Mason's Major Award

Happy Monday! How is January shaping up for you? It's been pretty darn good for Mason and I although not so much for Dave - he's been in Arkansas with the flu. As much as I love that man, I told him he can't come home until he's well. 

Mason got some really cool news, Mason has been selected to receive an award from Placer County - the Commemorative Coin Award. The recipients are personally chosen by the Supervisor for their district in recognition of either their acts of heroism, longstanding community service, or exceptional acts that have dramatically improved or impacted people's lives. WOW! How cool is this? From Mason, "I am getting my award on February 3, 2015. I still can't believe it, it's just a kitchen not saving a life or something." Thank you Supervisor Jennifer Montgomery for recognizing how hard Mason has worked and what an accomplishment it is for a 11 year old boy to raise $26,052 to put a kitchen in at his elementary school. As it turns out, the money Mason has raised will not go into renovating the actual kitchen, the school is just too old and the project was becoming more daunting by the moment. Instead, the school will be putting in a home economics room or food science lab so the students can actually learn to cook using equipment much like they have at home. Each year, the kids will learn to cook and in May, the school will host a community luncheon as a fundraiser to spotlight and show off the new culinary skills of our students. Pretty cool, huh? I'll keep you posted as to the progress so you can all see this come to fruition. 

I start back to school on the 26th and I can't wait. I love learning to use the Adobe programs for photo, publication and video creation - I love, love, love it! The other thing this year that I am taking action on is painting, yes, painting! I'll post pics of some of my work once I have one completed. I think it's so funny to hear someone say, "I just don't know what I want to do." Really? All I can think is, "I want to do this, and that, and the other thing, oh, and this, too!" I supposed it takes all kinds of kinds. 

Have an awesome week and be sure to wash your hands, and then wash them again! This flu is ugly and it's hard to beat. Just when you think you are over it, guess what? You're not! I hope you don't know this and are healthy, healthy, healthy! Big smiles! Kathy

Happy Memorial Day!

It's just another Manic Monday...on Tuesday! You all know us Partaks are a busy bunch, but this last week/weekend has been busier than usual. Mason and I have continued to work on the school kitchen project and we have a Community Luncheon coming up this Friday. The school district decided it might be a good idea to invite the community to come to the school, see the kitchen, learn about the plans, and meet the kids who want healthier lunches and to learn to cook. It is also to celebrate Mason's accomplishment of raising nearly $18,000 (of his $25,000 goal) and to share with the community how they can help - in ways other than just financial donations. Mason asked for donations from Dingus McGees, Bootleggers, Chef Gary Gilligan, and Max's Cafe. Jennifer Taggard also offered to donate some food for lunch. It is going to be a lovely luncheon, I'll be sure to take pictures and share next week.

Mason and Dave went to a game convention over the weekend and they both had a great time. I stayed home and spent some much needed time at the river but it wasn't all fun and games for me, I did lots of work, too. On Monday, I showed 8 properties and will hopefully be writing an offer tomorrow. 

Finally, over the last 3 months Mason has been in the audition process for a kids cooking competition and we learned last week that he has been selected as an alternate. We were all a little bummed but Mason took it in stride. He wrote a thank you note to the producer we worked most closely with and asked her to keep him in mind for any other kid-cook kind of projects. She said, "Absolutely!" and even encouraged him to be ready to audition next season. It was a good experience and certainly a real-life lesson in show biz and auditions - there are typically more rejections than there are jobs booked. The good news is that The Food Network Magazine will be featuring Mason's story about trying to raise money for his school kitchen in their September issue (comes out in August), so keep your eyes open for that. Right now, it's time to gear up for the fairs where Mason will be cooking and of course, some fun plans for summer vacation - lots of time at the river!

I hope you all had a great holiday weekend and if you did, thank a veteran!