toilet flush and had a bad feeling...Chad came in and said,"Mom, I flushed my phone down the toilet." What? I seriously hoped that he meant the Incredibles toy phone. I ran to the toilet only to find that whatever he flushed was long gone. I looked all over for my cell phone and have yet to find any clues as to where it might be except for the ending water rushing noises we hear as the toilet refills. I even called it to see if I could find it. No noises whatsoever. A little later I hear CJ yelling and Riker yelling and I got up and out on the back deck to find that Chad is chasing the chickens with a stick and CJ crying as he tried to save a chicken. I think this chicken is losing his battle and will be the second chicken to succumb to a two year old with serious misunderstanding of live chicken targets and cartoon chicken targets. I hope this day doesn't end with more bloodshed or loss of electronic devices. At least Jason gets to sleep through it.

Jason's race results

Jason did very well. He didn't quite make the time he wanted but out of 150 people he came in 9th and 1st in his age group. He received a medal and was very happy. He has registered for another race for the July 5th which is in Provo along the parade route. He is loving running and feeling so good. I am proud of him. Kudos Jason!!!

Jason's first race

Tomorrow is an exciting day for Jason. He is going to participate in a 5k in Salt Lake City. He has been training for a month now. He's lost 20 pounds and running 3 times a week. He knew he loved cross-country in high school but figured that part of his life was over. But, he is doing so well. I'm excited for him and hope he does well. This is a great thing for Jason since his family is known for heart problems. Having him do this hopefully keeps his heart healthy and with me longer! Good Luck Jason!

We got some new baby chicks this year since last year's crop were either roosters or taken by hawks for food. We plan to keep these girls a little safer than our last ones. Have you ever wondered what it would feel like to have a dozen little chicken feet walk all over your back? C.J. would be able to tell you!
The chicks were feeling a little scared by the boys playing with them. They know where to go to be safe. Maybe they think Jason is their mommy.
Chad loves playing with them! They are much bigger now and are finally out in the coop which is a mansion compared to the guinea pig cage they had to be in to keep warm until their real feathers grew in to protect them.

One of the year's highlights for me was taking Logan to the Fablehaven kickoff for the last book. It was such a blast to see so many kids and their parents to come celebrate this new book release. Logan now loves reading thanks to this series. What an opportunity for him to be a part of this. ( And me of course!)
This is Brandon Mull's mother. (Brandon Mull is the author) She is dressed up as one of the characters from his story...Muriel the witch who can only be released if you blow on the knots that keep her trapped. Logan is out of his mind blowing on that knot. The world as we know it is now in peril. (Typical boy...putting the world in danger with a single blow)
We brought all our Brandon Mull books to get signed. We had to wait a long time, but it was worth it!
We broke the rules by taking a picture with him, he was supposed to keep signing and not stop for pictures. He claimed as long as he kept writing he wouldn't get in trouble. What a great guy! Thanks Brandon for getting my awesome Logan into reading!!! He has now read the whole Percy Jackson series and plans to read a lot more. We have a list that he wants to read. He even has his own account on goodreads.com. It's where we keep track of the books we've read and want to read and can give reviews of them if we want. We rate each book from 1 to 5 stars. I have done a great "mom" thing with this kid:)

Book Club Meeting

Well, we had our book club meeting last night. We had 5 of us there with the promise of 2 more at the next one. Only 2 of us read the book and we both loved "The Goose Girl" by Shannon Hale and were so excited to find out that it was the first book in a series of 4. So, Tara and I are planning to continue reading the saga. Also, it was fun to find out that Shannon Hale is a member of the church and served a mission in Paraguay. She lives in SLC and is married with 2 kids. I found a great website called swaptree.com where you can actually trade the books you own for ones that you want to read. I already have swapped two for two books on my book club list. One which is the book next on our list. Perfect timing. If you have books that you know you won't be reading again, trade them for ones you will.

Filming is going great. I always thought it would be fun to be in a movie, and I was right. It is so cool. I have to admit I was super scared during the first scene that I would freeze up when the camaras were pointed at me, but I have to admit it was much easier than I thought. I did make a few for the blooper reel, when I couldn't help but laugh at one of the other actors. Even though the movie will only be about 15-20 minutes, BYU will have a premiere night of all the senior projects where they rent out a movie theater and invite all the friends and family of those involved in the movies. So fun!

Just a funny tidbit...Chad loves Mr. Bean. He always says to me, "Mom, I wanna watch Missure Bean. Missure Bean!" I guess he loves physical comedy.

Jason will be doing a shuttling service Friday and Saturday nights. I hope this works out for him and helps bring in the extra money needed. I'm just glad he has agreed to stick with Hotel Park City too so he can keep his foot in the door and hopefully get promoted. I just got our ward's 2010 Book Club list done and I am really excited for it. It was hard to keep it to just 1o books. We skipped January because of my procrastination and December we have a dinner. Let me know if you've read any of these. I've only read The Hunger Games (loved it!) Anyways, here is the list:

1) The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale
2) The Quilter's Apprentice by Jennifer Chiavernini
3) The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
4) Three Weeks with My Brother by Nicholas Sparks
5) Sarah: Women of Genesis by Orson Scott Card
6) Grace Works by Robert L. Millet
7) An Experiment in Criticism by C.S. Lewis
8) Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
9) The Bonesetter's Daughter by Amy Tan
10) The Pearl by John Steinbeck

Not a bad lineup eh? I always try to get a little bit of everything from easy read, self-help, religious, non-fiction, classic...etc. I've read most of these authors and love their work and trust them. The others I was told by close friends that they were good, so I feel good about this year. I just miss all my book clubbers from Washington and California. Our group here is pretty small. Maybe this year it will get bigger. I plan on reading lots more books but these are the ones that are set for the book club. If you have come across any great books, I'd love to get referrals.
I just finished the second book of the Lightning Thief series. Logan used to HATE reading and by starting to read to him Fablehaven (great book bytheway) he has caught the bug. He only liked it when I read to him...but after the 4 fable haven books, and the first lightning thief book he now reads on his own. He took #2 to school and would read ahead, he would go in my reading chair in the living room and read on his own. I haven't wanted to do a cart wheel and scream YAHOO for a long time. But seeing him do that is such a "Awesome Mom" moment! I got Tyler reading and Logan and now onto CJ. I missed my window with Brayden. He doesn't like reading but he will do it for school and he has enjoyed a few books. So maybe there is still hope.
I'm reading David Copperfield right now and love it. I love how the classics are so proper. Seriously, they can be ripping someone to pieces verbally but they do it so eloquently. So great! Well, I encourage you all to find a few good books to read this year and let me know if they are good or not. If you need a few suggestions let me know! I got lots of great ideas. If you'd like to be on a cyber book club...go to goodreads.com. It's a great website with tons of people. It's like Facebook for readers. Great place to keep track of what you've read and what you want to read. It makes you feel smarter as you add on all the books you've read. We all like to feel smart once in a while:)
Peace, love and joy in January and GET A LIBRARY CARD:)

Movies, movies, movies

Thursday night I was called back for the BYU movie tryouts. I was the only one doing auditions for my role. I was happy to find out that I have been casted as the main character. The movie is a film student's project. It is called "Jackie O". It is about a parole officer who thinks the system isn't tough enough on the criminals. She thinks the worst about everyone and is mean and a real downer. She gets one latin patrolee and through him and her boss she learns that people can change regardless of mistakes they have made. I've always wanted to be in a movie and I get paid for it too. The director Jordan Harker is a great guy, very nice. Jason and I also have been hired by a shuttle service in Park City, so we can both be earning a little extra hopefully in tips. We hope that starts next week if we pass our taxi driver's test. We also have to be background checks by the airport. Let's hope we can pull ourselves out of the hole we got into in 2009. I think this will be a good year.

Applying for jobs

I haven't been in the "real" work place since I was about to give birth to Brayden 15 years ago. I have been applying to jobs all over the place. Mainly clerical work. I just had an interview at the Silver King Park City Resort to be a scheduler/reservationist. I felt the interview went well, but he showed me the work area. Understand that this resort is amazing and beautiful and makes you cozy and you want to move in immediately. Then he opens the door to the cubicle area and there are no windows and you feel like you've walked into a white trash trailer. (Pardon the expression) I'm not sure if I could handle being in that place for too long. We desperately need the money so I don't have much choice. I am also applying at restaurants to be a server. Jason is speaking with a man who has a shuttle service in Park City. If he accepts women, I would rather do that. I'd get to be in the sunshine, talk to real people and get tips$. I never wanted to leave the home to work but necessity has taken our circumstances over. Anyways, life is always changing and bringing on challenges...Bring it ON! Our family can handle it. It is a new year and I want to be stronger and better. I just hope my kids can handle only seeing one parent at a time. *SIGH*