Hey. You. You're Awesome.

If there is one thing that our nation seems to be failing at, it's that whole "school starts after Labor Day" thing. I'm not sure what the problem is, I just know that some people started school weeks ago. Others are still waiting, but not for long.

We're still waiting. Alexis would very much so like to be done with the waiting because school is her most favorite thing in the world (so she says ... for now). She's ready to find out who her teacher will be, what day of the week she will have gym class, what supplies she will get to buy, etc. She wants to be ready. (Don't get me started on why we don't know ANY of those things yet. It makes me cranky that we're six days from starting and don't have a clue what school supplies she needs, even as stores have already started clearing out the school supplies to make way for Halloween decorations. ANYWAY.)

She's not quite ready, but many kids are.

Including the kids y'all helped at Pittsburgh's Center for Victims.

I don't really have words for how it feels to drive up to a building where people go to get support after violence has disrupted their lives. The building is filled with people who give their time because they want to change the world. It's filled with people who have seen things I'm very glad to have never seen for myself, other than on TV. It's filled with memories of yesterday and hope for tomorrow. 

This weekend, a small part of that building was filled with school supplies. Because of you.

The tally as of right now is: 

• 40 backpacks
• 42 notebooks
• 40 pencil cases
• 26 packs of lined paper
• 36 dozen pencils
• 16 lunchboxes
• 32 bottles of glue
• 56 glue sticks 
• 36 rulers
• 15 packs of colored pencils
• 10 packs of markers
• 120 highlighters
• 11 USB drives
• 14 packs of pens
• 2 packs of mechanical pencils
• 12 protractors
• 10 packs of index cards
• 75 folders
• 12 binders
• 42 pairs of scissors

And that's SO FAR. I fully expect a few more boxes of school supplies to trickle in this week. (I plan to deliver them this weekend -- if you shipped something you don't think will be delivered by Friday, please email me and let me know so I can time the delivery perfectly.)

That's a lot of school supplies.

That's a lot of kids who woke up this morning ready for school.

You don't know what those kids look like. You don't know how old they are. You don't know their names. But you helped anyway.

That's pretty amazing.

From the kids who will never know what you've done and from the adults in those kids' lives who can't say it right now -- thank you.

And thank you from me. It's this sort of thing that makes me proud to be a blogger, and even prouder to be surrounded by so many amazing people.

(P.S. The winner of the Samsung Galazy tablet has been notified. Check your email, yo!)

Old Fashioned Lemonade and Then With a Berry Twist

Alexis woke up several weeks ago with the romantic notion that lemonade will make all of her dreams come true. She very badly wants to set up a lemonade stand and work her way to all of her heart's desires one $.25 cup of refreshment at a time.

Shhhh...don't tell her it doesn't quite work that way.

For now, she is trying to finalize her plans for making her fortune. She has some competition in the neighborhood, and it has occurred to her that they have a better location. She's thinking signs are the key to drawing more attention and that time of day is going to be very important.

While she's busy figuring out her business plan, together we've been busy perfecting her lemonade recipe.

Which is definitely easy enough. There's not much to lemonade -- just water, lemon juice, and sugar. But, what would a business plan be if it didn't include a little diversification?

Um, yeah.

 

There are two versions of that Mint Berry Lemonade on the right, and one of them is not for the kids.

It's possible that I'm enjoying this attempt at the best lemonade stand ever. Just a little. Ahem.

Old Fashioned Lemonade

1/2 cup water
1/2 cup white sugar
1 cup lemon juice (approximately 6-8 lemons)
Ice
Water to taste 
3-4 fresh mint leaves (optional)

1. Heat the water to boiling in a large saucepan. Turn off the heat and add the sugar. Stir until the sugar is completely dissolved. Set aside and allow to cool.

2. Throw a whole bunch of ice in a pitcher. Pour the lemon juice over the ice.

3. Pour the sugar water in with the ice and lemon juice.

4. Add water to taste. I usually add about 2 cups of water.

5. Add the mint and shake it all up. 

Mint Berry Lemonade

1 tablespoon fresh blueberries
1 fresh strawberry, sliced
3-4 fresh mint leaves
1/2 cup Old Fashioned Lemonade
1/2 cup soda water (club soda, 7 Up, etc. -- all clear bubbly liquids seem to work)
Ice
1 oz gin (optional)

1. Place the blueberries, strawberry, and mint in a glass. Mush them up with a large spoon by squishing them up against the sides of the glass. Technically this is called "muddling," but that's such a weird word.

2. Add the lemonade and soda water.

3. Throw some ice in there, as well as the gin, if you're over 21 years of age and so inclined.

4. Somebody needs to try this with watermelon instead of berries because I suspect it would be REALLY good, but I keep forgetting to try it. Report back if you do try it, please!

Rainbow Dasher