I won, I won- I get to review another book

Check it out, that's my name on the winners' list:

http://sixldswriters.blogspot.com/2010/07/reunion-time.html

I will be sent a copy of Cold As Ice to read and review. I'm so flipping excited!!!

Guess what else? I'm coming up on my 100th post, and it will be a good one for sure!

The Kangaroo Pouch By Sarah Phillips Pellet

I received this book in the mail the other day:

The Kangaroo Pouch  A story about surrogacy for young children

By Sarah Phillips Pellet

Illustrated by Laurie A. Faust

Forward by Gail Taylor, Founder of Growing Generations and Fertility Futures, LLC

What a cute story! It's a very sweet approach to what can be a tough subject to explain to children. Sarah does a great job telling the story of a kangaroo family who can't have a baby on their own. The story is told by a young kangaroo named Oliver.  Little Oliver's mom offers up her pouch so that this other kangaroo family can have a baby. The book offers just enough information on the surrogacy process without being too much for a small child to understand. The pictures are darling and the story made me laugh and smile.

My children have read this book over and over throughout the weekend. It's a story that can be enjoyed even without knowing anything about surrogacy.

You can purchase The Kangaroo Pouch at Amazon.com:

http://www.amazon.com/Kangaroo-Pouch-Gestational-Surrogacy-Children/dp/1425105572/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1280100450&sr=8-1

Sarah's website:

http://www.sarahphillipspellet.com/kangaroo.html

As I've been approached by authors and as I've approached others, I've been inspired to write my own book.  But some of you already knew that....

Local fundraiser (Utah) please read

Just to clear up, I'm not in charge of this or anything.

                              I'm just spreading the word for a worthy cause.

Twas the night before hubby's birthday: a funny story

I turned on the sprinklers. I worked on my book and I played on the internet. About 40 minutes later, hubby says "You forgot to turn off the sprinklers" Oh ok, oops. I come upstairs, assuming he's turned them off.

No.

He asks me, "Are you going to turn them off?" My reply "Oh, I thought you did."

He replies, "I can't, I'm in my underwear." I say, "Well I got soaked turning them on, I don't want to get wet again."  He suggests going over the railing. I say, "But my legs are short, I can't do that as well as you can."

It's now after 11 PM. I walk out the front door and it's pitch black outside. I tell hubby, "It's dark, I can't see what I'm doing." We only have motion lights out front so he tells me to flip the switch and jump up and down in front of the sensor. I follow his instructions.

I proceed to fling one leg over the railing. I'm stuck. I can't touch ground without grabbing on to something and in previous experiences, the railing isn't very sturdy to CLIMB on or hold on to in that manner. So I am stuck in hover mode and I'm contemplating my next move.

That's when a car drives by. (please, please don't see me) It slows down. Nooooo, don't stop in front of our house. I'm thinking it either looks like I'm trying to sneak out or sneak in.

 I hear my name: "Jill, what are you doing?"
 Pure embarassment. (it's our new bishop and his cute family)  "Um, I'm trying to turn off the sprinklers, but my legs are too short." They kindly offer up their son to help me. He runs through the sprinklers and I try my best to explain how to turn them on.

They start chatting with me about my husband's birthday the next day. I think it was his wife Stace that asks how old he's going to be. Well hubby and I are the same age within months of each other so I'm thinking, well I'm 33 so he must be turning 34. I say "He'll be 34." They reply, "Oh wow he's getting old." Ha ha, funny because I know they are a few years older than us.

In the meantime my husband throws on some clothes and peeks his head out. They say, "I hear you're going to be 34." He says, "No I'm going to be 33." I say, "Did ya skip a year sweetie?" He says, "No, I was born in 77, it's 2010, I'm going to be 33."

I say, "You mean I'm only 32?" I laugh a little uncomfortably because I already felt like an idiot.

The next day in the shower, (where I do my best thinking) I think I should have said...... "Yeah my husband isn't supposed to let me out at night without my medication."

Opportunity knocked- I opened the door and let it in...(the secret's out)

In my life one thing has always led to another. Every now and then an opportunity presents itself. Every now and then I feel super duper good about it.

It all happened a few weeks ago when I got the e-mail about reviewing a book. Then I approached another author and offered to review her book. That's when it hit me- why not write my own book?

I've written poetry since I was young, around 5. I've played around with writing short stories etc. in middle school. In high school, I took a creative writing class. But since then, I didn't have inspiration to really write about anything. (other than my poems here and there)

Well all of a sudden I had 2 ideas for 2 separate stories. All I can tell you is yes, they are about surrogacy and they are children's books.

I've been working on the 1st story almost non-stop.  I'm reseraching, etc. and it's been so good for me.
Getting closer to the final product every day.  I already have an offer to review it.    :)

This is extremely exciting for me!

Everything's lining up rather nicely.

I didn't want to say anything too soon, because I didn't want to jinx it or have someone else steal my idea(s). But I'm not saying a word about my ideas... so ha.

Wish me luck...

I'm so excited I could scream... (but it's a secret, shhh)

I've been working on a super duper secret project. Not sure if I am even ready to reveal it yet. But I'm so excited, because my creativity seems to be flowing and I have researched what I'm working on, and I seem to be doing it right, which is just freaking awesome.

I know, I know, the supsense sucks!!! But I just don't want to jinx it. I have my reasons, and one day soon I'll feel comfortable enough to at least tell you the basics of the project.

In the meantime, know that I love you all....

Mormon Surrogate

P.S. My girls got a sneak peek and gave me 2 thumbs up!

Paul McCartney concert- 1st time in Utah, 1st Beatle's concert for me

I got butterflies in my tummy when I went to Will Call to pick up my tickets.(Monday, the concert was Tuesday) I had bought them online about 2 months ago. Not sure why it took me so long to pick them up. It made it so real and exciting though to have those tickets in my hands.

I couldn't believe the day had come!

My mom and I were so excited!

There's my little Beatle fan...

When we arrived, it was crazy and hectic. People were EVERYWHERE. Parking was crazy. Luckily my husband took the kids across the street to see a movie so we didn't have to worry so much. I was shocked a little though that the movie theatre parking was charging $10 to park for the event. I mean what if you couldn't prove that you were there to see a movie? I felt bad for those people who couldn't get a spot. So anyway, hubby drops us off and we have to walk down to the crosswalk and over to the Rio Tinto Stadium. Just crossing the street was crazy.

It was a hot summer night. I was sweating in my seat. Luckily by the time the concert started it had cooled down and the weather was absolutely perfect! I was able to see my dad and stepmom just a section over and down from us and my aunt and uncle

just a section over too almost same row. That was fun to see people we knew.  My mom saw people she knew too.

I checked online before hand and was so happy to see that cameras were allowed. I think I got some decent pictures. (thanks to hubby for an awesome camera he got me in Singapore when he was in the Navy) I could have gotten some better shots if the spotlight wasn't lighting up Paul's face so darn much.

They released tons of confetti at the end- too cool!

My mom went with me and she was screaming like a teenage girl seeing the Beatles for the first time. Well it was her first time seeing any of the Beatles in concert. Same here. It was just pure awesome to be in the same vicinity as Paul.

Yeah, dorky angle, but here we are... loving every minute of it.

He of course played some of his solo songs, some from Wings and some Beatles' songs. One of my favorites that he played was Let me Roll it .Another favorite is Let Em In, such a fun song. Live and Let Die was pretty freaking cool too, especially with all the pyro-technics (sp?) that went along with it.

My husband said when they got out of their movie they could hear Mrs. Vanderbilt, pretty cool since John likes that song! (Me too)

He was so cute to converse and connect with the audience and he didn't let any of us down. My mom and I couldn't believe his stamina. He just kept on rocking for 3 hours straight. It was very touching when he mentioned John and then sang the song he wrote about him after he died, Here Today. It's a beautiful song, and I know most of the audience got a little teary eyed. Then later he spoke of George and how he was a wonderful ukulele player, then he played "Something" on the very ukulele that George gave him. That was very touching. I was young when John Lennon died, but I was about 23 when George died and I CRIED! I cried when Paul's wife Linda died as well. She was such a neat lady and they were a beautiful couple.

 His voice is still beautiful and he flitted around from guitar to piano to ukulele to another guitar, etc. Maybe I'm amazed....

;-)

Dream come true for this Beatles' Fan! Paul McCartney concert tonight!

I get to go see Paul McCartney tonight. (in concert) I never thought the day would come. It's his first time ever coming to Utah. I feel like the luckiest girl. I know, it's not like I get to meet him, but still....

I became a Beatles' fan when I was about 4 years old. I remember listening to my dad's records (you know those black vinyl circles that play music) and singing along.

Then there were these cool things called Laserdiscs. (kind of like a HUGE dvd in the early 80's) One of the first laserdisc movies I remember was Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. It was a movie entirely made up of Beatles' songs. There was hardly any script, well there was George Burns as narrator.
 I of course LOVED the movie. I watched it over and over and over throughout my life. I think I realized when I was yonger that the people in the movie weren't the Beatles, but I didn't realize at a young age that in the movie, the songs were not done by the Beatles.  The were sung by the Bee Gees, Peter Frampton, Aerosmith and Steve Martin, just to name a few. So then when I would hear the same songs on record by the actual Beatles, it confused me a bit. My dad had to explain which songs were actually the Beatles. However, I love them all, the songs from the movie and the real songs by the Beatles. I was soo excited when I was able to get the soundtrack on cd. Did I confuse you yet?

Check out the movie trailer: HERE

I have also seen all the actual Beatles' movies, Help, A Hard Day's Night, Magical Mystery Tour, Yellow Submarine.

As I got a little older I fell in love with a radio program called Breakfast with the Beatles. I think there was also Brunch with the Beatles. It was every Sunday and I would tape the program religiously. Not only that, but I would call in ALL THE TIME and request songs. The DJ (Robert Lund) got to know me quite well. One time I slept over at my cousins house and we were all calling in to request songs. The DJ asked them.. do you happen to know Jill? Ha ha ha ha.. yeah I kind of had a crush on the guy. I loved his voice and he did the coolest parodies. If you live in Utah, I'm 99.9% sure you've heard him singing jingles on the radio.

Anyway, through that program I learned to love the Beatles' solo stuff. Paul seemed to have the most out there. At the age of 12 I became friends with someone who was a huge Paul fan, and we went nuts together over Paul and the Beatles. I started buying cd after cd and I just couldn't get enough.

Later on around 14 or so, I started branching out and focusing more on the remaining Beatles music as well. For awhile ALL I would listen to was Beatles music. I burned my poor parents out for awhile. And yet, they're still fans, cuz they're going to the concert tonight!

Here are some cool Paul videos:

Goodnight Tonight

Pipes Of Peace

Say Say Say with Micheal Jackson

My Brave Face

My 6 year old daughter is also a huge Beatles fan. She's been singing along to The Beatles since she was about 18 months! (No I am NOT kidding)  Her first favorite Beatles' songs were Get Back, Hey Jude and Baby I'm a Rich man. The girl's got taste! She's my little clone in sooo many ways. Here we are singing a Beatles Megamix Karaoke style about 2 years ago. And more recently, the two of us rocking out on Beatles Rock Band with Come Together.
I will blog tomorrow about the conert.   I'm soooooooo excited!

MRI= Valium (my latest health update)

Yeah, I couldn't think of a clever title. If you know me, you may remember that I've been having headaches since February of this year, pretty much every day all day. They have been getting less frequent and even went away for about a week. However, I was recently referred to a neurologist who figured it was probably best to get an MRI. SOMETHING caused these headaches, and we don't want to miss something that may need to be addressed. I agreed. Better safe than sorry, right?

Awhile back I thought I was soooo lucky, because I didn't have to get the full MRI, (I am fairly claustrophobic and have anxiety sometimes, so I could just imagine me freaking out in that little machine)  I just had to get a sinus scan.  That seemed to fit anyway... my headaches seemed very sinus headachy. Piece of cake. . But that came up clear, which sent me to the neurologist and brings you up to date.

So they called to schedule an MRI. They ask if I'm claustrophobic. Yes! Ok, then we'll give you a Valium. Yay! You will need a driver. Ok!

Well I had to find a driver and a babysitter. Not always easy to find both. But I did. My niece came out to help me clean and spent the night and watched the kids for me. I mean my kids are old enough to stay home by themselves for a little bit together... but for the peace of mind, I prefer someone older with them. My husband was able to be my driver.

Oh, but here's the catch: Hubby has to go in to work before he can take me, because he's so talented he's the only one who can do this certain thing. (pretty much) So I get to wake up extra early and go to work with him and sit in the truck for about an hour. OH JOY! Have I ever mentioned that I am not a morning person? Waking up at 5:30 AM is not fun for me.

I didn't even do my whole makeup, but it's time to go......
So we pick up his recent carpool buddy and we're off for an adventure. He drops his buddy off to get some smokes (for the buddy not for hubby) and we go to pick up ice. (hubby works in construction and dang it gets hot out here in Utah)

By the way, I tend to tell all the details, so feel free to skip ahead.

We get to the job site about 7:00 AM. At least I can listen to the radio, and YAY my new favorite song came on. (Mike Posner- Cooler Than Me) Oh my gosh, that guy's voice makes me drool.. and he's not that bad looking either.

I brought my makeup, but I never did finish putting it on.
I brought a notebook to um take notes of course... for a future project that I'm so excited about, but not mentioning to the public quite yet unless you are close family.

So I get to watch hubby at work, which was pretty cool. He was done about 8:10 and my appointment was at 9:20. We had PLENTY of time to get there and I had to pee. So we stopped by his job's main office building to potty. My goodness they have the nicest bathrooms ever!

We get to my appointment about 10 minutes early. If you know us, you'd be impressed. They check me in and I get to pay $100 towards the $200 it's going to cost me. Yay! They confirm that I'm claustrophobic, we get to sign more papers and get discharge instructions. I'm asked if I'm nervous... um yeah. It's time for my Valium. They then inform me that I get to wait 40 minutes for the Valium to kick in, my MRI won't be until 10:00 AM. Sure, whatever. Hubby and I get to watch The Price is Right. Rock on!  It was some Mother's Day special and there were lots of sons and mothers that were hugging and jumping on each other way too much. CREEPY!

They call my name and it's off to the MRI. I'm led to a locker and reminded to remove all metal. I guess it's about time I took that piercing out anyway... ha ha just kidding. I'm also told that I can go potty if I want to. I'm all over that... my goodness I've been pregnant 6 times, my bladder's not what it used to be.

Now the fun starts. They lay me down and hand me some headphones. I get to listen to music to help me relax and drown out the noisy machine. Awesome! All I remember is my favorite song comes on (the one I mentioned earlier) and I remember them talking to me. I do remember hearing the noise of the machine a little.. ugh! They told me how many times they were going to do something... I pretty much slept through the whole thing and then at one point I must have twitched, I didn't even remember where I was and they're telling me, we have to do that again, you moved. Oops.

They help me up, take me to my locker and lead me back to my husband. I'm feeling all kinds of loopy. All I wanted to do was go home and crash. Yeah, try to sleep with 3 kids running around the house. Hubby had to go back to work. I felt loopy and kind of nauseous for the rest of the day. I feel like that after the dentist too. I hate it. But I'm so glad I made it through the MRI. I didn't care for the after effects, but the Valium helped me through what could have been a very uncomfortable situation. Now I get to wait a week for results.

Thanks for sticking with me through this long ramble.

Our holiday weekend... Hope you all had a wonderful 4th of July!

This post got put off, since I wanted to be prompt with my review... so here ya go...
(Last weekend obviously)


We had a crazy weekend with my 10 year old daughter getting sick with a kidney infection. However, inbetween her antibiotics that gagged her and her sleepiness/throwing up phases, she had some energy every now and then.

She doesn't complain much, so when she said she had hip pain, we kept an eye on things. When she started throwing up at a funeral, we knew we better take her to urgent care. Her fever was 101 and we were told she had a UTI and she had thrown up 3 times by then. They gave her a shot to help the nausea and we were sent to the ER to get an IV with fluids and antibiotics since they figured at this point it was probably a kidney infection.

Since I document almost everything...Here are some pics at Urgent Care:

*stay with me till the end please*

We get to the ER and she threw up in the parking lot... #6. Her temp is 103.9. They hooked her up to an IV and gave her some motrin, Rocephen and fluids. She slept most the day. It took them awhile to get her temp down.We were finally able to go home around midnight.

Feeling a little better.

She is such a sweetie. She's my best friend. I love the relationship we have, and I hate seeing her hurt or sick. She's been holding my hand all weekend. I love it! I'm so glad to see her perking up a little more each day. We were able to take her to a parade on Saturday.

We got airbrushed tattoos.

We took fireworks to my mother in law's sunday. She even got to light a few.

First we roasted marshmallows.....

 

Now that's it's a week later, you'd hardly notice she was sick. YAY!