Poppy Models

At 8 1/2 months of age, Poppy is growing into her looks and like all teen Poodlettes, concerned about keeping up appearances.  The weather has been very muggy and hot and she’s spent several days at Kindergarten meaning that it was time to refresh her outfit for school.

To her great relief, she seems to be very popular with the other kids canines and comes home from school each time with an A+ except for one day….she only got an A.  She was sorely disappointed, but she explained she had been having an ‘off day’ what with the weather and all.

So for the coming month or so, she’s selected again a short-cut velveteen Copper-colored coat and she just CAN’T give up the fur cuffs, so those, too.  But she did ask for a blunt haircut around her ears–a sort of Poodlette ‘bob‘ look which is attractive on her.  Her only accessory is a polka-dot scarf with assorted colored polka-dots.  This because, as she explained, “It’s much too hot for bows in my hair and besides the other kids just try to steal them from me!”

Below are some photographs which she allowed me to snap.  She now weighs over 50 pounds and as such, could be considered a ‘plus size’ model in the Poodlette world.   (I really think she is pretty good at modeling.  But she’s told me many times that her career choice is going to be in the geriatric care field.  I don’t know why.)

Note the ‘bangs”?  She wanted to try them out with the ‘bob.’

  Fur cuffs, nails au natural

Poppy turns her head as she’s seen other models do….”fetching’ look!

A quick snapshot of her lovely coat and she was off.  Other things to do, she said…..

Friday (and Saturday) Shopping

“What else would one do after an hour of working out?  Go shopping, of course…” Jabber wryly commented.

Yep, that’s what we did on Friday.  Only one sale, but Girlfriend, Thumper, Sosew and Jabber headed on over to it–it was a good one!

First, Thumper tried to tell what time it actually was…..

None of the watches had batteries.  But they  WERE cheap!

(No, she did not buy one.  She just likes to try them on to see how they’d look. Unfortunately, Thumper seldom knows what time it is, but that’s another story.)

Next, Sosew located SHOES.  Loads and loads of 3 and 4 inch high heeled shoes!  With platforms, no less.  They were beautiful and new–and $10.

Sosew modeling for us–the shoes are below:

Beautiful!  Unfortunately, Sosew couldn’t even stand on them.  Never mind, Jabber told her.  You could just sit and look lovely.  (She didn’t buy them, either.)

On Saturday morning, only Girlfriend and Jabber headed off–first back to the same sale where Jabber had been told there was…..not one, not two, not three….but EIGHT!  EIGHT! available!  (The lady had to get them out of storage, she said.)  Jabber was beside her very own self with excitement–she’d been looking for one of these for a very long time (at a yard sale, of course, and inexpensive, of course).  And now…EIGHT! to choose from!  Oh my….

But, the lady had forgotten to get them out of storage, so Jabber decided to get the one and only one right there at the sale!  Oh, my yes!  Jabber promptly named her “Isabella”…..she is now living in the garage momentarily.

“What?”  

“Oh.  You want to know what it was, don’t you?  What it was that was so exciting?  That I’d been looking for for many many years?  Hmmmm.  Ok.  I’ll show you…..”

Yes, my friends.  Living in my garage, now, as I write this is a ……

bare naked lady!

“What?  Oh, you want to know what in the world I’m going to do with it?”

Make her into a Christmas tree, of course.  Wouldn’t anybody?

…..oh go ahead.  Go to pinterest and look up “Christmas Tree Mannequins” and you’ll get the idea……

I’m not the ONLY crazy person on the planet!

Gazpacho!

Vanna’s husband, The Engineer,

Above, the Engineer

is also….a farmer!  The other day, Vanna brought homegrown tomatoes and potatoes to share from the garden which The Engineer has carefully tended for several months.  The first thing I wanted to do was go home with them and make Gazpacho, that tasty cold ‘soup’  which I had not made for many years, but love.

So, I looked it up on the internets and decided to make this recipe which Alton Brown had posted:

Gazpacho

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/gazpacho-recipe.html

Recipe courtesy of Alton Brown
SHOW:
Good Eats
EPISODE:
American Slicer

Yield:4 servings
Level:Easy

Ingredients–get everything set out before you begin.  Chop and measure everything, too.
1 1/2 pounds vine-ripened tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped (see below)

These 3 made 1 1/2 pounds of tomato–the one on the right is from the store (not nearly as good!) but I had it to use.

Tomato juice

I had this, so I used it.

1 cup cucumber, peeled, seeded and chopped

English cucumber–less seeds. To scrape out the seeds, just use a spoon. It took about 1/2 one of these cucumbers to make 1 cup.  I used the whole thing.

1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper–I used about 1/2 of one red bell pepper
1/2 cup chopped red onion
1 small jalapeno, seeded and minced

     I had saved some leftover jalapeño (frozen, from a can), so I used about a tablespoon.

1 medium garlic clove, minced–I had some in the refrigerator already minced, used about 1 teaspoon

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 lime, juiced
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon toasted, ground cumin
1 teaspoon kosher salt**  (go easy on the salt!  I thought it was a tiny bit too salty–and I had added only about 1/4 teaspoon of salt)
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

  
2 tablespoons fresh basil leaves, chiffonade–note I used purple basil (from the garden)
Directions (and I’ve inserted my own photos, but if you go to the website, you can watch Alton make this recipe on a video).
Fill a 6-quart pot halfway full of water, set over high heat and bring to a boil.

                

Make an X with a paring knife on the bottom of the tomatoes.   Drop the tomatoes into the boiling water for 15 seconds, remove and transfer to an ice bath

  I do this in the sink–scoop up the tomatoes out of the hot water with a slotted spoon.

and allow to cool until able to handle, approximately 1 minute. Remove and pat dry.

Peel (the skins will slip off starting where you made the “x” on the bottom of each tomato), core and seed the tomatoes.

The seeds and core are in the strainer, the rest of the tomatoes are in the bowl.

When seeding the tomatoes, place the seeds and pulp into a fine mesh strainer set over a bowl in order to catch the juice. Press as much of the juice through (use the back of a spoon) as possible and then add enough bottled tomato juice to bring the total to 1 cup.

I only had to add about 1/4 cup of tomato juice to make a cup.

Place the tomatoes and juice into a large mixing bowl. Add the cucumber, bell pepper, red onion, jalapeno, garlic clove, olive oil, lime juice, balsamic vinegar, Worcestershire, cumin, salt and pepper and stir to combine.

Transfer 1 1/2 cups of the mixture to a blender and puree for 15 to 20 seconds on high speed.

Return the pureed mixture to the bowl and stir to combine. Cover and chill for 2 hours and up to overnight. Serve with chiffonade of basil (which you have grown and harvested from the herb garden in your backyard, right?  Right!)

ENJOY!

Recipe courtesy of Alton Brown, 2007

Read more at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/gazpacho-recipe.html?oc=linkbackGaz

******************

And for supper last night, we had this salad–fresh and delicious!

  Caprese salad–sliced homegrown tomatoes with mozzarella and homemade pesto.  Drizzle with a bit of olive oil and balsamic vinegar.  Thank you to Vanna and the Engineer!

Discovery

It was the third day that we’d been searching for Lincoln.  In the evenings, we’d been entertained at son and daughter-in-law’s house with dinner, been taken out to dinner, and visited some local sights–here are a few pictures:

Here is the main lobby of a large sporting goods store called “Scheels” in Springfield.

Outside the store are statues–took a picture of the two Grandsons on a statue of Abe Lincoln:

There is also a large, three-columned fish tank at the front of the store.

There is a large one of these on which to ride inside the store:

  So, of course, Son and one of the two Grandsons rode it:

One evening, Jabber got to see Grandson take his archery lesson.  He is impressive!

His instructor–a woman archery champion!–gives him pointers as he prepares to shoot.  He hit the bullseye several times!

  From a distance of 15 feet.  Grandson is 7 years old and already very good at archery.

Another evening, we dined here:

And it was here, I believe, that Thumper disclosed her love for four-cheese grilled cheese.  Only the one she ordered had six cheeses.  None-the-less, Thumper insisted it was delicious and had four cheeses:  one, two, three, four, three, four she counted.  We didn’t disagree.  She liked it!

  “Vinegar Hill’

One can see the Capitol in the background from “Vinegar Hill.”

Thumper walking towards the restaurant door.

The restaurant had interesting decor:

  

Old windows and chandeliers hanging over diners

After dinner, we walked the hall of the building–and who do you think I saw?

It was my old friend, once spotted at a yard sale in Springfield when I was up for a visit.  He’d found a home at a Pawn Shop!  And now he has a crown.  Suitable for the King, indeed.

Also in the adjacent display were:

 and 

and…..

Quite a menagerie!

Springfield has many artists, some who paint murals on buildings like this one in the parking lot:

The final day we went to the Lincoln Tomb.

Yes, we found Lincoln.

Or sort of…….

“Sort of” because the man and the myth have become so intertwined it is difficult for anyone to know exactly who he was.  A man of many moods, some brooding, some jovial.  He could be gentle and very caring as evidenced by his beautiful words, but he could also be determined–‘made of stone’ when it came to his belief that no man (or woman) should live in slavery.  Nothing would deter him–not even the deaths of 1 1/2 million Americans on both sides of the Civil War.  He was absolutely determined to emancipate the slaves and save the union of the United States of America.

Seeing his tomb was a solemn experience.  

The Search Continues

Not so bright and early, after a nice breakfast in our hotel, we set off to find Lincoln.  We arrived at the Lincoln Museum and spent 5 hours there, enjoying the various movies, plays and educational exhibits which were available.

This is the setting INSIDE the museum!  Yes, a replica of the White House along with some statues which represent President Lincoln and his family during his administration.

“Wait a minute!” Jabber interjected, “Who is that woman standing next to Lincoln?  She doesn’t look like a statue!”

Indeed.  She isn’t.  She’s me….errrrr….she’s YOU, Jabber.

Not to be outdone, Girlfriend had to stand next to the statues, too….

And, then, of course, Thumper had to just get up close and personal!

  Inquiring minds want to know…..

This enactment was extremely well done with holographic effects.  The ghosts seemed ‘real’ and told some of the reasons to study history, what it must have been like to be a soldier during the Civil War, and showing some of the more interesting aspects of the treasure-trove of memorabilia available for researchers.

We did locate some records about the Todd family (Lincoln’s wife), and later at another location, we found this:

Although there were statues and many pictures of Lincoln, he wasn’t here either.  So after a full day in the museum, we ventured across the street to tour the train station.  It housed and highlighted items from the movie, “Lincoln” in which Sally Field and Daniel Day Lewis starred a few years ago.

Springfield’s Lincoln museum is fascinating.  It’s definitely an important addition to history and truly makes Lincoln’s era come ‘alive.’  We recommend you go!

Looking for Lincoln

And…..we were off!

Girlfriend, Thumper and Jabber took off for the Land of Lincoln in search of…..Lincoln!

Springfield, Illinois is located smack-dab in the center of Illinois, so it was a day-long road trip to get to our destination.  Jabber’s son lives there.  First on the search was a trip through the Illinois State Capitol building.

  The Senate Chamber.  Not meeting today.

The building has recently (and is currently) undergone renovation.  This is where our current President worked prior to becoming the President of the United States.  Son pointed out his seat, in the back row.

Son explains some of the history of the building to the girls (above).

But….pretty soon…..

Thumper and Girlfriend took their seats–Presenting The Honorable Girlfriend and Honorable Thumper of the Illinois State Senate.

Thumper looks pretty comfortable in that seat, doesn’t she?

The ceilings were as gorgeous as the walls.

 One of the statues of former notable politicians in Illinois history.

Girlfriend and Thumper contemplate the history of Illinois, but they are in search of Lincoln!

Above, the outside of the building and the dome….inside the dome below.

This is the dome in the center of the Capitol building–it is magnificent!

Looking down from the second floor of the rotunda under the dome (above).

Girlfriend decided to google where Lincoln might be while Thumper has decided that, no, Lincoln definitely is not here.

 

We tried looking in the House of Representatives in the Capitol building, but no one was there, either.

To get to the building, Son had taken us underground, through the tunnels and Rathskeller–what an amazing walkway it was, too!

View of one side of the Illinois State Capitol Building.

We had a private, wonderfully educational tour of the building–but we didn’t find Lincoln!  Tomorrow we would search elsewhere.

The Cracker Caper

“See?  This is what happens ’round here when you leave Poppy in charge.  She’s just not grown up ‘nuf to be in charge, I tell you.  She’s just NOT!” Jabber exclaimed, exasperated at what had happened.

I just wanted a couple hours out to meet my friend for a long-delayed dinner to catch up.  So, with TMWLH’s approval, I left about 4:15 to drive over to the restaurant.  Miss Poppy had ‘recharged her batteries’ by this time, having had a full night and day to rest up after her first kindergarten attendance the day before.  It had been unusually quiet around the house, with Miss Poppy dozing all day.  She was absolutely exhausted from her day-long adventure, too tired to get into trouble.

Before I left, however, I noticed she was being playful…..and I warned TMWLH to ‘watch her’!

One of Miss Poppy’s favorite things to do is to reach items up on the counters in the kitchen, especially lately, a plastic zip lock bag holding some Ritz crackers.  She’d gotten a taste of said crackers some time ago when she successfully knocked down a TIN (in which I’d neatly stacked them), tossing the crackers out of the tin and onto the floor.  Thankfully, Daughter was here and we’d quickly scooped them up, thrown them out and rescued the few remaining in the tin before Miss Poppy managed to gobble too many.

She liked them.  (We don’t give her human food, so the only way she has a ‘chance’ is to steal a taste here and there, which she will do if we aren’t careful.)

That was a couple of weeks ago.

Since then, I’d decided to place some additional remaining crackers in a plastic zip-lock bag and put them far away from Poppy’s reach on the back corner of the counter.

I thought.

Poppy had been eyeing those crackers, waiting for the opportunity.  Which came last evening whilst yours truly was not at home.

TMWLH decided to make himself something to snack and the crackers and some leftover spread (in the refrigerator) seemed appealing.  He made the snack, but forgot about putting the crackers way back on the counter…..and left them at paw’s reach….his first mistake.

What’s that?

No, no, not ever.  He’s made mistakes before; he just doesn’t admit to them.  This time there was no denying it.

Bam!  She grabbed them.  But since she couldn’t open the bag (no opposable thumbs, don’t you know), she simply decided to chew holes in the bag to get to the crackers.  And she did…..chew holes in the bag…..

but just then…..

TMWLH heard her.

Running back into the kitchen, he yelled, ‘DROP IT!”

And Miss Poppy, sensing that her prize was about to be taken away, quickly ran into the family room, wildly shaking the now-holey bag, filled with cracker CRUMBS.  TMWLH chased after her, but she then ran evasion tactics, back into the kitchen, into the living room, under the dining room table and finally relinquished said bag.  Her job, now, was to clean up the crumbs–and they were EVERYWHERE!

Mission accomplished, she declared to herself.

TMWLH surveyed the mess.  While he went to get the vacuum cleaner, Poppy helpfully ‘vacuumed’ what crumbs she could find–the largest ones first, of course–and tracked more small crumbs around the area as she lapped up.

Then came the great vacuum battle which ensues every single time the vacuum is brought out.  TMWLH valiantly vacuumed all over whilst Poppy alternated between running, lapping up crumbs, and barking at him.

Finally, he finished.  He turned around and looked into the living room.

Miss Poppy, needing to relieve herself, had decided she’d waited long enough and was, at that moment, making her ‘deposit’ on the living room rug.

TMWLH, having lost the battle with his puppy, was in a state when I arrived home shortly thereafter.

Poppy, however, had enjoyed the adventure and was very glad to see me.

We are sending her to kindergarten for the entire day today.

Why did the chicken……..

“Another chicken joke?” Jabber asked in a tired manner, “didn’t those go out way back in the 80’s?”

No.   It’s a story Leader told the other day after class.  That happened to her.  About a chicken…..

Leader telling the story.

I’ll do my best to repeat it here:

Leader was at the end of a very long hallway at the YMCA, with her back to the longest portion of it when she saw a staff member she knew and said hello.  The staff member responded.  Then the staff member stopped and said, “A chicken just went into the men’s bathroom.”

Leader stopped what she was doing, looked straight ahead (again, not looking down the hallway) and said, “Do you realize what you just said to me?”

“Yes.  A chicken just went into the men’s bathroom.”

“Are you awake?” asked Leader.

“I tell you, A CHICKEN JUST WENT INTO THE MEN’S BATHROOM.”

Leader turned around but saw nothing.  The men’s bathroom door was closed, several feet down the hallway, so she walked in that direction.  A young pre-teen boy walked towards her and entered the men’s bathroom.  She waited.  Fairly soon, a senior gentleman emerged from the bathroom.

Leader stopped him and said, “Did you see a chicken in the bathroom?”

The man looked at Leader, slowly shook his head, and then rather quickly walked away from her.

She waited.

Soon, the young boy emerged.  He had a backpack on, she noted.  Stopping him briefly she asked, “Was there a chicken in the bathroom?”

He walked away after looking at her as though she had lost her mind.

She knocked on the door.  Nobody answered, so she peeked in.  No one was in there.  And no chicken.

People being people come up with explanations for sightings like this:  obviously the child must have had a remote controlled chicken.  Right?

Right?

Where does one get a remote controlled chicken?

I have no other explanation nor does Leader.

She can only imagine what the elderly gentleman is thinking.

Celebrating Good Friends, New Friends and The Fourth of July

Henri Peroit is celebrating the American Fourth of July even though he is French. Here he stands ready to greet the guests.

Waiting, waiting…..for the party to begin!

    

Coffee and dessert plates are ready, too.

China:  Royal Doulton 1992 Stanwyck; flowers are from Granddaughter’s wedding last weekend.

Jabber set the table in red, white and blue.  Girlfriend and her husband, “The Pro”,  had guests–The Pro’s brother and his wife, Mr. Winston and Mrs. Salem, had come for a visit.  A celebration was in order.

Mr. Winston chats with his new friends.

Mrs. Salem enjoys a visit with her new friends before dinner.

   “The Pro” (Girlfriend’s hubby)  who  exhibited his expertise in slicing the pork loins.

                                                               “The Pro” and TMWLH (on right)

Vanna’s hubby, “The Engineer”

What are we having you ask as well you may?  Well….

Before dinner, we had small tomatoes halved and topped with Lobster spread, Wesleyan cheese with mango and pineapple on Ritz crackers and drinks–wines, iced tea and lemonade.

For dinner, pork loin wrapped in bacon, marinated in a soy sauce/brown sugar and spices, slow-baked for 3 hours in a 300 degree oven;

potatoes au gratin (recipes below);

fresh green beans;

Fresh sliced beets–I loved how the color of the foods reflected the red, white and blue for the occasion.  Meat, tomatoes red; blue cheese crumbles and potatoes white; beets blue!

fresh greens topped with sliced fresh beets and bleu cheese crumbles

French baguettes; and a delicious dessert prepared by Girlfriend.  (White cake with strawberry and cream cheese frosting–yummy!)

We enjoyed our evening and getting to know our new friends, Mr. and Mrs. Winston-Salem.

Girlfriend and Sosew with the entire ‘male crew’ in the background!

                                               Mrs. Salem on left, Vanna on right.

We had a wonderful time!  This was a fun dinner party to put together with a theme.

Here are the recipes:

PORK LOIN

(from Facebook link)

3 pounds Pork Tenderloin cut into 4 pieces total

1 pound bacon

3/4 cups Soy sauce

1 TBL minced onions

1/2 teaspoon garlic salt

1 TBL white wine vinegar (or white vinegar)

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 dash pepper (or a few grinds of the peppercorns)

3/4 cup brown sugar

Wrap tenderloin pieces in bacon all the way around.  Place in a large Pyrex glass baking dish or other large oven-proof container.  Poke holes in the meat with a fork.  Combine the rest of the ingredients in a small bowl, whisk.  Pour marinade over the meat and refrigerate, uncovered, 2 to 3 hours or overnight.  (I marinated the meat for about 24 hours to allow the marinade to sink deeply into the meat.)

Take the entire pan, sauce and all, and place in a 300 degree oven for about 3 hours (you can check it after 2 hours, it may be done, but I baked it for 3 hours.)  If the bacon appears to be browning too much, cover with foil after 1 1/2 to 2 hours.  Remove from oven, allow to sit for about 20 minutes so the meat can soak up the juices in the pan.  Remove the meat and carve into thin slices.  This recipe will serve at least 12.

Potatoes Au Gratin

(www.onceuponachef.com)

This served all 9 of us, with plenty left over.

Grease a baking dish–I used a 9 X 11 Pyrex glass baking dish

Whisk 2 1/2 cups heavy cream, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper together.

Grate (I used a zester) about 1 cup of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese into a separate bowl.

Set both aside.

Peel about 3 large Russet or Yukon Gold potatoes (about 2 1/4 pounds), and slice them very thin.  For this step, after peeling the potatoes, I cut them in half lengthwise and put through the food processor slicing disk.  Made this step go much faster!

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Arrange some of the potato slices, edges overlapping, in a single layer on the bottom of the prepared baking dish.  Sprinkle 1/4 of the cheese over the potatoes and pour 1/4 of the cream mixture over the top.  Repeat forming 4 layers.  Pour any leftover cream over the top.

NOTE:  If you make this ahead and place, (covered) in the refrigerator, the top layer of potatoes will turn brown (overnight).  I did this, so I was not as pleased with the appearance of the potatoes when I placed them in oven, but it had no effect at all on the taste–and after they were baked, they looked a bit browner than they might have, but they were just fine.  This dish takes a while to make and assemble, so if you have other foods to prepare, making it ahead of time seems prudent.

Bake in the 350 degree oven uncovered for about an hour.  The potatoes should be fork-tender when pierced with a knife, and golden brown on top.  Let the dish settle and cool for at least 10 minutes before serving.

Poppy Goes to Kindergarten

Yes, I know Poppy is a dog.  As in raising children, however, things have changed in the past 25 years since we got our first poodle and went on Standard time.  We’ve been on Standard time for mostly 25 years now, and, well, time marches on.  Or rather, poodles march on and people try to keep up.

As I informed you a week or so ago, Poppy had selected her new clothes to go to school.

 She thought it was to be boarding school, but her parents had a change of heart.  She is, after all, just 7 months old, so it was decided she would go to kindergarten, a more appropriate age-level classroom.  (Yes, she is still wearing the same outfit.  It is very hard to get her to change.)

Of course, she had to have her physical before going, so she visited her friend, the vet, on Friday and decided she’d stay overnight there for a couple of nights.  This was good experience.  (And the house was full of new people for the weekend, interfering with her nap times.)

On Tuesday, Poppy hopped into the back seat of the car while The Authorities drove her to her new school.  She and the Authorities paid a visit to inspect the school, Greymont Kennels in Fairview, Tn, but most of the time she had to wait outside for Mother Superior  (No No!  This is NOT a Catholic school) Authority to double check that all was appropriate and clean and well, you KNOW how Mothers are.  Anyway, it was approved, and Poppy was invited to come spend the following day for a ‘personality evaluation.’

I am not kidding.

So, on Wednesday morning, bright and early (school starts at 8 a.m.), Mother Authority and Poppy, in the backseat because, as we all know, children under a certain weight can not ride in the front seat, set off for the school.  Poppy was very excited.  She recognized it immediately and could not wait–COULD NOT WAIT I TELL YOU!!!!–to get her collar and leash off and go with the nice lady to join the other children canines in the back room.  They all congregated there before they went out, as a group, to the playground.

Mother Authority was asked to return between 3 and 4 and, at that time, a trainer would give Mother the report card for Poppy’s personality and it would be determined whether or not she could attend.

She passed!  I don’t know if she was happier or Mother was happier, or the school was happier, but she passed.

Poppy was a little bit nervous, but warmed up during the afternoon to the other kids  puppies and played and worked well with them.  (Always nice for a Mother to hear, don’t you know.)

She took her nap in the kennel when the rest of the group did, enjoyed the various activities and learning experiences.  It was determined that she LOVES LOVES LOVES humans.  Dogs, mostly too, but all humans.  This is likely because she considers herself a human.

Mother was told that such classroom activities develop social skills for canines with one another and Poppy needed to learn dog language.

Mother was perplexed to hear this.  I mean, she does speak Poodleese, but didn’t know she should speak dog as well.  It is a foreign language to her.

“Obviously,” said the trainer.

Poppy doesn’t speak dog very well, but is learning.  She will attend Tuesdays and Thursdays for a few weeks and an evaluation will be done at the end of the period to see if she is ready to move along to the next level.  Meanwhile, Poppy will receive a report card at the end of every single day she attends so that Mother Authority can keep track of her progress.  Or lack thereof.

One of the big concerns for Mother Authority is what to pack for snacks and lunch.  Do the other kids have peanut allergies?  Peanut butter is Poppy’s favorite treat.  Are they allowed to have treats?  Should her name be attached to her coat and all her belongings?

Another benefit to this school is that Poppy can take the bus if she wants to.  Or her parents wish her to.  For $10, the bus will come and pick her up and for another $10 bring her home from school.  It is a nice option to have, although I don’t believe Poppy is quite ready for this yet.  However, in a pinch, it’s a good option.  She would like a window seat.  Of course.

The Authorities are already planning for Poppy’s future education.  After elementary, junior and high school, she will need to go to college.  Tuition has increased as we all know.  There is great concern about funding said education, but The Authorities have assured Poppy that if she studies hard, does well, they will help her through college.

While she has not yet decided upon her career, it seems likely she will go into the geriatric health care field.

Didn’t I tell you things have changed?