Last night I got the distinct honor to meet L. Scott Caldwell.  She is in the movie that is filming here in Jacksonville so Glen and I got to pick her up from the airport.

It was especially neat because Glen and I are very big fans of her on LOST.  She plays Rose on that show and her character has a lot of faith.  Anyway, we got to enjoy some good conversation on the way to the hotel. 

I also got to go to the see Glen on the set yesterday where it was the first full day of filming.  Mel and I ran a jacket out to him because although this is Florida, we have been having some unusually cold weather.  As we pulled up to the Women's Correctional Institutional we approached a huge rig with police escort.  The flat bed consisted of an old pickup truck, lights, camera and a large crowd of grips, producers and the director.  It was really cool.  The big rig was pulling this massively odd flat bed while they shot a scene of the two actors in the truck.  I don't get star struck, but it was exciting to see what Glen was getting to participate in.

Today they are shooting at the county court house and my parents are actually extras in the court room.  It will fun to see the end product.

Well just thought I'd fill you in on what is going on.  I knew that Keira would appreciate my midnight run to the airport.  And Keira, just so you know; Mrs. Caldwell gave me a hug goodbye and said she hoped to see me on the set.  Thought you should know that.

 

Just in case you were wondering...

I thought I'd give you a brief update on what Glen has been doing over the last week. He went into the production office Tuesday at 6 am. He went location scouting with some of the producers to the airport and courthouse. On Wednesday he began working in the office recruiting extras for a lot of the scenes they will be filming in the next few weeks. We have contacted almost everyone we know in Jacksonville to see if they want to be in the movie. It's been fun connecting with old friends and a lot of people are excited about being a part of this great movie. Glen is learning a lot about what it takes to put a movie together and has met some really interesting people.

On Wednesday night he had to shift gears (literally) and jump in his Cadillac Escalade and go pick up Mira Sorvino from the airport. Besides working as the "Extras' Coordinator" he is also Mira's personal assistant. She came in at midnight with her 3 year old, 18 month old and cat. She has been in several movies and is an Academy Award Winner. They have an opportunity to talk a little bit and I guess in conversation, she learned about us having 4 kids and mentioned to Glen that I should go on a playdate with her and her kids. Not sure if she meant it or not, but we'll see.

Anyway, he has been working long hours and enjoying all that he is doing. We have been surviving not seeing him, but we miss him. We are spending lots of quality time with grandma, grandpa, Uncle Nick, Aunt Charlotte, Uncle Daniel, Auntie Mel, Uncle Craig, Steven and Philip. We are enjoying ourselves.

So there it is. I'll try to keep you posted.

The Long Lost Journal

A few years ago I gave my best girlfriend a cool leather binder and wrote in the first few pages about how I would like us to fill all the pages with wonderful memories of our friendship. Soon after I gave it to her I forgot it and so did she she.


I've mentioned that I am staying with her while we are in Florida and this morning Evan walked into my room and handed me this bright green journal and said "Auntie Mel told me to give this to you." I looked at it and told him to give it back to her, that it was hers. So my obedient child (most of the time anyway) walked back into the kitchen and gave the book back to her. A minute or so went by and he was back. "Auntie Mel say to read it." I did and would like to share a portion of what she wrote with you.


Dear Tavia,

This journal has been sitting on my bedside table for over two years. You are resolved from not reading "The Boy who cried Wolf" (another lesson for another day) because I just opened this and found what you wrote. I never knew you wrote anything in it to me. I was saving it for when I had something important to write. I picked it up this morning to start writing letters to Philip in it...I honestly didn't realize that you gave it to me with the intention of us writing back and forth to each other. I'm sorry! It is such a lovely journal and I really wanted to save it for something special. You know, isn't that kinda how life is? We don't do something or attempt something because we are waiting for the "perfect moment." I usually end up missing that moment completely or my expectations are not met because I've over thought the moment. We end up missing the good stuff because we try to control the outcome too much. I guess I finally get the saying, "JUST DO IT!" It is like the old, "I can't start my diet today because it is Wednesday. I have to wait until Monday," when in the meantime I could have lost a pound or two. What is wrong with that picture? Saving the "cute" outfit to wear just to put it on and find out the baby has outgrown it. Saying to a friend, "We MUST go to lunch. I want to spend time with you," and then six months go by before you even call them again.
Shouldn't we just start jumping in without worrying about what is under the water sometimes?...I hope we fill every page of this book. The last one to die gets to be buried with it!!

Mel

I hope we fill in the pages with spontaneous moments and new adventures. I want to jump in, take off, let go. What about you?

Small Surprises along the way...
Today Evan and Jaron rode along as we took Glen over to the production office. As we were approaching the building Evan said he saw a turtle.

"Yeah, sure...right." Jaron said. But Evan was addiment that he had. Sure enough as we pulled back onto the main road there he was a pretty large turtle on the side of the road. I just happened to have put my camera in my purse this morning so Evan and I jumped out and ran over and took his picture.

I tried to be the homeschool mom and come up with some scientific lesson to have with the kids, but since I'm a rookie nothing significant came to mind, so we just enjoyed him. Speaking of homeschool, yesterday was our first official day. I set out to accomplish a lot and for it to be this incredible experience. And although for the most part, the kids did very well, I found myself thinking several times, this is a lot of work and requires a lot of patience. I was feeling very appreciative to the boys teachers and thankful that they get to go to such a wonderful christian school. As our school day came to the end, Jaron turned to me and said, "thanks mom, this is fun." It melted my heart. What a great opportunity I have to spend this special time with my boys.

It's a done deal...

I said as we were 25 miles outside of Jacksonville, Florida late yesterday evening. Glen and I looked at each other and said for the 100th time, "I can't believe we're doing this?" God is good...all the time. I've learned to say that over the years in the worst of circumstances and in the best (with tears streaming done my face in either case).

Neither of us would have imagined spending a month in Jacksonville with family and friends, much less Glen working as a production assistant on a feature Christian Film. But here we were on the brink of this adventure feeling excitement and a little bit of anxiety.

Glen faces the unknown with anticipation and gusto, I; on the other hand try not to face change at all. Even good change is hard for me. I don't know if its the mom in me or the fact that I've not typically been the "glass half full" kinda girl. I knew I was excited about the thought of being home for a month, but the physical part of getting us all ready to go made my brain go in a tizzy.

But the preparation was over and now we were here. We slowly approached mom and dad's house...we turned the headlights off and pulled in to the left of their house. On Wednesday I told Dad that the boys had come up with something for his birthday and we would send it soon. As we stood in the darkness of night, I reached for my cellphone and called my dad. I asked him if the package had arrived yet and he answered no. "Oh, I said. That's strange, I sent it overnight. Let me check on it and I'll call you back." (The kids giggling in the background.) We scurried around the house like a pack of possums (that's for Glen) and rang the doorbell. I could hear my dad say, "who could that be" and thinking "in a million years he wouldn't guess us". The door opened and in a grand rendition of "Happy Birthday" we delivered his birthday package.

God is good all the time. In the bad and in the good. In the big and in the small. The look on their faces was worth the anxiety I had felt. This is what life is all about.

The Lion and the Mouse

You just never know where life's path is going to take you next...  Just seems like it was yesterday that we were returning home to Jacksonville for a visit (opps, I mean two weeks ago) and here we are again gearing up for the next big adventure and for a whole month this time.

Before I tell you the details, I have to begin with what blows my mind the most about this trip.  Whenever Glen and I get the opportunity to vocalize our dreams together, (which usually happens in the wee hours of the morning when you have four children) we dream BIG, or at least we thought we did.  Those of you who know us, imagination and creativity seemed to flow in our household.  The funny thing is, God's grace extends beyond our wildest imaginations.  It seems that this time around God decided to give us both a blessing at the same time.  He has allowed Glen to fulfill one of his lifetime dreams and it happens to take place where I dream to spend some quality day-in, day-out time with the people I care about the most.

Glen will be working as a production assistant on a Christian Film being released in theaters Easter 2009.  They are filming in Jacksonville, Florida,  my hometown.  In the past Glen has the opportunity to go to different places to do a similar thing, but the timing was never right.  The timing is now right and the place is perfect.  

You may be asking yourself, "How do you just pick up everything for a month and go?"  This is something completely out of the box for us, but life is short and we felt like this was a perfect opportunity for Glen to minister in a different setting.  It is only by the grace and support of our incredible church family and christian school.  We are taking a partial sabbatical/vacation and going for it.  Logistically, things have worked out so well and people have been excited for us, which has just fueled our excitement about the whole thing. 

So two weeks after getting home, we have repacked everything up and are headed back to Florida.  While Glen spends time "on the set", I will be homeschooling the boys and enjoying the wonderful company of my family.  Which by the way have no idea we are coming. HA!! How much fun is that?  It was my dad's birthday on Wednesday and we told him we had a package for him, he just doesn't know it is us.

Don't worry, we're not staying with them, but with my best friend; Melodie.  We have seriously joked about living in a compound together, so this is the first step in seeing if we'll drive each other nuts.  You know she's your best friend when she has said it's ok for Glen and I, our 4 kids and a puppy to stay with her family.  It will be one big happy circus. (Too bad she hates clowns!)

I know some of you must think we are crazy and I'd have to answer that we are a little.  But you only live once and sometimes we get so wrapped up in the routine that we forget to dream.  We've decided to go off the beaten path, to stop and smell the roses and enjoy this journey we are on.