The Bunch Celebrate D's Life Saving Award!

Ok, the police department does these awards every year and the first year D worked there we went. It sounded like a fun FREE night out. We would have dinner and fellowship with other adults, something young parents desperately need. That did happen. Unfortunately, it was very  --we'll say disagreeable--to us that at an awards dinner for the POLICE dept . that some officers had several beer bottles and other empty alcoholic beverages in front of them. I really felt no alcohol should have been served since they are held to a higher standard, but I digress. I also didn't realize that most of the other "adults" we would be having dinner with were permanently stuck in 12th grade. Yep, those kind of guys. I know you know exactly the type I mean: play stupid jokes, act like they are about 15. Long story short, we left early and NEVER attended again UNTIL this year.

A co-worker had told D he should attend the ceremony this year. In other words, D was getting an award. Yay! He deserves recognition. The high school kids don't really appreciate his matureness. Not wanting to make him endure the dinner by himself, I, like a good wife, went with him. He was being acknowledged and I was going to celebrate that with him. It was at a hotel this time, so hopefully the alcohol swigging kids actually got a room to sleep it off.  The hotel was really nice. The table was set and dinner was served almost immediately and the best part; I got to eat! Everything except dessert was dairy free and yummy! I was prepared to bring my dinner home and eat it later, but was pretty excited to be able to eat with everyone else. Yep, I smuggled in Tupperware to the party. Anyone who knows my husband won't bat an eye at this, though D said he wouldn't carry my dish. Men! . The theme was Casino night, because why not make your theme for the police dept banquet something illegal.  We left after dinner and the awards so we missed the gambling fun, but D had to work the next morning and we don't gamble. The awards were long, but I was so proud of D. On his shift, several employees worked to perform CPR on an inmate and they were honored with the Life Saving Award. Good job, baby!  We also were seated next to other "mature"  people and actually had a great time  (for an awards ceremony).  Overall, it was a great experience this time, but we probably won't go back unless he earns another award. They are really long!

Isn't he cute?

Please note the Tupperware container peaking out of my purse. I was ready to bring my free dinner home!

D holding the gambling money they gave us when we arrived. We gave ours away.

Chicken marsala...No dairy! Yay!

I brought home dessert for the kids. The lady next to me gave me her cheesecake to bring home too. Don't worry D, she offered.

My baby gets his award. Of course, he went last so we had to sit through the first 2 hours!

We're proud of you!

My girls LOVE all things British. Don't ask me why or when it happened, but the Great British Baking Show is on constant replay in my house. I really don't understand how they can watch it over and over again, but they do and they LOVE it. My eldest daughter, A, has gotten pretty good at making baguettes by following the procedures from the show. There are some things you should know about A. She is well known in our house for a lack of common sense and not thinking things through all the way. We had a severe cold snap this week and the highs were only about 30 during the day and teens overnight. It was cold. During this cold spell was when she decided to make some baguettes for lunch. The contestants on the Baking Show use a pan of water to help make their bread crisp. Unfortunately, A didn't realize that simple physics won't let you put cold water into a pre-heated 465 degree glass pan. Yep, my pan exploded into billions of pieces in the oven and we had to throw her bread she had spent 4 hours making in the trash. She was devastated, but possibly  digesting glass was NOT worth it. Luckily, she missed the explosion somehow and remained unscathed. She does however owe me a new pan and spent an hour cleaning the oven with a vacuum.

A's mess. Too bad about the baguettes. She was crushed all her hard work was thrown away.

My other daughter, L, made raspberry tarts and they were FANTASTIC. She is becoming quite the little baker. However, she made a plate of nachos and dumped them on my living room carpet so she had her own messes to clean. The crazy dog is still trying to lick the carpet. Oh, kids.

L making her raspberry tarts. It took her a couple of hours. They were GREAT!

The finished product. I am glad Aldi had raspberries on sale. She is such a great little baker.

T was really sick this week. I thought we might have to take him to the hospital. He had a fever of 102.4 and it kept going up. We were putting ice packs and cool cloths on him. Finally after an hour it went down and broke. He didn't run another fever again thank goodness. We played cards with him to keep him entertained and he seemed to enjoy it. He still has a little bit of a cough, but it otherwise he is fine.

In the mist of the fever.....his face got really red from the fever, but doesn't look as red in the pic.

He was feeling better and asked to play a game with us.

We found D his new little car! We got a great deal on it and paid in cash. It felt great to NOT get a loan. My eldest son, who is a car salesman, had a pink 2015 Mirage with only 20000 miles for a great deal, but we found one in black for a better deal, but it had 47000 miles. D REALLY did not want a pink car. I really thought he wouldn't care, but I am sure the "kids" at work would be ruthless so no pink. If I had extra money I would get it for the girls because I think it is super cute and it has low miles, but I guess we will look again in a few months when A gets her license. It is a bare bones car, but supposedly gets 43mpg so it works for us. It is also only 3 cylinders. We thought cars didn't come with less than 4! It is a get in your lane and stay kind of car, but it is saving a ton of  miles and wear and tear on the tow vehicle and letting us spend 2/3 less in gas each week.  Under $20 to fill up and not just over $60; yes, please. We missed having a little car and are pretty excited we found this one. I hope it is good to us!

How cute is that!  Just imagine it in pink. Wouldn't that be a perfect little car for the girls?