In the Words of Sting, "It's A Beautiful Day!"

Wow, what a day!
I was in an awesome mood from the time I got up out of bed this morning all the way through until now. I got a lot of things accomplished, and even got to relax a little too!

First on my list this morning was the dog park. I had just renewed our annual dog park permit pass the other night, and KNEW that this weekend was going to be beautiful. 77 degrees in March, in Minnesota?! I'll take it!
I think that nice weather can do wonders for a person's mood, and it proved correct today for sure!

Tucker and I journeyed to the dog park. I was equipped wearing my rubber boots and pants, because I wanted to assume the worst when thinking muddiness. Great news! It was hardly muddy at all! Of course in the lower-lying areas and the pond, were of course more damp and muddy, but overall, they had done a nice job of bringing in more rock and spreading it throughout the park! There were plenty of people and dogs at the park this morning though! With this nice of a day, how could you resist?! I even ran into someone I went to high school with in the pond area where her dog was playing! It is funny who you run into there sometimes!

After the dog park, it was time for an extensive bath for Tucker - he did find some large amounts of mud, and running through the pond area didn't help to keep him clean. I also showered to officially launch into the rest of my day that lay before me.

I cleaned the bathroom, got all my laundry done (throughout the day) and caught up on some emails. I also searched the internet for a baking supply store nearby, and lo and behold, I actually FOUND one! And to make matters even better, I found it at 1:30 PM, it was about 15 minutes away and they close at 3pm on Saturdays, and are closed Sunday and Monday! I ventured over there and walked in. I was blown away by the sheer amount of EVERYTHING that they seemed to have! They also have pan rental in case you don't want to purchase all of the character pans that you are into each year or each time that you need to make a cake. They also rent out display tiers and fixtures. I will have to keep that in mind should I ever expand and want to do something more elaborate or move into the cake and wedding cake business! I toured the store, looking at all of the things that caught my eye. One thing that caught my eye for sure, was the "clearance" section. There, I found a gingerbread pan for $5! Sold! I also got 500 white cupcake liners for $6. My real mission upon entering the store was to find all of the "Drop Flower" frosting tips that I could get my hands on. Just before I was going to ask an employee if they carried individual tips, I looked down and saw they had a large display for single frosting tips. I about died of joy! She was able to help me locate almost all of the tips I desired, and for cheaper than it would have cost me to order them direct from a website!

After that, I came home, and got ready to run out and do the grocery shopping and mail a couple of packages. Even then, I had a blast. I usually like grocery shopping - always have. I used to play grocery store all the time when I was a kid. There is just something fun about it to me. Something that made it even more special was that I found they had the Arnold Palmer LITE there (for those of you who don't know - an 'Arnie Palmer' is a beverage with 1/2 iced tea and 1/2 lemonade mixed together- heaven!!). I think the only downer to my day was finding out how much it was going to cost to ship the 2 packages I had brought in to the UPS Store. I might have to try another alternative to shipping packages next time - sheesh!

To round out my productivity, I put away things in the office and tidied it up, and cleaned out the hallway closet downstairs.

I made a favorite of mine for dinner - butternut squash risotto (which I am eating right now...mmm).

So, a very Happy St. Patrick's Day to you all!
-LD

A Real Vacation

It was just confirmed today that Derick and I might be able to take our first real vacation together - EVER! We didn't go on a honeymoon, and have not yet traveled due to debt issues, but lo and behold, we will be going on our first vacation together the first week in April!

My grandma has a townhouse in Mesa, Arizona that she asked a bunch of family if we wanted to come down and spend a little time with her while she is there. She has "snow-birded" there for the winter in the past few years. I went down there to spend my spring break with her and my grandpa when I was in college by myself, and that was a blast! It will be fun to go down there again and see if things are as I remember them. I really liked it down there when I was there before, and it will be even more fun to share it with someone this time around.

This will be Derick's first time flying in a plane. Ever. I find that kind of hard to believe, but I guess it makes sense, knowing that he came from a small town in the Midwest.

On the agenda for the trip: a trip to the Tortilla Flats, and the Superstition Mountains, flea market, pools, bingo hall (seriously, you should SEE this place...) and maybe a local botanical garden. I am really excited to go!

Now, all we have to do is try to stuff everything in our suitcases for the time we are spending there, and also, the biggie, find a Tucker-sitter! That is going to be the hardest part I think. We have not left him for that long before, so it will be interesting to see what happens...Thank goodness we have some great friends we can ask and hope that they say they will either stay in our house, or, take him for our trip.

-LD

In Remberance

After a long hiatus from blogging, I return with a memorial piece for my Grandmother, Lola.

I got the call from my mother on Friday afternoon at work. She called my cell phone from her cell phone, which, when it happens I think one or both two things:

1. She NEVER uses her cell phone to make calls.
2. It must be bad news.

In both cases - I am right here. She rarely, if ever uses her cell phone, and when she does, most of the time, can be associated with bad, sad, or otherwise unpleasant news.

I got the call right after I had returned from lunch. I don't care what the circumstances are, that is never a good call to make or receive. My Grandma lived a good, long life of 96 years. Her age was always easy for me to remember because she was always 70 years older than me. I guess her death to me was more of a "waiting for that phone call" type moment. She had been in a nursing home for a number of years, and had long forgotten who I was in relation to her. On some facts, she was as sharp as a tack - like, my wedding day for example. It was one of the last events that she traveled out of the state of Wisconsin to attend. Looking back, I am so lucky and grateful that I had all of my grandparents that I knew there with me on my wedding day. I cannot say the same today. In the three years since, both my paternal Grandfather has passed away and now, my maternal Grandmother, Lola. 

I always liked the name Lola. There was just something about it. Not event that I always associated it with my Grandma, but it seemed to fit her just the same. 

I remember her small dinners for our family of four, and her when we would go to her house to visit. 

I remember her tuna noodle casserole with the Lays potato chips crumbled on top in the old, yellow Pyrex baking dish. That dish now proudly sits on top of my kitchen cabinets, a tribute to her, and wedding shower gift from her. 

I remember her making oatmeal, toast and coffee and orange juice for breakfast. I could never make oatmeal the way she could. I had tried and tried for years. I came close a couple of times, but never replicated.

I remember the china hutch, and all of the eclectic china and serving dishes kept in there. There was a story about each piece, and I loved sitting on the beige, high-backed armchair as she told me the stories as she put the pieces away.

I remember she kept the peanut butter in the refrigerator, and I always thought that was odd.

I remember her pies. Those were some pies. She was well-known for them, and I remember she was teaching me how to make them one weekend at her house. It was a science all her own. No written out recipe, no precise measurements, just her years of knowledge and know-how to guide her hand.

I remember sleeping in the second guest bedroom of hers with my sister, the pull-out bed with the bars in your back, and the creepy antlered deer weather barometer on the wall that would give us nightmares.

I remember the creepy basement with carpet on the walls part of the way up.

I remember the old toys she has in her small garage and in the basement we would play with when we came to visit. 

I remember her love of crossword puzzles and Scrabble.

We would wake up "early" on our weekends at her house and watch The Price Is Right with Bob Barker hosting.

So many small memories from so little time actually spent with her. It is crazy to look back and think about how little that time spent really was. That every moment here is not promised or guaranteed, but must be cherished for what it is and the time that you actually get. 

I know she is in a better place. No suffering, no more of her friends dying around her, no more of her children having to die before her. She is at peace, and after this weekend, I hope to bring some of that peace back with me as well. 

-LD

Experimental Endeavors

Anyone watch 2 Broke Girls on CBS?

Well, in the episode pictured above, Max tells Caroline that she needs cake mixes to make her cupcakes and her "secret ingredient" is mixing a spoon full of Pillsbury cake mix into Duncan Hines Cake Mix!

That got me thinking a little harder about my hobby of cupcake decorating. The majority of the time, I had been getting cake mixes from my mom from a surplus of them at her work. I had been using them and then creating all my elaborate creations on top of them. But this episode really started the wheels turning - that I need to find a "scratch" recipe to call my own to try, make, tweak and be totally mine. I had made a few attempts at making my own, but I wasn't too focused on that part (very shameful, I know).

Today I made another attempt at creating my own yellow cake cupcake, and I do have to say, I am almost 100% a fan. Let's face it, if it were 100% the first try, it wouldn't be called baking - it would be called perfection, or something...

I thought I might try another kind tomorrow, but this batch made a TON more than what I thought it would make - I need to work on dialing that back somewhat, and getting it to my idea of perfection. 

I told Derick about my cupcake tasting party idea and he suggested we have it in conjunction with our Superbowl Party this year...

Basically, I would take a crack at baking/making about 5-6 different cupcake flavors, giving each person who comes to the party who wants to participate a plate with one of each kind of cupcake flavor on it with toothpicks with numbers on them. I would have them take a bite of each one and write what they think on a piece of paper next to that number. I would then ask them to choose an overall favorite, and an overall similar type favorite. For example, if there were three white cake recipes and two chocolate cake recipes that I tried, I would have them choose a top white cake and a top chocolate cake from the choices in order to better narrow down which recipe my "test group" likes the best. 

Anyone interested in eating a lot of cupcakes in about a month? Anyone? Bueller?

-LD

Bus Happenings: A List

I tweeted the other day about making a list of things that I am anticipating will happen at some point during the duration of time I spend on public transportation. Here is the list:

1. Get asked what time it is
2. Get thrown-up on
3. Get sneezed on
4. Get sat on
5. Get used as a pillow by a sleeping seat-mate
6. Get asked to borrow my phone
7. Be asked to change/move seats
8. Be a witness to a bus/car accident
9. Be on a bus that hits another vehicle or building
10. Miss my stop
11. Fall asleep on the bus

Of that list, the following crossed out items have already happened to me:

1. Get asked what time it is
2. Get thrown-up on
3. Get sneezed on
4. Get sat on
5. Get used as a pillow by a sleeping seat-mate
6. Get asked to borrow my phone
7. Be asked to change/move seats
8. Be a witness to a bus/car accident
9. Be on a bus that hits another vehicle or building
10. Miss my stop
11. Fall asleep on the bus

It really is only a matter of time before they all probably end up happening to me. Two of those things actually happened to me today on the way home from work - the same person too. One guy who was traveling with his 2-year old son asked me what time it was. I told him. He made some comments about how he was going to be late, and he wished his little boy hadn't left his cell phone at home. He then asked me a little while later if he could borrow my phone to call his ride that was supposed to pick him up from the bus stop. I thought about it a minute, and I felt a little uneasy about it, but I asked him what the number was, dialed it in, and handed him my phone. It was my really good Samaritan deed for the day. I figured the chances with him running off with my phone were pretty slim since he had a little kid - who was sleeping on him. He gave it back to me after the person he was calling did not pick up. I put my phone back in my pocket. A couple of minutes later it was ringing in my pocket. I took it out, looked at it, asked the man if the last four numbers were the ones he had dialed. He said yes, I handed him the phone, he talked for a few minutes and then handed the phone back to me. 

My other good deed, was arranging my co-worker's birthday lunch and making her cupcakes last night to bring in today - on the bus. It actually went a lot better than I thought it would. They were going to be kitty cat cupcakes, but they turned out looking like pretty bad kitties, so with a thought from Derick and something I had been considering, I whipped together a new plan. They came out looking like Cream puffs! I might just have to call them Cream Puff Cupcakes! They WERE vanilla cream-filled in the middle after all!

Sweet Dreams!

-LD

Book Report: Sarah's Key

Yesterday on the bus ride home, I finished my latest book. I received the book at Christmas from my parents and was really excited to get started reading it. 


The book is Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay.

The brief summary of the book is 
Paris, July 1942: Sarah, a ten year-old girl, is brutally arrested with her family by the French police in the Vel' d'Hiv' roundup, but not before she locks her younger brother in a cupboard in the family's apartment, thinking that she will be back within a few hours.
Paris, May 2002: On Vel' d'Hiv's 60th anniversary, journalist Julia Jarmond is asked to write an article about this black day in France's past. Through her contemporary investigation, she stumbles onto a trail of long-hidden family secrets that connect her to Sarah. Julia finds herself compelled to retrace the girl's ordeal, from that terrible term in the Vel d'Hiv', to the camps, and beyond. As she probes into Sarah's past, she begins to question her own place in France, and to reevaluate her marriage and her life. 


The book really made me want to keep turning the pages. 'just one more page, just one more chapter,' I kept egging myself on to find out what happened next. The author does a really decent job of weaving in the old story and the new story, although I felt she left the little girl's story somewhat unfinished. It would have been a little more complete, in my eyes, if she would have given Sarah's story one more chapter before finishing off the book in the present day perspective. 


The author has written two more books: A Secret Kept and The House I Loved (not out until Feb 14, 2012). I want to get my hands on A Secret Kept to see if that one is just as good as this one. I need to be careful though, that I don't get sucked into reading the same type of story line book after book just because I think I like the author. I made that mistake with Nicholas Sparks. I  understand the theory about "writing what you know," but when EVERY SINGLE book he writes is in the SAME place, has just about the SAME characters, it gets old. Nevertheless, I have just about all of his books...if anyone's interested. 


Now the choice of what to read next. I have two big options, a Marilyn Monroe book Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe by Randy Taraborrelli or the Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson. That will be a tough decision! All I know is, that I need to choose one of these and get it read by mid February, when a couple of books I have been waiting for come out in stores! 


Happy Reading,
LD

Happy New Year 2012!

To end 2011 on an awesome note, I checked off one of the items on my bucket list! Thanks to my Twitter Twin for making it happen! Number 31 is done, but hopefully not DONE, done! I had a really great time getting to know my Twitter Twin!!

Travel to Paris

Go Hot Air Ballooning

Buy a decent camera

Take a cooking class

Take a cake decorating class

Be promoted in the workplace

Get another dog

Move into a single-family home

Alaskan Cruise

Travel to see more of the West and East coasts

Travel to Hawaii

Travel to Australia

Live on or near a lake

Host Thanksgiving Dinner at our home (must obtain home with larger kitchen first...)

Ride in a Limousine

Road Trip with Derick

Take a get-away vacation

Host a Holiday Cookie Baking Weekend at my home (must obtain home with larger kitchen first...)

Start a retirement account

Rebuild my hard-copy and electronic portfolios

See my work in print

Pay for the meal or dessert of a prom couple anonymously while at the same restaurant

Eat more fruits and vegetables

Serve food/meal at a charity during a major holiday

Re-read a book series

Read or review all of the design books I own

More seriously discuss if and when to have kids

Find an Endocrinologist whom I interact well with

Snowboard again

Go Scuba Diving

Skype with my Twitter Twin someday

Work more closely with or for the ADA

Organize my digital pictures

Obtain my education degree to teach art or design

Learn how to play acoustic guitar

I would like to wish everyone a very happy new year 2012!

-LD