Luck

Is this what is done for good luck?

Natural Soda

In an attempt to make more healthy choices, I selected this "natural" beverage.

Tastes like a lifesaver I once retrieved from my car floor.

Yes, I would eat a lifesaver from my car floor.  Of course, I would clean it off first in a mouthfull of diet coke.

Cleaning Elf

Arriving at work near the crack of dawn has its rewards.   Today I caught a cleaning elf.

Working in a clean environment is a blessing recognized by one that spent 28.5 years in an understaffed, sometimes ill-repaired facility.  The purchase of my own vacuum, floor scrubber, and cleaning supplies kept my little corner of the world fit for the hundreds who crossed the threshold of learning into my classroom.  Attaching points to cleaning duties, including emptying the trash, cleaning windows, and wiping the grime off walls is justified by the inventive educator.

Even after the beatings, threats, grade disputes, and then good-natured compliance, the environment in aforesaid structure pales in comparison to my current place of employment.  BYU litterally sparkles.  

How does this magic occur?  

In the black of night and bitterness of winter, the nightime elves swoop in with rags, brushes, dusters, and good cheer to prepare the spaces occupied by 10s of thousands of feet.  On occasion, I've heard their singing resonate throughout the cavernous, empty halls.  But this morning, I caught one.

As I entered from the lowest parking level I heard humming.  There bent at the bottom of 16 flights of stairs a single elf dipped a scrub brush into a bucket of water and was busily and fastideously removing the grime from the treads and grit strips, just one tiny effort reminding me of a saying that my great grandmother used to motivate the sometimes hasty worker to dig in with a little more vigor, "Clean the corners, the middle will take care of itself."

Job well done, cleaning elf, job well done.

Mini, Regular, or JUMBO

A student shared a cooking experience.  She was making regular-sized muffins.  After filling the regular-sized muffin tins, she placed the muffins in the oven and checked the recipe to see the cook time.  It said that if you were making mini muffins, reduce the cook time by 10 minutes.  If you are making jumbo muffins, to turn up the heat and cook the muffins longer.  She thought, "Gee, I'd like jumbo muffins!" so she turned up the heat and incinerated her regular-sized muffins.

Nasty Chocolate

If you are despirate for a treat and find a 2-year-old box of chocolates in the bottom of the freezer, they may just turn out to be very, very, very nasty.

After trying repeatedly to find one that doesn't taste like rancid permafrost, I may just have to discard them.....

....but I may keep trying....

Escape

266 miles south of Orem we found:

• Clear blue skies
• Clean air
• Red rocks and awesome red dirt
• Amazing architecture and design - Parade of Homes
• Bumper-to-bumper big trucks, SUVs, and rack carrying vehicles
• Loads of bicycles
• Peaceful walkways by the Virgin River
• Great food at George's
• In and out shopping
• Relaxing with my sweetie

Egg Week

In honor of Egg Week at work, I made three fried egg aprons, one for each of the instructors.

To me the fabric looks like fried eggs, to someone else, perhaps polka dots with polka dots.

Here are our recipes:
(click here)
Yummy Goodness

Here are the pictures of said recipes:
(click here)
Salivation Stimulation

It makes me happy to sew - thanks Mom.  She spent many years wiping tears as I learned the skill.