Contest winner

And the winner is comment #5! Cheryl S., e-mail me your snail mail address, and I’ll drop your signed copy of The Warrior’s Touch in the mail. Hope you enjoy it!

All this week my son has been enjoying Safety Town, a program sponsored by local businesses, the fire and sheriff’s department. I think it’s a great program for kids because they not only teach them about fire safety and stranger danger, but they also covered topics like school bus safety (the kids took a short bus ride around a neighborhood), animal safety, poison safety, personal hygiene and playground safety. I was a fan of the hygiene one. Five-year-olds think absolutely nothing about sharing cups, drinks, food, etc. Today they had a Safety Fair, which was actually more interesting than I expected it to be. The kids could go inside a fire engine, an ambulance, and the fire department had a portable trailer that was used for fire education. We sat in a “kitchen” and he asked the kids questions about everything from keeping pot handles turned inward to what they should do in the case of a real fire. He had a cellophane “fire” in one of the pots, and my son’s eyes grew so wide, he was ready to bolt out of the trailer.

Then they had a bedroom where they talked about fire ladders, detecting heat in a bedroom door, and the last thing was a smoke simulation where the kids would crawl out the trailer exit. I think no one was happier to get out of there than my son. It really bothered him to see the smoke. But in a way, I think it’s good for them to have a healthy fear of fire. His favorite activity was taking his picture with Sparky the Fire Dog and eating his first Sno-Cone. And yes, bonehead here forgot to bring the digital camera. I do have the one printout with Sparky, though.

Tomorrow we’re attending a cookout and I’ve been asked to bring a side dish that could accompany hot dogs, shrimp, and grilled chicken. Anyone have any suggestions? It has to be kid-friendly, so I was thinking about homemade macaroni & cheese, but I don’t have a good recipe. The last time I tried, it was basically like pasta with baked cheese on top–ugh. If you have any ideas for good side dishes for cookouts, send them my way!