So busy with not much to say!

So, I haven't posted for a few days, which is not normal. The other not normal circumstance is that we have been SO VERY busy, and yet, I don't have much to post about. Here are a few tidbits though.

Mahan Family Biggest Loser Competition
I had a dream about The Biggest Loser, the show, and thought it would be fun to have a competition that would allow my family to participate in our own competition through the summer. This is Week 1. I will post a little blurb about the winner each week as the competition progresses. GOOD LUCK ALL!

Summer Plans
We are working on when our vacation will be. Sometime in July is what we know for sure. We just aren't sure WHEN exactly in July. It looks like we will be driving, so look for a tired Nick and Jen to be rolling into Denver, Casper, and Montrose in July.

See...I told you I didn't have much to post about. I need some food and a nap right now! Happy summer!

A job...and then there were none.

I had such a strange expereince today. I was offered a job, but not. See, I interviewed yesterday for a position with the city of Fort Worth. It was a position that essentially was the admin support and go to for the cities 19 summer camps. Those of you that know me know that I run a mean summer camp. This position would be a totally new experience for me and probably a really great chance to learn some new skills. The job would run through the summer--all the way to September. Knowing that this may be a problem IF, in fact, I get a full time teaching job, I went ahead and applied and interviewed. It went well, but I figured that wanting to be gone for a week, and not being able to promise that I would be available until September 1st would be a problem. It was!
I got a phone call today, and was offered the job--kind of with the requirement that I would agree to be there for the duration and cancel or shorten or reschedule our travel plans. Okay, maybe I am being unreasonable about the travel plans (except I have been very homesick and I haven't been to Denver since Kristie's baby shower in November--I miss my friends!), but if I get a job, I would have to start that in August. I don't think they are being unreasonable in their request to have someone who would be always available either. There is lots and lots to do, and the position already has a deskful of stuff to do. I hope they find someone who is right for what they need, and I will continue to search, search, search for a teaching job.

Book #19

The Help

By: Kathryn Stockett

I love this book. It is absolutely amazing! Here is a story about three ordinary, Southern women who join forces to create something extraordinary. The setting is perfect, 1960's Jackson,  Mississippi, where the lines between black and white are still very clear. The lines between women and men and upper and lower class are also very clear. The author writes from three different perspectives, and each character has a distinct and important part to play. I always feel that writing a novel from several perspectives is risky business because one character still stands above the rest. This is not the case with the characters in The Help. Skeeter is supposed to be the model of what a Southern lady should be, but she has returned home from Ole Miss with a degree and a desire to do something more than tricking a man into marrying her. She wants to write, and she is feeling restless. She applies for job with a prestigious publisher in New York, and while she is highly under-qualified for the position, she does get a phone call and an offer to look at some of her writing ideas. After her ideas get laughed at, she comes up with a brillant, but dangerous, plan. As Skeeter particiaptes with all her friends in their high society games, she becomes more and more discontent with what she sees, so she wants to tell the story of the maids of Jackson, Missippi. The colored women who clean their houses, raise their children, and sacrifice their lives for the comforts of the white families they serve.

Abileen has worked with the families of Jackson, Mississippi her whole life. She works for Miss Skeeter's friend, and she in very uncomfortable with the way that Miss Skeeter wants to talk to her. First the talk is about what happened to Skeeter's family's maid, Constantine, and then Miss Skeeter has a crazy idea for a book and wants to know Abileen's story. With a little coaxing from Skeeter, and a few instances of racial hate crimes, Abileen agrees to tell her story. She writes down everything, from all the children she raised to the day her son was killed and her world turned gray forever. The problem is that Skeeter needs at least a dozen maids to write her book, and Abileen can't convince anyone to participate. She works and works and works on her friend, Minny, who finally agrees. 

Minny is SASSY! She tends to get fired from her jobs for mouthing off too much. She is full of opinions and shares them without even thinking. She loses her job after playing a cruel joke on her employers daughter, Miss Hilly, who happens to be a powerful and influential woman since she is the President of the Junior League. Minny is able to find a job on the outskirts of town with a woman who is an outsider and therefore, not welcome in Jackson. As these women work together to tell their story, the tension in the town is building. Eventually, Skeeter gets enough women for her book, and the shock that it send through the town is outrageous. And, this is just the tip of the iceberg! There is lots that happens and lots to make a person think! It has been a long time since I have read a book to make me think like this one! I throughly enjoyed it from beginning to end. It would make a great Book Club book...if only I was in a Book Club.  

Uncle Nick

We are happy to report that Uncle Nick has officially been introduced to his niece! He is totally in awe of her and every little thing she does. Much like the rest of us. I am glad to be together again, and I am feeling those baby tugs when I watch him with her. He is really cute with her. Oh, happy days!

Book #18

The Titan's Curse

By: Rick Riordan

Let's be honest. I was totally hesitant to read these books. I was! First, because I really didn't understand what they were about; then, because I was afraid of what they would do to Mythology. Having had the absolute joy to teach a semester elective of Mythology for a few years, I sometimes feel like bringing those myths that I love so much into a present day setting is almost sacrilege! Obviously, I have gotten over that. I have now read through book four (this is book three--I am WAY behind on my postings), and I am a Percy Jackson fan! 

The Titan's Curse was a great adventure from beginning to end. I am so glad that I got into this series after all the books were written! This way I can run to the store and pick up the next one immediately. I am currently reeling from the fourth book having finished it not 20 minutes ago, so forgive me if this post is flighty and unfocused. 

Here, however, are the Top Five reasons why I love Percy Jackson:

1. He is absolutely adorable. He totally doesn't believe in himself, but he pulls through every time! This makes him absolutely adorable in my mind. I think that some of my favorite students were those kids who never really believed in their own abilities and genius! 

2. Percy loves his mom. Okay, so I know that in most YA Lit novels, the parental figures don't play a HUGE role. This is really no exception, but I love the way that Percy's mom quite simply loves and supports him unconditionally. She is a wonderful woman, and it is no wonder Poseidon fell for her. 

3. Annabeth. I know, I know. She isn't Percy, but he would not be who he is without her, and she needs him just as much. They are the best of friends, and even if they never become the couple it seems they are destined to be, they will always have each other. 

4. He is smart and resourceful. Not in a conventional way, but heroes hardly ever are. 

5. Percy Jackson is kind and generous, and I hope that his fatal flaw NEVER catches up with him. 

Just read this series. I promise there will be no disappointment.   

UPDATE!!

I realized that while I raved about Percy Jackson, I didn't really write about the book, so I will briefly do that here. The Titan's Curse introduced us to some really great new characters. I instantly loved Artemis and her huntresses. Not because I am a man hating lady, but because I loved the power and friendship they shared with one another. I also like the introduction of Bianca and Nico--Hades children. I kind of felt sorry for the guy, but I always feel sorry for Hades. I love him. He is a better god than anyone ever gives him credit for. The lessons they learn, and the prices that some of them pay broke my heart, but I loved the way in which the lives of those characters lost were honored. RIP Zoe and Bianca. You served your goddess well!

Oh, the places I have been

Apparently I have been no where. I found this link to create a map of all the states you have visited on a writers blog that I follow (Paperback Writer) and I was curious. We all know I have never left the United States--never even been to Mexico--but I don't think I even realized how little I have traveled. I am thirty, and I have only seen 36% of this great country in which we live. I have seen nothing of the world. Always wanted to, just never have. There just doesn't seem to be the time or the resources, and NOW...sigh! Let's just pray that I find a summer job.

18 states (36% of the US) Let's be honest--some of them, I only drove through or was in in airport. Sad!

Book #17

The Hunger Games

By: Suzanne Collins

Once again, I have read this book before. This time it was a special treat because I got to read it again with Nick. Okay, let's be real...I read it TO Nick. My hubby is not a reader, but he has always loved being read to. When he and I lived in different cities, I read to him over the phone. This time, I read to him before we turned out the light each night. I knew that Nick would love this book, and I would recommend it to just about ANYONE! As usual, from my teacher standpoint, it is a book that will draw in readers of all levels and genders. 

Ah-hem! Let me get on with it:

Katniss Everdeen lives in North America way in the future where we have all fought for the last of the resources, and managed to become a country full of a government and people that today, we despise. The Capitol is in control, and to remind the people who live in the outlying Districts that they are large and in charge, the Capitol hosts The Hunger Games every year. One boy and one girl from each of the 12 districts is selected to go and compete in a competition where each contestant tries to kill the others in an arena built by the Gamemakers that also challenges the survival skills of the contestants. It could be a desert or a frozen wasteland or woods or by the sea. One cannot escape it, however. The only way to get out is to either be killed or win. 

Katniss is from District 12. A poor, coal-mining, district, and the furthest from the Capitol. She hunts with her best friend, Gale, to support their families despite the fact that it is illegal. Her father died, and she takes care of her mother and her younger sister, Prim. Prim will be entered into the drawing for the first time this year because she is 12. Katniss' name is in several more times because she can enter her name once per family member every year in exchange for extra supplies. Gale's name is in there even more, and they are both nervous for the ceremony. 

Prim's name is in once, but against all odds, her name is drawn and without even thinking about it, Katniss volunteers to go in Prim's place. The boy going is Peeta Mellark, and they get on a train headed for the Capitol in what is sure to be a wild and frightening ride. 

This...is all I am going to tell you. There is so much more that happens, and the Games are both bloody and touching, sad and loving. Just read it. I will post a picture later when I can take one with Nick in it. 

Read it! Seriously.