Cupcake War

Chocolate cupcakes with sugar hearts and nonpareils (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

Today Mom and I went off to search for the perfect cupcakes for the wedding. We went to three separate bakeries, two of which sent us home with free samples (we did end up buying treats at both of those places, though!) and we have a formal taste test scheduled for next Wednesday at the third.

 

The first place, the place we have to return to…is probably my first choice. Kind of funny, considering we didn’t get to taste any of their stuff, but they have an outstanding reputation and we did get a chance to look through their book of past wedding cakes they’ve made and I was very impressed. Lots of fall themes that could work for a traditional cake or cupcakes (which we’re getting). Plus, this bakery offers more then just the standard vanilla/chocolate. They even mentioned a pumpkin one, and well, I was kind of in love. Another strong point for them is that they will deliver and set up the cake/cupcakes so no pre-wedding hassle.

 

The other two places we went to were okay. The one was more old fashioned. The cakes were fancy, white, traditional which was okay though not something I wanted. They did say that they could spruce up the cupcakes with pumpkins and fall leaves but I don’t know. They didn’t have anything like that to show me. I wasn’t overly impressed with the cupcakes there either. The icing was too sweet for me and the chocolate just didn’t seem chocolately enough for me. They did offer delivery, but the owner didn’t seem very confident that that was a good option.

 

The third place had good cupcakes, well, the chocolate one anyway (I couldn’t stomach anymore by the time I reached the vanilla!) and the buttercream frosting was really good. But the do not deliver and they rent out the cupcake tray for $25 with a $50 security deposit so I’m not quite sure if they are a good option. We’re going to have too much going on to have to worry about driving out of town to pick up the cupcakes, arrange them so without damaging them and then going back the next day to return the stand.

So I am really quite keen on this cake tasting on Wednesday. I want to be able to cross the cake off the never ending list of wedding stuff.

 

Too Much!

Thank you for all the support you have sent mine and S.D.’s way. It was very much appreciated, at least on my front. As anticipated, it hasn’t been an easy time…I feel guilty and anxious because I couldn’t physically be there for S.D. and his family…and it’s hit S.D. hard as he really hasn’t had a lot of experience in losing loved ones like this. I hate to admit it, but I’m kind of an old pro at this.

So this, on top of the stress/anxiety I’m already feeling has not been kind. I’ve been having stomach issues on and off these past few days which haven’t been fun. Then I also have to remember that I’m just a week into my new birth control so my hormones are kind of wacky too.

Ugh! Too much!

But there has been some good moments that have somewhat balanced everything out.

I talked to my boss. I was hoping that perhaps he could help me transfer to another store, but sadly that’s out of his realm of power (but suggested I talk to someone who could help me), but he was supportive (and told me he was very sorry to see my leave), and he also arranged for me to take my paid vacation week next week. Oh god, I cannot begin to tell you how relieved that makes me. A whole week off work in order to get packed up, go for my dress fitting, arrange for a cake and/or cupcakes.

Today we celebrated Mother’s Day. Yesterday everyone was working-even Mom but for some reason we were all off today. I don’t know how all of us managed to swing that without requesting off but sometimes the universe works in mysterious ways. We all went out to lunch at Red Lobster and then Mom, Dad and I took a drive down to Ocean City, NJ just to see the site of a wedding they are attending next weekend…mostly to figure out the logistics of getting my Dad to the wedding/reception site.

Oh, and my sister Blondie decided that since I’m not going to be here for my birthday…she would give me my birthday present early. Over a month early. It was very unexpected, but extremely appreciated gesture. She gave me three new nail polishes…bright colors that I probably would not have picked for myself but I think are really pretty and an Amazon gift card. Totally made my day!

I feel a little bad for not commenting on blogs much these few days. I’ve been getting a lot of error messages when I try to post…which has been a hassle. So I am reading, despite the fact I may not be commenting. Stupid Blogger.

 

Busy

I’ve been really busy lately. I was hoping for a little time to myself on my day off on Thursday but that did not happen. Went to a viewing on Wednesday evening after work and Thursday was spend during errands and helping my Mom and S.D. out with various projects.

Was suppose to talk to my boss today, but he brushed me off. Not intentionally, it was just a busy day at work. Then I found out that S.D.’s grandmother passed away. I met her once, on New Years so I’m a little sad and trying to be as supportive as I can-it’s just hard as these kind of situations make me remember when my Mommom passed away six years ago, or my aunt who passed away the beginning of September. I still have random moments when I suddenly think of them, and get choked up…and between the viewing on Wednesday (it was my cousin’s Mother in Law, a woman I may have seen a total of four times) and hearing the news today, I’m feeling a little down and out.

So I’m planning on wrapping this up, crawling into bed with the newest Jennifer Weiner book and call it a night.

I’m feeling a bit better today…at least I’m thinking coherently now. I get so frustrated with work sometimes, I do not function well after a shift…probably because my brain goes into total autopilot when I’m there. Most days, I feel my IQ drop abou 20 points when I walk in the door.

Yet, I’m discovering that I really do enjoy working with the public. The interaction between me and my customers is sometimes the only thing keeping me engaged and not totally spaced out. Though, of course, not all my customers, I encountered my share of sh#theads yesterday. It was enough for my to declare to one of my managers, “I don’t like people very much today.” Thank god it wasn’t the day I worked a nine hour shift…

I need more motivation to get more packing done. Or at least, go through my clothes and figuring out what I’m keeping vs. what I’m donating/throwing away. Since it is May, I figured I’d at least have been able to pack away all my winter stuff…but actually, I’m still wearing a lot of it. Although we had a mild winter-Spring has been cold and wet and just plain miserable. I have not gone on a walk or even spent much time outside since March when it was warm and sunny. It’s no wonder my Vitamin D level was low. I imagine it dropped even lower these past few weeks. Both today and yesterday it was chilly, but sunny when I left for work and I figured that I would go for a walk after I got home…but yesterday the sky went really dark and it looked as though it was going to rain…and today it was actually drizzling. So my good intentions to exercise were squashed.

I did however muster up enough motivation to start job hunting a little more aggressively today. I even applied for a job, though, I kind of think it is a long shot as the application online was less than adequate…such as, it asked for a bunch of information-yet failed to supply enough space to actually type in the information required. But at least it was something…and if I only apply to one job per day until I actually move…I’ll be happy.

Staring

I’ve spent the past ten minutes staring at the blank screen, hoping that by some miracle-words will pour forth from my fingers. Preferably, words that make sense.

But alas, inspiration is being kept at bay. I am lacking my blogging mojo. Or writing mojo, as I can’t seem to work up any enthusiasm to do any kind of writing right now. My mind feels paralyzed right now.

All I feel is tired. Frustrated. Stressed. Being at work makes me want to scream. Literally. I feel antsy when I am at home. I need to be doing something, but I can’t get my brain to focus enough to set its self on a task to complete.

I’m tired. Did I already say that? Right now all I want to do is crawl into bed and sleep. Just block out the world and surround myself in dreams.

Instead, I’ll get a shower and spend the evening reading blogs and playing around with Stumble Upon. I’ll try to do a little reading in hopes that maybe, just maybe, I’ll find some inspiration.

I will try my hardest not to think about my nine hour shift tomorrow…or the fact that I won’t have a day off work until Thursday.

I’m not making any promises though.

That was a Relaxing “Weekend”

As was evidenced on Monday, when I couldn’t even remember what day it was…I was in some pretty dire need of some R&R. Thankfully I had two days off in a row to do just that…and while I “almost” felt guilty for taking off work when I knew it would be busy (first week of the month and all)…it definitely was not enough to cause me too much disorder.

As today I had a potentially stressful doctor’s appointment, yesterday I was determined to try to relax and take it semi easy. I did some housework, bought and started reading “The Glass Castle” on my Kindle and starting packing up my bookshelf. I also went with Mom and The Diva for a short drive around town to look at various house colors (my parents are having a bit of a house makeover done)…and to a local ice cream place. Then, after dinner, I overdosed on television and had an early night.

This morning/early afternoon were sort of stressful. I got lab results back from my first doctor’s appointment I had back in March and although most of them were perfectly fine…I have to have one redone soon and make sure I start taking vitamin D and have that one redone in a few months. Nothing too serious, but a teeny bit worrisome (especially the latter one).

As soon as I get off the phone with that doctor, it was time for the appointment I had today…which was stressing me out. It was with my lady doctor, just for a normal annual visit…but like anyone, I don’t like strangers in my business. And well, my first experience with that type of doctor was NOT a good one (nothing the doc did though). But the visit was very smooth sailing and the doc I saw today was VERY good with putting me at ease. So I was pretty happy to get that nightmare out of the way for the year.

Sadly, tomorrow morning I’ll be heading into work…but it’s a short shift, and a day shift at that. Hopefully it’ll go smoothly. Or, as smoothly as a first week of the month shift can go.

 

 

What Day Is It Again?

It’s late, and I have a headache…but since I’ve gotten into the habit of blogging every other day…and today is blogging day. So here I am. Please excuse any typos or weird grammatical errors.

But anyway…for whatever reason, maybe because I now have the next two days off…but somehow I got into the mindset that today is Friday.

The worst part, I actually ended up watching an entire episode of House and it wasn’t until the very end that I realized that…hey, it’s Monday!

I think I’m officially brain dead.

So Behind

I was in NY for three days, three very short days…but since I’ve returned, I’ve felt as though I’ve fallen behind with everything. My room is a complete disaster. Whilst packing I kind of threw things every which way and the clean up fairies are on strike…at least I’m assuming. I have emails that need to be responded to. I have blogs to read. Forget about commenting…I just need to catch up on reading what all of you have been up to this past week! Not to mention…there were a few books I’ve read recently that I wanted to write about…

And of course, I was scheduled to work a six day week. My only scheduled day off was Wednesday…which I had requested off due to a doctor’s appointment. So my one day off would have been spent laying on an examining table stressed out of my freakin’ mind. Not exactly a pleasant, relaxing..or even vaguely productive break from first week of the month madness of work. Not to mention the fact that almost all my shifts are evening shifts…the time when I am actually the most productive creatively.

But I “donated” one of my shifts to a coworker today. He needed more hours for financial reasons, I needed less hours for sanity reasons. It seemed like a fair bargain.

At least, it will be a good bargain if I’m actually able to use my extra day off this week to once again organize my room and get rid of even most crap that I don’t need.

 

 

 

New York with the Folks

My parents and I went up to NY to visit with S.D. and his parents (well, his Mom). It was a good trip, but entirely too short. We got there about 5pm Monday, and left at noon yesterday (Wednesday). That part sucked. I would have liked to spend more time with S.D. But, at least it was something.

The trip up was a bit stressful. The weather wasn’t all that nice, and although my parents were in the front seat with the GPS, somehow they expected me to watch out for signs. Of course we then missed the exit…but anyway, we got where we needed to be, and honestly, it was much easier to go a few miles out of our way then get off where we were suppose to. Besides, we were way ahead of schedule.

We met S.D. and his Mom at a diner off the highway, about half hour out of town. It was a fun meal, my parents and S.D.’s Mom got along really well. After dinner we got my parents settled in their motel, and then S.D. and I went home to our apartment so S.D. could give me the grand tour.

It’s small. The living room is tiny, so we’re mostly going to use it as a office instead of a living room.  Not great for company, but the bedroom can double as a living room. Just gives us incentive to keep it neat. The bedroom is a nice size. All wood though, so we’re going to get an area rug to liven it up. I want a red shag. The kitchen is already my favorite room. It has three HUGE floor to ceiling windows so there is a ton of natural sunlight coming in. It overlooks the backyard so it’s (mostly) private. We have a little patio and a fire pit so I cannot wait for summer. I want to get a little patio set, or at least some nice comfy lounge chairs so I can sit out and read. The bathroom is neat. It’s actually pretty spacey (and has lots of storage room), but the toilet set up is hilarious. It actually sits above the rest of the room…up on two steps, and there’s a counter space and cabinets right next to the toilet.

Needless to say, I’m fairly pleased about the apartment, and S.D. has done an excellent job of setting it up so far.

S.D. and I took my parents for a tour of the area the next day, and then they headed down to the casino in Monticello and S.D. and I finally got some time to spend together…which, we mostly spent by watching the first season of Doctor Who. We are such nerds.

I’m really anxious now to get myself moved now. Hopefully it’ll happen the first week of June. Fingers crossed.

 

Yesterday

Things I planned to do on my day off:

1. Go to the bank
2. Update resume
3. Ask coworkers if I could use them as references
4. Write

What I actually did

1. Go to the bank
2. Shop for birthday gift for friend at work
3. Take Blondie out to lunch
4. Upload pictures from camera to laptop
5. Caught up on emails

I guess getting one thing on my list was a win. I really did need to go to the bank. The rest of the stuff I didn’t need to do-but I don’t regret doing them either…especially taking my sister to lunch. Not going to be too many more opportunities to hang out with her.