Polly's New Blog

This was the easiest way to let everyone know, so here I am, once again, posting on Mom's blog. I have created my own blog. The web address is pollyblanshan.blogspot.com.

Balloons

Brian Dunbar, my (Polly) music professor, was sick on Tuesday, so a few of us students (mostly choir students) decided to use the opportunity to prank him. We happen to know his TA very well...okay, actually, she was one of the main conspirators. She holds a key to his office. For the next 5 hours, we practiced breathing from our diaphram... =D ...we figured it would make him proud. By 4:00, his office was filled floor to about a foot from the ceiling with nearly 1000 balloons. On his door we left an envelope that said "To help you with your troubles" and inside we was placed a thumb-tack. 5 hours + 15 students + an office key + 1000 balloons = a ton of fun. I recommend it...the after-effects aren't quite as pleasant, however. A few students ended up with blisters from tying the balloons and everybody ended up with sore mouths....yes, sore mouths. It hurts to blow up balloons for 5 hours!

Panera Bread

Here are a few pictures that I took yesterday at Panera. The first one is of the bakery area right after lunch. The bread area off to the left appears to need some attention in restocking. The second picture is the lull after the storm. Everyone is cleaning and restocking after the lunch rush. The line on the right is where sandwiches are made, soups dished up and everything is consolidated. On the left the paninis are made and grilled, and the salads are made. The last picture is of the ovens. The one on the left is a huge oven that holds large racks that are frequently filled with bagels during the day and several kinds of pastries and more bagels all night. The other side is a deck oven with 4 separate ovens. During the day these are used for baking baguettes, but at night they bake the bread.

Joe

Yesterday I went to an awards luncheon at the Ramada put on by Possibilities. They help people with special needs get jobs, housing etc... One of my associates, Joe, was there and we received this plaque. I didn't think he was going to give it to me until I promised I'd hang it up at work. Joe has down syndrome and works 2 days a week over lunch. He walks up and down in the dining room washing tables and does a good job keeping them clean.

I came home from work at 11:00 to change, get ready for the luncheon and be back there by 11:45. I got there in time and was standing in line to get my name tag when I looked behind me. At the end of the line there was Bobby. Neither of us knew the other was going to be there, (we have good communication skills at our house). Evidently, after I left, Dale gave him a ride and they pulled in as I was walking in.

They had special music put on by several of the special needs people. Every year they practice and sing Christmas carols. They sang 4 or 5 of them, then they sang a song they practiced just for us, "Twist and Shout". There were a couple down syndrome girls with no inabititions in the front row that "twisted" and sang "back-up" Everybody enjoyed it!

Apple Orchard

I took Peggy, Jimmy and Billy to an apple orchard this afternoon, but forgot the camera. I am going to have to break down and buy my own I guess. I took Dale's to work the other day so I could share pictures of Panera, but the batteries were dead. Anyway, as soon as we pulled in I missed my grandkids. There were little ones walking around the pumpkins and running in the maze made especially for little ones out of hay bales. I thought Cate and Joel would enjoy that. Grayden and Ben would have liked guessing how much the pumpkins weighed with Jimmy and Billy, then seeing how close they were. The trees were turning red and apples were heavy on the trees. This orchard doesn't allow you to pick your own and that was disappointing to both Peggy and I. I would still like to find one that you can. Several dollars later, we had 4 pumpkins, 20# of apples, and old corn stalks in the back of the van. The day is so beautiful, that after we dropped Peggy off at school I came home and did a few things outside, including putting my corn stalks and pumpkins out.