Not quite good bye

I think I jumped the gun on saying good bye
to the Easter decorations.
They are still up.
I have been otherwise involved in
very messy baking experiments the last two nights.
So messy, in fact, that my feet are sticking
to the kitchen floor when I walk.

But I am not going to mop the floor until after tomorrow.
Tomorrow my friend is coming to help me complete
this baking project that so far has not
turned out as well as I had hoped.
Maybe she will be able to add just the magic touch that it needs.

Maybe I'll take the decorations down on Friday when
Gary has gone to the sand dunes with the scouts.
Or maybe I won't do anything.
In fact that is probably what I'll do.

Of course I do need to start polishing up that bell
so I can ring it on Mother's Day and order
Natalie and Gary around.
That is my number 1 priority!

Good Bye Easter Decorations

A little late, I know, but that's my life the last little while.

"Walking Nervous Breakdown"

After having been locked away for a day,
I thought I better do what the wizard said.

So, we sat down to read scriptures,
and I asked Gary what topic he wanted to discuss.
He said "procrastination."
We have a "Book of Mormon Made Easier Book,"
so Gary was looking through it for that topic.

In the process he came upon this paraphrasing of Mosiah 4:27
and told me he would bookmark it for
me.

"Be aware that you don't have to be a 'walking nervous breakdown' waiting to happen in order to be a faithful saint. Just do the best you can in wisdom and keep improving."

Somehow that imagery makes me laugh.
In fact, I can't read it without laughing.
Maybe that is the purpose.
They do say that laughter is the best medicine,
so maybe that's the medicine
for not having a nervous breakdown.

I'll let you know.

Wizard Wanttoknow

The owner of this blog is missing today.

She has been temporarily replaced with

Wizard Wanttoknow.


Hello.

My name is Wizard Wanttoknow.

I have been searching the world over for
Magical Answers.
Answers as to what lies ahead.
Explanations for what went before.
Answers to the world's problems.
Answers to my own problems

I've tried Crystal Balls.

No answers.

I've tried Astrology.

No answers.

Finally, when I visited Primary today,
the children there were able to
show me where the magic is.

They showed me that the answers I've been seeking
are in some books they call


Scriptures.

They proved to me that these magic books have
the answers to my questions if I only
Open the Magic.

Which leads me to the reason the
owner of this blog is missing today.
She is a little slow to learn, and sometimes doesn't
unlock the magic that is right in front of her.
So I locked her in the church
to give her a little time to think about it.

I'll let her out tomorrow.

Now I'm the only Redhead in the House

First of all, I am VERY proud of the streak
of RED I have in my hair.
I show it to everyone who ever wonders where
my granddaughter, Lydia, got her red hair from.

My hair was RED when I was born.
Of course I don't have any color pictures of it,
but I take my Mom's word for it.
In fact, if I remember right, she always said I was a
scrawny little REDHEAD when I was born.
Well, scrawny would never describe me now,
but I think I still qualify for redhead.

I mean, look at this.

It just glares out at you.

Another shot just to prove it.

Indisputable, I know.

When I left for a baptism this morning,
Natalie looked like this with her RED Hair.



She's been trying to be like me for the last
couple of years in that aspect.
(She had to do it artificially because she
didn't come by hers naturally like me)

But when I came home she looked like this:



I really, really like it and she does, too.

But, now I'm the only REDHEAD in the house.
I'll look forward to when Lydia comes to visit
so there will be two of us again.

Chocolate Cream Cheese Cupcakes

When Natalie came home late last night, she told me that a man from work asked her if I would make 50 cupcakes for his wife's birthday if he paid me for them. He and his wife had loved the chocolate cream cheese ones Natalie had taken in on her birthday.

Today, when I was telling Gary about it, he told me he had heard the whole conversation from upstairs in bed. He said he had been yelling to us, "Tell him she'll make them for $75.00." Neither I nor Natalie heard him, but he said he yelled it several times. I think he can hear the sound of business ventures even when he's sleeping. (It must be the sound of coins jingling in his ears.)

Baking or making things for love or pleasure is fun for me. But making them for money always makes me nervous. There is a certain level of expectation or quality that is expected when something is purchased. When something is volunteered, then whatever you give is a gift and perfection isn't expected. When it is paid for, well that's a different story. At least that is the way it feels to me.

So, I don't know about the whole idea of charging (with a profit) for making cupcakes. But, I'll gladly share the recipe for no charge. Especially since it's a combination of recipes that were shared freely with me. As most recipes are.

Chocolate Cream Cheese Cupcakes

FILLING
8 ounces cream cheese
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (6 Oz)

CAKE
1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 cup baking cocoa
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup water
5 1/2 tablespoons oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon white vinegar

CINDY'S FROSTING
5 cups powdered sugar
6 tablespoons cocoa (sometimes more)
1/2 cup milk
1 cup butter

Directions:
1. For filling, in a small bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Beat in egg and salt until combined. Fold in chocolate chips; set aside.
2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda, sugar and salt. In another bowl, whisk the water, oil and vinegar; stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fill paper-lined muffin cups half full with batter.
3. Drop cream cheese filling by heaping tablespoonfuls into the center of each.
Bake at 350° for 24-26 (in my oven it was more like 20) minutes or until a toothpick inserted in cake comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans. Frost when cool. Keep refrigerated.

Almost didn't make it

I just looked at the clock and realized that I almost didn't make my commitment to post every day. I got home from proctoring at 6, ate, went to a Primary Stake Meeting, got home and picked up a section of my doc management work. I still haven't finished the work, but I'm going to get this blog done!

I'll just leave one thought that stayed in my mind from the meeting.

Faith is like a seed.

Faith is a word that has many facets. I'll have to to explore that later