Your Face Will Turn Green!

I recently became acquainted with a delicious drink made from a can of pineapple (including juice) a banana, and fresh spinach leaves (I just put in about half a bag... I don't measure) mixed up in a blender! The resulting drink is thick, green, and delicious! When the kindergarten class I substituted in yesterday saw me drinking it, they were appalled. "Mrs. Bahlmann," said one little girl, her eyes big and serious, "if you drink too much of that, your face will turn green."
Hm. There's a book title for you! "The Girl With the Green Face." It has a nice ring to it!
Have a smiley day!

Easter, Oh, Easter!

IT WAS MICHAEL who remembered the Easter Bunny this year. On Easter Sunday, we celebrate the resurrection of Christ. On Monday, the Easter Bunny comes hopping down the bunny trail, and look what he left! It did my heart good to take pictures of my little boys finding Easter treats. It did my waistline bad to eat some. I mean, I KNOW WHAT THEY TASTE LIKE! So why did I think they'd be any different this year? They weren't!
In good-news-on-the-home-front, I got my Christmas story sent out to different publishers! It's my fondest hopeful greenie-and-growy wish that someone wants to publish it soon!
Ah, what a wonderful world.

Thankful...

Justin Osmond sent me a message from India about a cow lying in the middle of the road. Since cows are sacred there, people were driving around it. He wrote that he wanted to get his paintball gun and blast it! That made me laugh.
But then he wrote about a man who'd contracted polio as a child and had twisted little legs that didn't work. He dragged himself around by his arms. That nearly broke my heart. It also made me feel incredibly grateful for my legs, no matter how many varicose veins I have. So what if Bob tells me I don't have the right kind of toes for toenail polish? At least they work.
My heart was lighter when I realized how blessed I am in every part of my life. And I included that polio man in my prayers.
All will be well, because Father in Heaven is merciful and just.

Leprechaun traps

I was headed home from yet ANOTHER day of substitute teaching at Ephraim Elementary (if the kids like you, you're as good as a rock star!) when I found three little boys setting a leprechaun trap. They showed me how the loop worked to tighten so they could catch the leprechaun by the ankle. They showed me their method of burying the end of the rope under a handful of snow so he wouldn't be suspicious. They gave me the sobering information that they'd caught him earlier, but he escaped when they were in class. Their little faces brightened when I told them that leprechauns were still out, because it was still St. Patrick's Day.
With determination borne of youth, two of them climbed up into the spindly bush where the end of the rope was tied. The third boy cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled, "We're giving up and going inside! We're not trying to catch you any more, leprechaun, so you can come out now!"
Then he made a dash for the spindly bush and ducked behind its skeletal branches, his excited blue eyes peering out for any flash of green.
I got out of there quick. After all, I was dressed in green from my shoulders to my feet, and those boys were so determined, they might decide I was a king-sized leprechaun!

HEY! You can get EDITED!

There's a really cool contest, if you're a writer, that is, that involves a grand prize of having SOME OF THE PAGES YOU WROTE READ BY AN AGENT!
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Okay, that's priceless. So check it out, why doncha? Click on:
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or
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HA, HA, I just got extra entry points for doing this, so I'm ahead of you!

Free Food!

Anyone who knows me knows that cooking is not my favorite thing, at least, if I'm on the stove end. If I'm sitting at the table, I'm all for cooking. In fact, I'm so cooking challenged that when I was a college student, I would put a potato in the oven to cook while I went to class, then take it out and eat it when I got back. An hour later, I might open a can of green beans and eat them right out of the can. Hey, my stomach didn't care if I didn't eat different kinds of food at the same time.
So when I substituted at school Friday and found out that the Teacher Appreciation people brought in lunch for teachers, and were equally appreciative of substitutes, I got on the food wagon. It was all so delicious, from spinach salad to Hawaiian pizza to some kind of fluffy salad with... could it be?... cookie crumbles in it!
And in spite of the fact that I've lost 10 pounds in the last month by counting calories, I also gave myself a frosted brownie. And I counted every single chewy chocolate goodness calorie as it slid down.
It was worth every one

Michael's Happy Shirts

I love hand-me-downs, hand-me-overs, or hand-me-ups. I don't care if clothes are new before I wear them. In fact, I passed some "new" jeans in the store a couple of weeks ago with so much wear on the front of the thighs that I'm sure my underwear would show if I tried to pull on a pair.
But this isn't about me. It's about 10-year-old Michael who was given some shirts from a shirttail-cousin-by-marriage. ;0)
When Michael discovered the bright colored golf shirts with horizontal stripes, he said, "I LOVE these!" For the next couple of days, he wore different bright golf shirts. "You know Mom," he announced, "these shirts make me happy. I can't help it. When I wear them, I'm always in a good mood."
If that's the case, then those shirts aren't going anywhere! They'll be "wear-me-outs!"