Betty Crocker

I hit a new professional low tonight. After driving in the snowy slush to my second meeting of the evening, I found a prime parking spot and congratulated myself. Trudged through the sticky brown glop that was the street, and stood gazing enviously at a beautiful single family home. Gate. Gabels. The whole bit.

The metra train rolled by, just one house away. It was loud. Through the clear glass of the front door, I could see a group of women gathered in the living room. They didn't seem to hear the train. Or me, for that matter.

Because the iron gate was located a good 6-feet from the front porch and locked, I peered about for a bell. Nothing. A knocker? No. Okay, how about a speaker, or a posted phone number? Zip, zilch. I had already lost one glove in the tricky trip crossing the street, and my hands were freezing. But I am a diligent worker bee. I jumped up and down, I waved my hands, I hollered. No one inside even blinked.

I feel like I stood outside for 10 minutes, but it was probably only 5. Or 4. And then (this is a sign of how zen I've become post-BB), I just turned around and went back to my car. Found my glove on the way and everything. Sometimes there's just nothing you can do, and that's okay. Oh, and I entered Betty Crocker last week. Because in the land of cooking contests, there's *always* something you can do.

“MIX IT UP WITH BETTY™” COOKIE MIX RECIPE CONTEST"

The Rules: Create a dessert using a Betty Crocker® cookie mix plus nine or fewer ingredients.

Judging Criteria: Taste, Creativity, Ease of Preparation, Appearance and then on-line voting.

The Prize: One (1) Grand Prize Winner: $5000 + 1000 Box Tops, Four (4) Runners Up: $500 +1000 Box Tops, Ten (10) Honorable Mentions: $100 in BettyCrockerStore.com gift certificates

The Entry: It involves salt and my photographs once again suck. But I did take them, I just can't share. The other contesters have me shamed-- so much talent out there!