Happy Halloween, friends!

I forgot to take pictures of my dress rehearsal, so you'll have to wait another day or so to see my costume.

I'm pretty confident it will be worth the wait.

eagle-like

Help me out, said the eagle to the dove.
I've fallen from my nest so high above.
Oh, help me fly, I am too afraid to try.
Now saddled with a fear of heights,
I'm praying you can set me right.

A Matter of Balance

I've been planning to 'coach' a class of A Matter of Balance at the Bangor Agency on Aging for a few weeks now. The training session is tomorrow, and after I complete that I'll be ready to help senior citizens deal with their fear of falling.

Tonight, while running up the stairs and talking on the phone, I fell rather loudly. You know what I mean, limbs all over the place, slamming into solid objects. Loud.

My right shin is scraped and bruised and swelling in an unattractive goose egg way.

My left great toe is also swelling and reddish and feverish.

Brilliant.

At least we're starting from common ground.

Mocha Spice and all things nice

Well...today was good and not-so-good. I don't want to say 'bad' because it really wasn't bad. Just not-so-good at parts. I did some grocery shopping. Good. I saw a few one-act plays, one of which featured one of my students. Good. It rained all day, and I was woken up this morning by the shaking of the apartment in the wind. Not-so-good. I tried a new cupcake recipe. Very good. I realized around 1pm that I had student papers to respond to by 10am tomorrow. Definitely not good.

So, you see, today was a mixed bag.

But, overall I think I can say that I am pleased with today. I'll feel better once I get the student papers taken care of.

In the meantime, a word about the cupcakes.

I tried the Mocha Spice cupcake recipe that I found here.
This was possibly the most complicated batter I've made so far, but that was only the case because of the incredible number of spices involved. There was such a great deal of measuring go on. However, all the measuring done, the cupcakes were a success.

The idea of spices including cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, and (to me the most frightening) ginger in my chocolate cake was a bit unsettling. But, I think the fact that the cake was more mocha than straight chocolate made me feel a bit better. Who knows.

Anyway, the spice is quite appropriate for fall, or pre-winter as we are now having in Maine. And the basic chocolate icing I made for the top is nice and comforting in its Hershey-ness.

Here's the glamour shot of the cupcakes on the tower my mom sent me a couple weeks ago.


And here is the naked shot. This cupcake is fairly boring to look at, but the flavor more than makes up for that.



















And please notice the blue cup of milk slightly behind the cupcake. I had to drink milk as I iced the cupcakes just because the frosting looked so rich. I wasn't even tasting as I went, I might have gone into a sugar coma if I had.

Taste of Maine

That is probably a misleading title, now that I think about it.

But my weekend can only be explained through the umbrella of Maine. It all began on Thursday when I attended the A Fine Frenzy concert slightly off campus.

If you don't know A Fine Frenzy, then you should get on that. Here's one of my favorite songs, Rangers.

And another, because it's live and just so very good. You Picked Me.


Our concert featured just the girl and the keyboard guy. Apparently this is how they used to do all their playing, but now they have a full band. Anyway...this is not the point.

The point is that Maine managed to pull together about 50 or 60 people for this concert. It was embarrassing. I blame this on poor advertisement. I didn't notice the flyer until the day of, and even then the flyer was unclear. I can only assume that this means the event was not advertised off-campus at all. The concert was paired with the obama campaign and the on-campus early vote day. Still...our showing was poor. More interesting yet, this was a free concert. A FREE concert! In Orono, Maine!

Despite all these factors, there were so few people there that we didn't even fill the upstairs of our small-pub-like off-campus bar. To me... this is indicative of my experience in Maine. I had a great time. I loved seeing A Fine Frenzy and the intimacy of the concert was really great, but underlying it all was my own uneasiness regarding the circumstances.

Oh well.

Then, Friday, after Beth and I saw High School Musical with a bunch of little girls and their mothers, we decided to go to the first home Hockey game of the season. Now there was a strong showing. We should in line outside for about an hour or so, and then we sat down in our seats in the FFF section. (That stands for far, far, far, I'm guessing.) The inflatable black bear's head came out and then a few minutes later, so did the players. We cheered, we listened to two national anthems, and then things went downhill. Northeastern scored three times in the first ten minutes. It was sad. We left early. We ended up losing 5-0.

And I know that Northeastern has a really strong team this time, so it's not all the Black Bears' fault. However, this pattern is also slightly Maine. Excitement, anticipation, disappointment.

For this and other reasons, I ended up at Target today. In the Halloween section. Buying too many cupcake-cessories.

And now...I have something to get excited about.

HSM 3!

Today is the day!


High School Musical 3 opens today, and I couldn't be more excited. Well, actually, I'm sure I could, but as far as Oh-no, Maine goes - this is a big weekend.

My roommate and I have had the HSM 3 opening day on our planners for weeks. Maybe even months. And, yes, I know that High School Musical started out on the Disney Channel and that HSM 2 went directly to video, but we don't judge a good author by her first awkward poems, do we?

The thing about High School Musical is that is combines all the things we dread (or do not remember fondly) - singing, dancing, high school, summer jobs, the bitchy popular girl, first love - in a way that makes them at last palatable.

At least if my high school experience sucked (and believe me, it did), I can have fun watching some kids who have it all figured out.

I mean, what is NOT fun about watching a whole cafeteria of high schoolers dance in formation and sing, "No, no, no! Stick the status quo!"

It's witty. It's colorful. It's innocent. It's social commentary. (This last one might be a stretch, but I'll let you know after I see it.)

And let's be honest, if we all looked like Gabriella and could sing like Troy, our formative years would have been very different.

So, that's where I'll be today. Be jealous. Or just join me.

In other news, I saw A Fine Frenzy last night for free. Details on that when I don't have to prepare for 101.

Letters!

Yesterday I received two letters in the mail. TWO!

I haven't received an honest letter in months. Perhaps not even since I've moved. My mom is quite good about sending cards with little notes and drawings on the envelopes, but letters are a totally different level of personal communication.

I so excited pulled them out of the mailbox to find two different gorgeous handwritings. Both of which I immediately identified. I had never noticed the similarities between my sister's and the Empress' handwritings, but now that I look at them again, it's really uncanny. I wish I could post them side-by-side but that would involve divulging more information than I care to on the interweb.

Anyway, two letters. The similarities, my friends, do not end there. Both ladies wrote me on lovely stationery. True to her nature, the Empress wrote on paisely, gold-embossed paper with a matching sedate, paisely-lined envelope. My sister chose a minimalist black, white and red leaf-patterned note in a crisp white envelope.

Here's the kicker, both letters contained enclosures. And . . . wait for it . . . both enclosures spoke directly to my rather obsessive baking habit. The Empress sent a magazine article on "Canine Cutie Cupcakes" that I'm excited to try out. Don't worry, the cupcakes are for people, they just look like dogs. :) And my sister wrote me up for "Excessive Baking" on one of her Office of Safety and Security citations at work. Seems I was misusing my "License to Bake" permit. My own sister even wrote in the fine. A wopping $35 for sharing my cupcake wealth with the world! The nerve!

Anyway, as you can see, I got too excited about my letters yesterday. I think I need to pull out my neglected stationery and write some letters of my own.

P. S. - True to form, I tried to scan some of my letters and enclosures for blog reasons, only to find that I unwittingly removed the scanning software from my laptop. Of course.

Ugh.

Since the comprehensive exam (Oct. 11 & 12), I've been in a major slump.

It's not a bad, depressed, woe is me slump, but a slump no less. I'm falling behind in my schoolwork and I'm barely keeping up with my students' work. I just can't seem to make myself sit down and do everything that needs to be done.

I have a much easier time say...baking cupcakes. Or...shopping for things I don't need. Or...my current favorite, preparing myself and my roommate for Halloween. Sadly, however, the only thing I need to complete my super hot costume is a pair of false eyelashes and a man's suit coat. If those things don't make sense together, just wait for the pictures.

So, as my roommate and I excitedly planned our Friday activities - it was a much better option than writing our respective papers - I had a flashback to undergrad.

I was an over-achiever!

I did everything early. I submitted early drafts of papers. I discussed things with professors. I considered some professors friends, even. And...here's the kicker...I was so work-driven that I (and my then roommate) had to mandate that Fridays were for fun. We called it "Fridays are for Fun." Catchy, right?

Anyway, after our classes ended on Fridays, I feel like it was about 3 but I can't be sure, we would put down the books and do something fun. Sometimes this was as simple as watching a movie and having Dairy Queen. We really started to dream big when we began planning our Build-a-Bear trip that never happened. But you get the idea. Often our Fridays included other friends too, and it got easier to regularly make time for fun.

My friends, look at me now. I feel like I've made a 180. I now have to mandate work hours. And even then, I don't stick to them. Heck, I'm blogging right through my "read a couple student papers before T'ai Chi" block right now.

So, clearly writing things in my planner doesn't work for me anymore. For a while in undergrad I had a friend who would make me establish goals for the day, night, whatever, and then call me on my progress. That actually worked. That friend is now living her life in New Mexico(?) and therefore not quite bugging me about my work as much.

Lucky you!

Today I want to:
1. Read student papers
2. Finish my staging history rewrite
3. Read at least part of O'Neill's trilogy

That should be doable, right?

Ugh. I'll let you know.

Update: 11:16PM, Tuesday
1. 12 out of 16 done. 4 is a totally doable number of papers for tomorrow morning.
2. DONE! (and printed)
3. I read one and half plays . . . so I have about half to finish by Thursday afternoon. We'll see.

Now to sleep! So excited about that prospect.

Cupcakes. What else?

So today I had a couple of errands to run in Bangor. I got what I needed...kind of. But I got a couple of things that made my day. One of those things is my new favorite cupcake-cessory.

September.




















I found September in the breast cancer awareness section of Kmart. Now, I have been to Kmart maybe two or three times in the last five years, but today I felt sure that they would have the cheapest food processor. They didn't, of course. Target did, but that's another point.

What they do have is this super-fantastic cupcake carrier! Now I don't have to precariously balance my Ikea platter on my arm while I make my way into the office. Now I have a handle! No more arm soreness! No more is-the-icing-getting-smooshed-by-the-seran-wrap concerns! I could even carry this into the office on a snow day. A SNOW DAY! That's unprecedented.

Here's September stocked with freshly baked Banana Chocolate Chunk cupcakes (with chocolate ganache on top!).


















These cupcakes are a super success and I can't wait to share them with my officemates tomorrow.

Oh, and, yes. I did name my cupcake carrier September. Don't ask me why. It just feels right.

Contradictory, a bit.

It was about Day 2 of my time in Maine that I realized that my life here is marked by contradictions. Me and Maine get along fine, but we certainly disagree on many things. For instance, Maine has a deep and abiding love for outdoor activity wear as day wear. In my opinion, if a shoe is appropriate for crossing a river or climbing a mountain, then said shoe is not at all right for either work or casual wear.

Exhibit A:

Exhibit B:


This summer I saw a guy in Starbucks (meeting a girl!!!) wearing a water shoe that made me gag a little. This water shoe had individual toes. That's right. Five of them. It was disgusting. Sadly, I can't find a picture of those...

Anyway, this is just one of the many things on which Maine and I do not see eye to eye.

But...today...I produced my own humorous contradiction. Dressed as if I belonged in Maine, I purchased gold, open-toed wedges. I was wearing a t-shirt, flannel Columbia shirt, and a knit beanie. And, I purchased shoes of the slut caliber that I will be lucky to wear more than once.

Exhibit C:


Exhibit D:












None of these things are at all like the other.

Ah, well. One of these days I will again live in an area that will not allow a flannel shirt out of the house.

Until then, I'll keep watching infommercials and baking cupcakes. Two things that are actually not too contradictory, actually.

I won't say that I quit...

but I'm not continuing the Five Bite Diet. As predicted, it was fun at the start, but today (Day 2) was just too much.

My buzz started to wear off when I couldn't even finish a small thing of yogurt for breakfast. For lunch, I created a mixture of salmon, salsa, and cheese to maximize the protein of a five bite lunch. Even then...I was still hungry.

So, I considered it a lesson learned, and had a bit more of my salmon concoction. Oh well! :)

And...since my roommate and I have 5 spotty bananas that we aren't going to eat as is, I tried a new Banana Oat Muffin recipe I found online. To really mix things up, I baked the muffins in the new super sweet flower shaped cupcake tin my mom sent me this week.


Cute, right? This tin is going to make some spectacular cupcakes. I'm seeing some nice colored petals with yellow centers. I'll post those cupcakes when they happen, of course.

In other news, I couldn't be more pleased to have reached the weekend. I've been dragging since the comp exam, so I'm hoping to catch up on both rest and work over the next couple of days.

My plan for the night is to stay on this couch, watch a movie, and perhaps even eat something!

Five Bites (Day 1)

I'm pleased to report that I survived the first day of my Five Bite diet. And, surprisingly, I'm not hungry.

Here -- because you can't pretend you aren't interested -- is my lunch. One egg + a bit of salsa & shredded cheddar cheese.














This is lupper. (Between lunch and supper, duh.) No real explanation necessary.


And this is dinner. I took one bite before I took the picture, but you can imagine what that bite looked like. In the end, the bites were too big and I cut off part of the last one. So, I ended up eating almost a full piece of pizza. And before you get judge-y, I made this pizza myself earlier this week with a ton of spinach and mushrooms and a whole wheat crust.















My observations so far:

- I don't need much more than five bites per meal, if any more at all.

- When I decided I was "hungry" and needed a snack, I moved on from that feeling by doing something else. Therefore, the snacking "hungry" is not a true hunger, and should probably be ignored.

- It is VERY hard for me to decide what to eat at any particular meal when I know that I can only have five bites total. Should I have a banana? That's quite a commitment... What about some yogurt? Again... a lot to sign on for.

- My groceries are going to last so much longer at this five bite pace. I'm going to need to start prioritizing based on expiration dates soon!

So, I'm still enjoying the new-ness of the Five Bite diet. However, I'm pleasantly surprised to be learning things about my own eating habits at the same time.

Onward and upward!

Five Bites

There is nothing more exciting than a new diet. For some reason, I absolutely love starting diets. Starting is fun! Starting is exciting! Starting is distracting! And new! (And not schoolwork!)

I've started more diets than I care to admit, and I actually do know what works. However, I'm not returning to what works today. Today I'm starting a new diet. :)

My roommate and I were talking about how we were going to revolutionize our lives after the comprehensive exam was done, and part of our discussion included brainstorming diets. I googled "fun diets" and if you want a laugh, go ahead and try that. According to the interweb, there is probably no such thing as a fun diet. What these sites don't account for is that ALL diets are fun the first few days. Still...I didn't want to do something ridiculous like cut out carbs. Or stop cooking. Or eat from boxes. Or restrict myself to things than can be juiced. The search continued.

In discussing all this with my mother, she mentioned the Five Bite diet. Usually the Five Bite diet is followed by people who have had weight loss surgery and lost a considerable amount, if not all, of their stomachs. I've always believed that if one could hold him or herself to the post-weight loss diet guidelines, then these diets wouldn't be as frequent. However, you can imagine how hard it would be to dramatically reduce consumption to the Five Bite diet if, in fact, five bites do not create a feeling of fullness.

So...a fun diet! Right?

I think so.

Allow me to explain. Each meal is limited to only five bites. Five bites of anything, but only five bites. Because five bites only gives so much food and nutrition, the Five Bite diet grants 4 meals a day rather than the All-American big three.

I'm sure you can already guess my first problem: A cupcake is a glorious seven bites. At least how I bite it.

But, this will only help me stick to the test-to-make-sure-it-isn't-offensive cupcake that I share with my roommate. At only three bites, the half cupcake will leave me two bites to use on...chicken or broccoli, or I don't know, I'll have to work on that.

Having finished the last of my Gifford's trial flavor (Peanut Butter Cookie Dough) last night, the Five Bite diet commenced this morning.

Let's just observe how much five bites of Count Chocula will give you:















That is not much cereal. And, yes, I know that Count Chocula is not the best cereal, but I was feeling very nostalgic the other day when I saw it in the grocery store for about a dollar. Yay, IGA! Anyway, I used soy milk, so at least I got a tiny punch of protein.

So far I'm feeling good. The cereal was wonderfully tasty and a clear reduction from my usual bowl.

I'll let you know how long the new diet buzz lasts. I know it can't be long...

Update: In my blog perusals today, I found out that yesterday was National Organization for Women's Love Your Body Day. Ha...apparently I missed out on that. What a perfect precursor to an absurdly restrictive diet!

Do I talk too much?

I ask this question largely because I have already reached my own conclusion.

I've been thinking about this a lot lately. When I was really little, I was painfully shy. I didn't even smile in public, actually. Even if I wanted to smile - if I could feel it happening - I would bite the inside of my cheek to keep my lips from spreading. As I got a little bit older and continued through high school, I continued to repress most of my thoughts and feelings. I think there was just too much going on inside to even want to make sense of it outside.

In undergrad I found my footing. I made new friends for the first time since kindergarten. It took me four years, but I realized that I could make friends on my own and perhaps some people (some people) did actually enjoy my company. Becoming increasingly vocal, I joined the conversation.

Now in grad school, more is demanded of me than ever before. The academic bit is something, but the social/personal aspects are really having an effect on my presentation. Teaching and organizing and generally being an adult-type-person means that I am constantly talking. My throat gets dry much more often than I care to admit. Now it feels more like I unnecessarily dominate the conversation. And, by this I mean all conversations. Except in class. Well...some classes.

So, today while this conclusion lolled around in my head, as it has for the past few weeks, I came upon something interesting. While looking at the grade rubric for one of my grad courses this semester, I found that the rubric stipulates than an A student "listens listens listens and responds thoughtfully to class discussion."

I get it. Loud and clear.

I've been looking for a project recently, and I think I've now found it.

I'm going to listen three times (italicized) more than I respond. Because, honestly, I have demonstrated my ability to throw myself into the outspoken, chatty place. Now I need to sit back and moderate the voice I've found.

This can only mean good things.

Thank God for Fall Break

Alright, I promised details of the UMaine M.A. in English Comprehensive Exam so here they are. In bullet and picture form.

Prep:
+ 30 text reading list (top shelf)














+ soothing craft to do the night before the exam (it's a necklace. of buttons. does this cement my quirky teacher persona once and for all?)














Test:
+ Essay 1: Tigger swirled yogurt, Paradise Lost, Phillis Wheatley, religious content's influence on literary form



















+ Essay 2: gay M&Ms, the Wife of Bath, Aurora Leigh, Judith Butler's theory of gender performance














+ Essay 3: ice water, burnt Dunkin Donuts coffee (large disappointment), New Negro anthology, part's importance to the whole



















+ Essay 4: vanilla chai tea (thanks, Beth!), Mary Rowlandson's captivity narrative, Frank O'Hara's poetry, Leslie Marmon Silko's Ceremony, and the notion of literary national history














As you can see, the exam was obnoxious and not something I'd care to repeat but it's done. I'll know in three weeks whether I passed or not.

Ugh. And, in order to reestablish my life as my own, I'm baking cupcakes as I type.

I may also cruise the Columbus Day sales. Just for kicks.

I should be back to normal by 10am Wednesday. Let's hope. :)

Comp Exam Finale

For those of you keeping score,



I'm done!!!!


However, my fingers refuse to type anything more at this moment.

omg. revision.

So...I've been at this for 28 hours now, and I've got a complete first draft. Success!

Now the ginormous task of revision lies before me, but, really, that is small beans compared to the massive project of writing 4, 5-page essays.

Goodnight, Comp Exam

14 hours and 3 essays later, I'm going to bed. Details tomorrow.

36 minutes and counting

This is the worst kind of waiting room.

What's before me:

1 exam between me and the Masters in English.
4 questions that I will choose from a list of 10.
5 page essays in response to each of the 4 questions.
30 texts at my disposal.
20 texts that I am prepared to use.
48 hours to use as I please.

I almost wish this were a math test. :)

What Comprehensive Exam?

The exam starts in 10 hours and 47 minutes, and I'm actually looking forward to it in a let's-get-this-over-with way.

I'll let you know how long this era of good feeling lasts.

Tango to Hell

The Tango Maureen is stuck in my head.

My 6:02am alarm did not go off this morning.

I have 5 student papers to grade. If any one of them fails, then I will have failed more students than I passed. Again.

I cleaned my room this weekend, but I just awkwardly found a cobweb while lying on my floor meditating.

I meditate.

I woke this morning to a text from my sister. She wanted me to pray for her accounting test. She sent her text at 8:54am.

My roommate brought me coffee and a blueberry cream cheese bagel at work today.

I made myself look like an idiot while sitting cross-legged in the presence of two faculty. The sitting had not much to do with it.

One of my students informed me of the fact that I am 'killing' him.

My comprehensive exam begins in 60 hours and 6 minutes.

I'm reading a book called Madapple. And a Churchill play called Vinegar Tom.

I need to read the cliffnotes on Ceremony.

On my calendar, Marilyn Monroe is looking at a calendar.

Yesterday I made pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese icing. Today I didn't eat them.

My comprehensive exam will be over in 108 hours and 2 minutes.

This post will be over right now.

At least I'll have tangoed at all.

I am a teacher.

Perhaps it's the ease with which I claimed the Border's educator discount this weekend, but I've been thinking about my style. And, I've come to the conclusion that I really am a teacher.


Not quite like this woman - and let's be honest, my students are also nowhere near this eager - but I find myself dressing in teacher-esque clothing. On and off the job. Allow me to lay it out for you.

Today I taught. So, my clothes were appropriately business casual. This is new for me this semester. My first year, I worked out the tortured humanities man chic. This meant a lot of oxford shirts, several ties, sweater vests and other layering pieces. A trusty sport coat. An ever-present pashmina scarf. And pants. Always pants. Every once in a while, I threw the ladies a teaser with a long strand of pearls on top of the otherwise man-ish clothing. I gained and maintained authority through my actions, not my clothes.

Back to this year - I rediscovered the glorious body shapes created by nice fitting women's clothes. And full on women's clothes, not just man-inspired women's pieces. So, this semester, I'm really dressing the part of a teacher.

Today I reached the high point, though, I think. I wore black dress pants (lined, even!), a colored wrap shirt with a delicate vertical stripe, a floral patterned sweater, and - get this - practical shoes. While it did contain two different patterns, the entire outfit was made up of black, white, and tan. Classy, but teachery as well. And about the practicality of the shoes... they are black flats and amazingly comfortable. They are perfectly teachery because I could probably wear them for several days (including brisk evening walks) and suffer no ill effects, however, their basic black flat-ness makes them acceptable for the lady interested in keeping up appearances.



And though I might still be a ways off from Doris Day's teacher look, I have found there are perks to dressing the part. For one, students hold doors open for me. Other teachers smile at me in the halls. That one really confused me for a while, I figured there must be someone behind me. Nope! Just me and the shared understanding of teaching these jokers.

In conclusion (You'll have to forgive me the phrase, I have 20 papers to grade tonight.), though my style is possibly becoming a bit staid in the classroom, there is an upside. My odd out of the classroom style is now just seen as an extension of my quirky teacher personality.

And, do you know what? I love being the quirky teacher.

Ah...and before I stop, one story from today's class.

I was teaching my students about Aristotelian argument, pathos to be specific. In order to illustrate the emotional appeal, I began explaining the oft referenced example of pandas on melting ice caps. I got a little bit annoyed at the student interrupting me AGAIN with his hand raised and his face skeptical.

Student: "Did you say 'pandas on melting ice caps'?"

Me: "Yes, the panda bear ice cap argument is one often used to elicit a reaction from people about global warming..."

"But..." he interrupts again, "don't you mean polar bears?"

"Yeah...what did I say?"

"You definitely said panda bears were on ice caps..."

"Ah...right, yes, we pity panda bears for their scarcity and their mating issues. Two bears with very different emotional responses."

We all had a good laugh over that one, but they won't forget pathos. :)

I also said, "We've all been under a president" and by an extreme exercise of will was able to not call myself out with "that's what she said" or another similar quip.

Ugh...so am I the most awkward quirky teacher or what?

This is not new, but...

I'm getting old.

I know this because last night I was at home at 9:30pm. Reading Walter Benjamin.

And this was not just a quiet night in type thing. No...after a week of planner-filling busy-ness, I planned to relax a bit on Friday night. The graduate student government was hosting trivia night at a local bar, so there was even a ready made reason for me to have a big, fun night.

Well...that's how it started. Then I missed out on the free beer tickets. Then a girl who I mistakenly called Margaret spilled her free beer on my jeans. (The beer spilling had nothing to do with my name slip up, by the way.) Then, even though our team was in first place, I felt instantly exhausted right about 9:15pm. Nine fifteen.

So, being the lame-o that I am these days, I said my goodbyes and made a break for it.

Safe at home, I had a beer and pulled out the Benjamin. But here's how I relate back to my thesis: It's not so old that I was at home reading Benjamin, but that I was happily at home reading Benjamin on a Friday night.

To add insult to injury, I set my alarm for 8:29 this morning so I could get my laundry done before the college kids woke up. I had lunch at a truck stop with a friend around 11:30am, and this afternoon I excitedly bought new toothpaste. Heck, I even splurged on a new toothbrush.

The oldest part of my day - well, that might be up for debate - was when I enthusiastically read all the packaging on my new toothbrush and paste and flossed in preparation for the rapturous event that I just knew brushing my teeth would be.

And, just in case you were wondering, the new brush and paste are everything anyone could ever ask for.

Perhaps I should do it all again right now...

At least my early aging will not include dentures.

Palin/Biden Cupcakes!

A friend came over tonight to make cupcakes for the Vice Presidential debate tomorrow night at 9pm. This debate is sure to be one for the records, so we decided the cupcakes should be as well.
The plan was to replicate the tie-dye cupcakes, but in the bipartisan red, white, and blue. The red and blue cakes are slightly white grape raspberry flavored.




Please enjoy the cross-section...














And... the process shot.