Stress Avoidance Tactics

I love when people say I'm organized. I'm always thinking, "Are you kidding me? Every year my New Year's resolution is to get more organized!" (It never happens, by the way.)

I do, however, like to plan ahead. Call it my stress-avoidance tactic. Just ask my hubby, I get quite overwhelmed when I suddenly have to accomplish a huge task with seemingly no time to get it done. I hate that feeling!

So tonight when we picked Carter up at the sitter's, I asked him what he wanted me to make for his birthday treat for his classroom. It's Wednesday already so I'll have to make it tomorrow night so he can bring it to school Friday.

He gave it some thought and decided on the "Burgers & Fries" I made last year. "Are you sure you don't want something different?" I asked. He assured me that there were enough different kids in his classroom this year (there are 3 6th-grade classes at Grant), so they'd be surprised. Plus, he emphasized, everyone thought they were cool.

Alrighty then. While we're at it, what do you want for your cake on Saturday? (We're having a small family party for his birthday.) At first he said, "Surprise me." But then he narrowed it down to a Dirt Cake or a Wacky Cake (chocolate family recipe). He did have the courtesy to ask, "Well which one's more work for you?" I pretty much decided they're a wash. One requires more layers and rolling pin action and the other requires oven baking time. I didn't care. So we're going with a Dirt Cake.

I had to get some groceries tonight anyway so this wasn't going to be a big deal. However, while I hate to say anything negative about my home away from home, my quest for the Fries (shoestring potatoes) was unsuccessful at Wal-Mart. So I drove up to Walgreens. Nothing there either. My next stop was Copps and they had 2 canisters there! I bought them both, thank you very much. And only put on an extra 5 miles for this one ingredient. The things we do because we love our kids!

Of course, I missed baseball practice completely, but at least I have everything set for making treats tomorrow night.

Hubby also did some planning ahead today. He knew he had lots of meetings that would eat up his day, so I hit the snooze at 4:20 a.m. and we got out the door shortly after 5 a.m. for work today. I had no guilt about taking a 2-hour lunch break with my "hair artist." But boy am I getting tired now. I think I'll plan to get to bed early tonight so I can avoid the crankies tomorrow!

That's good planning.

A Means to an End

I really only had one thing to do on my day off today -- get everything ready for a birthday party for my stepson Clay. I'll admit the everything is almost more than a person can fit it into one day. But I succeeded!

It was a rocky start. I woke up when hubby went to work at 5 a.m. At that point, I had an upset stomach and couldn't fall back to sleep. When I finally did after 7, I slept hard until the phone rang at 9:22 a.m. Sounds late but it still didn't add up to 8 hours of sleep for the night and I was feeling it.

Since yesterday was spent running around, I had to get the house set today (normal dusting, vacuuming, etc) plus some laundry. Oh, and the food. I quick decorated his cake (nothing special as you can see) and then put a turkey in the oven at noon.

Why a turkey? We just happened to have it in the freezer so I figured we should eat it! I do them so seldom I, of course, had to Google "turkeys for dummies" or something like that, but I figured it out. I at least used the handy-dandy oven bag so I didn't have high-maintenance afternoon of basting and all that. That would have been way too domestic for me!

I did have to run into town to pick up a few things. I didn't get out of the house until 2:30 so I was hoping for a quick run through the store. Never happens. But it was worth it to shop thoroughly. Can you believe they were already putting out Christmas candy in the Halloween candy aisle? Guess who bought her first 2 bags of MINT M&M's and her first 3 bags of those MINT truffle kisses? Oh yeah, it was a good shopping trip.

The only bad part was this screaming kid (not mine) who I could hear from all corners of the store -- and obviously I was in all corners. The screaming was bad enough but when I saw the kid and saw that he is probably like 7 or 8 years old, I really felt badly for the mother. ...And said a quick "thank you, God" for my kid!

Later, I also thanked God for my stepson and my hubby's family. Had a very nice get-together for Clay's birthday. Food was fine. Company was good. It's always a treat to have the too-often-absent Clay with us (and the in-laws, too, of course).

Who cares about the crazy day leading up to it? It's just the means to an end and, in this case, it was a happy ending.

No Guts, No Glory

It's the state teacher convention -- or something like that -- so central Wisconsin school districts have today and tomorrow off. Me, too!

Carter and I had a list of errands to run today but didn't get going until after noon. Part of that was my fault. I had magazines I wanted to go in with the recycling. But I had to read them first (or at least skim through them). So I did that from 8 a.m. to almost 10 while watching Mamma Mia! (See, I can multi-task with the best of them.)

When I was done, I went for a quick run -- only because it was nice out (50ish) and I knew we'd probably end up at Dairy Queen later and I had to erase the guilt ahead of time.

Got home, showered, started laundry and we headed out. First we had to stop down the street where the neighbor girl, a 4th-grader, just got home from surgery -- gall bladder and appendix. She's doing awesome!

Then it was off to Wal-Mart for a few things, recycling center, DQ for that limited-time only Pumpkin Pie Blizzard, movie store, YMCA to sign up Carter for basketball, service garage to pay for CRV repairs, bank, pumpkin patch to finally get our pumpkins.

I had to quick bake a Wacky Cake when I got home so I can decorate it in the morning for Clay's birthday party tomorrow night. But after the cake was done and we had supper, Carter and I commenced to gutting those pumpkins!

No he's not McDreamy, but he did perform some cool surgical cuts on his 2 pumpkins.

Boo! Scared ya, didn't I? Pretty cool, eh? This is the first time Carter tried letters. Not bad at all. We put the other pumpkin out on the porch right away and then it was rainy so I'll have to get a picture later.

We had one pumpkin that was so hard that we couldn't cut through it to gut it even. So I tried something new and sort of chipped off pumpkin pieces (like an ice sculpting, ha). Some of you will appreciate my efforts...

Others won't. But hey, I know if we lose against the Pack on Sunday, I can take my frustration out and start smashing pumpkins. Should make some good pie, right? Pumpkin Pie, not Humble Pie.

Word Origins for $200, Alex...

I realized when I mentioned Casey's birthday cake was our family's Wacky Cake recipe, there'd be some questions. Why is it called a "Wacky" cake?

I should have asked my mom when I talked to her on the phone this weekend. But instead, I acted like my dad, who has an explanation for everything, and gave my best LeRoy answer. I said it had something to do with the recipe not calling for any eggs and that was pretty "wacky" back in the Depression days. Now I see from my friends over at Wikipedia that I wasn't far off the mark (if you trust Wikipedia).

The entry for Wacky Cake (and it does exist) says: Wacky cake is a spongy, cocoa based cake. It is unique in that unlike most pastries and desserts, no eggs or milk are used to make the cake batter.

It is commonly believed Wacky Cake may have been created as the result of rationing during World War II, when milk and eggs were scarce. Active ingredients in wacky cake include flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, vegetable oil, white vinegar and vanilla extract. Some recipes add brewed coffee as an additional ingredient. The cake may be topped with icing or confectioner's sugar, or even served plain.

It is not known for a fact where Wacky Cake first originated, or who created it. However, it has been said that the recipe was first created by Beatrice Fe O'Hearn, who has passed it down through her family and friends since the late 1930's. The cake is considered a popular delicacy at bake sales in numerous rural regions of the United States.

I guess it is sometimes referred to as Kooky Cake and Crazy Cake, too. I'm just relieved the old family recipe has nothing to do with my family!

Sprung Ahead

So we sprung ahead today but right back into winter. But it could have been worse.

We probably got 5 inches of the pretty white stuff but it wasn't an icy mix or blizzard-like conditions, so we just watched it fall and accumulate -- and stayed inside. I figured I'd be out snowblowing now but I obviously didn't look at the long-range forecast. Hubby says it's supposed to be back up to 40 tomorrow so we'll just let it melt. I knew the number 40 was good for something!

Had a fast day today. Got up for Sunday School, stopped at the store to pick up pizzas for the party later and then came home. Hopped on the treadmill for my 30 Lenten minutes (not one second more) and then waited for company to arrive.

We just had Jim's family over (parents and sister's family) for Casey's birthday so it was just enough to fill the house. Gift opening goes pretty fast by the time you're 18. Cards and money, cards and money. Carter did spring for a Pink Floyd T-shirt for Casey, though. I'm pretty sure he wanted it for himself. I think it's a big clue for Mommy and Daddy to get him one for the next holiday (does the Lucky Leprechaun visit on St. Paddy's Day?).

Had some of that tasty Wacky Cake for dessert -- after it took Casey two tries to blow out the candles. (It sucks to get old, man.)

We were thrilled to see it was still light out at 7 p.m. That's the part of Daylight Saving Time I like! We are sort of teased into thinking spring is almost here. My father-in-law reminded me that 9 years ago today we had temps in the 70s. I reminded him that last year it snowed pretty good in mid-April. That winter-spring transition is always a wacky one!

I'm just glad I can finally remember how to change the clock in the car ... without driving off the road!

Springing Ahead

I just got done changing all the clocks for Daylight Saving Time and I wish I could spring ahead to May or June when we have no snow (and tomorrow's storm is way over and done with)! I shouldn't complain. Today was another mild day in central Wisconsin, with temps in the 40s.

I didn't spend a heckuva lot of time outside anyway. After breakfast, I whipped together a Wacky Cake. It's a chocolate cake -- old family recipe. No idea why it's called "wacky." Anyway, Casey, the oldest stepson, turned 18 today and we're having a little party for him tomorrow. He said he wanted a chocolate cake so I was excited to bake a Wacky Cake. Haven't done that in years.

Don't be alarmed. I didn't do the whole Martha Stewart thing and actually make homemade frosting, too. Nope. I just ran into town and picked some up and some pre-made colored frosting, too, to decorate the cake. Nothing spectacular but created with love, so I hope that goes good with ice cream!

Did some cleaning and vacuuming and, after my grocery shopping, went out for a run as long as the roads were clear for a day. That felt surprisingly good. I really can't wait for spring so I can get out more!

We had hoped to get to some high school basketball playoff games today but we had some attitude issues from the pre-teen so that didn't pan out. Our local boys teams did good but the girls lost in their sectional final. Hopefully we'll get to see some of the action next week, depending where they travel next (and of course, dependent on the weather).

We're supposed to get 5-8 inches of snow tomorrow, starting probably right after Sunday School and getting heavier throughout the afternoon. Hopefully the in-laws and birthday boy can still make it over. I'd hate to have the party without them. Probably not a good thing if a person eats too much Wacky Cake!