Martha Made Me Do It

I'm proud to say I'm pretty much drug-free. I don't have any prescriptions but I do take daily vitamins that are good for old ladies like me who need strong bones and all that. Today I would have done just about anything, though, for a magic little pill that would have turned me into Martha Stewart for the day.

So I had to fake it.

And I must say I did a pretty good imitation. While cinnamon rolls were in the oven, I was mixing up cake #1. While cake #1 was in the oven, I was mixing up cake #2 which actually was made into cupcakes. While all that was cooling, I got my dusting, vacuuming, sweeping and laundry done. That was followed by a 4-mile run (with some walking) which Martha would never do, would she? Then it was time to decorate my mother's birthday cake according to the Boss' instructions.

What I did not realize was that Carter truly was the Cake Boss -- as in give orders but I did most of the work. Now I can't blame him that it looks like a kid did it! Oh well, "we" got it done just in time for company to arrive.

We had a little get together for March birthdays in hubby's side of the family. Well Casey was earlier this month but my mother-in-law and brother-in-law were both in the past week or so. Thankfully, since I was Martha-ing it, Jim picked up some pizzas so I did not have to make supper for everyone! My sister-in-law Sherry brought a cake, too. (Not that I didn't have enough cupcakes around.)

Here's Casey -- now 20! -- and Jim's mom. The store-bought cake was good and just begging for ice cream! That's the first time during Lent where I just about caved. But then no one had any so I had some support. Nice.

During all this, my sister in Texas called and wanted to know if I got the cake done. Since she won't see it tomorrow at my mom's, she asked me to post some pictures. That is why I am putting them here. It is not because I think I did a good job. In fact, I heard Carter tell her on the phone, "Mom's not happy with it. Of course, something could be a centimeter off and she's not happy with." OK, OK, I perhaps am a bit of a perfectionist. But not 100% -- or I would have re-done the word "Mom" and fixed some crooked lines, etc.

Anyway, here it is and does match Carter's general idea (since Grandma likes flowers and gardening). And, like I said, nothing at all fancy. My hands were so sore from squeezing the frosting bags, I just couldn't add any more to it. There is a border around the bottom but I realize you can't see it from this angle.

The reason I needed the cupcakes, too....

So I could cut them half and use them as flowers. A little 3-D action here! Yes, you can feel free to be impressed. Ha.

Once we had the house to ourselves again, I did get down to the Scrap Cave and finished up my 2010 album. Now I can do a "show and tell" with that tomorrow, too!

Wow, baking, decorating, running, hosting, scrapping... all in one day? Eat your heart out, Martha!