A School Lunch Story

When I saw today's comic For Better or for Worse I laughed and laughed because it reminded me of a real life episode in this former school lunch lady's career.

Back in the "old days" in school lunch we made most of the food on site, from scratch. Including the bread. And during this period in my career I started my job at 6 AM at a school about 50 minutes away. So that meant that I had to leave home in the winter before the radio station announced the school closings for bad weather. This particular day I made it all the way into the school and so did my assistant despite horrible freezing rain that coated the roads with ice. We had a discussion about what to do but since school hadn't been called off we started the day's menu. Including the bread. All the while we were worried about the weather and how we would get home if our day was canceled. So of course as soon as we had the bread rising we got the call that we could go home. We had a discussion about what to do with the bread dough - we wanted to get back on the road as soon as possible before the roads got any worse and so we made the decision to put the whole bowl into the freezer and deal with it later. Now we're talking about a lot of bread dough. My memory is fuzzy but I think we used to use at least 30 pounds of flour in each batch. A lot of bread dough. I bet you can guess what happened. The next day when we got to school we couldn't believe what we saw. That dough took long enough to freeze that it had time to rise and overflow onto the floor of the freezer where it then froze into a large immovable lump. The custodian got out his ice chipper and it took a long time to chip away the frozen dough even with his help (and teasing). We needed that bowl to make that day's batch too - so the bread was late in getting started for the day. And it took a long long time to live down the "thing that ate the freezer" stories.

And just because every post needs a picture - here's one of Abigail "walking" her baby doll.

Two Years Ago Today

My Dad died two years ago and I still miss him. Funny how anniversaries bring events and people to mind. Really, today is just another day in June but to me it isn't. About this time two years ago today we were gathered around Dad's deathbed singing Amazing Grace as he left us to go to heaven. I still can't sing that hymn without tears.

Dad was a gentle soul, a wonderful father and a faithful husband to my Mom. He had a grace about him even during trying times. He was a WWII and Korea vet, he served in the Navy working with radios and radar. He was a smart man, he went to college when he got out and became an electrical engineer and worked on computers when they were first beginning. But most of all, he was our father. I still catch myself thinking I've seen him when I see an old man from the back that walks like he did or stands like he did. Or I remember him when I hear music that he liked or go to an event that he would have liked. I wish I had spent more time with him when he was alive, I wish that I would have had him over for dinner more often. Towards the end he was disoriented and confused but he sure loved to eat! I know I'll see him when I get to heaven but for now all I have are the memories.

Thanks Amy

I'm a lucky Mom. My daughter Amy knit an awesome shawl for me - it took her a year to do it! She told me that she wanted to knit something for me and I suggested a shawl. She thought it was a good idea since she didn't think that she'd ever wear one and she'd been wanting to make one. Heh. I gave her a pattern and yarn and she agreed. I did warn her that it was a hard pattern but she's never been one to back off from a challenge! She reminded me a few days ago on the phone that this was her first lace project!! She also admitted that she had a very hard time parting with it. I can see why, but I'm very glad she did!

So here I present - Sivia Harding's Shetland Garden Faroese Shawl, made by Amy. Wow! And Thanks.

Spinning with a Bunny

I told the group at knitting this afternoon about this and they wanted me to post this picture that I took at the Shepherd's Harvest Sheep and Wool Festival . It was really a cool thing to see. The bundle of fur in her lap is an angora bunny and she's just spinning directly from the it! The bunny was happy to oblige. Oh, and I asked, his name is Spot. This was the only picture I took at Shepherd's Harvest - I remembered my camera just as we were leaving. Camnesia - forgetting that you have a camera and should be taking pictures!

Happy Mother's Day

You may have seen this before but here it is with words!

Ketchup and Diet Coke

I'm sure that our knitting group is like most others and many topics come up for discussion when we get together. A few weeks ago some of our group (I'm looking at you Miss T) were totally grossed out and appalled when this "recipe" was discussed. Apparently it's a Weight Watchers idea and several of the group vouched for its tastyness. I decided what the heck, I'll try it. So I mixed 12 oz. of diet Coke and 1 cup of ketchup together and poured it over chicken breasts and boiled it all until the sauce was of BBQ sauce consistancy and then....we ate it! The Compadre pronounced it good and he saved the leftover sauce - he wants me to make it again!! I think that my homemade BBQ sauce is better but this is sure easier. I wonder if the diet Coke makes all the calories go away?

Guest post by Amy

I haven't been blogging much lately. I keep writing blog posts in my head and then never get around to posting them! I even told the Compadre yesterday that I'm tired of my blog!! I hope I get over it! Anyway my daughter Amy came to the rescue. Here is a guest blog post about their trip to Canada. She got to go to knit night and the Yarn Harlot was there! How cool is that - I'm jealous.

Canada, by Amy

A year ago I wrote a guest blog about my trip to the Maryland Sheep & Wool festival. Well this year we took a family vacation to Toronto, Canada instead. It was well worth it!

Day 1

Eric wanted to go to Toronto for a couple reasons and they both had to do with sports (for the record, I like sports too). The first thing we did in Toronto was go to the Hockey Hall of Fame. We could have spent all day there if we weren’t so wiped out. It was a lot of fun and Abigail enjoyed walking around (the exhibits were safely behind glass).

I wanted to go to Toronto for several reasons, the first of which was to go to the Lettuce Knit SnB. I was hoping to meet Laura of Cosmicpluto Knits (blog) and Stephanie of Yarnharlot (blog) and I met both! Of course I almost chickened out of talking to either of them, but Abigail makes it easier to talk to people. Stephanie remembered Abigail from last year when we saw her speak. I somehow managed to cast on for a toe up sock and I bought yarn in a gorgeous rust red for Laura’s B-side Cardigan. Space was tight and Abigail got cold outside so we left early, but I was still on cloud nine for the entire walk back to the hotel (at least a mile) and I think I talked Eric’s ear off. Of course, afterwards I think of all the dumb things I said or didn’t say to the people I met. Sorry mom, I forgot to tell them that you knit the sweater Abigail was wearing, not me.

Day 2

On our second day of vacation we went to the CN tower, which is the tallest building in the world. We went up to the glass floor level and looked down at the ground beneath us. Abigail was completely unfazed by it and was more interested in the cheerios I had.

Day 3

We went to the zoo, based on a lot of recommendations. It was a very long subway and bus ride, but well worth it for Abigail. She loved the tigers, the elephants and the hippos. She even tried to make the elephant noise that Daddy made. She especially enjoyed walking down the trails by herself. We really wore her out.

After she got some rest, we went to a Blue Jays game where Abigail got to run around some more. It wasn’t very crowded and we let her walk up part of the steep ramp by herself. Unfortunately, she wanted to run around during the game too and Daddy only saw half an inning.

Day 4

We were walking through the mall when we saw on a TV that the Blue Jays were in the 3^rd inning. Whoops! We had tickets to that game! We rushed back to the hotel and sure enough, our tickets said 1pm NOT 7pm like we thought. We made it to the game in the middle of the 6^th inning, which turned out pretty well. Abigail sat through several innings and then I let her run around while Daddy saw more of the game. Afterwards, Abigail got to “run” the bases, though I don’t think she thought much of Ace, the Blue Jay’s mascot.

Day 5

We’re all glad to be home. While waiting at the gate to board the plane, Abigail handed us her pajamas. We changed her and she slept the whole way home and then some more!