Something about cake decorating class I forgot to add...

While we were making our roses, we were laughing that we are going to have to get a second job to pay for our cake decorating and the lady who I always sat next to me and chatted with me a lot said that she didn't have time for another job - she already had 3. We said, yea wife, mother, and worker-bee. She said that if you add those she would have 5 jobs. Curiosity got the better of us so we asked her what she does. Now last week she made the mention that she has 2 secretaries in 2 different offices but that didn't really ring a bell with me. Anyway, she said that she thought we all knew who she was - she is the prosecuting attorney for Boone County, judge on the appellate court for Missouri, and court reporter for the supreme court of Missouri. WOW! She didn't act like a lawyer. Rubbing elbows with the big wigs.

I graduated - again!

Last night I graduated from cake decorating 1 class. Mom made the cake for me since I had to go the the grocery store at lunch and I had to put the icing on it when I got home. Of course, we decided at the last minute to BBQ burgers and dogs on the grill so this meant that I was a tad rushed to say the least. But, the meal was great and class was fun.

Back to class...last week she told us to bring green icing and a colored icing for the roses and the 13 X 9 cake. She didn't say anything about white icing, so I wasn't prepared. But, we had to make 7 roses for our cake. While waiting for the other ladies to get done we were asked to make some for another lady who was having difficulity with her icing. So, I made about 13 roses - and got pretty good at it before class was complete. Then we made our ivy, leaves, and the "bed" for the roses. Once that was done we placed our roses. I broke the rules because you are suppose to have an odd number of roses on your entire cake, but I didn't like the look with 7, so I added one more and really liked it even thought the teacher wasn't happy with it. I argued with her that I had an odd number - 5 on one corner and 3 on the other - but she didn't buy that! I still graduated. We were suppose to have a cake that you could sell at Wal-Mart - what do you think?? Oh, and by the way - it does say "Get Lost" on it. We could write whatever we wanted and the teacher was driving me crazy about my boarder - so I wrote the first thing that came to mind. I told her that I did it for a guy at work, and she bought it!!

Now, the teacher wants me to take the foundant class which starts on Wednesday night but I have not decided if I want to do that. Another 4 weeks, even though would love to learn how to use this - I love cakes that are decorated with it.

2nd Cake Decorating class

I had my 2nd class last night and I was so tired that I had a really hard time concentrating. I made it through the class and have a cake to show for it. It is not the best, but I am learning!! I have one more class next week and she said that we would have a cake that we could sell at Wal-Mart so we will see about that!!!

Kane Scott Shepard

Made his appearance in the world on February 17, 2009 at 4:13 pm. He was 7 LBS, 13 Ozs, and 20 inches long. Proud parents are Courtney and Nick Shepard. Isn't he cute - and knowing that I won't have to be up all night taking care of him makes him even cuter!! Terri and Daryl made it all the way from Denver just in time for the birth. Tom and I went to see the baby that evening. We had a nice visit with Terri and Daryl. We wanted to have dinner but Daryl got sick and had to leave the restaurant - I think all the excitment, long trip from Denver, and the lack of sleep finally got to him. Hope he able to enjoy his new grandbaby now.

Update on Mom

She has had a good day today. Is not a sore and is enjoying real food. She has been up moving around a little, but still doesn't have a lot of strength so she wears out fast. Last night when we got home from the show she had every light in the downstairs area on, and I had to remind her that electricity doesn't grow on trees and is expensive so if she is done in the room lights need to be turned off. I tell you!!!!! I am still trying to get over this week as well and besides cooking I have done a little napping myself.

On another note - I think my brother is rubbing off on me because my dryer quit today. So, I told Tom that I would check out the internet to see how to fix it and he decided that he would do it. So, we will see how long it takes before I have to call Sears. We don't have a service contract on the dryer so this could prove to be expensive.

Today, we had 2 free tickets to the MU basketball game against Nebraska. Tom took Alayna and they had a blast. He said that she really enjoyed the game and loved yelling MIZ-ZOU with everyone else.

Vicki Lawrence as Mama

Last night Tom and I went to the casino in Boonville to see Vicki Lawrence. We ended up 6 rows from the stage and they were great seats. It was open seating - so we really ended up with great seats. The first part of the show was Vicki talking about everything from child birth to menopause to a segment about her husband who is "A broken down football player who graduated from University of Missouri - Columbia" which went over very well with this crowd. The last half she "invited" Mama to the stage. This was great. I am not sure which I liked better, Mama or Vicki. Tom and I walked right by the casino door and didn't even stop. This casino has been here for several years and this is only our second trip there - once for dinner and now this show.

What a busy 2 weeks

Well, since mom was told she had to have more surgery we he put our lives into overdrive. We have not stopped. Let's see if I can catch you up a tad...

Mom and I made about 130 valentine bags and gave them away. We were talking today and think they cost about $3.00 each. This turned out to be more expensive then we had planned, but they were really cute. They were made with love and that is what Valentine's day is all about right?

Tom has been trying to keep up with the rest of us. We did cut wood last Saturday since it was almost 70 degrees outside. We managed to get several small trees cut up for firewood thanks in part to Kristi and Alayna helping. Of course, Alayna loved being outside in the warm weather.

Kristi has officially dropped out of William Woods University and is waiting on her final transcript to continue her education at Columbia College. She expect to start sometime in March if everything goes right. She is glad for the break but anxious to start at Columbia College.

Alayna has been really good. She has been enjoying the warmer weather, which allow her to expend energy outside instead of inside. While Oma was in the hospital, I told her Oma has a boo-boo that needed to be fixed and the doctor thought she ought to stay with him to get it fixed - and she replied "Wow, I didn't realize she was broken."

I started Cake Decorating classes. I know, I know...you are saying "What in the world are you doing this for...are you crazy??" But, this was my Christmas present from mom. Alayna loves to decorate cakes so she wanted me to learn the basics so I could teach Alayna the proper way to do it. I had one class and had to miss one (because of mom being in the hospital). The jury is out on whether I will learn anything. I am not real fond of the teacher.

Now for mom...she had surgery on Tuesday and it was suppose to be relativity painless with just one night in the hospital for pain control if needed. Well, today is Friday and we have only been home about 2 hours. On Wednesday, the pain was out of control and she was really sick. They kept doping her with pain killers and I kept telling them to stop since I thought that was what the reason for her constant throwing up. After about 12 hours of this they finally decided to listen and stopped the IV pain killers but then we had to work it out of her system. We decided that if they couldn't help her in that condition then what was I suppose to do when I got her home. So...another night. On Thursday I arrived expecting to take her home and they said that her oxygen level was dipping too low and she needed full-time oxygen. The doctor said that since she didn't come in the hospital with O2 they were not going to allow her to leave until they figured out the problem. One more day!! They did several x-rays and cat scans to make sure she didn't have a blood clot, but determined that it was all the medicine that she had.

Today is Friday, and she is home. Sore, but is glad to be home. I am making Chicken Noodle Soup for supper to help her tummy adjust to real food instead of hospital food.

Tonight, Tom and I have tickets to go to see Vickie Lawrence in concert. She is performing half her show as Vickie and half as Mama (from the Carol Burnett Show). We have 3 tickets, but Krisit is not feeling well so she is going to stay with Oma and let Tom and I go. I am looking forward to some good laughs. I will let you know how good it turns out to be.