Tales of SUPER-Aunt

I have survived the 4 day weekend babysitting my nephews- a 5 year old and an 18 month old. Whew.

Thursday: picked the boys up from school, watched my older nephew ride his bike in circles while chasing little nephew (who was trying to "catch" older nephew). Cooked dinner (um, warmed up some corn, cooked some squash and served chicken roasted at the grocery store). Little nephew fell asleep at 7:30 sharp, older nephew required 3 books read by me and 2 books read by him prior to heading to bed.

Friday: Older nephew met me in the hallway as little nephew opened the day by crying at 7am sharp. Verbally prompted older nephew through morning routine while changing diaper and dressing little nephew- who was quite concerned that I was not his mother. Followed little nephew through process of looking in bedroom, bathroom, and downstairs for missing mother while assuring him that she would be back "Sunday". Little nephew accepted that the morning banana was coming from a new source- namely "Super-Aunt"- and begrudgingly ate blueberry breakfast bar and banana. Both nephews refused milk. Drove kids to school and went home to stress until 3:30pm. Picked kids up, took them to soccer practice where I assured older nephew that I had seen his awesome moves while chasing little nephew around edge of field. Felt like a bad aunt due to fact little nephew refused to sit under blanket and thus looked rather cold. Got lost on way to grocery store and finally ended up in strange store with two hungry and tired children. Home with groceries, fed little nephew while verbally prompting older nephew through making personal pizzas from pita. Chased little nephew around basement while older nephew verbally prompted me through every plot element of James and the Giant Peach. Gave baths to both boys and sent them to bed.

Saturday: Dressed older nephew for soccer game and younger nephew for sitting through soccer game on cold dreary day (now fully aware of his opinion of blankets). Repeatedly checked website and hotline to see if game was cancelled. Arrived to game- drizzling rain initially which yielded to full downpour as we were getting out of car. Got back in car. Sent older nephew into rain with umbrella and watched closely as he crossed the field to his team. Game cancelled. Took nephews home, changed to normal clothes, and took them bowling. 18 month old bowled a 54 point game using bumpers and a bowling ball slope- danced every time he sent the ball down! Older nephew bowled a 75 point game using just the bumpers and bragged for the rest of the day that he had beaten his younger brother.... Took kids to play area in the mall and forgot umbrella. Heavens opened and rained cats and dogs on our journey back to car. 3rd outfit of the day for both children after throwing all wet clothes in the dryer. Dinner plans with friends of the family were cancelled due to a fender-bender in THEIR lives. Dinner consisted of multiple snacks on a plate (gogart, applesauce, cereal bars, pineapple and a slice of ham). Chased little nephew around basement while older nephew verbally prompted me through every plot element of Meet the Robinsons. Sent both boys to bed. Collapsed on couch.

Sunday: Dressed kids and went to church. Rewarded good behavior during church with a trip to Dunkin Donuts. Became nauseous after donut. Sensation of needing to vomit every time I saw food for the remainder of the day. Took kids to halloween party. Carved pumpkin abandoned by older nephew while watching him run from station to station and entertained little nephew by handing him pumpkin-goo (sans seeds). Little nephew now glued to me and not allowing friendly neighbors to pick him up or entertain him. Painted 2 additional pumpkins- one with each child. Attempted to give nephews nutritional lunch after letting them eat cookies and a cupcake at the party. Sipped sprite to ward of nausea. Took kids to Barnes and Nobles due to promise on Thursday that if we had a good 4 days without a trip to the emergency room they could each pick out a present from Barnes and Nobles. Little nephew fell in love with doggie book, older nephew hemmed and hawed until picking a book with a telephone which was instantly coveted by little nephew. Parents called, "we've landed and we'll pick up dinner".

TA-DAAAAAA!!!!!! No emergency room visits and I even kept their car safe.

And you people with kids had me convinced this was HARD. Okay, it was hard, but it was very very fun.

Anyone need a baby-sitter????

Blue Collar Joe's

I feel a great need to write a review of this infant donut shop as it enters the Danville, VA landscape.

If you are driving up 81 in the Blue Ridge mountains, take 150B, bear to the right (two lanes bear to the right, one to the left- go right!). At the next stop light, take a right and try not to get back on the interstate. Then go straight for just a couple of minutes. You'll see Kroger on the left side of the road and that's your clue to start looking for this flagpole on the left:



Get into the left turn lane and pull into Blue Collar Joe's. Park and prepare for some of the best fresh homemade donuts available. Each cake donut tells a story with it's toppings of coconut shreds, toffee, crumbled chocolate, thick coats of frosting, and I think I saw a few with crushed nuts. There was a couple of plain old glazed and blueberry glazed- and at the end of the row was a very tasty pumpkin glazed. I landed up with a Caramel apple donut (apple donut with caramel drizzled) and a Botetourt(??) Bog donut (chocolate donut with thick chewy chocolate frosting and crumbled chocolate crumbs). These were darn good donuts.

The couple that owns and runs the joint are upbeat and adorable. I worked with one of the owner's at the hospital (speech therapist by day, donut dealer by weekend!) and she's one of those rare people with scruples and an endless amount of energy. They are dog people, as you can tell by both the logo and the pictures of their puppies on the back wall, but I know they'll serve cat people there too. The donut shop itself is converted from an old gas station- the middle payment area of the old gas station will soon become a two way drive through. The prices are comparable to other donut shops, but the donuts are far superior to usual chain donuts. It's only a few minutes from the exit, and there's a few gas stations and a shopping center that make this a perfect stop along the mountainous 81 stretch.

In an economy that's struggling, it's nice to see a new business take a brave step into the shaky world. From the fast-paced flow of business I saw this morning (and the taste of the donuts and coffee), it's going to do just fine.

Good luck Blue Collar!