tis the season II

Halloween is always a huge event at Primary Children's hospital. Surprisingly, it's the most celebrated holiday of the year. I think the staff gets into it even more than the kids! Since part of my job consists of "normalizing" the hospital environment, we paly a big role in Halloween festivities. We usually help moniter a hospital party, help the kids create costumes, and then take the kids trick-or-treating around the hospital. This sounds fairly simple until you remember that some kids are bed-bound, which means we need to push them (and attaching IV poles) everywhere we go. It's no wonder halloween is so exhausting!
I personally am not a super-huge halloween celebrater, but I do dress up at the hospital, which is standard for the day. This year, I came up with the idea of Mr. Potato Head, with interchangeable parts stored in a flap in the back of my shirt. First interactive halloween costume I've ever had!

Funny comment recently heard at the hospital by a coworker~ She was working with a kid who recently had surgery, and had lost a tooth in the operating room. The child excitedly commented that the tooth fairy had still been able to pay a visit. Suddenly, he got a puzzled look on his face, and wondered aloud how the tooth fairy had figured out how to get into the operating area. A moment later, his face cleared, and he stated "ohh, she must have remembered to bring her GPS!"

Another notable event this week - I harvested my popcorn! I usually try at least one new crop each year, and popcorn was one of the ones I tried this year. Yes, popcorn is different from regular corn. There are several varieties that each taste slightly different. I opted for "carousal", a multi-color variety. I thought it sounded like fun! I don't know anybody else that has ever grown the crop, so I thought I'd be the first.

The cobs I harvested were very small, but perfect otherwise! I tried popping them in the microwave and it worked! It cracked me up, because some of the kernals popped right off the cob, and others stayed on. Therefore, I could eat some of the popcorn right off the cob, just like summer sweet corn! Below is a picture of my first experiment -I tried the smallest ear I could find first just in case I did it wrong.