July Birthday Celebration!

My husband and nephew have birthdays two days apart, so today we are having a combined party. It will be all but one of the Minnesota family, because he's off in the Dakotas trying to save the world and our living environment. In addition, we'll have some long time friends and their kids celebrating with us. It's beautiful day here in Minnesota, perfect for barbequing outside and shooting the breeze with friends we haven't seen in ages.

The spouse is making homemade hamburgers and chicken wings with homemade pineapple sauce (plus pineapple/habenero sauce for those inclined to spicy food). We made Bleu Cheese dressing from scratch last night, as well as salsa and a spicy cheese dip (recipe courtesy of our friend Steve). The spouse will be making a Spinach/Articoke dip when he awakens from his slumber. The evening's dessert will be a circus train birthday cake. I think we'll pick up some marshmallows and roast them as well.

I look forward to hanging out, catching up, and pigging out. I'm sure pictures will make their way to Facebook. Wish my friends from Texas could join us, would be a blast and you need to escape the heat and the drought. Miss you guys.

12th Birthday Party

This weekend we held our daughter's 12th birthday party on Saturday, this was her final Texas party. We were a bit nervous, because in past years the turn out has been very small. This was partially due to the fact that so many of her classmates were Hispanic, and her parties always fell on the same weekend as the Cinco de Mayo celebrations. The move to junior high alleviated much of this issue with the end of the Dual-Language program. Luckily, though not everyone showed up, we had plenty of people come. The original plan was the zoo, but I realized that I had scheduled in on Mother's Day. Oops! So the date was changed and the venue altered. Who doesn't love a pool party?

 The Girl requested a Gir cake, this is a character from an older cartoon called Invader Zim. It's a show with a lot of dark comedy, created by Jhonen Vasquez (@JhonenV). The merchandise has become very popular with the pre-teen and teen set recently, though sadly many have never seen an episode or even heard of the show. Gir is Zim's defective robot sidekick, and most people's favorite character from the series. To the left is the model I used for the cake.

Creating this cake was an experiment for me. I made two cakes, and carved on of them to make the character. This was very nerve racking, as I had never done it before. I used store bought tubes for the black icing, because it's so hard to mix black and have it turn out to be really black. The Husband and The Girl both complemented me on the appearance of the cake. It was also a huge hit at the party.

The mini-hamburgers seasoned and grilled by The Husband were declared by several guests to be "the best hamburgers ever". Many chips were consumed, as well as two whole bowls of popcorn. All guests went home full, tired, and happy. I'm glad The Girl has made some good friends this year, and I hope that she can stay in touch with them after the move.

It's My Birthday!

I've been planning to do a birthday blog for weeks, now that the day is here, my mind is begin very uncooperative. I'm going to give it a go anyway, hoping that the act of writing will spur my mind to join in.

Today, I am 36 years old. I am not where I expected to be at 36. Is anyone really where they expected to be? I know that often when people say this, they are complaining, that's not the case here. I'm happy with my choices, even if they took me in a different direction than I originally intended.

I think back to the dreams I had as a teenager and wonder how I ever thought that those things would make me happy. Those ideas seem very strange to me now, almost as if they were thought of by another person. I guess that in a way it's true, I'm not the same person I was at 18.

I remember wanting to be a vet as a child, and a lawyer as a teenager. If I had the skills in math and science, I think I could have been happy now as a vet. I look back on my plans to be a lawyer, and to marry one, with utter dismay. I can't believe that I ever thought this was something that was a good idea or that I actually started out as a political science major. I'm just glad that my spouse helped me realize I would have been miserable in the field of law. I frequently border on cynical now, I'd be bitter and hard-boiled if I had become a lawyer.

I'm very glad I didn't go that route. I've always been a bit too serious for my own good, I definitely didn't need to marry someone with just as serious a mindset. I needed someone more relaxed than me, and prone to laughter. I needed someone that could make laugh in spite of myself (and my mood), someone that would challenge me to expand my experiences and take risks. I got just that in my husband.

Case in point, my family and I are about to uproot ourselves and head across the country. We did this once before when our daughter was very small, but it wasn't the giant leap it is now. When we did it the first time, neither of us had a full time job, I was fresh out of college, and our daughter was too young to have made real friends or to miss them.

Now, I have resigned from my stable teaching job and neither of us have employment in place in Minnesota. I realize that to most people this seems to be absolutely insane, especially in this recession economy. Sometimes it feels completely insane as well.Yet at the same time, I know that it's the right thing to do. We have felt the need to make a change for a while now, just never had sufficient funds or motivation to do it. We were in a rut, and unhappy about it, but felt like we had no other choice.

Then things all seemed to fall into place at the same time to push us into doing what we've desired for years, return to Minnesota. First, the district offers a 10% bonus to any teacher that quits in order to balance out the state funding cuts. We tossed the idea around halfheartedly at this point, in that day dreaming sort of way that people never follow through on. Second, over Spring Break a family member in Minnesota became ill. This made us realize that we are very much needed up North. We took a couple of days to really discuss the idea, and came to the conclusion that returning to Minnesota is not only what we want to do, but it is what we need to do. And who wouldn't want to return to such a picturesque place?

So now with 44 days left until we hit the road for Minnesota, I waver between elation and stress. I'm elated to be headed to a beautiful place full of friendly people, and terrified of leaving the stability of my job. Excitement about seeing distant friends, and fear of not getting one of the "hundreds" of jobs I'm applying for. Relief that I'm ahead of the packing game, and panic that I need to pack faster. Eagerness to get on the road, and terror at the likely gas prices. Excitement about the Girl's new school, and worry over her making new friends. Anticipation that it's almost time, and consternation that it's so far away. I admit that my nerves are a bit raw from all the conflicting emotions. But all I have to do is remember how relaxed I felt on visits to Minnesota, the physical feeling of weight being lifted from my shoulders as I crossed the state line, and once again I know that we are doing the right thing.

There are friends we will miss, and family too, but deep down I know that my family will be where we truly belong. That we are going to a place where we can all truly flourish.

The Reflections of a Mother

Today is the 11th anniversary of my daughter's birth. In some ways it seems like she has always been here and in others as if she only arrived yesterday. She amazes me on pretty much a daily basis. I look back at old pictures of her, and see the same sparkling eyes and precocious grin. Yet, there are so many changes in her as well.

She retains her full-hearted laughter, her quick wit, her advanced vocabulary, her love of music, her strong sense of right and wrong, and her empathy for others. She is also still stubborn, has a tendency to take things too personally, and wants things to be done "just so".

She is transforming in front of my eyes from a child with a pudgy face and belly to a willowy girl. She is still small compared to most of her classmates, but has grown emotionally so much in the last couple of years. She loves science and math, though I know she got her interest in science from both of us, I have no idea where she got the skill or interest in math. There was a time when we feared she would not become an avid reader, but now she reads for fun without prompting. I see her caring side still in how she likes to care for younger children and animals. Though at times she is so enthusiastic about it that we have to rein her in.

She has such a large sense of humor, I don't think there has ever been a day that I have not heard her laugh. Her laughter comes from her belly every time. She would rather have fruit as a snack than candy. She sings daily, even creates her own songs.  She has such high hopes for the future, so many jobs that she would like to try as an adult. At dinner today, she said she wants to be a food critic. Personally, I think it's because she believes it will mean free food. She is always hungry.

Next year, she will enter middle school as a 6th grader. I am both excited and frightened by this. My baby is becoming a young lady, she is moving to a place between childhood and adulthood where things are often complex and confusing. The boys will be coming around soon, guess it's time to teach her to fight.

There is so much that runs through your mind at these minds, it just a bit jumbled, for that I apologize. I look forward to seeing the changes yet to come, and who she will be in adulthood. I am so proud of her.

I love you, baby girl. (Yes, I know you aren't a baby anymore.)

Happy Birthday Sweetheart.

11th Birthday Cake

My beautiful child has her birthday party on Friday. She originally wanted a girl pirate theme, but we found invitations that looked like carnival ride tickets and she changed her mind. She decided instead she wanted popcorn as her cake. I had seen it in "Hello, Cupcake" and thought it was adorable. However, there was no way to put candles on it safely. So, I decided to create a ticket cake as well. This was my first attempt at carving a cake, it was simple but still challenging in a way. I think it turned out pretty well.

The Girl's 10th Birthday

It's official as of Monday, I now have a 10 year old, a child in the double digits, a pre-teen. Broke down and got her a cell phone, she was over the moon with excitement. I just couldn't stand not being able to find her the first circuit of the apartment complex while she was out playing.

We are having Luau themed swimming party today. She asked for a lemon cake decorated to look like Hawaiian flowers, aka hibiscus.

A Ballerina Bear

A coworker asked me to make her daughter's birthday cake. She is having a Build-A-Bear birthday party and she takes dance class. She asked that the bear be a blue-green and I thought a ballerina would be perfect for her. I took pictures at three different stages of the decorating process. I was a bit nervous, since this was my first 3D cake that had to be assembled after baking. I think it turned out well. Of course, only the little girl can tell me for sure. Stage 1.






Stage 2.











Stage 3.

Another Work Cake

This is a birthday cake for all the January and February birthdays at work. I'm on the Staff Motivational Committee and they have been asking me to make the treats for the birthday people.