Happy birthday to me!

I must admit, my cake decorating skills are improving.

I was able to utilize my new trusty line thingy (I'm sure it has a technical name) to create indention in the side of the cake.



And I'm desperately learning how to do flowers. I need a lot of practice.

I can't quite put my finger on it. . . .

I've had a very difficult time explaining to those who ask, how I feel about the current transitional phase I'm experiencing in my life. This hasn't been the easiest and cleanest of journeys (as most transitions aren't) and I have experienced a lot of anguish and turmoil. In spite of the bad, I refuse to categorize this as a negative experience.

However now, thanks to my friend Mr. Mayer, I now have a new 'label' for my current status. When asked I will now tell people, "I'm in repair; I'm not together but I'm getting there."

Thanks again, John. You always seem to help me put things in perspective.

101 goals in 1001 days: A year later

On September 1st, 2008 I challenged myself and created 101 goals I would like to accomplish in 1001 days. A year later, I have completed 17 of my goals ( not great but not too bad either), and have started 23 other goals. The rest of my goals are specific and complicated to it will truly take almost the full 1001 days to see results. Here are the goals I have completed.

Always recycle plastic bags or use cloth bags when possible.
Decide if you want to decorate for holidays other than Christmas. –only decorate for Christmas.
Consider graduate School enrollment by age 30. –Currently enrolled at Webster University.
Continue to work at keeping friendships with High School friends. –email weekly and utilize FB
Continue to pray for all friends
Continue to keep in touch with Q100 friends
Over-come fear of undercooking meat. –learned new techniques for checking meat temperature
Learn to prepare 2 beef dishes (other than spaghetti and tacos) - steaks, roast, other pasta dishes
Learn to Fry chicken- completed November, 2008
Make an apple pie – completed March 2009
make a 4-layer cake – completed December 2008
Go white-water rafting – completed June 2009 second WWR trip down Ocoee river
Visit 2 new restaurants a year.
See at least 1 theatre production yearly.
Continue to participate/head the AIDS walk and AIDS awareness. – Captain of AIDS walk team 2008 and 2009
Continue to subscribe to 2 magazines yearly. – BHG, SL,
Continue to be thankful for the friendships in my life, positive or negative

Continuation in cake decorating

I will spare you of the recipe details, but I would like to show off the cake and my whack-assed attempt at basket-weaving (not pictured).

Age vs. Wisdom vs. Maturity vs. Smarts?

Most of the times I like to focus on the perks of being in my mid 20’s. I can still for the most part, eat what I want (mostly), I can stay out late then get up early the next morning for work and only have to take 1 nap to get me through the day (or drink 5 cups of coffee), and I can enjoy having limited responsibilities: no husband, no children, only focus on starting a retirement plan instead of worrying if I have enough for my “golden years”; my only concerns are pay my bills on-time and strive to stay employed.

There are sometimes disadvantages of being younger; especially when the majority of your friends are 8-15 years older. Don’t get me wrong, I love having older friends. I love to learn from their wisdom and insight. But there comes certain rules of respect that both sides should abide by. I always show respect for my older friends. Whenever they give me advise (asked for or not) I listen with an open ear. I express my gratitude and whether I use the advice or not, catalog it in my brain for future reference. I do it out of respect. Respect for the friendship and respect for that person. Some of them do not show a great amount of respect back to me. I have a feeling it all deals with age. I think the particular issue lies in the myth that because someone is older than you; they have seen more and therefore are smarter than you.

Now I used to believe this sentiment was 100% accurate. But I get older I realize that experience and smarts do not equate.

I have a few people in my life who when I offer advice, offer an opinion, or merely state an observation completely demean and belittle me. They chalk it up to “What do you know about this, you’re only 26”. I am demeaned and belittled as if my life has no meaning. Regardless of what I say, I’m treated as the stupid little kid.

I cannot explain to anyone how much that hurts me. The long or short-term psychological effects of being treated like this are profound. I don’t get it. Am I stupid? Even if the subject we are speaking on is something that I have first-hand experience in, my insights are regarded as not-valid in spite of the fact that the group of people I am speaking with have no or limited experience in the subject matter. Being treated like this has silenced me and I have become withdrawn. I was telling my mother about the situation Thursday night at dinner. Friday morning, I checked my horoscope on Yahoo (an activity I rarely participate in) and Lord and behold, this is what it states:

Daily Overview, Friday August, 14.
Someone may have more experience than you, but they don't know more than you do.

Thank you, Yahoo, for putting that into perspective for me. I will catalog that advice (which is oddly the same thing my mother said to me Thursday night) in regards to how others treat me, and importantly, how I treat others.

Recent adventures in cake decorating

Dark Chocolate cake with Strawberry whipped filling and cocoa butter cream frosting

I have not had the world's greatest week. Now, I wasn't captured by North Koreans and held against my will for several months.....but it was still crappy nonetheless.

One of my favorite stress remedies is baking. I have been desperately trying to improve my decorating skills so I have purchased new utensils to help me accomplish this goal. The newest additions to my arsenal are frosting bags, couplers, and a few new tips. I have learned a valuable lesson, I can spend $100 on cake utensils and my cakes will still look like crapola.

To commemorate my horrible cake decorating skills and my horrible week, I wanted my cake to reflect my feelings.

Taste:A++

Wow! I love this cake recipe. It is the most consistent cake and always comes out a winner. Kudos to whomever came up with the recipe! Note* This cake is a royal pain in the ass to make. It has a lot of steps, a lot of ingredients, and takes a lot of time but if you like rich chocolate cakes this one is for you. For the recipe, visit here.

I was on to something when out of the blue I decided to fill and pipe the cake with strawberry frosting. this is the only element of the cake I did not make from scratch. The whipped frosting helped to keep the already rich cake from being too heavy and too rich and adds the such a delightful taste!

Presentation: D-

I'm getting better with the overall frosting, but I can't seem to get the "lip" of frosting I need to help frost the top of the cake. That kind of creates a messy thing on top. I can say with this cake I did a great job of not adding too much frosting. . . great consistency. And well, if the writing on the cake doesn't speak volumes then I don't know what does.

. .

The root of procrastination (part 2 of ?)

Procrastination is the thief of time. ~Edward Young

Yup, that sentiment rings loudly in my ears and echoes like a church bell….yeah, I’m not good at metaphors but you get where I’m going. Procrastination isn’t the thief of time, rather the granter of additional time to spend on you which brings me to my next contributor to procrastination: laziness.

I mean, why work hard if you don’t have to? Work hard or hardly work? Lately I’ve chosen the later. If the outcome is the same, why put yourself through the extra work? That is the mantra of a true lazy ass. I’ve learned true genius is the ability to take a project, make it look like gold, and only spend 20 minutes working on it. Yes, that is the true essence of hardly working and reaping the true benefits of your efforts. God bless America.