Poetry Corner

Woulda-Coulda-Shoulda
By Shel Silverstein

All the Woulda-Coulda-Shouldas

Layin' in the sun,

Talkin' 'bout the things

They woulda coulda shoulda done...

But those Woulda-Coulda-Shouldas

All ran away and hid

From one little Did.

I've loved this poem for years. Heck, I've loved Shel Silverstein for longer. I really need to get these books for my kids.

What is your favorite Shel Silverstein poem?

My Kids

That's a general title for ya. My Kids. Doesn't tell you much at all, does it?


Well, I've got two of 'em (and would really like another one for a complete set). One girl, one boy (in that order). They are very good kids. I am really very blessed to be their mother. Most of the time, they play together, keep each other amused and help out when asked. And on other days, I wonder how long I can hide in the closet before they'll find me.



The girl is da Boo. She got that nickname as an infant (before Monsters, Inc., thank you very much). Her father and I think she looks a lot like his youngest sister, which would not be a bad thing because his youngest sister is quite the cutie. Pros: She's smart, potty-trained and is so dang cute. Cons: Da Boo is a talker. You think I talk too much? Yeah, well, meet my child! She can talk circles around me and frequently does. Literally. She'll be walking around me in a circle, jabbering non-stop. We once had a five minute conversation on why ants think she is nice. And believe me, she convinced me! Since she is also smart, she learns new words all the time. I've had to watch what I say a lot more. Not that I swear or anything but I really don't want to have to explain certain things to her right now. She asked me the other day what "adultery" meant. I flashed back to asking my own mother this same question after I heard the word on talk radio. I remember that we were in the blue van, driving to the library. Even remember her response, although it confused me a lot more than it answered my question. A lot has been going on for da Boo. First dentist appointment. First cavities. First fillings. Graduated from preschool. Busy days! By the way, she was so good while getting her cavities filled that the dentist gave her two little prizes, said she was better than his own kids! (Still can't tell those dentists apart).


And that brings us to the Boy. He got that nickname during the ultrasound that determined that he was, in fact, a boy. Pretty clever, dontcha think? He is very much a boy, too. It's not so much that he gets into trouble so much that he is very curious. He likes to examine things closely. At least he's mostly outgrown putting things in his mouth to examine them. He keeps his sentences short and to the point, frequently containing all thoughts in one word. "Milk." "Noise." "Poopy." He likes to inform us any time he hears a noise and then will wait patiently until we identify it for him. Hrmmmm...perhaps he will be a hearing doctor. The Boy is a funny kid, no matter what I put him through. Also, the Boy has very stinky feet. He will even acknowledge that his feet and shoes do indeed reek to high heaven. I've tried Odor Eaters sprayed in his shoes and on his feet. Still a distinct stench lingers. I might have to call the doctor about this one. While he loves his trucks and his balls, his is also rather fond of da Boo's purses and necklaces. Maybe it's because I like to wear necklaces and will frequently carry a purse when out with the kids. Maybe he is secretly watching Teletubbies and admires Tinky Winky. And I know the picture is out of focus but it's still one of my favorites.

There you have it. My kids. All mine.

Project Middle: The Bathroom

Okay, we got the base coat on yesterday. By "we" I mean, the Man. He's much better at this whole painting thing, seeing as he has two working arms and such. Yeah, well, I set off metal detectors, so there!

Anyway, after we got the kids in bed, we started on the faux finish: Frottage. You have to say it with a snooty accent. It doesn't rhyme with "cottage." So the base color is lighter. The top coat is mixed with faux glaze and then rolled on. Working in blocks at a time, the Man rolled on the top color and I followed behind with squares of plastic and a wide brush. No, seriously, plastic. Don't believe me? Here, look:

Isn't he cute? Hands off, ladies! He's all mine!!

And then there's me. The Man took several pictures of me putting up the plastic. And then he took some of my butt. I'll save you the agony and won't post those.

And voila! Here's the wall behind the commode, painted and plastic sheeting brushed on.

Once the whole bathroom was done, we peeled off the plastic. I am waiting until it dries all the way. We might need to touch up in some places, where it's a little too obvious that we were working on a grid system. Also, I want to get a couple more items for decorating before I take the final pictures.

So what do you think?

Project Before: the Bathroom

We have lived in our house for four years. During those four years, we (read: I) have painted two rooms: the kids' rooms. The Boy's room was done by me while I was 8 months pregnant. I live to procrastinate. I really like my house and I would really like to paint more rooms but there are two obstacles:

1) I have no design sense whatsoever. I don't know what looks good! Seriously, I buy outfits off the mannequins so I can make sure they actually go together.

2) The Man fears change. Seriously. It took me breaking up with him to get him to propose marriage - but that's another long and involved story with lots of overly-dramatic sighs and such. At one point, I wanted to paint the kitchen a cool sage green. I had five different paint samples taped to the wall. Periodically, I'd ask him to tell me which one he liked best. He never could decide, always had a reason for not choosing one. Those samples were up over a year before I finally took them down, in defeat. Similar story with samples in our bedroom. Turns out he really didn't like my design idea. Fine. I just painted the Boy's room that way, instead. Bawahahah!

Early on in our marriage, I went to a Super Saturday and painted giant USA letters in aged colors. I loved them! I set them on the entertainment center in our condo. Once we moved to the new house, the entertainment center was now filled with family pictures so the letters were stuffed in a cabinet. I've always wanted to bring them back out, maybe with other objects along the same theme or color scheme. Alas, all my walls were "New House White" and the letters just didn't seem to go anywhere. Then I hit upon an idea: why not paint the downstairs bathroom to match the letters? Then I could call it my "Americana" bathroom! I would even try a really cool faux finish technique that I admired/obsessed over.

That was two years ago.

This morning, I taped off the moulding and the counter, removed the light fixtures and reviewed the faux finish cd I bought oh-so-long ago. Here are the before shots:

Small bathroom (5x6) next to the kitchen. The Man has Memorial Day off and is taking off tomorrow. He's already edged in the base coat. He is rolling the rest of it tonight. Tomorrow, we frottage! Should be exciting. Oh, and da Boo "helped" with some of the tape. Can you guess where?

Me and My Llaaaaaaama!

(Remember that song on Sesame Street?)

My llama - uh, I mean da Boo had her very first Dentist appointment! We talked about it some. I explained that it might hurt a little but mostly it just kinda feels funny. Also, she talked to her good buddy Abbie who has been to the dentist already. I let her bring one small stuffed animal with her to hold, in case she needed a little extra courage. Of course, she chose about the ugliest animal in her menagerie but oh well!

We arrived a little early so she could talk to her hygienist and get comfortable with the cleaning room. She was seeing another dentist in the same office as the one I see. He's not just another dentist...he is the identical twin brother of my dentist. I cannot tell them apart!

So the hygienist gets da Boo settled in her chair.

Then she shows da Boo all the tools she will use and what they are for. She gets a sip of water from the water gun and gets her tongue sucked up by the little sucky thinger. Da Boo introduces the hygienist to her stuffed animal (she's very polite). Then she opens her mouth wide (we practiced this at home) and the work begins.

(Doesn't she look so little on that chair??) Da Boo was so very good! She barely flinches. In fact, she might be better in the dentist chair than I am...but that's besides the point. The cleaning goes well, with da Boo perfectly behaved and keeping her mouth open wide.

When the dentist comes in, he takes a look inside her little mouth. He compliments her on her nice, white teeth and then breaks the news: two cavities! We are going back tomorrow to get those taken care of. This office has the TVs on the ceiling and those nifty noise canceling headphones. When I had my cavity filled, I was so engrossed in "How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days" that the dentist had to nudge me to ask me any questions. Hopefully, she does just as well with the cavities.

Name That Blog!

I've decided to move my cake pictures to a blog format instead of sending people to my family website. So what should I name the new blog? It's hard trying to find something that isn't already too common or doesn't describe what I do. I've listed a few options. Please tell me which one you like the best. Also, feel free to suggest a new one!

The Cake Cow
Play Cake
Humble Cake
Cake Up
Dessert Oasis
The Wildly Perfectionist and Utterly Self-Absorbed Cake Lady

What do you think?

Eating Humble Cake

I should know better.

Remember how I had all those cakes last weekend? While I was elbow deep in shortening and meringue powder, I got another cake order. One of the girls in the ward loved the bear I made for the auction and wondered if I would make one for her birthday. This girl is very, very sweet and I hope da Boo looks to her as a role model. So of course I said sure.

Cringe - her birthday was less than a week away.
Cringe - she wanted the Panda bear.
Cringe - it's one of my more expensive cakes.
Smile - her mom was going to pay me.
Cringe - of course I didn't quote full price, only half. (I know, I know...don't tell the Man!).

Thursday night I baked the cake. The bear cake is made using a two-piece molded pan, with the bear stands on his head while you fill him up through the bum. When I pulled the cake from the oven, some batter had seeped out the bottom seam. No big deal, I thought. It's not much. I also didn't pay attention because I was starting to not feel so great. Then I had a horrible night. I called the family the next morning and apologized but I would not be able to make the cake. I had to say all of this in an answering machine message. If you've even gotten a message from me, you know I just can't keep them short (kinda like my posts, here). That evening, the mother called to see how I was doing (she's the Relief Society President). I said I was feeling much better and maybe I could finish the cake the next day. Turns out the daughter got a little excited and ordered her cake a day early. So it was back on!

Fast forward to the next afternoon. I dump the kids on the neighbor so I can march the cake over to the Birthday Girl's house, one street over. The feet on the bear look a little funny from not getting filled in all the way. No worries. Panda looks cute and the round cake underneath came together really well. I take the bear over and bask to in the admiring "ooohhhhs" of the family members. I hurry back home to get the base. I grab my repair kit as an afterthought (it's bags of icing I used, with tips and a few tools). I walk back in the house and no one is talking.

My great big gigantic head thinks it's because they are speechless in the presence of such talent.

Wrong.

The leg on the bear fell off. No one wanted to be the one to tell me.

After nearly passing out (from trying not to burst into tears), the Birthday Girl and I strategically use toothpicks to fasten the wayward limb back in place. I use the repair kit to cover the toothpicks and the cracks, plus repair the damage from the leg going *splat!* on the counter. I get the cake put together and try not to notice how much it is leaning to one side. By now I am avoiding all eye contact and basically praying that nothing else goes horrible awry, like me tripping and falling flat on the cake.

Then, as I am trying to slink out the door, the mother appears with another check! I couldn't take it. I just couldn't.

And no, I didn't take pictures.

Da Boo's Graduation

Being the overly-emotional chick that I am, da Boo's preschool graduation was just as monumental for me as her high school graduation will be. There was much swelling with pride and tearing up (and rolling of eyes).


The class sang several songs for their families, one of which was The Shape Song. Da Boo had the yellow shape. Big surprise. Another was Xavier the Alien. You'll have to call and ask her to sing it to you to get the full effect. It's one of my favorites.


Each student was presented with a scrapbook page of school events and their answers to questions from the teachers. Da Boo's teacher, Miss Nicholle is a lovely person, not quite as blurry as the picture would have you believe. Here are da Boo's answers:
What is your favorite thing to do at school? Play on the swings.
What is your favorite color? Yellow and purple.
What is your favorite food? Lunchables.
Who do you love most in the world? Joslyn.
What do you want to be when you grow up? A Mommy. That's so I can drive a car.


Da Boo and the person she loves most in the world: Joslyn.

Wanting to make a good impression, the Boy chose his own accessories. *sigh*

Aunt Denise caught the whole thing on video for the Man, since he was gone on business. It was a fun night.

My Failure As A Mother

Can you keep a secret?

Come a little closer...

Closer...

Okay, here's the deal: I cannot handle vomit. Not even my own. Hate it, hate it, hate it! So I fail as a mom when my poor kids are puking like mad, feeling sick and miserable. All they want is their mommy but I am covering my mouth and heading for dryer ground! The Man and I even made a pact before we were married: I could handle what came out one end of our kids if he would handle the other end.

This brings me to why I haven't posted in the last couple days. I've been hiding. Well, not really. Actually, I was sick first. Of course, the Man has a business trip and can't take care of me. He did make it to the store to stock up on Sprite and Pepto Bismol before racing off to the airport. (Note to self: next time the flu hits, claim I have an important meeting with Santa Claus and catch the next flight to the North Pole!)

So I spent Thursday moaning, groaning, sipping Sprite and downing the pink goodness that is Pepto. Last night was da Boo's Preschool Graduation...I'll post pictures later. I called in the re-enforcements (namely Aunt Denise) to make sure she would have someone with her. I was able to make it but not without lots of whining and whimpering. All seemed well in the land of Me.

Then midnight rolls around.

Da Boo wakes up crying. I tuck her back in and turn up her ceiling fan. Then I head back to bed. A little while later, she wakes up again. Before I can make it to her room, her crying is interrupted by an all too familiar sound. I stop. I contemplate hiding in my closet for the rest of the night. As she continues gushing like Old Faithful, I decide to gird up my loins and go to battle, reminding myself to breathe through my mouth.

A load of laundry, a shower, a floor scrubbing, two mad dashes to the outdoor garbage can, new jammies and a set of clean sheets later, da Boo is back in her bed and I can go back to mine. I certainly didn't win any medals for valor, as I frequently had to leave the room to stop my gagging. And more than once, I was cursing the Man for leaving me to this misery. But it's finally over.

For now.

**UPDATE: It's just about 6:30 pm. I talked to the Man earlier. He is sick! So I hereby retract all muttered curses and mean thoughts toward my beloved, who is stuck in another state with only room service to take care of him. Hope they have lots of Sprite!

Marital Bliss

Well, yesterday was our anniversary! Eight years with this really great (and really cute) guy. Some days, it seems like we've been together forever but 8 years isn't very long. My parents are going on 40!

(This picture was taking Christmas '05. My hair is longer and curly now but he's still just as cute.)

So the day was pretty typical, except for maybe a few stolen kisses. As our gift to each other, we had purchased tickets to see Les Miserables later on this month. Still, we wanted to do something special. The Man had gone to a cool restaurant for a business lunch and thought I might enjoy it. It's called Sakura, a Japanese place with the teppanyaki cooking style (where they cook dinner on the table in front of you).

I got a babysitter, put on extra deodorant and we were set to go! Since it was a quiet Tuesday night, there was no wait for a table. In fact there were only two other groups inside. A photographer was working with one of the chefs to take some pictures. This style of cooking uses flames for show so there were endless blasts of heat coming from the photo shoot, which just happened to be the table next to ours. Poor guy probably didn't have any hair on his arms after that was done!

I decided to be brave and we ordered sushi for an appetizer. I was a little nervous. See, I don't like fish (or bananas). The Man has had sushi before and liked it. We tried the tamest one on the list: tuna tataki. It's thinly sliced tuna that looked like it had been seared a little - a very little. It's was rather pretty, set on top of carrot noodles and a sprig of sprout. The sauce was a little spicy. It was actually pretty good! While we were munching on raw tuna, another group joined our table. One couple goes to this restaurant frequently. In fact, this was their third visit in a week! Crazy people.

After the appetizer, it was time for the main course. Our chef (the same guy who was in the pictures) wheels his cart out of the kitchen, honking a bike horn as he makes his way to our table. Now comes the fun part! First, let me state that this guy was nuts. Seriously wacko. That always makes for good entertainment. He does the cool flips and whirls with the spatulas. First, he makes the fried rice and noodles. Fried rice has scrambled eggs in it. He flips and whirls the eggs around, too! He did drop one and immediately blamed his mistake on one of the people sitting at the table. Then he squirts sauces from various bottles. As he is doing this, he very casually aims one bottle at a woman and squirts! It was a gag bottle, a little plastic tube pops out but no liquid. He keeps cooking and making jokes and just generally making us laugh.

After he serves us the rice, he cooks up the shrimp appetizer. Then he flips three pieces of shrimp into each guest's mouth (except for me...I gracefully bowed out because I don't like shrimp). The Man caught one of his three.

Next was the main entree. I had beef, the Man had steak and shrimp, while another guy at our table had steak and chicken. Have to talk about the onion ring volcano. He carefully stacked rings from an onion slice, then filled it with the various liquids in his magic bottles until it bubbled and smoked like a volcano. Pretty entertaining. He keeps whipping his spatula around, always tapping it and keeping it moving. While it cooks, he chats a little with us. He's been cooking like this for 7 years. Before coming to Utah this past January, he lived in Alabama. He doesn't like snow. Hmmmmm, this might not be the best location for him.

Once all the food is done and served, he announces he has one more trick. He turns off the light over our table. On the cooktop, he sets three small, metal bowls. Liquid from those bottles is squirted into each bowl. Then, he lights it. So there are three bowls with flaming liquid inside them. He proceeds to flip the bowls, one at a time, on top of his hat! Liquid is not exactly stationary so as he flips the bowl, the flaming stuff is splashing all over him! The last bowl's contents set his necktie on fire. He just pats it out with his bare hand and says "It's getting a little hot in here." He said the first time he tried this trick, he lost an eyebrow.

The food was really delicious. And since it was our anniversary, they gave us dessert for free. It was fried ice cream. Yummy! We really enjoyed "dinner and a show," leaving the restaurant feeling full and still laughing over his flaming tie.

Train Wreck

As promised, here is the cake I made. It's for the Boy's best friend, who wanted a Thomas the Tank Engine cake. I tried.


I used a molded train pan from Wilton, which, as all mothers of toddler boys are well aware, is not shaped like the actual Thomas. The design got a little fudged. Also, I made a HUGE mistake while making the blue icing and ended up having to make a whole new batch with an hour to go before the party started. No pressure, right?

There wasn't even time to clear off the table and take a decent picture of Thomas' evil cousin. The icing I used for his face was a little too thin. While I waited for it to harden enough to sculpt, it started sliding off! He ended up looking like he's 80 and making paid appearances during his retirement. Oh well! The Birthday Boy knew who he was when he looked at the cake and I suppose that's really what matters, right?

Trains are very big in this family. This was actually the 3rd one I made for them. Other cakes I've made at their request include basket of strawberries, Cookie Monster, coo-coo clock (possibly my favorite cake ever!), a white bear and a Panda Bear. They joke that they have me on retainer. I'm just glad that they like my cakes!

Cake-a-thon!

Okay, here are the two cakes I made for today:

This one was made for a baby shower for a super sweet girl in the neighborhood. Her first child is due next month and it's a girl. Girly bugs were the shower's theme. The ladybug cake is very similar to one I did about three years ago but I liked this version better because this time I remembered to give the poor buggy legs! I was having fits (literally - just ask the Man) trying to get the blue frosting smooth so I decided to just go with the "textured" look. Oh yes, textured is all the rage right now, didn't you know? And the spots are enormous because I was almost out of red frosting.

For a little boy's 2nd birthday. He is a buddy of the Boy's and his mom is pretty cool, too. The party was Elmo-themed but his mom saw the train cake and thought it would be perfect, since he also loves trains. I suggested featuring Elmo as the train's conductor and voila! Birthday Boy's dad tried to tell me that I spelled his son's name wrong. That would have been horribly embarrassing!

The next cake is another train one, made to look like Thomas. It's not supposed to be done until Monday evening. We are attending the birthday party that night (another friend of the Boy's) so there won't be an FHE update. To make up for it, post your FHE on your site, send me the link and I'll put together a list of 'em for everyone to get ideas from. And if I don't get any links, there won't be a post! How's that for a threat?

Sugar Coated Weekend

I have three cakes to do this weekend...THREE! It's more than a little hectic...and flattering...and exciting...and FUN!

Saturday I need to stop by three parties: one baby shower and two birthdays. It's going to be a busy, busy day. I'll post pictures of the Saturday cakes (the other one is on Monday).

So what are your weekend plans? Doing anything hectic, flattering or fun?

Oh Baby, Baby!

Most of you know I am totally baby hungry right now. I've even taken to stealing other women's babies so I can cuddle them and pretend they are mine. Seriously, people think I'm nuts and are starting to hide their newborns from me. It doesn't help that lots of friends are expecting, know they're having a boy, just had a baby, or post pictures of their adorable offspring.

Not fair.

Since this is my blog and I get to talk about whatever I want, we are going to talk about babies! So there! Specifically, I want to talk about how you told your man that he was going to be a Daddy. I get to go first.

First time: When we first decided we wanted to have a baby, we bought a bottle of sparkling cider. Once I was with child, we would crack that sucker open to celebrate. Surely we didn't jump the gun in our impulsive purchase because, really, how long could it take?
THREE YEARS (and over 80 injections) LATER...I had taken a pregnancy test at the doctor's office but the machine was broken. The results would not be in until the afternoon. Never known for my patience, I took a home pregnancy test (which we had been buying in bulk). It was negative. I tried not to cry. Then the doctor called. Turns out that I was one of the .005% that those things don't work on! When the Man got home from work, I met him at the door with that dusty bottle. One look and he knew!

Second time: A little gun-shy from our first experience, we didn't expect to get pregnant "the old fashioned way," thought for sure we would be back to the fertility specialist. Then I was late. No shock, I'm always late and I don't just mean my cycle. But then I stopped losing weight, even though I was still working out. The Man bought me a pregnancy test. It sat on the bathroom counter for another week. For as many negative tests I had had, I didn't know if I could take another one. One night, at 3 am I woke up and had to pee. TMI, I know, bear with me. Since it was sitting on the counter and I didn't have anything else to do, I took the test. I nearly fell sleep on the toilet, waiting the 2-3 minutes for results. Another positive result! I was wide awake now, had to make sure I wasn't dreaming. I crawled back in bed, snuggled up to the Man and the whispered in his ear "I took the test." I was so excited, I just had to tell him. I made a noise that sounded a lot like a sob, the Man rolled over and wrapped his arms around me. That's when I whispered again "I'm pregnant." He almost sat up. "What?" I repeated what I'd said. He grinned and said "You realize we're going to have this conversation again in the morning...but WHAT??!"

So there ya have it. No real creative or cute way to announce our new arrival. Tell me, what did you do? Have you heard of a cute way to tell the new father the news? And just so you know, this is for future reference, so please comment!

FHE: Families

Last night, the Man was in charge of the lesson. He asked me to help, which really means he wanted me to do it. I responded that I do three of the lessons, surely he can manage one. He still asked for help. I told him to go look through the FHE manual and other books for inspiration. He pouted. I stood firm. So this is how it went...

Song: Love One Another (Well, three of us sang this, the Boy sang Twinkle Twinkle Little Star).

Prayer: Da Boo was in charge of Prayer.

Lesson: The Man had three little bowls with stuff in them. He asked us to taste the first bowl. It was sugar. Then in the second bowl was salt. Finally, the last bowl help chocolate chips (this lesson was getting GOOD). After we tried all three and talked about how they tasted, the Man explained that although they taste differently, they are all needed to make special treats for us, each one is necessary in it's own way. And this is the way it is with families. We are not all alike; we have different abilities and talents. Although we're not the same, we are all needed to make our own special family.

Then the Man talked about different things that we could do for each other, ways to help out however we could. Da Boo offered some ideas on how she could help the Boy and how she could help Mommy (I'm so glad she'll help me find my toys). At the mention of toys, we lost the Boy and he ran off in search of them. We talked a little more about how we also have family rules that need to be followed (a continuing struggle), such as Clean Up Day, bedtimes, not hitting, etc.

Closing Song: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star (why fight it?)

Prayer: da Boo made sure to ask for a blessing on the treats.

Treat: The Boy was in charge of treats so we had his favorite thing: CANDY! I have a big tupperware tub in the pantry that we call the Treat Bucket. Candy from birthday parties, holidays and impulse buys go in this. When the kids are being good, they get to pick out something.

Scene At Church...

INT. CHURCH CHAPEL (AFTERNOON): During services.

Extremely attractive The Man, dressed in black suit and looking amazing, sits in back pew holding on his lap the Boy, dressed in white shirt with cute clip-on tie. As the Speaker talks, Boy squirms. The Man proceeds to keep the Boy occupied with saying words he knows.

THE MAN: Where's you're belly?

BOY: Belly. (pats belly.)

THE MAN: Where's your belly button?

BOY: Button. (yanks up shirt and pats belly...realizes that's not his belly button and begins to frantically search for it). Button? Button!

THE MAN: Shhhhh! Shhhhh, Boy.

BOY: Button! GONE! (search now includes the pew and the floor.) Gone, Daddy, GONE!

THE MAN: Shhhhhh...Here's your belly button, it's right here! (guides Boy's hand to the right spot.)

BOY: Button? Button.

THE MAN: Good job.

BOY: Juice?

Self Esteem for Auction

Well, remember how I was making a cake for the church charity auction? It was tonight. Here is the cake I made:



Went with "Girls' Camp" theme, I thought. Turned out nicely and didn't take me as long to decorate. When we arrived, they had a silent auction set up for all of the baked goods so my teddy bear was taken to that table. Starting price: $5. I kept checking on it, under the guise of bidding on some English Toffee (which I won). There was a bidding war between two families, which was kinda cool. It went right up to the end as they counted down the seconds for the silent auction. Final price? $23. I was a little disappointed. Maybe if they had more time or put it in the regular auction, it might have gone for more. Then, since it had been popular, they asked if I would offer my cake decorating skills as a service for the regular auction. I agreed and felt a little better. There were so many items, from gift certificates to Sundance resort, carpentry labor to lawn mowing services. It took a while and a lot pf people had left before the end. A cake from me went for only $16. That's a little more than the cake will cost me to make. Oh well...it's for a good cause, right?

We walked away with two bracelets for kids, a session of horseback riding, an evening of babysitting and of course, the toffee. Now I'm going to eat a huge piece of toffee and read everyone's blogs.

Chocolate calendar quote that fits right now: "Stress would not be so hard to take if it were chocolate covered."

Amen.

All About Food

I must be stressed. Whenever I get stressed, I bake. And if that doesn't help, I cook. Last night I baked this:


This is how cakes always look on cartoons and don't they always look so tasty? It's very yummy. And I made another one just like previously this weekend for my brother's family. Since the cakes aren't easing my stress, I've been cooking real meals for the family. These aren't the tried-and-true recipes that I've had for years. These are brand spankin' new recipes that I've been thinking about trying. Some will make it into my battered cookbook and others will find themselves in the circular file.

I know why I'm stressed but I can't blog about it. See, part of the reason for my last post was because I always swore I would not blog about this particular issue. Of course, I promised myself that months ago, when life was carefree and we weren't eating so many homecooked meals. And now, this is all I think about. And I can't even tell you. And it's probably bothering you that I'm starting each sentence with "And." And I'm just gonna keep doing it. And if you don't like it, you can get your own blog. :P

So let's eat!

Monday was Crispy Salsa Chicken and Refried Beans Supreme. Tuesday we were pinched for time so I just made roast beef sandwiches. Last night we had Mexican Chicken and Beans. Tonight was Chili Cornbread. Tomorrow night we have our ward's annual Spaghetti Dinner and Auction to raise funds for Girls' Camp. I'm taking a cake. It's will probably be a teddy bear. If it goes for less than $30, I am so going to cry (probably in front of everyone else, too). Saturday will be Crepes. That one is an old recipe and a big favorite. Sunday I am making Spicy Honey-Brushed Chicken Thighs with Creamed Corn. I learned that recipe from a HFPE cooking class. It almost fell out of the line-up when I noticed that a small wedge of Gruyere cheese would set me back $7. Oh well...it's not like I was going to spend that money on anything other than chocolate.

So far the Salsa Chicken and Mexican Chicken have met with approval. The Chili Cornbread was very tasty except that the center wasn't quite done. Oh, and the roast beef sandwiches were pretty good too. I use deli-sliced roast beef on hoagie rolls that have been schmeared with garlic butter and slightly toasted. Yes, we're all about low-fat around here. I'm by no means a gourmet cook; more like a meat-and-potatoes-salt-and-pepper kind of girl. Still, I'm gonna have lots of leftovers this week.

Blog Censoring

Hello!
Did you miss me? I went to Texas for the weekend. My best friend from high school married a really good guy and I wanted to be there for it. Also got to see some of my family. Da Boo came with me and has decided she wants a dog just like China, my parents' Rottweiler. Let's see her get that one approved by the Man.

I was wondering if there is any subject that you won't blog about. There are some things that the Man has asked that I not put on the blog, like photos from his eye surgery and details about that huge fight we had (actually, there wasn't a fight...we really don't argue, which is nice because when I get angry, I cry, and when I cry, I no longer make sense and it's hard to argue with someone who is not making any sense). And I won't give too much personal information but other than that, anything is fair game. I find it particularly brave of one blogger's recent post. Some others give a little too much detail that leaves me running from the computer, hands over my eyes and screaming "TMI! TMI!!"

So what won't I ever read on your blog?