You Can Dance if You Want To

This afternoon I volunteered at Irving's afternoon dance party. This fall, the school has been focusing on positive behavior, and the dance party was a reward for how well behaved the kids have been. What a great way to end the first trimester!

Drew dressed up a bit, wearing a polo shirt instead of his regular t-shirt, but the shorts stayed. He and his friends had blast dancing to Beat It, The Electric Slide, and many other dance favorites.

Top 10 Reasons Why Oak Park's New Logo-Tagline Fail

Since I've been snarking on Facebook about this logo and other people have been blogging about it, I decided it was time to mention it here. Here's the logo...


...and my top ten reasons why it fails:

10. The Village of Oak Park preaches "shop local," but they outsourced this to Tennessee.
9. Is it a giant diaper pin...or something else?
8. It's a target for sex jokes too numerous to mention.
7. It's completely generic.
6. Ms. Linne's art students at Irving Elementary could do better.
5. We spent $65,000 for this? Really?
4. "Step out of line" has negative connotations.
3. I can see it fitting nicely between the giant razor blades that grace the Harrison Street Arts District.
2. Mixed message alert! The logo is a linear design, yet the tagline is "step out of line."
1. If you have to explain your tagline you're an epic fail.

Clearly, the geniuses who are collecting a paycheck from the Village of Oak Park lack creativity. They are completely out of touch with those who live in this community.

Out of touch village employees + out of touch out of towners = complete lunacy.

Lessons Learned

A friend of mine called with a cooking crisis. She said, “I’m 34 years old and you’d think I would know how to do this by now. You’re such a good cook, I bet you never have cooking disasters.”

Um. Wrong.

Everyone who cooks regularly has cooking disaster stories. You can always learn from your culinary mistakes, and some of the lessons are pretty darn funny. Here are some of the things I’ve learned:

*When you add three times the garlic called for in your sloppy joes, that first bite is a bit of a shocker.

*You can turn salmon purple by poaching it in Merlot.

*You can clean your oven by putting out an oven fire using flour. Once you’ve smothered the fire by scooping a couple of pounds of flour on top of the flames, just walk away for a few hours. Go to lunch. Go grocery shopping. When you return your oven will have cooled down, and you can shop vac the flour straight out of the oven. WAAALAAA!!! Clean oven!!

*When a skillet’s been in the oven at 400° for an hour, it makes that handle screaming hot. Literally.

*Never microwave Cool-Whip to thaw it. Ever.

*Planning for just one-third to one-half of a pound of turkey per person for Thanksgiving is not adequate. When the platter goes around and your hubby’s the last one served, he’ll be left holding an empty platter. He won’t be pleased. It’s best at that point to donate the turkey off your plate as a peace offering.

Name that (Beatles) Tune

Our family's collaborating on a project. We're trying to win every Beatles album that's been remastered by figuring out what 15 Beatles tunes are on an MP3 file that lasts a whole 11 seconds. That means each song snippet is about 1/2 to 3/4 of a second long. Comparing the snippet on the MP3 file with the song on kelsey's iPod helps the process. While Baird and Kelsey are the Beatles geeks in the house, I've been able to make a contribution here and there. But the lyrics are tricky. On a couple of tracks, the songs go by so fast you can hardly catch the words. Are they singing "but I" or "where I"? Hmmmmm. Passionate discussions over lyrics, rhythm and musical key ensue. And of course each one of us thinks he or she is right.
This has been a good exercise in listening to each other with an open mind and compromising where necessary.
So much music, so little time.

Pot Stickers 'n Football

This evening we headed over to M&Bree Kudo's house for a football party with real Chinese food. I really don't care much about the NFL unless the Bears are playing (and they weren't), so I joined Bree, Miss Megan and Mrs. Kudo in the kitchen to watch Chinese home cooking in action. For me, it was such fun to be the observer. I watched as Mrs. Kudo directed the next generation, giving them tips on how to coax each dish to absolute perfection.

Five Spice Fried Rice with Chinese Sausage
Stir-Fried Bok Choy with Garlic and Sesame Oil
Homemade Pot Stickers and Dipping Sauce

SNAP!

I came home from work last night to BIG DRAMA - there's an uncaught mouse in our house. Let me be clear here: I hate mice. As in, I have a profound, dibilitating fear of mice. They are not cute. They are creepy home invaders with whom I do not enjoy sharing space. There was once a dead mouse in front of our dryer. Erin found me on top of the washer screaming.

On a diffferent occasion, I was unloading groceries when I spotted a mouse caught in a trap, and its tail was STILL MOVING. I completely freaked out. I called Baird at work to tell him. In that cold, uncaring way that only a husband can muster he asked, "Do you really expect me to leave work at one in the afternoon and take care of this?" Well, when you put it that way...

I did, however, call in a favor from a neighbor and asked her teenage son to please dispose of that little piece of snap.

Every morning after the kids leave for school, I spend some time in silence. No music. No TV. It helps me focus and think about what needs to be accomplished. So today, I got the kids off to school, tidied up the back room and kitchen, grabbed my coffee and headed to the living room to sip in silence. Suddenly, a loud SNAP! broke the quiet. My stomach lurched. Snap, that SNAP can only mean one thing! I so didn't want to go into the kitchen and see a dirty gray hairball caught up in the trap. So, I managed, for about an hour, to find ways to avoid the kitchen.

I finally gathered up the courage to check it out. Oh snap! That SNAP was a rodent's way of telling me he's a smart little critter. As in, he cleaned the peanut butter right off the trap and avoided getting caught. That means he's still at large. Oh. Snap.

Lovin' My Job

I own my own business for lots of reasons. I love the flexible hours. I like being my own boss. Almost 5 years ago, when I was considering what I could do to contribute financially to our household income, it occurred to me that I should look at what I love to do, and try to make money at it. I'm a foodie with a passion to help and inspire others, and so when I investigated starting my own Pampered Chef business it seemed like a good fit. I could sell a product line I already loved, and I could incorporate my passion for good food that's easy to make.

Tonight I headed down to Orland Park to inspire my host and her friends. We had a wonderful time putting together a Jamaican Jerk Chicken Salad.

Of course I'm selling kitchen tools, but that's only part of my job. I'm also a part-time trouble shooter. I've rescued failed jello that was due to be eaten at a funeral luncheon. I've given pointers on making a better stock for chicken soup. I've helped with birthday cakes and appetizers for baby showers. I've inspired carnivorous parents to cook for their vegetarian children.

Far and away the best part of my job is the people I've had the privilege of meeting. More than anything else, I've remained friends with many of those who have hosted parties in their home. Tonight was no exception. I met T.C. through a mutual friend, but I already know that even after her Cooking Show closes, we'll keep in touch, and that's truly the best part. Did I mention how much I love my job?