I am woman!! Hear me roar!!! Wait! I'm tiny!

So my husband injured his neck on his wild wave ride on vacation but it's all just muscle injury (thankfully) but I'm left with his yard work.

Yesterday I was asked to mow the lawn. I figured, "I can get this done." First let me say 'hats off' to anyone (man or woman) who regularly mows a lawn.

You might say...."mowing a lawn? Heck that is nothing." You're right but I'm only 5' tall even and a size three. Small and petite and as I found out lacking upper body strength. The lawn mower weighed enough without the bag full of clippings and the handle bar (when I pressed the mower up a hill) was between my shoulder height to my neck. Yep, I'm a shorty. (I think cruel kids in school called me short shit. *shrug* they called me Pebbles too. But I am short with strawberry blonde hair so....)

One side of our 1/2 acre lot is quite hilly and quite literally I thought I would die. Today I've discovered the back muscles that I apparently used while mowing aching me. Hubby better recover quickly. I'm not doing that again. LOL!

Good eats....

Chocolate pudding is good food. Nuff said.

A man with a death wish

I saw a man today that I swear had a death wish. I can't explain what I saw in any other way. He was sitting at a red light on his motorcycle.

Our state is one of the few that allows motorcyclists to forego the helmets, which seems crazy. (It seemed crazier when our city's quarterback Rothlesburger was nearly killed on his motorcycle....why a man who wears a helmet on the football field but doesn't on a motorcycle is beyond me)

But I digress. Anyway, the man had no helmet on. In one hand was a cigarette and in the other hand was a cell phone of which he was talking into. How he did with the roar of his motorcycle is beyond me. I passed by so I didn't get to see what hand held the handlebar when the light turned green but I swear he had a death wish.

Twap.....

I just startled my 5 year old daughter. She told me, "Mommy! You just scared the twap out of me."

I don't care what you say, it made me laugh!!

~Near death on a 15' wave~

Okay so I went on vacation, right? Really we went down for my sister's wedding and we all stayed in a huge beach house together. My husband was best man and I was the matron of honor. As a thank you gift to my husband the couple gave him a boogie board. His was broken so he was excited. A vacation only enthusiast he used the board cautiously until the last full day.

The last day at the beach he and the new groom were allowing the ocean to pull them out to larger waves. They were pulled out and up the coast as my parents followed them. Unbeknownst to me both were slammed into the bottom by a 15' wave. The new groom got dazed, confused and hurt but my husband nearly broke his neck. His face looks like he lost a fight with a cheese grater and he can barely walk.

His coworkers today are calling him nuts for not having gone to the hospital but we were all lost on what to do. He goes today to see a doctor since he is in horrible pain. Our vacation was wonderful until around 2pm on saturday. I'm just grateful that he is alive.

Why did I......?

As I left the beach at 9 am yesterday and it was 86 degrees I wondered...."why am I driving north?"

I'm back to wearing pants and long sleeve shirts with a jacket today and wondering why the hell I ever came back? I think I need to move very, very soon.

My goodness I miss the sound of the waves.......*sigh*

Vaca.... and I pray

Oh god I hope this vacation goes well. Don't ask why I'm concerned. *sigh*

I think my comment about the sun below frightened it away. I haven't seen it since.

Donatello, Raphael... and what were the other two?

I am not a guy....I'm a girl. A woman actually. A girly woman. Loving skirts, and pink, flowers and all things females love (including men....hee hee.) So today I was stumped when my 6-1/2 year old son asked me which Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle it was in his hand. Thank goodness I had cards near by that I dug out as a cheat sheet. Phew!

I never thought that I would have to recite all for turtles. But then again I say and do a lot of things I never thought I would do....like say "don't stick that in your ear" or "nose" but I do. *sigh*

Sun, surf and a wedding....

I'm going on vacation in a few days. A vacation? Kind of. A wedding? Kind of.

My baby sister (yeah 29 year old baby....*snicker*) is getting married in Nags Head. We've been watching the hurricane updates with baited breath. I've never seen more of the weather channel in my life. ugh!

We will all be rumbling down to the coast hoping for sun, calm surf and a great wedding where we can dance all night long. I hope all goes well. *sigh*

Oh... did I mention that I set them up on a blind date 9 years ago when I worked with the groom-to-be in an architectural firm? Yep, I did. *chuckle* If they are happy I want them to thank me....if they fight...it's HIS fault. hee hee. j/k

High school never goes away...

I live in a farely affluent area and walk my kids up to the bus stop every day. My development has only a little over 60 homes in it and we are roughly all the same age with kids the same age. What I find amazing is that high school mentality can still afflict the 30 somethings. This person is talking to that person but not the other person.

There is one woman in particular who likes to flaunt her vacations, car, name brand sun glasses. It's sickening. I don't get too close to anyone there. Although I have been added to the Bunko group. Bunko? Dice? Why can't we go dancing or grab a drink? *sigh*

Now I'm reminded why I was mostly friends with guys in high school. Less bull. LOL.

But if I'm in the high school mentality, don't get me started on the 'close talker' woman who seems socially inept.

It's burning off my retina!

My area has seen nothing but rain and clouds for the last ... oh I don't know how many days.

Well this morning I went into a store and it was cloudy, surprise, surprise. But when I came out there was a strange orb in the sky that glared at me and caused my eyes to roll and water. I wanted to yell 'MY EYES! MY EYES! IT'S BURNING MY RETINA!" but I seemed to be the only one shielding myself and tearing up. No need to make a spectacle of myself. *snicker*

Rock on Neil Diamond.....

A few weeks ago I was out with a bachelorette party getting ready to paint the town red and dance my tushie off. In the bar where we had dinner in town they were playing music as everyone had drink after drink. Then they played "Sweet Caroline" by Neil Diamond.

Everyone was singing along with the song! I mean EVERYONE! Now I've been a closet Neil Diamond fan for years *blush* and knew all the words as well so I enjoyed it all.

Since then I pulled out my double cd of his greatest hits and slipped in with my Foo fighters, Gwen Stefani and Nickelback. Rock on Neil Diamond!

playing with pictures

I'm trying to put a profile picture of my choosing here so I'm playing with pictures to finally get the f&%$#@ thing to upload. Sorry for the misuse of symbols here.

Kick 'em in the nuts

So my daughter is going to turn 5 and is constantly saying funny things. At least I find them funny. There is some new kid movie out about animals and hunters. I have no idea the name.

A commercial was on for it and one character said something about kicking the hunter in the butt but used some innocuous name for it. My daughter giggled. I asked her, "Where was he going to kick him?"

Her reply? "In the nuts."

That threw me for a loop so I asked her, "What? What did you say?"

"Mommy, he's going to kick him in the nuts."

Ahhh I laughed. Funny child. (at least to me. hee hee)

*really, I have no idea where she came up with that. Seriously.*

Ever evolving.....

My blog is ever evolving. At first I thought "hmm, I can write about my baking." But even I'm bored with that. LOL. Besides that I don't need some customers out there getting my prized chocolate tort recipe (you know who you are!)

I realized that this would be a good place to vent or chat about the quirky things that happen during my day. The blogs I enjoy the most take a humorous view on the basic life dealings, so why not mine?

So here goes.....

balanced angel

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Nightmare on Hazelwood

I had my daughter's b-day party Saturday and while the party and cake and food were great my in-laws were a nightmare. I honestly don't think that they know how to communicate like normal human beings. I know that I need a week to recover from them.

*sigh*

Thank God they left early!!!

Design and building

I have worked on my home in various ways as well as with clients in the past. Some day I'll post some projects I've worked on. I'm only 5' tall and a petite little thing, I've been told, but I don't let that stop me. This summer I helped my husband build a deck for our above ground pool. A few years back I built a brick mailbox in front of our home. I will include a picture of it some day soon. I remember many neighbors teasing my husband saying that they hoped he was paying me union wages. I had a vision and wanted to create it on my own. I did it and I'm proud.

I have faux painted my two story foyer and have begun making my own drapes and cornices. I gleaned experience while working for a window treatment store as a freelance design consultant where I helped people design their homes or their window treatments. Hats off to all those sales people out there, it is hard work to make money on commission and I hated it. I loved the design but sales is hard as is pleasing people.

So I plan to talk about baking and design, maybe even gardening. I have no problems discussing things or giving advice if I can. I am also always open to tricks others might have for various things. I hope to make this blog not only a stopping point for my thoughts and projects but also a place to share ideas, design tricks and recipes. Feel free to comment or contact me!

Thick Sugar Cookies

These cookies go extremely well with the previous icing recipe. I just made these in flower shapes for my daughter's birthday party with her friends instead of a cake. The are thick like store bought. You can make them as thick as you want, I made them 1/4" thick with the same thickness, if not more of icing. The size I made from this recipe turned out 52 cookies. I can't remember where I stumbled onto this recipe but it was a hit with the kids. If you like them crispy and thin, this isn't for you. I can post a good recipe for the thin/crispy crowd next.

3 egg yolks
2 eggs
3/4 Cup 3T & 2 t. butter
1 Cup & 1T sugar
3-1/2 Cups of flour
1-1/2 t. Baking Powder
1/4 t. Salt
3/4 t. Vanilla Extract

In a bowl cream together the butter & sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs (and yolks) one at a time fully incorporating after each addition. Then add the vanilla extract. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt; stir into the sugar mixture. Wrap the dough in wax paper and plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour.

Preaheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Prep cookie sheets or use non-stick variety.

[Here is a trick I've learned through the years. When it comes to sugar cookies the more flour you add the harder they get and the less sweet they are. So when the recipe called for me to roll out the cookies on a floured surface I obediently followed the recommendation. I have tried a new way and found it to be better. You can try and see if you like it. ]

On a surface dusted with powdered (confectioners) sugar, roll the dough into desired thickness (this recipe used 1/4" thick) and cut into desired shapes. Place 1-1/2 - 2 inches apart on the sheets.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes (check at 8 minutes and then watch. You don't want these to get brown. They are better that way.) Allow cookies to cool on baking rack for at least 5 minutes.

Then frost as desired. *See previously listed recipe*

New to posting here but eager!

Hello everyone! I'm starting a new and separate blog from my writing blog and this one is to highlight recipes that I have found that have met with rave reviews. I love to bake and cook and have made more than a few baked goods for friends and friends of friends in the past three years. Thanksgiving and Christmas are my busiest time.

Being an Interior Designer and stay-at-home mom I'm trying to find a business to run where I can still be with my kids. I toyed with opening a bakery and a few friends have urged me to do so but the time and finances involved are daunting.

So I have decided to keep doing what I'm doing but dabble on line about my recipes to see if I can make a go of my business. I might post here every now and then asking anyone who stumbles into my blog for a recipe that is tried and true for them.

I'm about to make my daughters 5th birthday cake this week and have a delicious butter icing I want to use but it's difficult to decorate with. If anyone out there has a great recipe that doesn't include using eggs, I'm all ears (or eyes if you will.)

You can call me angels-heavenly-confections which is the name I bake under I'm also known as strawberryangel.

Anyway, I will post a recipe every few months here. Feel free to ask if I have a particular one that I know to be delicious. I will recommend one for you if I have tried it. I look forward to sharing and cooking! I may also write about personal stuff here and there, this is a blog afterall! *snicker*