Not About Cake

WTF?

noreply@blogger.com (Not Cake) — Sun, 11 Mar 2012 23:05:00 +0000

The elementary school my youngest children attend recently sent home a survey for me to fill out. It was an Indicators of School Quality survey and the information compiled is used to help improve my children's school.

The instructions stated that 'our research shows that these questions will provide enough information for a through evaluation of the school' and that it 'measures important aspects of school quality'

I start filling out answers to statements such as 'parents at this school support their child's education', 'teachers at this school are well organized' and 'instruction at this school is innovative'

The final section had questions such as 'Are you comfortable talking to your child's teacher about problems?', 'Is your child bullied or teased at school?' and 'Was your last interaction with the school positive?' and then I was got the last question...

'Does your home have more than one bathroom?'

If someone knows how the answer to this question can measure the quality of the elementary school my children attend, please fill me in!

Yesterday's News

noreply@blogger.com (Not Cake) — Sun, 04 Mar 2012 19:08:00 +0000

After being rather lazy yesterday, I realized around 4pm that I had not yet brought in the newspaper. I looked outside, but no paper.

I have had the payment on an auto withdrawal for years, but over the last year there have been some problems with the paper's payment system cancelling my payment and I have had to re-enter my billing info. I pulled up my account online and saw that not only have I not made a payment in months, but my subscription had been suspended.

I really wanted my Sunday paper so I tried to make a payment...well, since they had suspended my subscription, I was not able to make an online payment and was told to call customer service. Guess what? Customer service is closed on the weekend.

After much cursing at the automated phone system that wouldn't help me and my frustration with not being able to fix my subscription online, my son had finally heard enough.

He asked "Why are you even paying for a day old paper?" My husband told him it was not a day old paper. My son said "Yes it is. Everything printed in it happened the day before so that makes it a day old paper. You are wasting your money and should just use the internet to get the news as it happens."

Hmmmm...he has a point that I really couldn't argue with.

Unfortunately, I had the bright idea to start a new subscription since that was the only thing I was allowed to do online. I now have an old suspended subscription I am afraid to see how much I owe on, a new paid subscription, and NO SUNDAY PAPER. My to do list tomorrow includes maneuvering through the newspapers automated phone system in an attempt to straighten out the mess I have made with my account.

Wish me luck!

Look What Came in the Mail!

noreply@blogger.com (cakeologist) — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 17:24:00 +0000

I was told to expect a package in the mail containing my birthday present. I couldn't wait for it to arrive so I could open it...I love getting presents in the mail!

What did I get?

Dill Pickle Pop-Corn Salt

Crunchy Dill Crispy Minis

Dill Pickle Sunflower Seeds

Lays Dill Pickle Potato Chips

Intense Pickle Doritos

Do you sense a theme to my gift?

Sadly, I am unable to eat my pickle present because I am on a diet. I have 14 days left on my diet...until then my pickle present will remain hidden away.

If you are curious, I have already lost 3 pounds in the first 3 days of my 17 day diet. Please don't tell me it is just water weight, I don't care what kind of weight it is as long as it is not showing on my scale.

Thanks for reading!

My Butterfly Can Fly!

noreply@blogger.com (Not Cake) — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 19:19:00 +0000

A while back my mom and I got matching butterfly tattoos. If you want to know why, then read this post. Since it was for my mom, I let her finalize the design. It took over a month of texting and emailing butterfly photos back and forth before she finally decided on one. My indecision was over placement. I wanted it on my hip, my husband and my mom thought is should go below the tattoo I have on my lower back. It ended up on my hip.

I was worried it was going to hurt when the needles went over my hip bone, but it just tickled which caused me to twitch. Greg, my tattoo artist, kept telling me to stop wiggling, but I really couldn't control it. The last ten to fifteen minutes hurt...I preferred the tickling even if it did annoy Greg.

Today while I was taking a bath, I looked down at my butterfly and realized that when I breathed, the roll of fat I have grown around my middle causes the butterfly to look like it is flapping it's wings. If it was tight abs making the wings flap, I would say that is pretty cool, but it is not...it is belly fat.

My little bathtub experience just confirmed that it is a good thing I started the 17 day diet today.

I prefer my butterfly to be flightless.

Wish me luck!

Decisions, Decisions

noreply@blogger.com (Not Cake) — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 02:48:00 +0000

Recently while browsing around Pinterest, I saw a pin by Hockey Wife Tales for a site where you can send in your child's drawing and they bring it to life as a stuffed toy. The site is Child's Own Studio.

Check out some of these cute stuffed creations

I could post photos from Child's Own Studio all night long! If you want to see more, check out their photostream on flickr.

Of course, this site got me thinking about my own children's artwork...two pictures in particular.

The picture above is a mermaid in case you were having trouble getting past the 'tail'

You can read the story behind this picture here.

So...what do you think? Which one should I have brought to life as a stuffed toy?

Thanks for reading

Super Bowl XLVI

noreply@blogger.com (Not Cake) — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 17:09:00 +0000

It is once again Super Bowl Sunday. Usually I am excited for this game, but also sad because it marks the end of football for awhile. This year I really could care less. I only watched a handful of games on TV, both NFL and college. I only went to one game and did zero tailgating. Even watching my son play little league football for the first time did nothing to put me in a football mood.

I remember the last Super Bowl match-up between these teams...the Patriots were going into it 18-0 and the Giants were 12 point underdogs. I took the Giants on the money line and won a fairly large amount of money. If you are not familiar with sports betting, when you take a team on the money line you are just betting that they will win. I could have taken a safer bet and taken the Giants and the points which means as a 12 point underdog, they could have lost by up to 12 points and I still would have won, but not anywhere near as much money.

Graph borrowed from here. I don't know if it is accurate or not.

I also remember how much fun I had at the Super Bowl party I went to that year. Our best friends were hosting it. They are die hard Broncos fans and also despise the Raiders so to antagonize, I wore my Raiders shirt. They almost made me watch the game from outside, but since neither team was playing, I was allowed in.

We have been friends with this couple for 11 years. We have shared so many of the ups and downs of marriage, kids...life in general. Sadly, they are going thorough a divorce right now. They are in the preliminary stages, but I feel it is going to get ugly. It is also hard because I have been friends with both of them for so long. My husband has taken his side, but I feel I am in the middle and it sucks.

Also at that party was another couple my husband has known forever. I have been friends with them since my husband and I got together 14 years ago. They were wild and crazy...sometimes almost too much so. Since that last Super Bowl one half of the couple died. Her breast cancer that had been diagnosed the year she turned 40 came back and killed her...she was only 46 when she died.

Some good has happened in the last 4 years. My husband finally acknowledged he was an alcoholic and is working on his 4th year of sobriety. I am very proud of him. I also enjoy having my own personal designated driver. My family thought I was a horrible person when I didn't quit drinking with my husband, but my husband feels that just because he has a problem with alcohol doesn't mean everyone around him needs to change their lifestyle. I would quit drinking in a heartbeat if he wanted me too, but he doesn't have a problem with it...our arrangement works for us. Some people told me that having alcohol in the house would tempt him to drink again. If he wanted to drink there are hundreds of bars and numerous liquor stores around. If he wanted a drink he would find one.

This year instead of getting amped up for the big game, I am feeling melancholy and reflective. I will be going to a Super Bowl party, once again with long term friends. I have known the wife for over 20 years and my husband has known her spouse since elementary school. I wonder what lies in store for all of us in the future and if I could see...would I really want to know?

I Learned Something New Today

noreply@blogger.com (Not Cake) — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 02:11:00 +0000

Today in my mailbox was a copy of Women's Health.

I don't know why I received a copy since I don't subscribe, but I was pretty excited to read it thinking it would help me make my body look like the cover model, Elizabeth Banks.

I poured myself a vodka tonic and sat down to read how I could sizzle in my skinny jeans, burn tons of calories with one simple move and erase zits and wrinkles. Instead, I read how I should not drink alcohol or eat sugar. I am glad I am not paying for this garbage.

I did learn something I didn't know...men can fracture their penis! According to The Journal of Sexual Medicine cheaters have the greatest risk of a broken boner. Researchers studied 16 cases and found that most of the 16 were having affairs.

I wonder if that is really how Elin found out

Thanks for reading

MILF

noreply@blogger.com (Not Cake) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 00:37:00 +0000

I went to the gym today...by myself. I hate going to the gym by myself, but I did it and I did what I set out to do as well. I rode 20 miles. My goal was to do it in an hour, but it took 1 hour 8 minutes and about 30 seconds. Oh well, I did it and now I feel like crap...and I stink, but I can't take a shower until my kids get home.

One of the reasons I work out is so I can have the pleasure of being called a MILF by high school boys. I don't get ID'd at the liquor store anymore (even though there are signs all over saying 'we ID everyone'), I only get flirted with by old men (not older...old...like my grandpa would be if he was still alive), no whistles or cat calls when I walk down the street...all that is left is semi-crude comments by high school boys, but at my age, you take what you can get.

T-shirt found here

After being called a MILF the other night at a high school basketball game, I told my husband. He teased me about it the rest of the night. I would have preferred that he not say anything in front of our children, but in the end, it didn't matter.

Image found here

After listening to his dad tease me for a bit, my son finally said something. "Mom, I don't think it is a good thing to be called that. On Mythbusters, whenever they find a MYTH, they usually blow it up or throw it off a building or something."

I obviously started laughing...and nearly spit out my vodka tonic.

Photo found here

Thanks for reading!

I Have Decided to Stay

noreply@blogger.com (Not Cake) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 00:02:00 +0000

I have gone back and forth trying to decide what to do with this blog. After much thought, I have decided to give it another try. Now that I have made that decision, the next item on the agenda is a blog makeover....and posting, definitely more posting.

Let's jump right into it with a preview of my new toy...a nail gun!

Now, this is quite a bit less powerful and not anywhere near as nice as the nail gun I used to have access too, but considering the damage I did with the old gun, I am lucky my husband would even consider letting me touch a nail gun, let alone have my very own.

What damage, you ask? According to my husband, I tried to kill him. Personally, I think he exaggerates.

At some point in our marriage, I took over almost all the home improvement projects. I was in the process of finishing my son's new room and was putting up moulding around his door. My husband has not bought me one of these yet

so I decided to make things easy on myself and was using wooden blocks for the corners.

My husband decided to ~~stand over me and annoy the hell out of me~~ see if I could use some help and was watching me put the moulding up when my second nail knocked the corner block crooked. I put down the nail gun and grabbed a large flat head screwdriver to pry the block off the wall. It popped off and sailed, slowly spinning, through the air...right into my husbands head, where it stuck thanks to the two nails sticking out the back. He was not hurt ~~all that bad~~ so I didn't feel too awful over the fact that I immediately burst into a gut-wrenching laughter.

If he had been smart, he would have left the room

shirt found here

instead, my husband continued to watch me. I finished the moulding and started to clean up my tools.

I shared the nail gun with one of my husband's employees. I usually leave the hose attached to the compressor, but he had told to not do that. There was a reason I always left it attached...I could never get it to come off. I didn't want my husband to say anything so I attempted to detach the hose. You push a piece in and the hose comes off...simple, right? Not quite. I was holding onto the wrong part of the hose so when I pushed the piece that releases the hose, the hose shot off the compressor and the metal part at the end of the hose slammed into my husbands ankle bone. I made sure his ankle was not shattered and then, once again, I collapsed into a fit of laughter. My husband did not find it as amusing as I did.

found at mylot.com

When I told my mom about my new toy, she sent me a photo.

Apparently, a man in Illinois recently shot a nail into his brain and didn't even know it. That is very sweet of her to be concerned about me, but I think she is worrying about the wrong person.

Thanks for reading

Monday Motivations

noreply@blogger.com (cakeologist) — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 16:34:00 +0000

It has been awhile since I have posted anything on this blog. I really didn't know if I would ever post on it again, but then I found the Monday Motivations blog hop hosted by Hockey Wife Tales and decided I would participate. If she keeps it going, at the very least I will post on Mondays.

I really like Hockey Wife Tales. Her posts always crack me up and I love the hockey masks on all her photos. I think in real life I think I would like to be her friend, except she is some fitness pole zumba freak and I like to eat cake and drink vodka...of course, maybe she would motivate me to work out and then I could eat MORE cake and drink MORE vodka.

This weeks motivation is 50 Random Questions

50 Random Questions

1. Where were you 3 hours ago?

Sound asleep in a cold medicine induced stupor

2. Who are you in love with?

My husband

3. Have you ever eaten a crayon?

4. Is there anything pink within 10 feet of you?

My hair, my front door, my little purse, my shirt..the easier question would be 'what is not pink'

5. When is the last time you went to the mall?

A couple of months ago, looking for stripper shoes with my friend

6. Are you wearing socks right now?

No! Never! I hate socks!

7. Do you have a car worth over $2,000?

Yes

8. When was the last time you drove out of town?

A couple of months ago

9. Have you been to the movies in the last 5 days?

10. Are you hot?

Always

11. What was the last thing you had to drink?

Water

12. What are you wearing right now?

Tank top and pajama bottoms

13. Do you wash your car or let the car wash do it?

My car gets washed when it rains

14. Last food that you ate?

A corn dog

15. Where were you last week at this time?

Same place I am now

16. Have you bought any clothing items in the last week?

I bought some underwear at Costco

17. When is the last time you ran?

I few weeks ago I tried out my Vibram five fingers. Thankfully, after about 2 blocks, my phone rang and I had an excuse to stop.

18. What's the last sporting event you watched?

Sunday night football: Ravens and Jets

19. What is your favorite animal?

Anything that will not kill me

20. Your dream vacation?

I really don't know

21. Last person's house you were in?

I delivered a cake to Kris yesterday.

22. Worst injury you've ever had?

I snapped off the tip of my finger bone catching a punt...with a Nurf football

23. Have you been in love?

Yes

24. Do you miss anyone right now?

Yes

25. Last play you saw?

My daughter's junior high production of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

26. What is your secret weapon to lure in the opposite sex?

It used to be 'the promise' and if you have ever read The Sweet Potato Queens Book of Love you will know what that is, but now I just make my husband a Peach Pie.

27. What are your plans for tonight?

It is my 13th Wedding Anniversary...

28. Who is the last person you sent a MySpace message or comment?

What the hell is MySpace

29. Next trip you are going to take?

I am going to a wedding in Southern Utah in the spring, other than that, I have no plans

30. Ever go to camp?

I went to summer camp once when I was younger

31. Were you an honor roll student in school?

Yes I was

32. What do you want to know about the future?

Nothing

33. Are you wearing any perfume or cologne?

34. Are you due sometime this year for a doctor's visit?

Yes

35. Where is your best friend?

Far away

36. How is your best friend?

Sad, because she is too far away to eat cake and drink vodka with me

37. Do you have a tan?

Yes

38. What are you listening to right now?

My dog whining at the back door for me to let him in

39. Do you collect anything?

I hoard fabric

40. Who is the biggest gossiper you know?

???

41. Last time you got stopped by a cop or pulled over?

A few months after I turned 21, I got stopped by a cop on Newport Beach for being in a bar with my underage friend. When the cops came in the front door, we went out the back door which made them curious and they chased us.

42. Have you ever drank your soda from a straw?

I don't drink soda, but I do drink my vodka tonics from a straw

43. What does your last text message say?

Happy Anniversary! I love you!

44. Do you like hot sauce?

Not really unless it's in a Bloody Mary

45. Last time you took a shower?

Saturday afternoon

46. Do you need to do laundry?

Always

47. What is your heritage?

I think the largest chunks are Irish and Polish...

48. Are you someone's best friend?

I think so

49. Are you rich?

Rich with debt

50. What were you doing at 12AM last night?

Passed out in a cold medicine induced coma

Top Ten Webhosting

Best Myspace Surveys

If you actually read my answers to the above questions, then you know that today is my 13th wedding anniversary. Tonight we are going to dinner and I am really hoping for a new camera.

Unless my hubby did better playing poker than he let on, it is not going to happen.

I have no idea what to get him. I think I will start by making him a peach pie and finding a mushy romantic card. The 13th is the Lace anniversary so maybe a trip to Blue Boutique is in order

Or maybe my gift will just be the permanent scar I now have from the burn I got while ironing his shirts. My son pointed out last night that it looks like a heart, which is fitting because ironing for him is a total act of love. I hate to iron.

I am just glad it doesn't look like this anymore

Schweddy Balls

noreply@blogger.com (cakeologist) — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 17:51:00 +0000

There are many moving posts written today in remembrance of 9/11. I recommend you read Hockey Wife Tales for her perspective as a flight attendant. I have linked to Part One which was posted Sept 10. Read that, then continue on to her post from today, Sept 11.

I am going to skip the 9/11 remembrance post and instead post something that made me laugh till I had tears in my eyes. I much prefer happy tears...

One of my friends posted this link on her Facebook page. Yes, It's True: Ben & Jerry's Introduces 'Schweddy Balls' Ice Cream Flavor I had heard rumors, but now I had confirmation. This ice cream flavor is based on a Saturday Night Live skit that makes fun of NPR radio. If you are not familiar with the skit, take a moment and watch it. Sorry, but you have to watch a short ad first.

Now run out and get some Schweddy Balls!

Meet Mangus

noreply@blogger.com (cakeologist) — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 00:30:00 +0000

We adopted Mangus over the weekend as a playmate for Stanley (the white cat in the background). Stanley has been rather sad since Frederick got sick and had to be put to sleep.

Up until right this second, the two have not been getting along, but as I type this they are jointly trying to catch a fly that has made its way into our house. Maybe this is the start of the friendship we intended...nope, I spoke too soon. They are back to hissing at each other. Oh well, maybe tomorrow will be better.

I hope this will work itself out, as Mangus is such a sweet kitty.

Picture Perfect at For The Love of Blogs

noreply@blogger.com (cakeologist) — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 16:33:00 +0000

Something to know about me - I DO NOT like to be a passenger in a car. Unless I have been drinking, I drive pretty much 100% of the time. We were in Yellowstone National Park and on this rare occasion I had allowed my husband to drive. Why? I was trying to spot a bear.

I did not see a bear that day, but even twenty plus years later, you can still see remnants of the massive fires that burned in Yellowstone in 1988. It was somewhat creepy looking at all the dead trees sticking out for as far as you could see.

Remember how I had allowed my husband driving privileges? He was annoyed because every few minutes I was telling him to pull over so I could take a picture. He finally said he was not going to pull over anymore unless it was to take a picture of a bear so I was forced to take the above picture though the passenger window from a moving car.

This photo is my submission for Picture Perfect at For the Love of Blogs. This weeks topic is Trees.

Head over to Picture Perfect and vote for your favorite. There are some really great photos linked up.

I did finally get my photo of a bear

He was on a hill about 10 feet from the road. I chose to take my photo from the safety of my car although I wish I had gotten out and taken a little more time so my photo was focused on the bear and not the branch in front of him, but there were so many cars and people wanting to see the bear that I felt rushed and pressured and at the time I was also scared he would suddenly run toward us and gobble me up.

LEM Photo Challenge

noreply@blogger.com (cakeologist) — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 04:57:00 +0000

Last month my friend from Missouri (Rancher Mom) was visiting for a few weeks. While she was here we took a trip down to Sego Canyon.

At some point (hopefully soon), I will dedicate a post to our adventures that day. For now you will have to be satisfied with this photo:

I am using this photo as my entry in a photo challenge I found at Live Every Moment. This weeks topic is Animals.

Cancer Scares and Tattoos

noreply@blogger.com (cakeologist) — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 19:01:00 +0000

This past week has been very emotional. My mom got called back after her annual mammogram. She had breast cancer 14 years ago so when this happens it is always scary. The last time she got called back after a mammogram was about 6 years ago. That time they ruled out cancer with an ultrasound. This time they felt there was the need for a biopsy.

I went with her for the biopsy and then we waited for 5 days until the results were back. Thankfully, everything came back benign although they do want to see her in 6 months to follow up on one area.

While we were in the waiting room before the biopsy my mother mentioned that she really wants a tattoo of a yellow butterfly and asked if I wanted to get a matching tattoo with her. She would love it if my sister and her sister would also get matching butterfly tattoos. The yellow butterfly represents her mother because of something that happened right after she passed away. For Christmas, my sister gave everyone matching yellow butterfly necklaces. To be honest, I was in the dark about the yellow butterfly incident and my sister had to explain the meaning of the necklace when she gave to to me.

This is what we have on display in our living room in memory of my grandmother.

This is the skull she used when she taught Hamlet to her students. Maybe my tattoo should look like this

Last year there were concerns my mother's cancer had spread to her back after an MRI for back pain found a mass on her spine. Her doctor called her at work and told her very bluntly that her cancer was back. We had a week of pure hell while we waited for surgery to be scheduled and a biopsy done. The doctors had us so convinced that her cancer was back and in deadly form that my sister had already started making plans to move across the country to be with her in what we thought was her final year. The mass turned out to be scar tissue. Thanks, Doc!

That whole week last year she was also talking about matching tattoos, so this time I am going to make sure she gets it done.

I found this design and she really liked it

I have an old faded Japanese symbol on my back that I have wanted to cover up, but haven't been able to decide what to cover it with. I think the old tattoo would incorporate well into the wings of a butterfly if designed properly. My anti-tattoo husband is working on the design now. Isn't that sweet of him?

noreply@blogger.com (cakeologist) — Sun, 28 Aug 2011 03:54:00 +0000

Tonight I was uploading some photos of the cakes I did this week and realized that it was awfully quiet in my house. My kids had gone out in the backyard some time ago and no one had come in crying or screaming, which is not normal. Lately my children have not be able to be in the same room with each other for more than 37 seconds without a fight breaking out.

It is good they are now back in school, because I don't think I could have handled much more. In fact, Monday night my husband had left to run an errand and as soon as his car turned off our street they started in with their bickering. I was completely to the end of my rope.

Image found at The Worst Mother

I got up from my half eaten dinner, picked up my purse, walked out the front door and drove away without saying a word. I called my husband and told him I had run away and was never coming back.

Sadly, I had nowhere to go and I couldn't afford to waste gas driving around aimlessly so after about 20 minutes I had to go back home.

Back to my original story...the kids were outside and were far too quiet. I asked my husband "What are the kids doing out back?"

His response?

"They are lighting fires"

I didn't know if I should be mad they were playing with fire or happy they weren't lighting each other on fire.

Ants! In My Bed!

noreply@blogger.com (cakeologist) — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 23:31:00 +0000

Two nights ago as I lay in bed reading a book, I felt something tickling my leg. It was an ant.

I figured it hitched a ride on my dog and after flicking it away, I didn't give it another thought.

Last night as I leaned over to turn off my bedside lamp, out of the corner of my eye, I saw something moving. I flipped the light back on and found an ant crawling on my pillow. I jumped out of bed and saw two more crawling on my nightstand. My squealing woke my husband enough for him to ask what I was doing and I told him there were ants everywhere. He said it must be from my candy. I told him if that were the case then why are there no ants in my candy. I have kept candy in my nightstand for the 11 years we have lived in our house and I have never seen an ant in our bedroom. He drowsily rolled over and said he would investigate in the morning.

A lot of good that will do when he wakes up and finds me covered in ants.

photo courtesy of Freaking News

I found some ant spray and sprayed it all over our room, but I still woke up every half hour all night long convinced I was living in a horror movie!

My New Favorite Vodka Drink

noreply@blogger.com (cakeologist) — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 16:37:00 +0000

Pineapple Upside Down Cake!

image found here

For the drink version, pour some of this over ice

Add some of this

Finish with a splash of this

Just don't drink 3 of them on an empty stomach...unless you enjoy a really good buzz!

For more recipes using Pinnacle Cake Vodka click here

I Heart Faces - Beautiful Eyes!

noreply@blogger.com (cakeologist) — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 23:21:00 +0000

I have completely been neglecting my blogs, but now I am back or at least I plan to be back...life seems to be getting in the way a lot.

I love this photo I took of my son on the ice. He was getting in position for the start of his hockey game and just happened to look up at me.

Check out more Beautiful Eyes at I Heart Faces

First Time at the Rodeo

noreply@blogger.com (cakeologist) — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 15:05:00 +0000

My dad gave me tickets to the Days of 47 Rodeo this year. Having never been to a rodeo, I thought it would be a fun way to spend an evening with my family.

When we got out of our car, my youngest daughter looked around and asked why everyone was dressed in costume. I looked around...there were a lot of hats, and boots and some big belt buckles.

Once inside we saw bucking horses

And bull riders

I learned my camera sucks at super fast action shots and I also learned there is a lot of waiting at the rodeo.

The highlight of the evening according to my son was after the rodeo.

They had two stunt riders doing all sorts of tricks on their motorcycles. My favorite was when they would flip upside down, but as I mentioned above, my camera just isn't good enough to catch that much action so my photos of the in-air somersaults are just a big blurry mess.

I guess the stunt bikers left a lasting impression on my son because the next day he dumped a pile of dirt in the middle of my back yard to create a jump. That did not go over well with me and I made him clean it up...he didn't care, because he had discovered the field was torn up at a nearby school.

I suppose this is better than coming home to find a bull in my back yard...and he is wearing a helmet.

I Heart Faces - Water!

noreply@blogger.com (cakeologist) — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 16:07:00 +0000

Happy Birthday Little B

noreply@blogger.com (cakeologist) — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 13:55:00 +0000

Today is my son's 12th birthday.

Benjamin was named after Ben Hogan so it was fitting that he was born right outside a golf course...no, the hospital does not sit on the edge of a golf course. Little B was born in a Dodge minivan during the morning rush hour commute on Foothill Boulevard.

My husband and I had decided to skip the whole hospital experience and have our son in a Birth Center with a midwife. A few days after he was due, I woke up around 6 a.m. with very mild, but consistent contractions. I woke up my husband and told him I might be in labor. He called our midwife and she said when I could not talk or walk through the contractions, to come on in.

Around 7, my husband took our daughter to daycare and since I had nothing better to do I decided to take a bath. When my husband returned, he came to check on me...right when my water broke. I got out of the tub and was hit with a pretty intense contraction, but it didn't really hurt. My sister-in-law was staying with us and felt it was time I go to the Birth Center. I told her I was supposed to wait until the contractions were too painful to walk or talk through and I was not in pain, but I agreed that I would go anyway.

My SIL walked me to the car while my husband took his sweet time doing who knows what inside. On the way to the car I had another really intense contraction, but it still didn't hurt...although now I could not walk so my SIL practically had to carry me the rest of the way. When my husband finally came out of the house his sister was screaming at him to get in the car...he told her to calm down, we had plenty of time. I was in labor with my daughter for over 24 hours so why would this be any different.

My dear husband finally got in the car and asked if we could stop at McDonalds on the way. I informed him I was having a baby. He still didn't see what the urgency was so I told him to take off my f---ing pants and see for himself. Since at this point it was quite obvious I would be having the baby in the car, I opted to head for the hospital since it was closer and just in case something went wrong.

My sweet little boy was born just after 8 in the morning as my SIL frantically weaved in and out of traffic honking and screaming for people to get out of her way. I happened to catch the the eye of a man in a truck next to us and I will never forget the look on his face as he slowly realized what he was witnessing.

This is as close as you will get to a baby picture. I didn't get my first digital camera until right after B turned 2 and I am too lazy to dig through the monstrous tub of photos to find one to scan.

*****UPDATE*****

It was pointed out to me in a comment that I left out an important part of the story. In case you skip the comments here it is:

"You forgot to tell them about our aunt who worked at the hospital....and she heard the gossip that "some lady" had given birth in a car because she didn't realize she was in labor. Rhonda said she remembered thinking that only a true moron would not realize she was in labor! Then she found out it was you. I have the newspaper article about his crazy birth...if you want me to scan it in and send it to you....so people can see you are telling the truth and you really are a moron and didn't realize you were in labor! :)"

Anything else I left out dear Younger and Hotter Sister?

Playing Tourist Again

noreply@blogger.com (cakeologist) — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 17:41:00 +0000

A few weeks ago, I played tourist with my kids at the Great Salt Lake. I told all my friends how much fun we had...

I guess we picked a good day and time to visit.

Apparently, this is what it is usually like at the beach we were at. This photo appeared in our local newspaper not long after our visit. I included the photo caption from the newspaper.

(Al Hartmann | The Salt Lake Tribune) Michael Bachmann and son Mark vacationing from Philadelphia step into the water of the Great Salt Lake at Salt Air and stir up some of the millions of brine flies that gather at the water's edge. Although the clouds of flies are annoying they don't bite. They are a huge food source for migrating waterfowl and are important to the ecology of the lake

Our visit was right after a short-lived but extremely heavy rain storm. I wonder if that had something to do with it. This is my picture of the beach - No Bugs!

You can read about our visit to the lake here.

While we were driving to the lake, we saw a sign for the Bingham Canyon Copper Mine and thought that would be another fun place to play tourist at. This week admission is free so we took advantage and went on a 'field trip'.

There were a lot of others taking advantage of the free week too, but the copper mine was well prepared. We had to park in a lot at the base and then take a bus to the visitors center. The buses left every 5 minutes. I was very impressed by their organization. I can only imagine the nightmare of traffic and parking if everyone was driving their car to the visitor center lot at the top rim of the mine.

There are huge trucks that work in the mine.

This is a tire from one of the trucks.

It is really hard to truly get a perspective of how large the mine is because everything in it is so big! The row of little tiny dots on the ledge are those giant trucks!

They look like little toy trucks in my son's sand box.

My camera isn't capable of taking in the whole mine in one shot and I didn't think to use the panorama feature. Here is an arial shot I found via Google images. I am not positive, but I think my arrow is pointing to the Visitor's Center. You can find some facts about the mine here.

It seems my son also has a thing for open pit mining. He has been working his pit for about three years. Last summer he had to use a rope hooked up to a tree to help him climb out of the hole, but the hole filled in a bit over the winter and this summer he is more interested in making it larger vs. deeper.

I wonder if I should be concerned about my sprinkler line.

Latisse Update and Color Splash Sunday

noreply@blogger.com (cakeologist) — Sun, 10 Jul 2011 20:13:00 +0000

I have now been using Latisse for just about 19 weeks. I have only skipped applying it a handful of times and have had zero side effects. I still am using the first bottle and it seems that there is quite a bit left in it. I will let you know when I run out and I can accurately figure the per month cost since a lot of people I talk to want to try it, but are turned off by the per bottle cost.

Here is a before and after without mascara

I rarely wear mascara anymore. The other night my friend was in the car with me and asked if I had gotten eyelash extensions. I wonder what she would have said if I was wearing mascara. Here is a photo I took with my phone a few weeks ago. I think my eyeballs look kinda creepy.

Here is one with mascara and my eyes shut.

I totally recommend the stuff. I love it! Plus, now that my eyelashes are so long, they camouflage my droopy eyelids I want to get fixed.

Now on to Color Splash Sunday.

This week I am using a photo I took of my son at a hockey game. Editing it made me sad as I realized that I will not be watching him play again this fall. He has officially decided to hang up the skates.

Trying to Learn Photoshop

noreply@blogger.com (cakeologist) — Sat, 09 Jul 2011 21:25:00 +0000

I have had one version or another of Photoshop on my computer for about 12 years. Only problem is, I have never really learned how to use it.

Currently I have CS2 installed on my computer. The other day I checked out 8 books from the library that hopefully will teach me a few things about the program. As practice, I am submitting an entry into the weekly Edit Me photo challenge found at My Reflection of Something.

The guest judge this week, Jen from Mama Schell Says, supplied the following photo to edit.

I am supposed to list what I did to edit the photo, but I flattened and saved it before I remembered this.

I used a combination of tutorials from the multiple books I have borrowed from the library.

I made the photo a sepia color and darkened the edges, used the noise filter and grain texture, adjusted the levels...I did some other stuff too, but I am not sure what adjustments I kept and what went in the trash.

Oh yeah...guess I should add the copy of my edit. Here it is

I am really excited to continue to explore the capabilities of Photoshop. Maybe I can learn how to edit photos to make myself look 18 again...