My Kid Is Going To College And I Didn't Even Get A T-Shirt

I took Reagan to New Student Enrollment Day at the University today.  We were required to check in at 7:15 a.m. and I predict that’s the last time she will be anywhere on campus except her bed at that hour again.

She inherited my love of sleep.

I wanted to take a picture to commemorate the event but she would not let me.  I pointed out that if I were one of any number of her friends that she would take a picture with me and Instagram it and Tweet it and slap hashtags on it.  She readily agreed and then pointed out that I was not, in fact, one of any number of her friends.

Well then.

So the only picture I took today was this one I sneakily shot of another mother whilst pretending to text.

I took it because …  well, because I just couldn’t believe those bangs existed outside of 1986 and originally I posted the photo here (with the face blurred) but then my conscience got the better of me and I took it down.  

This state is like one extended small town and you just never know who knows someone who has a cousin who was at NSE today and hey … that looks like her being mocked on Mindee’s blog.  And that would most certainly come back to bite me in the butt.

Plus it just wasn’t very nice.

Anyhoo, after the intro session, they separated me from my child for the rest of the day.  I spent the next several hours shuffling from one seminar to the next throughout the student union surrounded by not a soul that I knew.  I attended an informational meeting on Financial Aid, an informative over view of Residence Hall Life and a chipper presentation of all the services offered through the Rec Center.

To sum up:  College costs a lot of money.  A lot of that money goes to pay for the cable, refrigerator, loft beds, wireless internet, yoga classes and Success Coaches that students get these days.  Seriously.  Where’s the fun in that?  What are they going to have to complain about?  Where’s the roughing it?

Sheesh.  We’re going to turn out a whole generation of softies.  

Except they kind of lose out in the cafeteria.  Yes there is still a whole wall of cereal bins in every classification.  There is also a wide variety of food offerings; everything from a deli, to a grill, to “Classics” to the International Line (Asian food today!  Score!)  

But!

There are no trays.

As I heard it explained, powers-that-be discovered that if students don’t have trays, they take less food.  This means they eat less and they throw away less.  This totally makes sense.  I had to make my way through the line balancing a plate, glass and utensils.  I didn’t have an extra hand to grab dessert and when I finished eating I was too lazy to get back in line.  So the theory works on 43 year old women, though I have the feeling that 19 year old football players get quite skilled at plate stacking.

In the end though, I found that there was something sad about not sliding a tray along the counter and putting little bowls of jell-o and fruit cocktail on it and grabbing an extra brownie just in case.

After lunch it’s possible that I took a look at the schedule for the rest of the day and decided to bail.  And then it is possible that I snuck home and took a nap.  Hey - when your kid’s college is closer to home than her high school was, you just don’t have as many concerns as the average out-of-state parent.  Besides, I got the distinct feeling that the whole purpose of the parents’ session was to distract us while our kids registered for classes and took tours of their own.  It’s the beginning of that whole “separation process”.

I’m taking it much better than I did when she started pre-school.

Probably because I am very sure she’ll be as comfortable as is humanly possible.

Kids these days.

Back To Normal

My life has pretty much been all about food the last few weeks.  If you know me, you know this is a good thing.  Last summer I don’t think I made more than the most simple of meals for over a month.  I didn’t bake for almost three months.  I was concerned with getting food to stay in my body.  Preparing it was more than I could fathom.

I also lost 30 pounds, which was a good thing.

Good, but not normal.  Because normal for me is planning, making, serving and giving away food.  It’s my passion.  My love language.  So it’s been a good week.  I feel like myself again.

The problem with lots of cooking, is that it means I have to go to the grocery store.  I sincerely hate shopping for groceries.  It’s tedious, time consuming and expensive.  I avoid it as long as possible.  By the time I go, I am out of everything necessitating a long trip which makes it even worse.

Yesterday, because I am stupid, I combined my regular shopping with buying the food for a lunch I’m making for 30 people on Wednesday.

Isn’t that a ridiculous site?  Made more ridiculous by the fact that I went to Wal-Mart to get it.  When you’re buying that much, it’s the only place that makes economic sense but OH MY GOODNESS is that a miserable place.  Every time I check out there, I question the corporate policies on hiring cashiers.  I never, ever, get a good one.  Ever.  This one was pleasant, but she told me every last bit of her life story.

And those of her 14 grandchildren.

And the Dairy Queen she used to own.

And her multiple husbands.

As if checking out that mountainous basket wasn’t a long enough process on its own.  I was well-behaved.  I mmm-hmmd and smiled and said, “Oh dear” in all the right places because it never hurts to be kind and make someone’s day a little better but on the inside I was screaming, “My ice cream is melting!”

By the time I got home I had to retreat to my room, eat chocolate and breathe deeply while the kids unloaded the car so I could function at a half way pleasant level.

My pleasant quotient increased at dinner time.  I made really good hamburgers.  Before I went to the store I searched the web for tips on how to make a juicy burger and it was worth the effort.  I put my findings In The Fridge if you’re interested.  There’s no picture up yet, but that just means I have a reason to make burgers again this week.  Yay!

Last night I made double batches of Peanut Butter and Oatmeal Raisin cookies for that lunch thing.  There were lots of extras which was good because Reagan had people over to watch scary movies (and scream) and play games in the basement.

They polished off all of the extra cookies and a batch of Cake Batter Dip.

Oh how I love Cake Batter Dip.

I love it so much I don’t even like to fuss with using it as dip.  I just eat it with a spoon.

Today I’m making pound cake for trifle.  

Rich wants a simple pudding pie for Father’s Day, but it’s not really a favorite for the rest of us so this should make everyone happy.

And finally, I rubbed the brisket with the spice mixture so it’s ready to go into the oven tomorrow morning.

I’m so glad I didn’t get rid of my fat pants.  I don’t know that I can do enough exercise to keep up with all of this.

How I Justify Brownie Intake

There is a gigantic hunk of meat in my refrigerator.

A 12 pound chunk of brisket to be exact.  I want to make brisket for Father’s Day because it’s a manly meal and it was either buy a 12 pound brisket at $2.38/pound or a four pound brisket at $3.80/pound.

Don’t you hate choices like that?

I went with the 12 pound and figure I’ll freeze half for another day.  I went ahead and put the recipe up In The Fridge without a picture of the finished product in case you want to cook a giant hunk of meat this weekend too.  It’s a recipe I’ve made many times before and it’s delicious.

In other news … 

It’s 1:00 p.m. and I have eaten two brownies today.  I hate myself just a little for that, but they were necessary.

First, two of my children were up before 8:00 a.m..  Do they not understand that this is vacation?  And they are teenagers?  They aren’t supposed to show their faces until 10:00 at the earliest.  To make it worse, it was my two loud and perky children and they were loud and perky while I pulled on my walking shoes and headed out the door for my walk.

Loud and perky before my walk or my coffee is grating.  I need to ease into the day.

I had my ear buds in and was down the block and around the corner when someone tapped me on my shoulder, just about causing me to jump out of my skin.  Because, as we now know, there is a serial killer driving a Subaru and peddling stiletto shoes in my neighborhood.  I whipped around and it was Faith.  Barefoot.  In her pajamas.  She had chased me down the street to ask if she could go to Wal-Mart with Hayden.

Because running down the street barefoot, in your jammies makes much more sense than just calling my cell phone.

My peace totally shattered, I finished my walk and went inside to do a Pilates video.  I was in a very awkward, off balance downward dog position when Hayden and Faith came back and Hayden tried to have a conversation with me about Ramen noodles.

Because waiting six minutes until my video ended and my butt was not in the air, would have been too difficult.

Obviously, I needed a brownie.  A brownie which I ate, hiding in my room.  It was medically necessary.

Besides, I only exercise so that I can eat brownies.  I really don’t care about health or heart rates, I just want to be able to eat a brownie and still fit into my pants.  And since I went on two walks yesterday and did Pilates two days in a row, I clearly deserved a brownie.

Clearly.

And then since I had a healthy breakfast (smoothie) and healthy lunch (fat-free refried beans and a plum) I earned another brownie.  Anyone would say so.

For the record?  I advise against making Pioneer Woman’s Mocha Brownies. Even with the frosting recipe cut in half, those suckers are complete chocolate heaven in your mouth.  They may even warp your thinking a bit.

Photo is obviouly by Ree Drummond.  Because my photography skills will never be that good.

Proof That I Am A Productive Person

This weekend I … 

1)  Made Grilled Margarita Fajitas.You’ll note that the ingredients for the marinade look an awful lot like the ingredients for margaritas.  I say, as long as you have everything out, you may as well make yourself a drink too.

2) Trimmed the Lilac and Weigela bushes.  I love flowering shrubs.  Sure they only bloom once a year but it makes for a spectacular couple of weeks.  My lilacs just finished and the weigela is mid-bloom so it’s a good time to trim them back.  

The issue is that I never did that chore last spring, so there was a LOT to trim.

That bare strip is where the bushes grew over the lawn and kind of killed it.  Whoops.

3)  Admired my front walk.

The roses finally bloomed this week and the peach contrasting with the purple of the salvia is stunning.

It nearly makes up for my decimated shrubs.

4)  Went out to dinner.

Twice.

 And that is not actually proof that I am productive, but it was really fun.  Our city is having an event this week where all the fancy restaurants have fixed price menus.  For $19.99 per person, you get an appetizer, main course and dessert.  On Friday, Rich and I went to a Thai restaurant where the blue-crab fried rice was good, but the lemon curd cheesecake made me swoon.

On Saturday I went to a country club restaurant with some co-workers where the roasted cauliflower puree on the appetizer plate made me want to crawl into a bowl full of the stuff.

I have food issues, in case you didn’t know.

5) And along those lines, yesterday I made a Crumb Cake.  When I was on the Carlo’s Bakery site last week, I saw that they ship their famous Crumb Cakes.  There’s no way I’m paying to have an item shipped that I can make myself for $5 and this lady says her recipe tastes nearly like Carlo’s.  I seem to recall that Carlo’s puts actual cake crumbs into their cake, which this recipe didn’t call for, but since I haven’t ever tried the original cake, I’m willing to believe this one is a close approximation.

Either way, it was yummy.

Possibly the 3 1/2 sticks of butter had something to do with that.

6)  Felt sorry for my poodle.

Curlisse is getting old.  She won’t go down the deck stairs in the dark anymore because her cataracts are so bad and she doesn’t really hear us when we call her.  I don’t think she realizes she’s deaf and she still moves around just fine, but poor Poodle is definitely getting to be an old lady.

Also?

She needs a haircut, but that’s a separate issue.

6)  Laughed at Faith.

Much to her siblings’ delight, Faith has been deemed old enough to mow the yard this year and she did that for the first time yesterday.  

She did not enjoy the experience much and it kind of looked as if a drunkard had done the mowing when she was done which meant she had to go back over several spots that she had missed.

Better her, than me, I say.  It’s why I had children.

7) Wondered about Caspian’s sanity.

Cats do not eat cherries, do they?

No, I didn’t think so either.  Sigh.

This week will be filled with thrilling activities like sanding and priming cupboard doors, taking Hayden to the dentist and driving Faith to the pool and back and the pool and back and the pool and back.

What are you up to?

Faith's Trip to NYC

My mother is a retired history/social studies teacher.  She has a love of the past that she wants to pass to her grandchildren (because neither my sister or I have it.)  When Reagan was in middle school, my mom took her to New York City where they visited historical sights, museums and did a little shopping.  The next year my mom took Hayden to Boston where they visited historical sights, toured Ivy League campuses and did zero shopping.  Last year she took my nephew to D.C. where they visited historical sights, monuments and museums.

This year she took Faith and my niece Ryan to NYC and all they really wanted to to was go to the Carlo’s Bakery and see the Cake Boss.

My mom is a trooper.  She set her plans for an educational tour aside and gamely mapped a route from where they were staying in Manhattan to the Carlo’s Bakery site in Lackawanna Center in Jersey City and all three of them took a cake decorating class.

Faith said that there were women there from Australia and Sweden who were taking the instruction very seriously.  My mom tells me that there was a sample cake that they could copy that had a beach scene made from brown sugar but Faith and Ryan were a bit more carefree in their approach.  They learned to use a sheeter (be very careful saying that word out loud) to roll out fondant and do some piping.  When they were done and had collected their complimentary aprons, their doting grandma trekked the cakes back to Manhattan where she froze them until they flew back to Denver yesterday, then Faith took it on the plane back home today.

When she passed through security at the airport, the ladies working the scanner paused and asked if that was a cake and then said they might have to do an E.A.T. scan on it.  Faith finally got that joke about 30 minutes later.

Finally, finally, she landed in Omaha and we drove home and she triumphantly carried the cake into the house.

And here is Ryan at the bakery with her cake:

What you see here is a chocolate cake first layer and a thick layer of fudge icing topped by a layer of vanilla cake.  The cake was assembled and dirty iced when they got to the class.  The fondant and piping were all Faith’s work.  There were pink fondant polka dots decorating the side.

We all had a piece and I have to say - it was delicious.  I was not expecting much.  Given the hype of the store and the distance the cake had traveled, I was mostly hoping it was edible.  It was beyond edible.  That fudge frosting layer was amazing and the cake was dense and the perfect texture.

There were other aspects of the trip that Faith enjoyed.  They saw Wicked on Broadway, toured Ground Zero and shopped Times Square.  The trip to the bakery and the decorating class were definitely the highlight though.