Cake Decorating Class

As promised at the end of this post (though, admittedly, a little late), here are the cakes and cupcakes I produced in the three weeks of my class. It was actually four weeks, but the first week was more of a here's-the-plan and show-and-tell structure.
My first week, I was pretty frustrated because we spent the whole class practicing techniques, so I barely got any time to try to decorate my cake. By the time I got home, I was in no mood to elaborate on what I'd accomplished, so the first week is definitely the weakest (no pun intended) of my efforts. Observe! I know, it's sad.


Now, for the second week, we had learned from the first week, and my friend Rachel and I decided to decorate cupcakes instead of tackling an entire cake. As a result, I finished some nice, simple samples. Luckily I took pictures with my camera-phone before we left the class because they didn't handle the trip home well at all.





And finally, the piece de resistance. I'm quite proud of this. It's looks almost exactly the way I was planning and how it looks in the book. The colors are perhaps a tad off, but that's part of practicing.


So, I learned that the next time I take a cake decorating class, I'll buy a cake from the Target bakery and pre-made frosting/icing 30 minutes before class. It's not about how it tastes, it's about how it looks (just for the purposes of the class, I mean). I also learned that it's easier to do the flowing, swirly frosting for the main cake (like on the yellow cake) rather than trying to make it smooth (like the blue cake). But I also learned that a little bit of practice and experience goes a long way. Now I have a lot more confidence to make birthday cakes for Lincoln (and any other chillins who may follow).

Let's recap, shall we? AND new trauma/drama...

All right, let's take a trip back in time to March 2nd, when my mom flew out, and all of the problems began to surface. Funny, now, how I optimistically called in Murphy's WEEK. First it was the car, then the washer/dryer, then the AC, then the water heater, then still the car, then the new roof, THEN the pressure regulator valve. I'm sure I'm missing something, but come on, seriously. All that is one month? Is that just? But then I remembered my blessings, rediscovered my sense of humor, and things were better.

And then we had the ER visit with Lincoln, but he seemed to recover fine, and I thought that once the ceiling was painted (scheduled for Thursday and Friday, while my parents were in town to babysit the painters, since Tyler and I have NO LEAVE left), all the trauma/drama would be over. It's a testament to my optimism, I'll say that much for me.

Because yesterday the painter noticed that there was damage to the wall that the leaking skylight would have dripped down to. So I got the go-ahead from the insurance to fix that. And from there it exploded. They have to replace all the drywall and the insulation because it's all moldy/mildewy. Yay! They need to redo the framing around the two windows on that wall. I just HOPE and PRAY that none of the other walls need it. Though they do need to paint the rest of the room, otherwise it won't match.

Oh, and I still need a new glovebox for my car. That's a different story. A funny one though. Kind of...

So, what's the lesson learned from this experience? Make sure you have good homeowner's insurance. And be greatful for loving and generous parents who will babysit your son AND the contractors at your house.

Pray for me that Murphy's Months will be over on Tuesday? Please?

One Down, X To Go

We had our first ER trip for Lincoln on Saturday. Those of you who know me at-all-well know I like to set the stage for stories, so let's start with about last Thursday. Just sit back, relax, and try to follow the train of thought...

My cousin's status on facebook last Thursday was "Please include Jane and Jacob Smith* in your prayers. Their 3 month old baby, Jon*, died in Jane's* arms 2 nights ago." This immediately made me cry because Lincoln is almost 3 months, and I just couldn't imagine the sorrow.

Then we had a ward (church) activity on Friday night. Everything went well, and the last thing one of the ladies at church said to me was, "kiss your baby for me!" Little did she know that her own baby (ok, he was 19) would die tragically, suddenly, and needlessly in a car accident about 30 minutes later. When I got the news on Saturday morning, I once again immediately starting crying. (Just as a review, remember I'm still post-partum, so I think all the crying is normal.) And I continued to cry (bawl, really) about losing her little baby (even though he was 19, he was her baby).

THEN I went to get my sister-in-law, and we went to do the March for Babies (thank you to those who donated, by the way) which is just one more reminder of little babies who live too little in this mortal life, if at all.

So when, after the race, my brother-in-law and niece and nephew came up to meet us and my BIL told me Lincoln was sick (had a fever, and in kids that young, it's tough to tell why) and Tyler was taking him the ER, I basically flipped out. (For those unfamiliar with how I tell a story, we finally got to the good part.) So I hopped in my car, all of a dither, and raced to my in-law's house to meet Tyler and take Lincoln to the ER. (Side-note, my car usually prefers to go 70 on the interstate, where my last car (ah, Ruby, I do miss you so) preferred to go 90. WELL, when Lincoln's in trouble, Sophia ALSO likes to go 90.) Anywho, we left my car at my in-laws and took Lincoln to the pediatric ER at Huntsville Hospital. They poked and prodded him, trying to get an IV placed (unsuccessfully, though they tried about 5 places), and Tyler held ME while I cried, but in the end, his white blood cell count was ok, and they sent us home with orders to give him tylenol every 4-6 hours as needed for fever. And he's been ok ever since. I'm not sure what it was, and I hope they call soon when the cultures are ready to tell us they didn't find anything, but better safe than sorry.

However, here's the lesson I learned from this experience:
When the doctor orders an IV for your baby, if he's drinking/eating and peeing ok, tell them no. In the politest way possible. There was no need for that IV unless he was dehydrated or needed IV antibiotics. It was a painful lesson, but I'm sharing it with all of you. You all probably knew that though...

Tyler got a great picture with his phone that pretty much sums up how ALL of us felt, though:


Please remember to pray for mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, and friends who lose loved ones. I know that those who die are not lost to us forever, but I can only imagine how much sorrow one would have because you would MISS a family member or friend.

*Names changed, just in case. In case of what? I don't know.

Sophia, Part 2 - The End

I finally have my car back! Yay! And I'm not quite sure what the big deal was. The dealership accidentally put the ORIGINAL part back in, and it works just fine. So what was wrong with it? Dunno. I'm guessing it was a wire, though. I'm still glad I took it to Roper Automotive first because there were some other things that needed doing, and the dealership would have charged me a LOT more for those. They probably would still have tried to when I finally brought it in except that I was, by then, barely civil, and they most likely wanted me out of their hair. But I had to eat some humble pie when they were able to fix it in the end, the way they wanted to. So, I didn't get to say neener-neener. Sad.

Anyway, through this whole ordeal, I've learned some important life lessons:
1 - When your car is acting funny, take it to a mechanic you can trust.
2 - Any work he recommends for maintenance (like, hypothetically, replacing your timing belt 12,000 miles later than recommended), go ahead and have him do it, because he's the mechanic you trust to recommend only the necessary work.
3 - When he tells you that the other, more major work that needs to be done is covered under the extended warranty you wisely (it turns out) purchased, suck it up and take it to the dealership for the covered work. Especially with a VW. Even if you hate that dealership because you feel like you need to work the system in order to get anything done without being fleeced.
4 - Learn to work the system. When someone gives you an answer you don't like (like the warranty company telling you you're out of luck), politely (but perhaps with a slight edge) ask for his name, write it down, and then ask to speak to his supervisor. This makes you a squeaky wheel - and the squeaky wheel gets the grease. His supervisor has the authority to make happen what you want to happen, and he'll do it if he can.
5 - While I think it's important to be kind, sometime you have to be politely persistant. See #4 regarding the squeaky wheel.

Any other lessons anyone can think of? I spent the last few blog posts venting and saying unkind things. Usually I limit the number of people I vent to because it limits the number of people I have to go back to later and say, "Sorry, I was just flaming mad. He wasn't such a jerk after all." But since I publicly lambasted VW in Huntsville, I'll recant that with the caveat that you probably still need to know how to work the system. But I won't be as resistant to take my car there if I need to again. Though hopefully I can just get it through 2 more years...

Speaking of which, I need to fix the glove box. Who designs a glove box where when the LATCH breaks, you have to replace the entire door? Volkswagon, that's who. I found a tutorial on-line that shows how to fix it yourself without replacing the door. I figure it's worth the effort because at least if I end up ruining the door completely, I'm just back where I started - needing a new door. :)

This blog has taken a serious tangent from what it was intended to focus on - our adorable son. So, don't worry. We're working on putting the finishing touches on his room, and we're still taking tons of pics, even though I'm slow to post.

Tomorrow we're doing yard work if anyone wants to come help pull out bushes and shovel dirt? No? "Yeah, I didn't think so." (Props if you get the quote, as usual...)