Adopt-a-Family

Today was the day I both look forward to and dread every year. Today was Adopt-a-Family delivery day.

Every year at SHS, homeroom classes adopt a needy family in the Kennewick area for Christmas. This is an activity that I LOVE. Each homeroom is assigned a family that is in need during the holidays. We are provided with a list of gift suggestions from the family, and then it is up to the kids to get stuff donated or purchased. Then, a week or two later, right before our Winter Break, the kids get to play Santa and deliver the gifts to the families.

It just warms my heart to see kids get excited about giving to others. Most of the time, the families that are adopted have young children. This is the first year that my class has ever gotten a family that doesn't have kids. In fact, this year, we got a single, elderly lady by the name of Phyllis. No kids at all. At first my seniors were disappointed. They like to get stuff for the little kids. I don't blame them, kids are usually the most fun to shop for. But they rallied together and decided they were going to give this lady the best Christmas she's ever had.

We spent a few minutes one morning looking at the list of things Phyllis requested and brainstorming other gift ideas. We also decided who was going to deliver the gifts. That was a fun morning. Kids were throwing out all kinds of crazy ideas. Many of the funniest came from one young man in particular: "Hey, you know how Cosmo has Cosmo Girl?? I wonder if they have Cosmo Granny?" Then, a few minutes later, he throws out this gem: "What about a brooch? Old ladies love that crap!"

One girl was adamant that whoever was going to buy the light bulbs MUST buy the Energy Star Compact Fluorescent bulbs because "they are a little more expensive, but the money you save in the long run is well worth it!"

Another young man shared that his grandma was the same age as Phyllis, and that she takes Tae-Kwon-Do lessons, did we think she might like that? Man, did we giggle that morning. But it was a great way to spend some time and do a little bonding! (Much to my chagrin and surprise, discussions of Christmas are far more popular than discussions of Hamlet. Oh well. Such is life. I'll take good discussion with kids wherever I can!)

Today, all the gifts had been purchased, and a few of my kids who finished their projects early were wrapping the gifts. Then we talked again about delivering the gifts. This is the part of Adopt-a-Family that I don't enjoy. It makes me intensely uncomfortable to go to a perfect strangers house and bring them stuff. I hate making small talk, especially with people I don't know. And what can you say in this situation? "So, tell me why you're living in city housing and needed help this Christmas?" I don't think so.

But because it is a school function, we have to have a chaperone for every 10 kids. I usually don't worry about that too much with seniors, though. I figure if they let me be in charge of 30 kids during class, I can handle a few more than 10 after school. It's a class bonding event, and I think it's important that I am there to share in the experience with my kids. I could just hand it over to a parent, but then I think both the kids and I lose out. So I suck it up every year and volunteer to "chaperone" and hope that some of my more outgoing kids sign up to help deliver. This year was looking promising. Four of my most boisterous and outgoing kids were going to go! Then, this morning, those four and two others all backed out on me.

I was so disappointed in them. I don't know why they backed out, but they did. While I was saddened by those six, I was thrilled with two of the young men in my class who stepped forward and picked up the slack. Instead of a merry group of 8, we were down to 4.

After school our class representative (the only one who didn't back out!), and the two fabulous young men who stepped up met me in my room, and we carried gifts out to their cars. Because it was just the four of us, we decided to drive separately so we could just leave from Phyllis' house to go home.

Somehow I was elected to be the leader of our little caravan, and we set off. It's sort of heartwarming how much faith they have in me...little do they know that I could get lost in a paper bag! While it's heartwarming, it's pretty scary at the same time how much trust they blindly put in me. But no worries, J was at home today so I called him really quick and had him MapQuest our route for me! Luckily it was in an area close to my home, so I was pretty confident I could get us there with no trouble.

When we arrived, there was another group there delivering to a family in the same building. We followed them after they got buzzed in, and then waited for the elevator. My kids were so cute. They are polite at school, but their manners kick into overdrive as soon as they leave the building. I've never had so many doors opened for me in my life!

The kids who came with me are seniors, and you would think they'd be confident and independent, but they were crowded around me like they're shy or something. (Come sit in my second hour class for 5 minutes and you'll know, they're NOT shy kids!) They were looking at me to be the brave one, even though I was dying on the inside. It's amazing what you can do when you put your mind to it, though, so I led the way.

I knocked on Phyllis' door, and when she opened it we said "Merry Christmas!" Man, as much as I hate going to strangers' houses, I'm not gonna lie - it's pretty gratifiying to see how amazed people are by a little bit of kindness. Her eyes welled up, and she said thank you about a million times. Then she wanted to know "you kids' names." The kids introduced themselves, and I introduced myself as their teacher. (I love it when people are surprised when I say I'm a teacher! It won't be very much longer that I look young enough to surprise them.) She complimented me on my fine young kids. It was nice for them to hear that, and I liked being able to brag on them for a bit right in front of them.

She was very grateful and appreciative. We made small talk for a few minutes, and then I tried to make excuses so we could leave. One of my poor kids is sick, and Phyllis smokes. As soon as we walked in, I knew he was going to be miserable the entire time we were there. His eyes were red and watery, and his nose started to run almost immediately, but he was a trouper. Right as we were getting ready to leave, though, the girl said, "Oh! I forgot the card in my car. Why don't you come with me? We'll be right back, we're just going to run to my car to get the card our whole class signed."

Crap. Now what am I going to do? I've got this great big giant of a kid (he is 6'6" and more than 200 pounds) who doesn't feel good, is attached to my hip, and hasn't opened his mouth other than to introduce himself, and the other two are ditching us. I've already used my quota of small talk up, and now I'm going to have to lead this discussion for the next five minutes or more. I really don't like this. But there's no way I can leave a student alone, and I can't have the young lady go to her car by herself, so I'm stuck.

Somehow I managed. The football player and I survived dreaded small talk with a very kind stranger, and as soon as the other two got back I said goodbye and led them to the door. Phyllis said thanks one more time, and wanted hugs from each of us, and then we were on our way.

Overall, it was a good experience, and I'm so proud of my kids my heart is just bursting. I'm proud to know such a fine young lady and young men. This is one of those memories I'll hold on to and bring out on those days I look at kids doing dumb things and wonder what the future is going to be like. The world can't be all bad with these three (and the others like them) in it.

Life is good, and I have much to be thankful for.

Heritage Recipe Collection

I've already talked about how crafty my MIL is, and how amazing. She really is, though I haven't found the right words to describe her. I used to refer to her as the "Martha Stewart of the South" which was fairly accurate for a while. Then Martha had to show her shady, evil, control-freak, bitchy side, and shatter all my illusions. But I could still refer to MIL as the "Martha Stewart of the South, only she's nicer than Martha."



Then good 'ol Martha went to prison for insider trading. Dammit, now I have to find another way to describe my MIL. Now references to Martha are not flattering at all.



In a recent post (Grandma Clara's Tea Cups), I showed off some artwork my MIL gave me. I also mentioned the recipe book she gave me in that post. This post is dedicated to that recipe book. It's a marvelous collection of family history. I've learned SO much about my husband's family while perusing the pages. It's fun.



Basically, Mom has been collecting family recipes, and creating scrapbook pages that include the recipe and the story behind the recipe. There are often pictures of the people, too. When H, my SIL, got married, Mom gave her a copy of the recipe book. I was SO jealous! My mom is awesome, but she doesn't do that kind of stuff. I was sad that I wouldn't have a piece of family history like that. When J and I got engaged, it never even crossed my mind that since I was joining the family I would be worthy of such a treasure. So when I received my very own copy in the mail right before a shower my friends threw for me, I cried. Literally. I was SO excited.



I look forward to the new additions every year. They are my favorite gift. Last Christmas (or maybe it was for my birthday), I was stunned when I opened it and found one of MY family recipes!! J and I hosted Thanksgiving for both of our sets of parents last year, and I made an egg nog pie using my maternal grandma's recipe. J's family loved it, and Mom H. asked me for the recipe. So I sent it to her. And she made me a page. How cool is that?? She keeps the original, and the rest of us get color copies.

Here are a few of the pages from the recipe collection.

Mom makes these cookies around Christmas usually. It's a great recipe, and an easy way to mass produce cookies for the neighbors!



One of Mom's first recipes from when she was a kid.



C takes the idea of a simple recipe to the extreme!



Television watching is just not the same during the holidays without Dad's famous T.V. Trash! (We've already been informed he's planning to make it this week before we arrive!)




And, last but not least, here's my Grandma Jene's Egg Nog Pie recipe!!


These are just five of more than 70 recipes in the best recipe collection on the planet. That woman is amazing! Though I have an incredible piece of history and a fantastic piece of art, I am still without a pithy phrase to describe my MIL and her mulitude of talents. Any suggestions??

It's bacon...sort of, but not really

Have you ever heard of Bacon Salt? If not, you are missing out. It's amazing! It is zero calories, zero fat, kosher certified, vegetarian seasoning salt that makes everything taste like bacon. No joke. It's AWESOME!

Apparently there were two guys, Justin and Dave, who both love bacon. Some may say they have an unnatural obsession with it. They put their heads together and came up with the idea of Bacon Salt. Some hard work and a bit of time later, they have three flavors available online and in many retail locations.

I first heard about it from my sister-in-law about a month and a half ago. She is a student at UW, and one of her roommates works at the Bacon Salt distribution center. (I'm not positive, but I think it's a Seattle-based company. It's manufactured in Issaquah.) C and her roommates love the stuff and use it on everything. When we went to visit her, she made sure we tried it. Now J and I are big fans, too. In fact, we got online to see where we could buy it, and there is a retail option right here in Kennewick! You're probably thinking it's sold at Safeway, or Yoke's Fresh Foods, but you're wrong. It's sold at Mirage Pool 'N Spas, of all places. (When J walked in to buy it, the guy at the counter asked how he had heard about it, so J told him. The guy helping J turned to his c0-worker and said, "I TOLD you we could sell salt here!" Can you imagine?? There's one believer at the store, and another who thinks his partner is crazy, nobody is going to buy that stuff at a pool supply store. Then J walks in solely to buy it after researching it on the web. How ironic!)

My sister is a vegetarian, and has not had bacon in close to 12 years. Of all meats, she misses bacon and roast beef the most. I can't do anything about the roast beef, but I can give her bacon back! In addition to the gift subscription to NetFlix that she requested, she's getting her very own bottle of Bacon Salt this Christmas.

The Bacon Salt slogan is that "Everything should taste like bacon." While I don't necessarily agree that everything should taste like bacon, some things should. Can you imagine the possibilities?

Bacon and eggs without the high calorie, high fat bacon?
Bacon on your baked potato without the crunchy, fake Bacon Bits?
Bacon on your salad?
Bacon flavored grilled meats?
Bacon flavored grilled cheese? (**This is a personal favorite of C and her roommates.)

Mmmm.....the possibilities are endless, really.

The website is http://www.baconsalt.com/. Check it out. The two inventors, Justin and Dave, call themselves "Bacontrepreneurs." How funny is that?

My personal favorite is the hickory, but all three flavors are great. I'll let you know how T likes it. If you try it, can you let me know??