And at the school, she was a chicken

The human body can make all but 9 amino acids essential for proper functioning. The egg contains all 9 of the amino acids we cannot make in almost the exact proportions we need. The egg could be the perfect protein for human consumption. 

We have been trying to cut back on spending recently. So, I pulled out my favorite cookbook, More-With-Less Cookbook (World Community Cookbook) (which always gives me warm fuzzy feelings about those Mennonites) and because I forgot what I was going to look for, I began reading, from the beginning. It was during this quiet journey to the cereal section ("oh yeah! I was going to make granola") that I read about chicken eggs as protein and how great they truly are. I brought it up at dinner last night but I don't know that Kurt fully heard me (and I never got to asking him if we could buy some chickens) as he was too busy thinking how that one meal summed up our children: Madeline pranced off to go potty and came back in giggling while twirling her pants around in front of her, (most likely singing a little show tune in her head); Aidan, having thoroughly enjoyed Madeline's moment and being all-knowledgeable about such matters, went into monologue about how she could do it better and faster if she would twirl the pants the other direction; meanwhile, Lily had half a chunk of watermelon sticking out of her mouth and was trying to make some sort of guttural, animal-like sounds; and Liam, well, he was fed (i.e. content.) 

So, today, (having not been "summed-up" at the dinner table myself), I was dropping Aidan off at school when my nose noticed Lily really needed a new diaper. We were in a rush to get Madeline to her drop-off on time so I quickly got Lily still in the car long enough to take the stinky diaper off. I said a little prayer of thanksgiving that it was not smooshed (sorry for the graphics) because I had no wipes on hand; just some kleenex. As I switched out the old diaper for the new one, I saw, from the corner of my eye, a little ball (of excrement) roll out of the car. It landed on my running board. So I swooped down to pick it up with the diaper, and stepped back, right on the OTHER little ball that had apparently rolled out incognito, onto the ground, behind me... And of course, I was wearing running shoes!

So there I was, in the parking lot, stomping around in the puddles, rubbing my shoe on the curb, walking through the grass and ground coverage, a cluck-cluck here and a cluck-cluck there, here a cluck, there a cluck, everywhere a cluck-cluck, anything I could think of to get my child's feces off the bottom of my shoe. (And of course, my plan after drop-offs was to go to the chiropractor's office for some PT and adjustments where he'd be close enough to my shoes to know that something was not quite sanitary). I would be lying if I said no one noticed the crazy lady trampling around the parking lot in her gym clothes. One guy seemed skeptical of parking next to me while another drove up and asked if I had stepped in dog poop. Gee, thanks for not looking the other way out of the urge to prevent some stranger's embarrassment. 

Fortunately, Madeline's drop-off requires a walk through gravelly sand, perfect for finishing the job. And when the chiropractor told me to start heating my back two to three times daily with moist heat (like a hot shower, or soak in a jacuzzi...because you know, I don't have 4 kids or anything...) I knew he was oblivious enough that he may not have noticed the stink anyway. 

As for chicken eggs, apparently I am not eating enough of them to keep all brain cells functioning properly but at least I put on a good shoe, I mean, show. And what a graceful one it is...E-I-E-I-OOOOOOOO!