New friends....

When I first moved to Charlotte 24-years-ago, I would take Saturday and Sunday drives trying to get the 'lay of the land'. I can't remember how I came to find this quaint little town called Waxhaw, but once I did, I visited fairly often (and still do). It was just a nice drive - straight up Providence Road - lots of vacant land and countryside.

Well, it's not quite so vacant anymore....the secret is out! Beautiful residential neighborhoods have sprouted just about everywhere you look, but the little downtown area of Waxhaw is still as charming as it was so many years ago - like a little 'Mayberry' - untouched by big developers who tend to tear down architectural structure and history.

Photo Credit:  Waxhaw Police Department

With my desire to move someday to a neighboring town like Waxhaw, Mint Hill (or just somewhere else), I thought it was time to show a little AHOP hospitality to the officers and staff at the Waxhaw Police Department. I have been wanting to do something for these officers for a long time, so my visit was long overdue.

Something else long overdue was a new facility for these officers. Their new home, pictured on the right, was finished in June 2014, replacing their old 125-year-old station. I have secretly been wanting to take a peek inside.

So while I was out on sabbatical with my foot in a cast, I designed a candy bar wrapper for the Waxhaw Police Department and made the delivery during my lunch  hour. I called their office one day while I was out on leave and talked to a nice lady who gave me the information I needed for the back of the wrapper. I promised them a box of cream puffs as soon as AHOP gets her groove back 100%.

I hope my visit will remind them that they are appreciated and thought of often -- far beyond their own city limits.

Didn't these turn out cute!

♥ 

The pretty little town of Waxhaw

Photo Credit: Waxhaw Police Department

  ♥ 

A post-DNC thank you!

So proud of our CMPD and all of the law enforcement officers who came in from around the country to help keep Charlotte safe during the Democratic National Convention (DNC).  They made the City of Charlotte shine last week.  We are honored to have such a great law enforcement team in Charlotte, protecting and serving the citizens of Mecklenburg County.

I wanted to make my officers in the South Division (my area) a special after-DNC surprise in appreciation for all their hard work and long hours.  I haven't made a special candy bar wrapper since Easter, and before that it was Valentine's Day, so I thought now might be a good time.  South, Central and North divisions received my Easter candy bars, so this time I made some for the Steele Creek division, in addition to South, with my thanks for an awesome job last week.  I hope they will enjoy them as much as I enjoyed making them.  Love you guys too!   

I was super nervous about delivering my gift to Steele Creek today.  And as many times as I have stopped by my own division, I still get a knot in my stomach before I go.  It's like everyone is crazy busy, and then here I come -- little ol' me -- with my candy bars, or whatever it happens to be.  So out of my element.       

And here's some surprising news.....I wrapped 108 Hershey candy bars (w/ Almonds) for the South Division and 108 candy bars for Steele Creek.  That's 216 candy bars total and I didn't eat NOT ONE! It's a near miracle.  Wow is all I can say!  

Didn't they turn out cute!!

Click on picture to enlarge

 My pictures didn't turn out very good. 

Happy Anniversary to AHOP!

Two years ago today I cooked my first breakfast for a bunch of CMPD 1^st shifters that I had never met before. They didn't know me...and I didn't know them.  On that very first Saturday, for fear of oversleeping, I hardly slept at all.  I woke up at 3:00 am and decided to get up and fry the sausage for the sausage gravy, and I finished setting the table.  I can still remember how I felt when the first blue & white pulled up.  I met each officer at the door to introduce myself and welcome them to my home. Eleven officers came that first morning.  There were so many patrol cars coming and going that a TV news truck pulled up and asked an officer what was going on. 

Rain or shine, every other Saturday, my alarm has gone off at 4:30 am.  If I've done my math right, since June 26, 2010, AHOP has cracked approx 1,248 eggs, poured 52 gallons of orange juice, baked 156 packs of bacon and flipped approx 936 pancakes.

To my boys and girls and blue....thank you for filling that empty place in my heart. I'm so proud to know you all.
  

(click on picture to enlarge)

I enjoy designing and wrapping Hershey candy bars for special
occasions and I thought today deserved a special candy bar 
too – to commemorate AHOP. 

Update 6/24/12:  I redesigned my blog just TODAY (with the red).
This wrapper was designed using the colors from the old blog. 

Update: November 2020: To commemorate my 12 years of cooking for
my friends, my humble blog was redesigned  again to what you see today.

Happy Easter to YOU and my Cops of EGGcellance!

Have you missed me? Nothing makes time fly faster than when you're trying to keep up with a blog. Several contributing factors to my absenteeism … first, I hurt my back (much better) and, as usual, I can't remember to take pictures (not much better.) When I cook breakfast and dinner for these guys, they fix their plates and before I slow down long enough to even think about taking a picture, there is nothing left to take a picture of. Maybe I need to keep the camera ON THE TABLE, and they can help me out with this one little minor detail. I keep telling them "my friends think I'm making you up...I need pictures!"

Anyway, I had fun last weekend making lunch instead of breakfast for 1^st shift. I slept in until 6:00 am and actually had time for a cup of coffee and the morning news. Having these guys come for lunch instead of breakfast threw me off though – all day – my Saturday felt like a weekday.  I’m not sure why.  Regardless, it was a blast.

Another reason I haven't been posting....a big Easter project! I made three Easter baskets (324 candy bars), and this little Easter bunny hopped all over town – delivering them to three divisions – South (my division), North, and Central. So much fun to do! 

(Notice the handcuffs on Bugs Bunny)

(Back of wrapper - click once to enlarge photo)

This beautiful Easter lily was a gift from a 2nd shift officer who came for dinner
Tuesday night. Lovely! I will replant it outside to enjoy next year, and the year after. 

May the joy and the blessings of Easter fill your heart with special happiness.

Happy Easter! ♥

Happy Valentine's Day to my Cops w/ He♥rts

I love Valentine's Day!  Okay, so I know it's insanely commercialized, but I still love it.  And, while I don't think you should limit one day out of the year to let someone special in your life know how much you care for them (there are, after all, 364 other days), it is a holiday set aside for sweethearts, for lovers, for friends, for hopeless romantics, and for AHOP!  

I wanted to do something for my officers to commemorate this fun day.  I designed a candy bar wrapper last summer for another event and everybody seemed to like them, so I thought a Valentine's wrapper would be fun to do.  

Making candy wrappers is a great idea for any occasion (birthdays, weddings, baby showers, holidays, etc.)  I designed this wrapper with the special hearts of the South Division in mind.  I used PowerPoint and had to tweak it a lot to get the size just right, but I think they turned out cute.  100+ Hershey Almond Candy Bars later, this is the end result.  The timing of this gift was not the greatest since a lot of my officers are doing the 'Biggest Loser' challenge and competing among the other divisions...but oh well.

To my friends and readers, wherever you are, I encourage you to do something for the officers who patrol and keep your neighborhood safe.  I can tell you first-hand that they don't hear 'thank you' enough.  They will absolutely love you for it, and you will LOVE every minute you put into it.

Happy Valentine's Day! ♥

    

(click once on photo to enlarge)

The back of the candy wrapper didn't come out very clear in the photo, but this is what it looked like.