What I Did At School Today

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Thanksgiving

March 18, 2008

I was reminded this morning in a most unusual way that I have a lot to be thankful for. I drove the truck loaded down with brush and a toddler to a composting facility. It rained a few inches here yesterday and the dump we headed too is just that, a dump with unpaved roads that recycles brush into mulch. It was a mud pit today. I do not have a 4 wheel drive truck. The attendant warned me that he would not be able to help if I got stuck, even at over 7 months pregnant with a toddler in tow. I made it halfway back to the brush pile before I decided that going any farther would cost me a tow, a head ache, and a lot of time I didn't have. I stopped to turn around, but had to wait for the person behind me to pass. These two high school kids in a 4 wheel drive Ranger with a trailer pull up next to me and roll down the window. Then they do the unbelievable, they offer to unload my truck into their trailer (they'd come to pick up mulch) and dump it for me! I hop out and start helping them unload my truck and thank them about a thousand times. I managed to get out of there without the brush and without getting stuck in the mud. It was a narrow escape. And those two boys actually saved me another hour in the truck later this week. I have no idea why they stopped to help me, but they taught me that truly nice people are still out there. It changed my whole attitude today!

This is the hat I finished over the weekend. It's two skeins of Brown Sheep Prairie Silk knit on size 10.5 needles. And even though I knit a small swatch and mostly followed the hat pattern in this book, it's a bit big. I think I can effectively solve this problem with a partial felting, but I'm not sure. I'll keep you posted.

And this is how we ended our day today. I made a Peanut Butter Ice Cream Pie last night, so we both knew what it tasted like. Somehow, looking forward to this made it much easier to take the little frustrations today. You know, like the fact that the Sears repair guy won't be here until Thursday. And I somehow got mud on my one pair of jeans while unloading the truck this morning. I can't complain; those nice kids did me a huge favor and I got to eat this tonight!

The pie wasn't hard to make. I used a whole package (25 cookies) of chocolate sandwich cookies and 3 tablespoons of melted butter to make a crust in my food processor. Using a spoon, I pressed the mixture into a pie pan and chilled it. The next layer was three cups of Blue Bell Natural Vanilla Bean ice cream, softened, and mixed with 1 cup of natural peanut butter. I spread this in the chilled crust and topped it with swirls of Ahlaska! natural chocolate syrup which I spread into a thin layer. I let this set in the freezer for a bit and what was left of the ice cream (I think another two cups or so) in the fridge. Finally, I spread the remaining ice cream on top and put it all in the freezer. Really, I don't want to brag, but you have to try this.

Be still, my husband's beating heart....Reese's are his favorite, so I will *definitely* have to make that effort! Glad your trip to the dump was more successful than it could have been!!