yesterday i was the special guest for my aunt's preschool class. it was community helper day, and i dressed up, as myself, and was a REAL LIVE COMMUNITY HELPER.. kids, get it so good these days. when she asked me if i would come, she told me there were only 2 requirements 1) i wear scrubs and 2) i bring my stethescope. no problem. i even upped it and declared that i would even wear a PRINTED scrub top. you are probably wondering what the big deal about wearing a printed top is. its a big deal. i hate the printed tops. you're right- there are tons of cute ones with flowers, and pretty bright colors, even pink and green ones that look like lilly pulitzer might have made them. but when you have the upper body composition of a line backer you tend to steer away from bright and bold prints on fabric gives you a lovely box shaped appearance. and since the day i had that revelation, ive been a solids only girl. fear not, i also look cheery for the kiddies, just not at the expense of my self esteem.



so, i donned the print top (i saved one for emergencies-which clearly this was) and even wore white pants to up the stereo type and went to class. i got directions to the class room and was told "walk down the hall through the forest, turn right, and its at the end of the hall". i felt a bit like dorothy in the wizard of oz and walked quickly through the forest at the risk the trees throw apples at me. i was behind a kid with a plastic stethescope around his neck and decided following him would bring me to the right place. it did. all the kids dressed as different community helpers. it was quite possibly the most adorable thing i have ever seen. when class started, i got to sit in the teachers spot on the carpet and tried to play a little game with the kids. i said, who can guess my job. one kid ,dressed as a chef, exclaimed COMMUNITY HELPER. bingo smarty pants (my aunt had said about 100 times in ten minutes that it was community helper day). i said well yes, but what kind? i said "i work in a hospital, and i help kids feel better, and i work with a doctor, who do you think i am?" (while holding my stethescope) and the construction worker said, A DOCTOR. no, darling, i work WITH a doctor. now the farmer exclaimed, A COMMUNITY HELPER. oy vey, i was on the verge of bursting in laughter and my aunt chimed in and a said a nurse. they seemed very disappointed. i let the police officer try listening to his heart. he says " nope, i hear nothing." great, could you just use your imagination - you are four - thats your job in life. i said "try again, i think you really can!" i suppose the power of suggestion swayed him and he told me he could. halleluliah. then the construction worker looked at me and declared, " well, i know everything, and i knew it all even in heaven before i was born." how do you compete with that? i couldn't.



so me and my bright print top went home and napped.

i joined a Bible study and the first meeting was on wednesday. if i wanst nervous enough, when i got the email giving me the details about the meeting it had those frightful words, "...it would be wonderful if every one brought an appetizer." oh boy. if going to a strangers house, with a bunch of people i have never met doesnt make me scared enough to contemplate taking some xanax, then the only thing to possibly push me over the ledge is having to bring something for all to share. so i spent a few days freaking out and scouring the internet, and my recipie box (which houses about 3 recipies), and came up with nothing. ive discovered appetizers are quite tricky. it had to be something that did not need to be hot/warm while serving, was easy to assemble or i made it beforehand, and lets be real- didnt involve anything too difficult or any type of platter that a real grown up would have. because i am a pretend grown up. i almost went to the grocery store to see if lean cuisine had a appetizer line that perhaps id missed, but then realized the abusrdity of that- it was raining way to hard for the grocery store, ill stick to my in home resources. and then while talking to my mom on the phone, i found a recipie for pumpkin dip. and got so excited because it had some of my favorite foods cheese (cream cheese, not cheddar but i love all cheese) and sugar. whats not to love? and then i was reminded that there is a shortage of pumpkin this year. sweet deal. the Lord must have wanted me at the bible study and sensed my rapidly approaching freak out and provided me with an abundance of pumpkin at the grocery store. and i set to make the dip

as you can see, i have not lost my five year old baking skills that involve splashing the batter all over the countertops.....and sink, and my arms, and the mixer. however when all was said and done i had made this:

no you dont need glasses, the picture is blurry. my camera and i are having issues. but my dip was quite tasty and it was quite the hit at the bible study.

one of my favorite people,my friend Danielle ,encouraged me to start a blog . i read everyone elses' so it seemed only fair that they have the same access to my facinating life . plus she has never led me wrong on something she told me to- including eat hamloaf, which by her description looked like "pig intestines and then its mashed together like meatloaf." mmm,tasty. i had serious doubts but i went against my gut, tried it, and it was delicious! however, i digress. but i did think it might be fun living in a new city, with new job, and being the same old allie to chronicle my happs.

or it could be like my nano baby which died the same day i got it at KB Toys.

so here i am in atlanta and reazling that its not quite the same as back where i come from. last week, i had just moved into the apartment and i looked around and reazlied that i had NO snacks or diet coke in my aparment. now if you know me at all, you know that i need my snacks and diet coke. so my dad and i turned right around and headed to publix in search of some moving day treats. well, we got bold and spicy chex mix (try it if you havent), a few other things, and then went to check out. i apologized profusely to the cashier for not having a publix card and asked if i could borrow the store one until i signed up for my own. he looked at me and smiled, and said "here at publix ma'am, we dont have a special card for sales, we want all our customers to get the sales, everytime." oh. then my dad made the fateful mistake of going to bag the groceries. the manager of the store happened to be standing near us at the time, saw my dad head near the bagging area, and basically jumped him , threw him out of the way, and profusely apologized for the next 2 minutes that my dad had the thought of bagging his own groceries cross his mind. toto, i dont think we are in kansas anymore. but its fun and im having fun down here.