The Queens of SQueeze

Lily and her buddy Abby have a plan. They want to be rich. Don't most kids? They have a plan in place. They want to sell lemonade and cookies and make cash moola. I'm all for the entrepreneurial spirit. But I want it to be all them, not Mom working and kids raking in the dough.

When the girls told me their plan, I was amused. When they told me how they were going to accomplish said plan, I was supportive. Pick lemons, freeze the juice, then later when it's warmer, they'll make juice and cookies and sell them from our corner. 

So, one Saturday, these two entrepreneurial girls loaded our wagon with two huge totes, walked to our neighbor's vacant house, loaded both totes and the bottom of the wagon with lemons, then walked home.

Three days later, after school, these two young ladies borrowed a neighbor's juicer, set up assembly lines on my patio table (cutting station, juicing station, garbage station, pouring station, bagging station) and proceeded to juice lemons.

Exactly how many lemons did the juice?  I don't know.  But I can give you a few figures.  They juiced lemons for over two and a half hours!  Seriously!

A batch of fresh lemonade requires two cups of juice, so they used quart-size freezer bags and filled each with two cups of their treasure. 

How many bags?  Forty Bags. FORTY BAGS!

How much did I help?  I helped them set up their assembly lines, and that's it.  Really. Oh, and I did make room in the freezer for the juice.  That's it.

They're counting their money already.

I know most of you across this country of ours are busy digging out of the century's worst storm (and it's only 2011--who knows what this century still has in store). 

I know it's freezing nose hairs where you are.

If it's any consolation to you, Ben just came in the house and said, "It is so ridiculously cold!" It's supposed to be around 27* tonight. It's never that cold here. All our flowers, vegetables, and tender shrubs (including my precious gardenias) are safely tucked in under blankets tonight. 

Watch out. I'm sure all the ficus trees will be gone by morning, and I bet all the citrus farmers have their fans blowing tonight.

I know. Feel bad for me.


I felt bad posting the picture of Lily in her tumbling clothes yesterday. I also feel bad posting this today--squeezing fresh-picked lemons outside. Sorry.

Linking up to Q with Jenny Matlock's Alphabe-Thursday.  Jenny won't care.  She lives around the corner and probably juiced her own grapefruit juice this morning.