Oh the busy days are still here

My days are so busy I don’t actually have anything to write about!  Pretty much I’ve gone to work, gone running, cooked dinner, studied, went to class, or coached golf.  I can see the end in sight though!!  On Sunday I finally run the Marine Corps Marathon (yikes!!!) and my last day of coaching was today (since I’ll be running the marathon next Sunday).  I will definitely miss my golf kiddos.  A lot of them have been in my classes since May and now I won’t see them until next year.  Aww.  However, that means that in two weeks – life will calm down a bit.  And I am ready!!!  I don’t think my days will be much quieter because I’ll still be running (just not 18 miles) and instead of golf Ivan and I will be heading to church and brunch again.  But it will seem quieter and I am happy about that.  I’ll be even happier when Anatomy and Physiology is OVER.  Is this class a stressor or what???  Goodness gracious.  I studied super hard for my last practical and got a 91 plus 4 extra credit points.  A 91???  And I thought the bones were hard – the muscles are even harder.  Boo.  At least it’s interesting though.  On Saturday we dissected a cat.  I thought it was going to be gross but it wasn’t that bad.  I was elected dissector and got to dissect the muscles in the back.  Very interesting – if you didn’t think too much about the fact that you were dissecting a cat.  Good thing I don’t have a cat at home!

I also decorated a cake a few weeks back for my co-worker’s baby shower.  I was pretty happy with how it turned out.  I had bought a 3-D duck pan but then I realized that there was no way I could bring a 3-D duck on the bus and into work.  It was never going to fit in my cake carrier.  So I got the idea to put half of the duck on a round flat cake.  It wasn’t as impressive but it still turned out nicely.  Oh, actually it didn’t.  My sister had my special no-stick cake release and so my cake stuck to the pan (it rarely happens with flat pans but with ones that have a bunch of indentions, something always gets stuck).  It came out in pieces.  I had to glue it together with frosting – both the flat part (which I had to cook for super long because I over-filled the pan) and the duck head.  Yeah – a nightmare.  You can see a photo here – if you look on the counter.  I don’t usually have so many cake mishaps but the duck part called for half a cake mix and then I had to fill an 11” round pan and it needed more than the other half of the mix so I had to whip up another batch and then I was trying not to waste it so I jammed it all in there.  Bad idea.  Next time I’ll know.  Here’s how it turned out:

Excuse my bad photo.  My camera doesn’t take the best photos in the kitchen under my noisy fluorescent light.  I think you can get the idea though.  I used my #16 tip for the design and I had the balloons from another cake I did.  I used to make cakes all the time but now I feel like I have so much to do that it’s not as relaxing anymore.  I enjoyed this one (minus the cake sticking).

Alright – back to studying.  Hope everyone had a great weekend and is ready for another work week! 

Do you like to decorate cakes? 

Have you ever taken a cake decorating class?

I have never taken a class but have thought about it.  They offer some at JoAnn Fabrics – I just haven’t ever had the time or money.  My mom taught me everything I know and she’s great a decorating cakes (self-taught also).

What’s one skill you wish you could learn?

I wish I could sew.  My mom is also an excellent sewer and she tried to teach me but I was pretty hopeless.  I lacked the ability to sew a straight line and the patience to learn.  I have her old sewing machine though and I’m tempted to take it out and try it again – I think I’m more patient now.