Thank you for all your cookie suggestions. I was tempted to try all of them, but eventually settled on making Boot Tracks because I got to use my waffle iron. I love kitchen gadgets, and the waffle iron is rarely used for anything other than waffles, so I thought I’d give it some quality time.

The Boot Tracks came out well, but I wouldn’t call them cookies. They were essentially brownies cooked in a waffle iron. I felt like I got snookered. However, if in the future you are ever making brownies and simply cannot wait 20 minutes for them to bake in the oven, let it be known that you can pull out your waffle iron or George Foreman grill and cook them in two minutes or less. If any of you think of trying this recipe, please, please, please remember to grease the waffle iron before cooking. Otherwise you’ll be scraping boot tracks off your waffle iron like mud off of a boot.

There were lots of lovely cookies at the exchange. One of the […]

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It is a sad time to be a Girl Scout. First cookie sales are down due to the recession, and now they’re taking away the badges!

The biggest change is last year’s debut of Journeys, a pilot curriculum that will mostly replace the system of earning badges on specific topics. Girls still will be able to earn badges if they want, but Journeys rarely mentions them, focusing instead on broader themes, including teamwork and healthy living.

What kind of farce is this? Healthy living lectures from the demon distributors of Samoas and Thin Mints and Tagalongs? Ha! They can talk as much as they want about teamwork, but I remember what Girl Scouts was really about – tacky glue, fights over who lit the match to start the campfire, and BADGES. Lots and lots of badges. So many badges that yo’ mamma better learn to sew.

Here I am in 2nd grade in my Brownie Girl Scout jumper, with matching shoes, socks and striped shirt. I was the kind of Brownie you can’t eat. (If you’re not a […]

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I bought a bike. I probably paid fifty dollars more for it than if I had shopped around. They charged me extra for the kickstand and the water bottle holder too. But I decided I needed to buy a bike already or I would never do it. So I bought a bike – a beautiful, blue bike. I’ve named her Bluebell.

She has flowers and bubbles imprinted on her handles and seat.

And stylish decals painted on her frame.

Basically, this bike is targeted at young women who aren’t as concerned about performance as they are about riding a pretty bike, a demographic I fall squarely in. If you fall in that demographic too and want to buy your own, she’s a Trek 7100 WSD.

I rode Bluebell to Butler University to buy Avenue Q tickets, saving money on gas and obscene TicketMaster “convenience” fees which I have never found to be convenient. However, I’d forgotten I was getting my hair cut on the same day. So I went to the stylist and told her I was going out […]

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