i'm so glad this didn't happen to me

There was a lot of whooping, hollering, and shrieks of pitiful laughter down the hall this morning as I was waiting to get in the library for staff devotions. I found out a few minutes later what that was all about. Turns out Teacher#5 (keeping it that way for confidentiality purposes - I don't know why, since none of you know her) sent home a field trip permission slip yesterday and Teacher #7's son is in her class. Teacher #7 reads Teacher #5's note last night and notices the following headline. . .

Bonneville Damn and Fish Hatchery Field Trip

Did you catch it? Ya, totally the wrong spelling for DAM. We need the kind of dam here that beavers build like out here in Oregon or in the book The Sign of the Beaver (Nat - I hope you are laughing about that right now); the kind of dam that stops water from cascading down a raging river. Not the kind of damn that's short for damnation.

We will have a guided tour of the Oregon side of the Damn and a self-guided tour of the fish hatchery. . .

My child, _____, will attend the damn and fish hatchery field trip.

(Boy, it sure is a good thing the word 'and' is in between damn and fish, don't you think?)

So Teacher #7 brings it to the attention of Teacher #5 who can't quite possibly believe this went home with every student in her room and the whooping and hollering begins.

It's such a good thing that we can laugh at times like that. And we did, all day long. I would have been absolutely mortified, and I'm sure Teacher #5 still is, but can you believe not one single parent said anything about it to her except Teacher #7??? Makes you wonder if people are really reading the notes we send home on a daily basis. Or perhaps no one wanted to say anything to her to embarrass her. Who knows?

I told her that it's probably hanging up on some family's refrigerator and no one will notice until Granny comes over. And of course, since she's the one footing the tuition bill, she's going to have a coronary that some teacher at a Christian school is swearing in her grandkid's field trip note.

Lesson learned - spell check may not always work, especially when you spell the word right in the first place. Print the thing out and have someone else proofread it before sending it home. And no, Teacher #5 does not teach 5th grade, nor does Teacher #7 teach 7th grade. I just chose random numbers to throw you off and because I'm weird that way.

In other exciting news, Phil fixed dinner last night - it something I've never eaten in all my 35 years. Spaghetti squash. He has a cookbook with "lighter" recipes and this one was called Turkey in the Straw. Now, I'll be honest. I'm not a big squash fan. I'll eat pumpkin in just about anything, because it's usually mixed with sugar before it's baked and comes with whipped cream on top. I will also grill or stir fry zucchini, but to eat any other kind of squash, something that usually resembles it's name. . . SQUASH. . .well, it's just not my thing. But my darling husband grew up eating all sorts of squash, and when we were at this fresh produce place the other day called the Barn, they had some. So I let him make it for me.

OK, I'm happy to report that the spaghetti squash wasn't bad. The ground turkey had a mixture of spices that actually made it taste like sausage. In fact, I had him check the package to make sure he didn't buy turkey sausage. He didn't. It was just regular old ground turkey. And also mixed in were green peppers, onions, and tomatoes - so it was really quite Italian-y. I even told him I'd eat it again. Just not everyday.

But speaking of squash, and the fact that fall is just around the corner, I've been thinking about all the recipes I have that call for pumpkin and hoping I have enough places to go so that I can make them all.

pumpkin cookies. . .

pumpkin chocolate chip bread. . .

pumpkin mousse. . .

pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting. . .

pumpkin cheesecake. . .

pumpkin muffins. . .