Workin' Hard For The Money...

We apologize for the brief interruption of service (like a month...I know), but life has been crazy! And instead of writing about it, I have just been enjoying it!

I am back to work (as of July 1) and am still getting into the groove of things. And in case you were wondering...I work here, at Community Action Partnership of Madera County...helping people, changing lives, and making our community a better place to live.

All in all, it's good to be back, but I miss my little darlings!

Baby Cake

Why My Workplace/Co-Workers Are So Awesome

Reason #1584: Baby Shower thrown on February 13

*Background: Email received on February 4: "Thought of you when I saw these...make sure you read the captions below the cakes. CakeWrecks: When Professional Cakes Go Horribly, Hilariously Wrong."

On that day, my co-workers found me at my desk, almost in tears, laughing. The email began to circulate, and those cakes became a source of many more laughs. These three were my favorites, all coming from a blog called CakeWrecks, a very witty, undeniably funny website where the worst of the worst of all cakes are highlighted:

Jen's Quotes (from CakeWrecks):

Sasha probably wasn't too happy when her colleagues gave her this

The plastic clone babies wearing naught but mohawks are bad enough, but then they're also riding carrots. What do you do with that? It looks like some kind of perverted vegetable rodeo, or maybe a bizarre clone military exercise, what with their little plastic fists raised high in identical salutes. And what kind of occasion calls for a "naked babies riding carrots" decor, anyway? No, wait, maybe I don't want to know.

...and this beauty:

And then there are the disturbing cakes. If you received this one, you'd have nightmares for years.

Bring on the nightmares, because my marvelous boss/baker extraordinaire brought this delicious dulce de leche goodness to the shower:

...and these were the remnants that were found on my desk afterwards:

I toted them home to share in some laughter with my mom and sister. Emily found them on the counter and was a little confused, repeatedly saying "Daddy fix baby." Sorry, honey.

Helping people, changing lives...

From my call log at work this past month:

Caller 1: Ummm...hi. Can you help me find someone to take care of my newborn? I am a new mom and going back to work soon.
Me: Of course. Let me get a bit of information and I can get that for you right now.

Caller 2: Hola. Necesito ayuda para pagar el cuidado de nino. Me podras ayudar? (Hi. I need help paying for child care. Can you help me?)
Me: No hablo espanol. Uno momento par favor. (Alternate response: No hay fondos. = There are no funds.)

Caller 3: I am looking for a tutor for my child. Could you give me some resources?"
Me: Sure! Some schools offer after-school programs and tutoring. What school does your child attend?
Caller 3: My child doesn't go to school. She is 3 years old. But she is behind so she needs a tutor.
Me: (Stunned) Okay...let me look into that and get back to you.

So...
One of these things is not like the others,
One of these things just doesn't belong.
Can you tell which thing is not like the others
By the time I finish my song?

Did you guess which thing was not like others?
Did you guess which thing just doesn't belong?
If you guessed this one is not like the others
Then you are absolutely...right!

Caller 3 is not like the others. Who requests a tutor for their 3-year old??? When I run that call back through in my head, sometimes I give Mom the benefit of the doubt. I pretend that when she said "tutor," she actually meant "preschool," which is a perfectly good idea for any 3-year old. Or, I pretend that Mom has a child with special needs and she wanted someone to give her some one-on-one attention. On the other days, let my alter ego loose on her, which goes something like this:

"You want your child to succeed in school? Take her outside and let her run (This will build her large motor skills. You see, children develop starting from the trunk, then to the extremities and out to the fingers. They can't write well if they don't run enough to develop their trunk and arms). When she's done, bring her and a friend back inside and let them play with building blocks (so she can learn about gravity and sorting, and getting along with others). Then, later on, sit down at the kitchen table with some markers and paper. She will want to draw with you, and let her do whatever she wants on the paper in whatever colors she wants, even if it is pounding on the paper with the tip of the crayon and it might break (because, you know, there are 80 stages of scribbling that children go through before they start writing). THOSE things will help her succed in school. Not a tutor who will probably just rip you off. Furthermore, if you decide not to heed my advice and you do get a "tutor" for your child, what will she learn? She might be able to recite the entire alphabet, but mostly likey she just knows a song, not that each of the letters represents a phoneme, and by combining them, we can make unique sounds and words.

So...is there anything else I can do for you?"