Here comes the bride...

Well, it's Friday July 24, 2009, and I think I will be all caught up with my blog by day's end (that is, if I finish yesterday's now and blog again later for today.) My day started with a phone call from my cousin Barrett (aka "B" or "Bear") yesterday morning. His computer for which he'd just installed internet service a few days prior was not cooperating, and he was down in the dumps. We talked for an hour and a half before I said I'd better go and get on with my ever-evolving, never-ending list of things to do, especially with this wedding coming up tomorrow. I had dishes stacked and waiting for me in the kitchen. Mike is back at work, so I figured I'd better get back on some type of cooking routine so there'd be food for him to take to work for lunch the next day (still just don't understand why the man can't take a sandwich, chips and fruit like we grew up eating for lunch!).
I set Alisa up with a list of gifts she had received for her birthday and a stack of thank you notes to get started writing. I think it's a good idea for young 'uns to get in the habit of showing their gratitude, even for small things. I appreciate receiving a note of thanks or even just a brief phone call so I know someone received the gift I sent.
I was blogging away when B stopped by for a change of scenery, a bit of chit chat and encouragement, and a hug before going in to work for the afternoon. I told him about a t-shirt I saw recently which was solid black with small white lettering. It said something to this effect: "I knew there would be days like this, but I never thought they would be so bad, so frequent and so long." I'm almost certain those are not the exact words, but it's enough for you to get the drift. I told B I would have to find that t-shirt for the both of us. Having faith is not always easy, but it is a mighty, mighty good thing, folks.
At some point I took another 2-hour nap. I really think that medication I was taking made me a little drowsier than usual. That, and I haven't been to bed before 1:30/2:00 a.m. for the past week. I'm done with the pills per se, but I'll be glad when they're out of my system.
I fixed Ranch & herb Shake 'n' Bake chicken, corn, cabbage, and cornbread for dinner. It was the kids' first time to have Shake 'n' Bake, and I they really enjoyed it. Either that or they were just happy to have a "meal" that wasn't served on a bun with chips on the side. I've raised the bar for dinner tonight!
After dinner, I hurried to the library to renew Alisa's book on CD and update her library card (which was the reason I couldn't just renew the book online) before the library closed. We had checked out Blubber by Judy Blume when we went to Blanco for the weekend, but didn't get around to listening to it on the road. It was all PaPa could stand to have to listen to How to Eat Fried Worms. I figured he wouldn't be too thrilled about listening to a story of vicious elementary school age girls picking on their chubby classmate. In fact, Alisa wasn't even too interested in the book, but I wanted to listen to it "for old times' sake." I know I had to have read it along with most of Judy Blume's other books in my late elementary years, but I really couldn't remember how it turned out.
Anyway, after the library I scooped up mom and we zipped over to Michael's for more wedding cake stuff (and scrapbook stuff for mom). Upon my return, I baked the remaining cakes and washed dishes for the rest of the evening. Alisa & I did sneak in a game of Backgammon while the last cakes were in the oven. It was a great game. Alisa had three pieces left on the board & I had two pieces on spaces one and two. I just knew I had her licked when she rolled double sixes and off went her last three pieces. You win some and you lose some!
Today I have to make up a bunch of buttercream frosting. I started to just buy the tub of "decorator icing" at Michael's except for (1) I have never tasted it; and (2) I had already bought the ingredients to make the frosting. It would have meant more work and running around burning up my gas to return stuff and try to hunt down another coupon to save 40% off of the big tub. Later, I'll transport the cakes to Shannon's house to frost and decorate them. I still have to stop somewhere, probably Hobby Lobby, and get the cake boxes and cardboard circles. I think that's all that's left. Lord knows, I don't want to be up all night fooling with these cakes. I wanted to develop a few photos for Alisa to stick in her thank you notes to her friends, too. I'd better get my list of things to do today going before I forget something.
Later the same day...Well, it's 12:47 a.m. (I suppose that officially makes it Saturday), and I've been home from Shannon's for almost an hour I guess...long enough to unload the car, see Barrett off, check e-mails, turn on the pool pump, shock the water (it looks a little green & cloudy from the downpour earlier today, scratch the dog, speak to Mike & tuck in two young ones. I folded a couple of loads of laundry that had been abandoned in a laundry basket for a few days. I also finally received a little information from the IRS although it wasn't what I had hoped. I learned that amended returns take 8 to 12 weeks to process, so I guess we should hear something in the next couple of weeks at the very latest. B came over and caught me up on current events (I don't watch the nightly news very often) as well as happenings at Tom Thumb where he works part time, as I washed dishes, made lunch and made 4 batches of buttercream frosting. He dozed off on the rocking chair and I retreated to my bed for a nap around 5 p.m. My feet ached from standing on them all afternoon, and I simply wanted to get off of them. My sister in law, Renee, had called earlier to see if I could watch Sasha while she went to a "meet and greet the wedding party" dinner (this took the place of the traditional rehearsal dinner for this couple). I explained that I would be at Shannon's decorating the cakes, but Sasha could join the crowd and play with her cousins if Renee's mom wasn't available. Renee dropped Sasha off a little after 6 p.m. and we loaded up the car and headed over to Shannon's. Aaron was trying to make certain we were gone before Mike made it home from work and recruited him do some yard work. Shannon was heading into Hobby Lobby when I called to tell her we were on our way to her house around 6:30. She said to get with Derrick and order pizza from CiCi's for everyone when I got to her house. She would stop and pick it up on her way home. Four adults, four children and one baby. I figured 4 large pizzas would suffice, so I called and ordered 2 pepperoni, 1 cheese and 1 spinach alfredo pizzas from CiCi's.
Shannon found some beautiful ribbon at Hobby Lobby to embellish the cake. Although my icing wasn't as smooth as I would have liked it, the cake turned out really pretty: an 8" atop a 10" and a third 6" layer atop 3" pillars. Shannon bought artificial calla lilies for the cake, but I think she decided she'd rather have the real roses and rose petals to garnish the cake.
Sasha had a mini-meltdown because she came downstairs to ask us to call her mom or dad to see if she could spend the night with "E" (that's what she calls me), and had to explain that her mom was already on her way to pick up Sasha. Apparently, she and her mom had already discussed the fact that Sasha was not going to spend the night tonight. She was not a happy camper as they headed for the car. I think being tired had a lot to do with it, too.
So, that was my day. All's well that ends well. It's now 1:25, and I'm off to catch some z's. I am grateful for the nap I took earlier. Good night. Until next time...