Twelve Dozen Individual Chicken Pox

Today is the Ladies of Howe Valentines Celebration/Secret Valentine Party. We are also decorating a dozen cookies each for fun. I offered to bake up the sugar cookies since most of the ladies who participate in these gatherings are Career teachers/career women. No biggie...I can knock out batches of heart cookies with the ol' eyes closed, just like my Mom and Grandmothers Faison and Shrum who came before me.

After the overnight chill of the dough, I was rolling them out and cutting them this morning. Pretty mindless stuff, which means your mind can wander onto other things. Since I was cutting Valentine Hearts, of course, that is where my mind was. See...I don't eat valentine heart cookies. Haven't since I was four years old. It isn't that my Mom didn't make them. She did. It isn't that my friends haven't made them. They did. It isn't that I can't buy them at the Wally of Marts. I can.

I just can't eat Sugar Heart Cookies with Buttercream Frosting. I can't.

Because if I do.....I will get Chicken Pox.

Yes, you heard me. Sugar Heart Cookies with Buttercream Frosting are the direct cause of Chicken Pox.

Thirty nine years ago, I was in four-year old preschool at Olivet Lutheran in Sylvania.  Many of the neighborhood ladies put their kids in this preschool - and as such, the Moms pulled together a car pool.  I remember very few folks in the pool - but clearly I recall Kari Hesburn, Chris Leupp, and Shelley (Forgive me, I cannot remember her last name).  


Mom had the fortune of driving us on the pickup route on Valentines Day.  Chris Leupp was missing from the pool that day though, as he was home sick.  I am sure he was bummed to miss the class party; and the teacher sent home his box of Valentines with my Mom.  Upon stopping at his house, his mom brought out cookies for all the folks in the car pool.  Mmmmmm.....sugar cookie hearts with butter cream frosting. 


 I remember eating at least one, but I most likely ate all of the Faison Portion....yeah, I was good like that!  


Two days later, WHAMMO.  Chicken Pox.  Mom told me I must have gotten them from Young Master Leupp.   Yeah Right.  Suuuuurrre.  It was those tasty, tasty cookies.  If Chris had Chicken Pox, he must have licked all the cookies and gave them to me.  And Kari.  And Shelley.  Because within "moments" of each other...we ALL came down with them.  And I never ate another Valentine Sugar Cookie.  Nor did I ever eat another baked good item from Mrs. Leupp. (And she was a good baker, and I was a "great" eater - so you know how traumatic the event must have been)


So this evening, off I went with Twelve Dozen Individual Chicken Pox - in the shape of Heart Cookies - along with tubs of the nail in the coffin - butter cream frosting in Valentiney Colors.  


I am already itching.


Psychosis, you have a phone call on line 8, Psychosis, Line Crazy 8 Please...