Column No. 2 Sept 15, 2011

            Mystery is my genre of choice. If I ever need a pick-me-up read, I know I can always find a mystery to breeze through. For me, mysteries are like bags of peanut butter M&M’s. They rarely last more than one sitting. Because of this, I have an extensive list of favorite authors I can always count on for a quick read.

        Diane Mott Davidson is a great mystery writer. She writes the Goldy Bear mysteries about a caterer in Colorado who solves mysteries on the side. I am always surprised by how many murders there are in her tiny little town, but I am willing to overlook that because they are so much fun! Her books are serial, so you will want to start with the first, which is Catering to Nobody.

        If you like more historical writers, Charles Todd is a great author to take a look at. He has two series that are most popular. The first is about Inspector Ian Rutledge and the second is Bess Crawford. Bess is my preference because she is a nurse in World War I who is kind of a busybody. She is quite the investigator and is always in the right place at the right time to find clues. The first in her series is A Duty to the Dead.

        One of my current favorites is Terri Reid. She is a self-published author you can only find in e-books right now. If you have an e-reader such as a Nook or Kindle, you can download her books very inexpensively. The first book in Reid’s series is Loose Ends about an ex-cop named Mary Reilly who can see and talk to ghosts. She solves mysteries and helps ghosts to resolve any unfinished business. Love her! I was a big fan of Ghost Whisperer, and this has the same feel.

        Another great mystery is Alan Bradley’s The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, the first of three novels (and counting) about the charming 11-year-old Flavia de Luce, who has a penchant for chemistry and a habit of getting into trouble. The book is written in the voice of Flavia, which gives it such an endearing quality that, with or without the murder mystery, I would want to keep reading the book. My book club read this book several months ago and the consensus was that everyone loved it.

            The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie was also the topic for discussion at this week’s meeting of A Close Knit Community at the Madison Library. If you are wondering about A Close Knit Community, they are a group of mostly women who meet at the library Tuesday evenings at 6:00 to discuss knitting, books, and various other topics. They discuss specific books on the second Tuesday of each month. For October they will be reading Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book—appropriate for the month of Halloween. You need not be a knitter to participate.

        Another great event coming to the library this Friday night at 7:00 is Story Time for Grownups. For six weeks the library is reading and discussing the children’s books of Maurice Sendak, author of Where the Wild Things Are. The discussion will center on themes in the books that adult readers may not be aware of.

        Find a new mystery author today. If you have never read a mystery, now is the time to try it out. A good mystery is like a sorbet; it will cleanse your palate for another course of meatier literature later on.

            P.S. Don’t forget to invite me to your book club!

Just finished my column for the week.  Got a good reception to the last one, so I hope it continues! It is kind of nice to be a local celebrity.  I worked with a new gal on Saturday and she said, "Oh!  You're Jenny On the Book! I love your column!"  I thought that was really cool.  And so far, it does not seem to be too taxing to write.  I am not a great writer, but I just write what I find interesting, so I think it turns out pretty well.

On another subject, I am a horrible person.  Several weeks ago, I applied for a job that I really wanted.  I really, really wanted it.  My boos, Marlene was retiring and I was so happy that I could apply for her job, I thought it would be just perfect for me.  I mean, I already had experience in the ticket office, and this would be something I could stick with for years to come! I felt pretty confident in my interview. I thought everything was working out perfectly. But I didn't get it. I wanted to just get over it. Just let it go. But I can't. The person who got the job is a 21 year old girl who just graduated from BYU-I in July. She just got married in August. But she has worked for the ticket office as a student for a couple of years. I saw her on Saturday at work and it was awkward for me. I was angry at her. There was no reason for me to be mad at her. It's not her fault they chose her. But I just wanted to grab her hair and pull. I thought I was over this! I mean it was several weeks ago. But I can't let it go. It was really the perfect situation for me. And I keep thinking, that girl needs to get a full-time job! Not take a part-time job from a mom who needs it! Prayer. That is the only solution. I am going to have to pray this hate out of my heart. I have to work with her occasionally and it will not do for me to have these ill feelings. Anyway, now I am on the hunt for a job. It has to be perfect, though. Fat chance, right?

Here it is! Jenny on the Book!

My column

Writing a newspaper column is daunting.  I am scared.  I am worried.  I am totally intimidated.  But I am very excited!  As soon as I find out if it is available online, I will post a link to it...

What we've been doing

The past couple of weeks have been hanging out with our besties, the LeFevres!  Last week we went to Rigby lake.  We rented a canoe from the college and took some sandwiches and snacks and went to the lake to just lounge about for the day.  Of course, I always forget to take pictures...  Landon and Justin took the kids out on the lake with the canoe several times and Erin and I even made our way on our own.  We figured out that neither one of us is very good at navigating a canoe.  But it was really fun!  We spent most of the time just sitting under the umbrella chatting, but when we got really hot, we went in the water to cool off.  Boy, did it cool us off!  That water was cold!  But we got used to it after a while.  The kids spent most of the time in the water or in the canoe.  Except for Lorelai who preferred playing in the sand...  Later, after everyone had showered, eaten a quick dinner, and got settled, we all met up again at G's Dairy for some ice creams and they came to our house to play a mean game of Dominos, which the women, I am happy to say, dominated!

Yesterday was our next adventure.  We went up to Mack's Inn resort up past Island Park to go tubing.  We had this very idealized picture in our minds of what tubing would be...  a lazy day spent lying in the tubes going down the river without a care in the world, maybe getting into a splash fight along the way...  This is not what tubing is in Idaho!  First, when we got there at about 11:00 am, it was only 60 degrees and looked rather over cast.  There was a chance of showers, which made us nervous, but we decided we had driven all the way up there, so we will just do it!  We were all in our swimsuits and a little chilly- but we figured it would warm up.  We took the shuttle up to the top of the river and were given the tubes and off we go, right?  Wrong!!!  The kids did pretty well, getting into the tubes, no real drama.  But right off the bat, Justin was trying to get into his tube and he fell in the water, all the way!  Now, the water was not very deep, maybe 2 feet at the most, but it was ice cold.  No...  colder than you think.  I am talking hypothermia cold.  So cold that he was gasping for breath.  I thought he was literally going to have a heart attack, right there at the boat dock.  But he finally caught his breath, got in his tube, got Lorelai's tube tied to his tube and off he went.  Now it was my turn.  I got in with no real problems except that I could not believe I was doing this because that water was so freakin' cold!  I got maybe 100 yards down the river when I got totally land locked.  The water was too shallow, and I did not steer well enough to stay out of the really shallow part, so I got out of the tube and walked.  I was wearing my crocs in the water, which I thought was the perfect shoe for this occasion, but I had so many rocks in my shoes, I could hardly walk!  I finally got to a point where I thought I could easily get in my tube.  I tried to sit and BAM!!!  I went over!  Completely under water, I was all alone, everyone was way ahead of me, and I truly thought that I might die.  I thought for sure I was going to drown in 2 feet of water in the Snake River.  The water was so cold, it took my breath away. I was gasping for breath.  Now I knew how Justin had felt just minutes earlier!  There is no way to control the gasping.  It is a natural instinct.  Nothing can stop it.  I was so confused that I was floundering around in the water, trying to stand up, but my legs were numb and I thought that everyone was so far ahead of me, I would never catch up... or my dead body would float by them as they were tubing down the river and they would just have to wait until they got to the bottom of the river to do anything about it...  by then, my kids would be a mess!  But, I finally got up and decided to walk a little further.  Justin had seen me fall and stopped his tube and waited for me to get to him.  At that point, we tied our tubes together.  The kids had all tied their tubes to Erin's tube and Landon was going it alone.  I felt much better being tied to Justin and Lorelai.  Soon the river got a little deeper, and we no longer had to keep getting out to get off of the sandbars...  the sun was shining, and it became a nice trip!  We got used to the cold water and all sang and told jokes and watched some funny old ladies who were kayaking and drinking beer.  We looked for beaver dams and searched for moose, (never saw one) and generally had a really enjoyable time!  Lorelai did great until about the last half hour.  By then, she was done.  She was hungry and had to go potty... (She would not go in the tube, no matter how many times we tried to convince her.)  We were on the river from about 11:30 to almost 3.  It was a long trip, but pretty great!  We will definitely go again next year, but Justin and I will do a canoe, next time.  Afterward, we all changed and made our way down to Big Jud's in Ashton where we ate 1 lb burgers, yummy fries and o-rings and the kids got ice cream.  By the time we got home, we were all exhausted.  We all took showers and put on our jammies.  I think I was asleep by 10! That is some kind of record for me.

And now, we gotta think of what to do next week!  Our last week of summer!  ;)

Summer is passing us by!

The summer is whizzing by and I feel like I can't slow it down!  I had such big plans and before you know it, those plans will not have happened because the summer just sped by. 
Right now we are in the middle of swimming lessons...  I am counting down my last days of work for the semester...  Justin has been counting down the days to the end of the semester since the first day it started...  So I feel like things are kind of on hold until next Friday when Graduation is all over and Justin and I can finally plan some family time with the kids! 
Caroline is getting so big!  I think she is in the middle of a growth spurt!  Her feet have grown 1 and 1/2 sizes just since school was out.  Hilton got a big boy hair cut so that he doesn't look like Justin Beiber anymore...  his words...  And Lorelai is acting a lot older too.  She is talking more clearly and has become much more opinionated lately.
So, for now, I will sign off until we can get to the good part of the summer!  The part when we all get to do fun things together.  I want to go to the zoo.  That is my top priority!  Until then... see ya soon.

I just don't have time to blog

I am busy!  It is summer!  I like to spend as much time outside as possible because the summer time here only lasts about 3 days.  We are almost done with those 3 days...  :) 
Our days consists of morning chores, then going to the free school lunch, then we do something fun like either go to the splash park, go to the new awesome pool, do a little shopping, go to the summer movie, or summer bowling or the kids play with friends while I work in the yard, clean the house, or read a book.  I have been lazy about making dinner...  Summer is a great time for salads and such.  Justin promises that we will get a grill this summer!!!  I can't wait for that.  The dogs laze out in the sun or the shade, depending on their mood.  It is great!  This is our first entire summer in our house and we are loving taking care of the yard!  We are now in the process of taking up all the bark and we are going to replace it with river rock.  It is going to look so nice, in addition to being better so the dogs don't spread the bark around all over...  We haven't taken any trips and really have no plans to do so.  But 4th of July we are going to  go to the parade and go roast hot dogs at a local park!  It should be lots of fun!   Not to mention, of course the fireworks at night!  Summer is fun, and we are taking advantage of the short time it lasts here...

This is a test to see if I can blog from my phone!

Long anticipated update...

I know it has been forever since I have updated this blog.  I wish there were a way for me to do it from my phone, maybe there is...  but I would probably update everyday if that were possible!
The summer is finally here!  My kids are at an age where they can all play outside without my being out there with them constantly!  It has been crummy weather here, so far, so they spend a lot of time indoors.  This makes for a lot of fighting.  But it is nice to have the freedom to go where ever I want whenever I want...  if we ever went anywhere. 
Yesterday we went to the PTO summer movie, Shrek Forever After...  it was silly and lame, but it gave us something to do on a cold, cloudy day.  And you can't beat free! 
We have big plans for the summer.  We are going to be doing lots of fun things if the weather ever warms up!  We have a new pool/water park opening the end of the month which we are anticipating!  But if it is as cold as it is right now...  who knows when we will get there.
We want to go see the Bodies exhibit in Idaho Falls.  It shows the insides of real human bodies...  Hilton is fascinated by this and can't wait to go!  We are planning a trip to the zoo...  We would love to go up to Missoula this summer sometime...   just to visit our old stomping grounds.  We also want to go up to Yellowstone and see the water falls at some point.  Not to mention all of our plans to hang out with our awesome friends this summer!
In the mean time... we just have to wait out the crummy weather...  be grateful for the rain... be grateful we don't need air conditioning...  and find things to do that do not require us to be outdoors, like going bowling, going to the movies, going to the library...
Can't wait for some fun times this summer!

One battle won

So many people have responded to my Warriors post, that I feel like I need a follow-up.  Nothing in my life has changed in the last few days...  well not much...  I will get to that in a minute...

I have been thinking a lot about what I wrote about in the last couple of days.  I have been wracking my brain with ways to try to be a better mother and more patient and more spiritual.  I really thought it would be easier.  I have always know about free-agency.  I have always known that everyone has the opportunity to make their own choices.  But I also have always had that scripture in the back of my mind that says, train up a child the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it.  I think that is in Proverbs 22.  Anyway, that is what I have always been taught and have counted on.  I thought that if I just made sure that we were reading our scriptures having family prayers, having Family Home Evening that my children would be good, obedient children who would do what I ask, when I ask.  I know that is a little unrealistic, but I was at least pretty sure they would not kill each other...   now I am not so sure.

I remember arguing, okay fighting, with Chris and Tina.  I remember beating them up!  But I did not think my kids would behave this way to one another.  I wonder, daily what I have done to make my children so contentious!  I know, I am not exactly the best about speaking calmly and collectedly when I am upset, but I expect a lot more from them.  They are the chosen generation.  My children should come out of the womb able to negotiate calmly and without force or physical violence.  No.  I was way wrong about this one. 

I will tell you a little bit of success that we have had this week.  Monday night I had planned a big FHE lesson complete with scriptures and an activity and I was going to be the best mom ever.  The kids were going to be amazed by my spirituality...  as was my husband.  But when I got home from picking up Justin from school, it was late, 6:00pm, the kids had not eaten yet, and I was bombarded with yelling, screaming and fighting children.  Caroline was mad that Hilton was not respecting her authority as the babysitter and Hilton thought Caroline was taking the position of a dictatorial proletariat.  (Those were not his exact words...)  There was crying, there was screaming, there was some hitting and kicking and I had had it.  I had just written this post about my beautiful warriors that day, but I wanted them to be warriors for the truth.  I wanted them to be warriors for righteousness.  I wanted them to be warriors for peace...  I did not want them to be warriors in a civil war in our own home.  So what did I do?  I screamed!!!  I screamed at the top of my lungs!!!  I told everyone to sit down!!!  We were going to have FHE right then and there.  I took a few deep breaths and asked my very in control, very calm husband to say the prayer.  And then we had a discussion about having a home where the spirit can reside.  We talked about how the Spirit will leave our home when we are yelling and screaming and fighting.  Hilton was a little confused since he was just baptized and understood that he now had the gift of the Holy Ghost and did not understand how or why He would leave.  At first, Hilton just laid on the floor mumbling under his breath, occasionally kicking one of us...  But by the end, he had decided it was worth participating.  Caroline cried a little because she knew she had been the cause of a lot of contention lately.  Even Lorelai said she knew the house is happy when the Holy Ghost is here.  I feel like it was a great discussion and a way better lesson than the one I had prepared about responsibility...  (Which I am saving for next week.)  And in the past few days, there has been less contention in our home.  There has been a lot less drama.  The kids are working really hard to keep the Spirit here.  Last night Caroline was yelling about something and Hilton said, "The Holy Ghost is going to leave our house if we keep yelling."  Boy did that shut her up!  Lorelai has been praying at every meal that her brother and sister will be nice to keep the Holy Ghost in our home.  It has only been a couple of days, but it has been nice.


And I read the responses from all of my friends...  and I see that I am really not alone.  I know I said this in the last post, but sometimes I really don't believe it.  I think that I have got to be the worst mom ever.  I read other friends' blogs about all of the fun activities they did with their kids and the clothes they made them and the amazing organic meals they make them and the well-thought out and planned Family Home Evenings they have and how smart their kids are being in this AP class and that advanced program and how their children are reading to them while they are nursing them and how they are doing formula's for NASA on the side and being potty trained before they can walk...  I think that I am definitely the worst mother ever.  My daughter still needs me to wipe her bottom every time she goes potty...  she still sucks a binki!!!  We are having leftovers for dinner tonight...  I have a pile of clean laundry on my bed right now that needs to be folded.  Our downstairs has toys and pillows everywhere and our upstairs looks like FAO Schwartz threw up in it...  Our dog needs to be bathed, we are almost out of milk, my hair is a mess because I did not dry it after I washed it, I am wearing sweats, I ate a Totino's pizza for lunch, I would much rather be reading a book than getting dinner ready right now and I am sitting here writing this blog... 

But I have found out that I am not alone in all of this.  Whether you have 3 kids or 7 kids, if you are a mom, you totally get it!  You know that it is really hard to raise children right now.  You know that you want them to be righteous, Christians who are independent thinkers, but who are obedient to the commandments.  You know that you want them to be compassionate and good and polite.  But you also want them to stand up for truth and righteousness and not anyone push them around and tell them they are wrong for their opinions even if they are a little conservative or a little liberal.  I want my kids to be the ones who look for the people out there who are outsiders and who need a friend, and I want them to say, "I am going to be nice to them.  I am going to accept them."  This is what I want.  This is what I know all of you want.  Or at least some version of this. 

I am going to work at it.  I feel like I won a small battle Monday night.  But the war is far from over.