I'm Back

Just over a week ago I left for my niece's wedding in the Rocky Mountains. I do love the Rocky Mountains, by the way. They were gorgeous, rugged, and topped with snow at various points. My cute little niece was bouncy and bubbly, when not vexed and over-stressed with all the last minute things to do--while patiently giving up seeing her intended for a full week so he could complete his quotas for chosen career field--insurance. He worked like a demon, from what I heard, and it was said that since he rarely slept or shaved over the long ordeal . . . well, he might have looked a little rough. However, by doing so and going above and beyond the required quota of writing policies or whatever, his superiors were most impressed and he got the career path he was shooting for--as I understand it.


In the meantime . . . I slaved over the cake baking chores as best I could while enjoying several hours of visiting with my delightful nephews--brothers of the bride and the parents--my baby sister and her husband. The day before the wedding, I think I racked up close to 14 hours (or more) of cake baking, icing making, cake frosting, ganache making, mumbling and grumbling when the ganache bled through the white frosting/icing whatever you like to call the sticky sweet stuff and had me nearly in tears. I've never combined ganache filling and topping with white iced sides on a cake. Shoot! I've never made a 14" layer (or two together for one tier) kind of layer for a wedding cake before. Have I? Hmmmmm. Let's see. Ummmmm. Maybe. Perhaps the bottom layer of my daughter's carrot cake wedding cake 11 years ago was 15" in diameter. Yes. Maybe so. So, you see, I've never made a 14 incher prior to last Friday. This tier of the cake was a Devil's food, and very moist. The middle tier was only 10" in diameter and a marble cake (2 layers deep) with the same icing and ganache. The top tier (which is kind of misleading, I think. Each tier was resting on a different satin draped pedestal; each pedestal of a different height.) was a white cake with the same treatment as the other two tiers.


Late that night (very late that night--around 11:30 pm) we delivered the cake to the refrigerator at the Church. I was majorly relieved!!!!! And NOTHING fell apart!! It was wonderful!!!


The following day was the wedding. The Maid of Honor came. She was a darling girl and just what the bride needed to assist in calming and directing her for the remainder of the day--at least till the groom took over.


Surly there've been few brides as bouncy, giggly and delighted to be marrying the man of her dreams as my niece. She--and he--radiated--and they couldn't stop kissing each other. Strange behavior, if you ask me. You know, for a newly married couple to just kissy-face all over the place like that. Strange. Very strange. *smirk*


The reception was very lovely. Decorations were elegant. The cake garnered several compliments--which was nice--even if the bride already gushed her thanks. I was very blessed to have participated in the whole thing.


As another bonus, I was able to visit with my Mother, who's birthday was the day before the wedding--another nephew and his lovely wife hosted a party for Mom on Monday. It was well attended and quite enjoyable for all of us. Mom beamed while surrounded by many--though a small portion--of her posterity of over 100 individuals. If I remember correctly (and she remembered correctly) there are closer to 175 grandchildren and great-grandchildren combined.

We experienced snow from Sunday evening through most of Monday. Got around 4-6 inches. It's been quite a while since my last experience with lots of snow!

But now I'm home with storms raging outside of another sort . . . we're under Sever Weather Warnings, Tornado Watches and Warnings. And my throat is sore. And I'm not sure if my migraine ever completely left from last week and yesterday. Anyway, I'm back home and happy.

This May Be Short

In 4.5 days, or thereabouts, my darling husband and I will be heading south and east . . . with two loaded vehicles on a 800 mile or something trek. Our #3 daughter, Sarah, will be getting married in just under 7 full days from this moment--kinda like 6 days and 12 hours and 50 minutes, or close. We're taking her car and some o' her stuff. Somewhere in the next few days, I've also got to bake a Red Velvet Cake for her wedding cake. The festivities following the wedding will be very simple with just a handful of family members in attendance.

After returning from that escapade, we'll be home to work some more on everything, and then, if husband's poor back is recovered enough, we'll be heading north for Christmas with the grandchildren and daughter #2, Amy's, family. And they have already had bonafide snow, sleet and temperatures that literally chill one to the bone. Pray for us warm-blooded folks, please!!!

In the meantime, I have a young friend who's grandma passed just two days ago. I'll be cooking up a few items to take by tomorrow between the snowflakes. Oh, I have to laugh! (No disrespect to my friend's departed grandma intended.) But speaking of snow . . . we received about 3.5 inches of rain today during some "very active" weather in this part of the country. There were tornadoes to the north, south, east and west of us. I'm grateful they passed over, under or around rather than through our immediate area! And our "high" temp today was between 60 and 70 degrees. Tonight's "low" is supposed to be around 36. Tomorrow our "high" is prognosticated at 39, with (yes, of all things) the possibility of snow. We'll see. Snow here is not very common. And what some of the locals call/believe to be snow . . . I have to laugh. I lived in Germany and Utah where it snows REAL snow and lots of it. Some of the stuff they call snow down here is mostly wishful thinking. But, in deference to reality, truth, and the American way . . . (what?) it has, on occasion, snowed real snow here. Occasionally. Once in a while.

Additionally I have Christmas gifts I've been sewing like crazy to get made. Out of the nine or ten projects I've insanely decided I should make, I've completed about 2.79. And because I'm rather insane when these things overtake me, I've been working till the wee hours of the morning and actually getting back up at a fairly reasonable hour to continue the madness. I ache all over. I have bad posture, which is exacerbated by hunching over the cutting board and sewing machine. Nonetheless, the Lord has been very good to me in that so far, I've been helped along with so many things not going too far awry. And since I'm working w/o benefit of patterns, it's been miraculous indeed that things have actually been going so well.

So, if you don't hear from me for a fortnight or more, know that I'm buried under tons of fabric and thread and the likes thereof while singing Christmas carols and other Christmasy songs. Or traveling over vast distances.

Oh. That brings another thought. I've got to practice the music I'm supposed to be singing in Church as a member of a quartet this coming Sunday (and the following week). And I'm praying that the other female in our group, who normally sings soprano will recover her voice. I can, and do sing soprano or alto, which she can do as well, and we do swap from time to time, but if she doesn't recover enough between now and then, I don't know how I'll be able to pull off singing both the soprano and alto parts simultaneously (except for those parts where they're the exact same notes at the exact same time, ha, ha). It could get a little messy, you know. Pray I still have a voice and lung power come Sunday!!!! (We start our first trek after the singing is done on this Sunday!)

Love and Merry Christmas to one and all, till we meet again!

PS . . . I fully intended for this to be short. Sorry it wasn't. ;-}