The Big Easy

Today was the big Staff Appreciation Luncheon at Irving.  I spent the day with about 30 other volunteers, transforming the gym into a New Orleans-style jazz eatery.  Every single member of the Irving staff works incredibly hard throughout the year.  It was a pleasure to show them how much we appreciate them.

We served tropical depressions (hurricanes without the alcohol) for drinks

All the volunteers wore beads (but we earned them by cooking, not the traditional way!)  The teachers got their beads as they entered the gym.

 I coordinated the production and presentation of one of the appetizers, shrimp romoulade crostini.

The shrimp po' boy on the left is what we served the staff.  The shrimp po' boy on the right is what Baird ate at Mother's in New Orleands last year.  Ours rocked the house, and was the favorite main dish.

Modern Day Quilting Bee

Back in the day, quilting bees were held in order for women to work together on a project.  Women would work on their quilts, but if they were stuck at a certain point, or if they needed help to finish a quilting project on time for a special occasion, other women in the area would come help them.  Usually there was one skilled quilter in the area who would teach those less experienced.  When quilting bees were held, food and drink was enjoyed by all.  Work was accomplished.  And of course there was the social element.  Women felt less isolated when they shared work and food with each other.
Tonight I participated in what can only be described as a modern-day version of a quilting bee.  More than two dozen of us gathered at my Friend Mel's house to work on Irving School's Staff Appreciation Lunch that is tomorrow.  We assembled food, cut jazz performers out of cardboard, painted masks, ate, drank and socialized until the wee hours.  Mel has headed this committee for seven years now, and she is clearly our "skilled quilter."  While the rest of us have our head around a portion of the project, it's Mel's ability to see the big picture that allows all the pieces to come together so perfectly.
While I was sitting at a table with three other moms tearing lettuce leaves that will be part of tomorrow's Shimp Po' Boy, one of the moms remarked, "It's so great to be here working together like this.  I feel like I haven't seen anyone in months and months.  What a great way to reconnect!"
I couldn't agree more.

Say Again?

This afternoon Drew & I were playing Yahtzee.  He was going for his 3 of a kind and wanted the best score possible.  As he dropped a single die into the cup for his last roll, he looked down at it and said, "C'mon!  Get high!"

I don't think there's ever going to be another time when it'll be appropriate for him to make that statement!

My Budding Chef

There's something special about having help in the kitchen.  Collaborating with good friends and family members while making a meal makes the finished product a little more special.  Lately, Drew's been helping out a lot in the kitchen.  I love his help and I treasure these times together.

Telling Me Where to Go

Warning!  I'm cranky and irritable today, so if you're not in the mood for a rant, you may want to skip this.

Somehow, some way, for the past nine years, I've figured out how to get from my house to Irving School without directions of any sort.  The school is only a block-and-a-half from my back door, so it's not that hard.  The Village of Oak Park has apparently decided that its citizens are too directionally challenged to figure out school routes on their own, and so they decided, in their infinite wisdom, to help us out.

In an era when money is so tight that are streets are falling apart, our school district is crying poor, and the Village insists it's broke, somehow, some way, someone was able to find $15,000 to pay for signage like this to appear throughout the Village so that people will know how to find the safest way to their local school:

I know the Village used grant money to pay for most of this project, and so it was "only" $15,000 that actually came out of the local taxpayers' pockets.  I don't care that they saved more than $60,000 because they got a grant - they still spent $15K!  In my household budget, if I'm broke, I'm forced to quit spending, no matter how good the deal is that comes along.  I think the Village of Oak Park needs to learn live within its means, not spend less money than it might otherwise have because someone found grant money.  And I don't like them telling me where to go, so I may just have to return the favor.

Enough ranting for one day.

GPS Performance

Tonight at church we watched the children's choir perform their spring musical, GPS (God's Plan for Salvation).  It was a cute story about making good, godly choices on life's road.  Drew played a state trooper who pulled over the student driver when she was speeding.  In true musical form, about half his lines were spoken, and the other half were sung, sometimes in solo, sometimes in duet.  When Drew was singing the duet part with Izzy, I was amazed at how well their voices blended.

Congratulations to all the Sonshine Choir kids on a fabulous performance, and a special shout-out to Ms. Pam and Mrs. Ayres for directing such a fine production.

Awake-Over

I think the term "sleepover" is an oxymoron, especially when describing what went on at Irving School between last night and this morning.   A large group of Irving staff, students and parents spent the night in the school.  I helped chaperone.  During the choice activity time, I was in the library coordinating reading and board games.  Here are some scenes:

After a late night snack, the kids settled down in their respective rooms and watched movies.  I was assigned to supervise the the 2nd-4th grade boys.  Let me just say, when there are over thirty 8, 9, 10 and 11 year-old sweaty boys contained in one very warm tech room, the scent essence de locker room is a bit overwhelming.  The boys chose to watch the Christmas movie Elf, and one by one they starting dozing off.  There were some chaperones who fell asleep, and a few of us who stayed awake all night.

Highlights of the overnight hours included pizza ordered just after midnight; 2am apple juice run to Ultra Foods; Wii bowling at 3am; catching up with other third grade parents while listening to the first birds chirping as it neared 4am; watching the subtle changes in the sky as the inky black night slowly faded into dawn.

By 6am it was time to start brewing coffee and thinking about breakfast.  By 8:30 this morning I was back home and ready for bed.  I had a lot of fun chaperoning this year, and have decided that this event could be best described as an awake-over, not a sleepover.