the innocence of youth

During Sharing Time this afternoon...

Me: You really need to sit in your chair quietly.
Sunbeam: hmmmpfff! (sitting down quietly but not exactly willingly)
Me: Thank you.
Sunbeam: (gently squeezing my arm with both hands with a mischievous grin - but doing it rather quietly)
Me: What are you doing?
Sunbeam: Squishy!!
Me: (in my head - not really what I want to hear but the child is still being fairly quiet and is still sitting in the chair which is quite an accomplishment)
Sunbeam: Squishy!!
Me: Okay - well then why don't we just sing with the group now.

2nd Annual Del Ray Music Festival

I live in Rosemont which is between Del Ray and Old Town Alexandria so I feel that I can claim either. I love this area! Every year there is Art on the Avenue where I always find unique pieces - there is something about buying a ceramic piece from the actual artist that makes it more fun. This weekend Del Ray is hosting the 2nd Annual Music Festival. Browing the festival website I found out that the Del Ray Community, was formerly known as the Town of Potomac and it is celebrating its 100th year.

E is for what?

On Tuesday night I was running errands late at Target and noticed that my gas gauge was on empty. I made a mental note to stop at the gas station on the way home because I knew I was driving into work the next day. The last time I remembered looking at the gas gauge was on my way to BWI and at that point it was showing a quarter tank. Alas, my mind wasn't working very well and by the time I checked out and got to my car I completely forgot. I remembered as I was falling asleep at 1 am and thought - no problem I pass three gas stations on the way to work and can just stop in the morning. Obviously I didn't remember in the morning either.

Here is what my gas gauge looked like when I pulled into the parking garage for work the next morning. I honestly think that had my car started to sputter and die I would have been seriously perplexed at the situation.

Another cake...

...again using my new favorite form of chocolate magic. This four tier chocolate tower was concocted to celebrate Andrea's birthday.

cupcakes!!

More wedding cakes...this one was for Kerstin and John. Becca helped tons - coming over and staying up until 3 am - I would have been in trouble without her help. We tried lots of different flavors and settled on vanilla, brownie, and oreo (the raspberry was a complete disaster so we left that out). The groom's cake (Terp's helmet) was marbled chocolate chip. And the giant cupcake was chocolate. It was lots of fun to make the flowers out of chocolate plastique - which is my new favorite chocolate invention. You can do such cool things with it and yet it still tastes good. And it has a shelf life of weeks. The cupcakes and the football helmet worked out even better than expected. Getting them all the way to Maryland in one piece was nerve wracking but it all turned out well. The kids especially loved the the miniature cupcakes.

green growing things

So I took these pictures a couple weeks ago but haven't has a chance to post them. Our yard got a bit out of control this year and before anyone noticed turned into a jungle. I was pretty impressed with what our lawnmower (an electric one) was able to accomplish. However, even after I went over it a couple times it wasn't completely trim as you can see.

Random thoughts

I love e-filing taxes! I already have my returns and with direct deposit they just show up unlike the pile of checks I need to take to the bank today.

I love being a new aunt. Baby Max is adorable and I am excited to meet him in May.

Being around children brings hope. I was just put in as an instructor for the Sunbeams. They are all adorable (although at the same time quite a handful - 8 kids with 3 adults and still things got a bit out of control). I get to teach the lesson next week and practice singing Jesus wants me for a Sunbeam - reverently. Just one week reminded me what we can learn from children about hope and happiness. Adults make life way to complicated. Having that experience was a great precursor to the hectic week I have scheduled.

First, I procrastinated reading The Effective Executive by Peter Drucker. (Does it say something about our society that we have to learn how to effectively read a book about being effective to become more effective? Kind of like how we have to schedule time to exercise. Something is wrong with a life that is spent sitting for 8 hours in a chair but I haven't quite figured out how to fix it.) Which I had to have read and outlined for a morning meeting so of course I read through dinner and late into the night and then through breakfast and on my commute. Brings back memories of school. You would think one would eventually get fed up with procrastination and just change but I am reminded again that change takes effort channeled in the correct direction. In the end it turned out all right and I just lost sleep.

Now onto the rest of the week filled with budget reviews and forecasts, huge annual fundraising events (again the recurring question - what am I going to wear and why doesn't ladies' formal wear include pockets?), roommates moving in and out (half of the living room is full of transitional stuff), packing for a trip home next week, and lots of cupcakes and chocolate flowers (I am starting to perfect the technique) for Kirsten and Jon's wedding (the supplies and end results are taking up the other half of the living room and the kitchen). I am looking forward to Sunday evening and going to bed really early!

Taxes

I procrastinated doing my taxes this year. Again. Next year my goal is to do them as soon as I get the necessary forms in the mail. Do I gain anything from waiting until the eleventh hour? Sure - the stress of having something hanging over my head for weeks. Do I need that? No. The great thing about e-filing is that I already know they have been accepted and expect my refunds within the next couple of weeks. Always so glad when there is a refund instead of having to pay extra. Now I can sleep soundly tonight knowing that I have satisfied my civic taxation duties for yet another year.

weekend at home

I spent a whirlwind weekend at home. Arriving Friday afternoon and leaving early Wednesday morning. The majority of the time was spent in the kitchen concocting fabulously delicious wedding treats for Gin and Josh. I discovered some amazing books by Mich Turner who runs Little Venice Cake Company (www.lvcc.co.uk) with a picture of the perfect cherry blossom cake. What could have been better for this cherry blossom wedding. It is said that a life spent searching for the perfect cherry blossom is a life well spent. I discovered all about chocolate plastique - just like fondant but it tastes good and gives a great smooth coating. And look at the incredible roses Aunt Joan found the afternoon of the wedding!

I also found that even though the cookie molds seemed to be quite user friendly from the description on the website they really were actually a bit tricky. But Dad and Jenkin came to the rescue with their incredible muscles - with much better results than my 'wacking' method. Yep those are all cookie covered oreos. We gave up on the molds and went to hand dipping when we realized we were running short on time. The chocolate and mint cups went much easier. Combined with the brownies, o'henry bars, lemon bars, sugar cookies, and frappe everything was a tremendous hit. We had lots of help both in the kitchen and at the reception without which there was no way it would have been pulled off. I didn't think to take pictures until half way through the reception but there were lots of photos taken by others so hopefully I will see some of them.

joining the blogging world

After perusing the blogs of family and friends for months on end (and quite honestly feeling a little bit like a stalker) I have finally decided I should reciprocate and put something up myself. I am actually only half reciprocating until I can decide that I will actually give this address to another living being. There is something about putting parts of your life out there for anyone to read that makes you feel like everything you type needs to be pithy and witty. But if you can get past that...it could be fun!