Emmy the cat was missing. She didn’t show up to eat or to miaow annoyingly and plaintively to be let out then let in, then out, then in, ad infinitum. I know I am on record as saying I really wouldn’t care if she got hit by a car, but then I started to feel guilty. Is it wrong to love Seppie and not his sister? At any rate, I found her last night around midnight, just late enough to prevent me from doing one single thing until this morning – she was curled up under my bed, where she’d apparently been all day, and she was dragging her right rear leg. It appears to be unbroken, but she can’t put any weight on it. Fortunately, not more than two weeks ago, I asked for vet recommendations on the neighborhood email list and was inundated with responses. So off to the vet we go, hopefully as soon as possible, and I hope it won’t cost too much to fix. I may like my animals but I have no intention of spending hundreds of dollars on this cat. Just so you know. (I have had cats whom I would have spent that much money on, no question. But with three kids, sorry…and keep in mind you’re dealing with the woman who wouldn’t even spring for a an aquarium and bubbler for the goldfish…)
I’ll keep you posted. And let me tell you, if Emmy was miserable and unlovable before, she’s in pain now and is even more so. Seppie has nearly had his head bitten off several times now. I am hoping it’s an easy repair, for her sake and for mine.
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My exercise log per Mistress Mary’s instructions:
Tuesday – walked 1-1/2 miles
Wednesday – walked 1-1/4 miles
Thursday – walked with the boys and played some soccer/kick the ball around the backyard. Also, for God knows what reason, vacuumed all the carpets downstairs and then washed the hardwood floors and two levels of our oak staircase. Trust me, this is exercise; I broke a sweat.
Saturday – walked forty-five minutes, roughly two miles
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My father-in-law’s birthday is Thursday. I am pleased to be making his cake for him. But I have never worked with butter cream icing before, and that’s what I have to use since I am the only family member that prefers whipped cream icing. This ought to be an adventure. I am planning to make a chocolate sheet cake, split it, fill it with strawberry or raspberry cream filling, and ice it with vanilla butter cream icing. (I may even – gasp, heresy – use a cake mix as I do not have a whole lot of luck with chocolate cakes being moist, from scratch. Which is weird since I can bake pretty much anything else with my eyes closed and one hand tied behind my back.)
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I am reading nothing. I haven’t even picked up The Thorn Birds all weekend. I barely glanced at the newspaper. I am sick (sore throat, hurting ears, runny nose), I’m not sleeping much because Terce is having intestinal issues, and I am facing a week without Dan at home. He has some big, prestigious thingey on at the office, and plans early mornings and late nights every night this week. So I am essentially it this week. Pray for my children : ) Or me. Your pick.
9 comments:
Frosting is my baking nemesis. I almost always use canned, and it shames me. SHAMES ME!
my mil just offered to order a cakeinstead. but sicko me, i am actually looking forward to this - it's my fun this week :) so i lied - yes, i *lied* - and said i'd already baked it. i am clearly nutso.
if you like buttercream, i'll let you know how this goes; if you prefer whipped cream icing, i have a foolproof recipe.
I love the whipped cream kind much better. Buttercream is too sweet. My MIL says that her mother always said of cake mixes, "Betty Crocker has chefs and research scientists in the lab working to make the perfect cake. Why would I try to top that?" I'm with her. I can make many lovely desserts from scratch, but cake isn't one of them. I will pray for you and your kids and your cat. Hopefully she has just strained it and the vet will give you the anti-imflammatory pills. Once I had a cat I hated, and he had to be put down. I still cried, because I felt so guilty.
Carolyn, that's exactly where I am with this cat. I want to love her, but she's just so damn unlovable. And she's dirty - I have never met a cat who didn't want to groom herself. She does not. seppie does it for her.
For the record, cake is the ONLY dessert I can bake without slavishly following directions (which is more annoying to me than anything you can imagine, including the 55mph speed limit). Whenever I do a dessert, I have to do the cheats chefs use when the pastry cheff is off: A lot of poached pears, creme brulee, etc.
-J.
I don't think I've ever had whipped cream frosting, not that I was aware of at least. We're a buttercream family. Really, it's simple. If it's too runny, add a little more powdered sugar. Too thick, a tablespoon of milk.
My taste buds can keenly detect the difference between mix & scratch. I will bake my own birthday cake before I let my mom use a mix for me.
Also, I bake my dad's birthday cake every year and some years it's fantastic and other years totally dried out and we can never remember which recipe we used to get good results. I think the one on the back of the Hershey's cocoa box is decent. My friend has a killer recipe for a fudgey cake made using a food processor but it's time consuming. And I don't own a food processor.
i can taste the difference, too, jess. but my in-laws can't. before i came along, all cakes were bought from the grocery store bakery.
I have got to watch the Godfather--there are a lot of references (like your post title) in You've Got Mail.
rvqxgevx: really very quality xylophones get very cross.
Procrastinating in Tech Services...
The Godfather is one of my all-time favorite movies. I've seen it a gazillion times and it gets better every time.
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