Mmmm... Cake...

Is this not the cutest cake EVER??? So sassy!

I found it on this blog that I stalk: http://thegoodapple.blogspot.com/ She has the most AMAZING cookies and cakes on there. And she is relatively new to cake/cookie decorating. She took all the Wilton classes just a few years ago. I tell ya, some people got it. I don't. So I just check out her blog and admire her creativity and patience. My birthday is in a week. Do you think a cake like that would survive the USPS?

Mmmmm Mmmmm Good

(Since this is St. Patrick's Day (Happy Birthday, Dad!!) I will use the obligatory green font color.)

I have another product endorsement.

I am back on the weight loss wagon. Again. I'm on week two. It seems that I am all or nothing kind of a gal. If I am eating right, I am exercising. If I am exercising, I am eating well. So the law of physics says that if I am NOT doing one of those things, I am not doing the other, either. One of my biggest problems is that I do not like to deny myself when it comes to food. I have a hard time choosing something small and tasteless when I could have something filling and delicious. That's why I love these:

YUM-O!! And here's a trick: when I make them, I use unsweetened applesauce instead of oil, I use egg substitute instead of whole eggs, so it adds NO FAT. I will often sprinkle some ground flax seed in there too. It adds a trace amount of fat, but it adds all sorts of good stuff, too -- like even more fiber. And the muffins are moist and yummy and they have only 3g of fat, and 5g of fiber per muffin. Yay!!! I can have two for a snack with a big glass of water or fat free milk and I am good until dinner.

Here is my weight loss chain I have hanging in my kitchen:

Every link represents a pound. After I pass the weight on that link, I can tear it off and move on to the next one. Every fifth one is yellow and it means I get a reward. There are seven links in the last set, but that's because I am my mother's daughter and I needed to land on a nice round number. Once I reach that weight I get something BIG.

SO... Bunco gals... if you see me stuffing my face on Thursday, STOP ME. Maybe I will bring some muffins to share...

Too True...

I asked the Lord to tell me
Why my house is such a mess.
He asked if I'd been 'computering',
And I had to answer 'yes.'
He told me to get off my fanny
And tidy up the house.
And so I started cleaning up...
The smudges off my mouse.
I wiped and shined the topside.
That really did the trick...
I was just admiring my work.I didn't mean to 'click.'

But click, I did, and oops...

I found
A real absorbing site,
That I got SO way into it...
I was into it all night.
Nothing's changed except my mouse.
It's very, very shiny.
I guess my house will stay a mess...
While I sit here on my hiney.

I guess my house will stay a mess....
While I sit here on my hiney.

Branching Out

I could have titled this "Taking the Plunge," "Into the Wild Blue Yonder." But I am trying not to psyche myself out by telling myself this is going to be too hard. What am I talking about???

*I* am going to make a quilt.

I am cheating on my beloved aprons. I have been following Oh, Fransson! for a while and I just LOVE her quilts. I appreciate her talent for putting fabrics and colors together. And I love that they don't look really country cottage when she is done (not that there's anything wrong with that...). A few weeks ago she posed the idea to do a Quilt-a-Long. I was on the fence while reading all of her tutorials and I decided this week that I was going to DO IT. I read her post on choosing colors (anyone who has seen my house in it's various half painted stages knows that color paralyzes me) and headed to the fabric store with Michelle. There I ran into a gal who is doing the same Quilt-a-Long. Small world!

Here is what I chose. We needed six pairs of coordinating fabrics -- for a total of 12. The blue is going to be my binding (unless I change my mind after seeing everything together). The off-white is going to be the sashing between the quilt blocks. The back will be a mixture of the solid green and the pink patterned fabric.

SO - my fabric is in the washing machine. I will probably try to start cutting tonight. I still need to finish Jillise's baptism dress and do two more personal progress wraps (with a tutorial). Something tells me both of those will seem like a piece of cake once I am surrounded with dozens of fabric strips. Wish me luck!!