Blue Devils vs. Blue Hornets

Last night MRH beat the Northwest Blue Hornets. It was our last home game of this season. Man, it was COLD! I was pretty bundled up but it took me over an hour to stop shivering after I got home. I made Julianne cuddle with me. It helped a lot! The newspaper predicted, based on all kinds of stats and probabilities, that the Hornets would beat us 42-0 (or something like that). Nobody scored at all until almost the end of the third quarter and that was it. It was a good game and there was certainly no reason for either team to be embarrassed. What a bunch of thugs! Apparently the first hint of trouble came before I got there when the teams were warming up. I don't know what happened exactly but Julianne said that there were coaches and cops pulling players off of each other. Our cheerleaders always take turns going in pairs into the stands to sell 50/50 raffle tickets during the game. Our cops stopped the girls from going into the part of the stands where the other fans were. They let a couple go but promised to "keep an eye on them". No--they weren't even a little bit weirded out by that! When J & I were walking through the parking lot to walk home the whole Hornet team was there supposedly waiting to "shank" our team. That's what I heard from other folks. They were stopped from slashing our bus tires and keying cars. I couldn't really tell a lot of what was going on as J was pulling me around the other way so we wouldn't walk through them. I saw cops with handcuffs in their hands and coaches yelling at players. I don't know who started what and I don't want to completely blame just one team if there was some tension between them before the game (I'm sure our guys didn't just shut up and ignore them) but our team was nowhere in sight on that parking lot and I can't blame our cheerleaders if there was some reason our policemen didn't want them in the stands where Hornets fans and parents were (and it's pathetic that there should be any trouble with parents there--ours would have skinned us). That's the first time that has happened. Maybe it was just tension because this game decided who goes to Districts? I know that one of their players was yelling really gross things (Number 79--you're a pig and I don't say that because you look like you ate the rest of your team) at our cheerleaders during the game and if I had known it during the game I would have told someone about it. He should have been kicked out of the game. Who taught these kids manners, respect, and sportsmanship? Way to go. You sure have a lot to be proud of. I am reminded again why I was so desperate to get out of the City school system!

We also won the cheer war!






Julianne is "flying" now. Oh, joy. They aren't "catching" her yet (not at games but they do at practice where I don't have to watch). Thank goodness! Ease Mommy into this! This is the first time that they did it at a game (and the first time for me to see it). I thought we had escaped this because she's very tall but apparently she's a "natural". Dang dance class! She LOVES it! Can you tell?


They're so cute in their warmups!

Got it all figured out now

I went to L'Ecole Culinaire this morning to figure out the details--how to pay and when to start. Looks like I'm all set for November 9. YAY!!! Even got fitted for uniforms while I was there. I have four chef jackets embroidered with Le Cordon Bleu if anyone wants to be a chef for Halloween (size small). There is an open house this Friday and an orientation the first week of November. I'm very excited! I'm also just a little cocky thinking that I'm gonna just breeze through the first ten weeks. I might be in for a very rude awakening. I am going to work very hard. I want to be a Student Ambassador and I want a 4.0 for at least the first term and I'm going to try to have perfect attendance. To do that, though, I have to not be with Julianne when she has tonsils out on the 24th.

Tonight is Julianne's last home football game for the year (yeah, I keep saying that). It's also the first time I will see her "flying". Ugh! I thought she was too tall and we didn't have to do that. She loves it. I'm reserving judgment. No, I'm not. I hate it. Let's just be honest. Pictures next time I'm online.

Julianne's boyfriend, Andrew, was looking at this blog one day and saw a picture of the hat I made for myself. He said he "loved my beanie"! He jumped on it when I offered to make him one. He wanted black (it really is black) with one gray stripe and he wanted it to be washable. I whipped it up from Plymouth Encore yarn this weekend as he was on his way home from college. It's nothing fancy. I don't usually use a pattern for hats. It should keep his head toasty, though.

Andrew is a good kid. He had mid-terms this past week and came home on Wednesday after his last test. Of course, he wasted no time getting to our house. When he left later he hadn't been gone 5-10 minutes tops when Julianne went to her room and squealed for me to come "FAST!" There was a HUGE bee-type creature on her nightstand (it looked like a giant mutant bumble bee but it was gray). I thought it was a mouse from across the room! I don't usually freak out about bugs and I'm not afraid of spiders. Unless I have the vacuum cleaner out anyway I just ignore them (if I know they are not venomous). I never squish them. The only thing grosser than bugs is bug guts! I did not want to clean up the mess this sucker would leave! So basically what I'm saying is that I did not help my poor, innocent, helpless child get rid of the big, scary monster by her bed. I told her that she was a strong, independant woman and could take care of her own pest control needs. She did exactly that, too. She called Andrew! He was halfway home but he turned around and came back. I think, to be honest, that it was as much out of curiosity as chivalry but that really doesn't matter. He got rid of the bug. The bug, though, has a twin! And this one has made itself at home on the Eiffel Tower lamp by MY bed! I'm S.O.L., too, because Andrew was four hours away this time and refused to turn around. Ungrateful bastard......

School News

You have probably guessed, since I haven't posted any cooking pictures in awhile, that either someone in class finally told me where to put my camera or I just don't go to school anymore. It's the second one. I can't depend on a carpool. To be fair, the second chick didn't volunteer. One of the school administrators asked her to do it. Apparently she did not really want to. My car is getting worse every day and I don't drive farther than the three blocks to the grocery store. I still don't know what is wrong. It has times when it doesn't want to go in gear so I think it's the transmission but it seems to only do that after I've made a turn so I think it's related to the power steering still. I drove it to L'Ecole Culinaire a couple of weeks ago and it shook when I got below 40. Weird! Anyway, Le Cordon Bleu withdrew me for not attending. I am definitely going to go to L'Ecole Culinaire and in the degree program instead of just a certificate (so much better and I wish I'd done that in the first place). The only hangup now is that I don't know when I can start. It depends on how soon I can get financial aid again. I have to take them a statement from LCB telling how much of it they used and how much they sent back. I just got that today. I might have to wait until after my graduation date from LCB in March. If not I will start in November. I'm so excited! I got a very thorough tour of the campus by my admissions rep, Mike. That was cool. I'm excited about the extra classes that are part of the degree program. One is charcuterie and garde manger (cold foods). As part of charcuterie we will butcher hogs and then use all of the parts. We will cure and smoke meats and make bacon and sausage and all kinds of things that aren't part of my normal diet. It sounds gross but I look forward to doing it all once. We will make other kinds of sausage, too. In Garde Manger we get to do ice sculptures! I will get a total of fifteen weeks of baking/patisserie instead of six. I'm thrilled about that! I will be in school for 90 weeks including a ten-week externship. I'm glad that all of our books are different from LCB--not because LCB's aren't very awesome books but because I love books and I like variety. I can hardly wait to get started. Know what else I love? What did I whine about several posts down? This admissions rep showed me PROOF that students CAN take their food home with them! Their bookbags were lined up in the floor outside of the kitchens and many of them had wrapped food on them. Cool! Julianne is ready! I should breeze through the first ten weeks. It will be knife cuts, sanitation, stocks, and mother sauces and I've done all of that. I hope I don't sound like I'm bad-mouthing Le Cordon Bleu. I'm not (except the taking food home part--I was never happy about that). It's a great school. I am only not there because of transportation. I do regret not checking out other options before I commited to it. It was a very spontaneous thing. I should have enrolled in a degree program in the first place. LCB will have one--their other campuses do--but they are brand-new and not accredited for it yet. I don't have anything bad to say about the school. The people there are wonderful.

Styper

My friend, Linda, & I went to a Stryper concert last night. It was GREAT! Even worth missing Knit Night! Linda bought soundcheck tickets so we got to watch that and and do a meet-n-greet to have them sign the CDs that were included. My only complaint about the show? There was someone very flatulent very close to me! EW!!!

Me & Oz Fox:

Linda & Michael Sweet:

Soundcheck:

The concert (love the yellow scarf):

Bolivar or bust!

I had an amazing weekend! It was Homecoming at SBU and my class' 20-year-thingy. My friend, Christie, flew to St. Louis (she's a flight attendant so she can do that), rented a car, picked me up, and we headed west. There was an alumni banquet Friday night and we met up with several old friends there. That was great! They took group photos of the classes that had special years. There were only a few of us at the banquet so there aren't many folks in the picture. After the banquet and lots of visiting, Christie, Terri, & I went to my best friend in the whole wide world, Wendy's, house for a couple of hours. Wendy & her family moved back to Bolivar from New Jersey a few years ago and built a gorgeous log cabin on her parents' farm land. It was so good to see her!

On Saturday, Christie & I got up early and headed back to Bolivar (we stayed in Springfield) to watch the Homecoming parade. Each graduating decade watches on a different block. The 80's people are always right in front of my first dorm, Beasley Hall (which was also my dad's dorm a long time ago). There were many more people there than at the banquet. We met up with Wendy for lunch on campus and then the four of us (Terri, too) found a quiet spot (or it was quiet before we found it anyway) at a table in the fieldhouse to chat. I don't know how long we sat and talked but it was FUN! Name a subject and we tackled it! Seriously--any subject! Eventually Terri & Wendy both had to go home. I went with Wendy while Christie roamed around for awhile. I think she caught part of the football game and I think we won. Wendy & I made (mostly Wendy made--I chopped the onion) very yummy salmon chowder. She also took some homemade rolls out of her freezer and heated them up. MMMMMMMM!!! Christie joined us by the time it was all ready and we ate and visited until bedtime!

After we got back to our room Christie checked available flights for today and found that the only way she could get home was to leave St. Louis at 8am! We got up at 2:30 and drove back. As tired as we were, I don't think we ever stopped talking. I got home about 5:30 and dozed for a couple of hours. Julianne was home alone all weekend. She was supposed to go on a trip with one of her classes to rock-climb, but when she went to bed Friday night she had a slight fever. It had been very cold and rainy for a couple of days and she cheered in it Friday night (and they won!) so I think she was just run down. Since she still had a fever Saturday morning I made her stay in under orders to stay home and to sleep all she could. She seems to be a whole new kid today, so the sleep therapy worked! She was in my bed when I got home this morning! I should have gone to church but I was so wiped out. I hadn't slept much for four nights and it hit me in the face! One of Julianne's camp friends drove up this morning to go to church with her. She isn't home yet. I've had a very restful, quiet day but I miss my baby!

We had a little excitement on the block this morning! I walked to 711 for coffee and when I left there was a police car in front of Dave's house next-door. When I came home he & his daughter were outside so I had to chat. His truck had been stolen! He said that four cars have been stolen in Maplewood (Maplehood?) in, I think, a week. I haven't talked to him since then but I don't think it's been recovered. I haven't seen it. Earlier in the week a dude across the street called the police because he saw a guy skulking around our yard. Julianne came to me to say that there was someone with a flashlight outside her window. It turned out to be a cop. He told us that they caught the guy and he lives in the apartments by 711. He has no priors so I guess they let him go. Weird! We're being a little extra-careful right now.

Wendy has inspired me and I want to make chowder. I think Tuesday I'll make a pot of it and some bread (I'm too busy tomorrow--Stryper is in town!). Sounds so good. For now I have a pot of chamomile tea and I'm just counting down until bedtime!

This is the class of '89 people who were at the banquet:

Me & Ellen Bell. She worked for the college for 50 years! She was a dorm mom and then maybe someone's secretary. My mom's generation called her Ding Dong and mine called her Ma Bell. I don't know how old she is but she seems to be doing great. She has never been married or had kids. Maybe that's her secret?

Me, Christie, Judy, & Terri at the parade (I borrowed Christie's pashmina and LOVE it!)

RJ, Lauri, me, Terri, Christie, David, Susan, Michelle, & Tracy:

Melinda, Terri, Christie, Wendy, me:

Here's some Stryper to tide me over:

Last weekend I went to a trivia night with a bunch of folks on Facebook that I know from high school. It was FUN! I took my usual artichoke florentine spread but added cayenne to give it some kick. Trivia Night benefited Clowder House, which is a cat rescue/shelter in the city where one of our gals (Debbie in the pink shirt) volunteers. I made everyone pose for a Facebook picture (both tables are us). I'm the one in the middle in the red sweater.