Saturday, February 12, 2011

Friday's "Cake Decorating and Fist Fight" edition

Friday was yesterday, and it was freaky, in a mild and silly kind of way. It started showing its intent before I was even out of bed when I hear, "Kim, did you leave in one contact lens last night?" Like I would take one out and leave the other in? I don't think I've ever done that, not even when I'm drunk.
"No, I took them both out."
"Are you SURE?"
I test my vision by looking at the clock alternating between closing each of my eyes. Blurrsville.
"Yes, I'm sure."
"I think Lemon Louise ate your contact lens."

Oh, dear. I think she did, too. The previous morning, AFTER I put my contacts in, Lemon jumped on the sink and licked the saline solution out of the case. Today, she knocked the top off and helped herself. Good grief, Kitty!

The rest of the day was fine. Lots of good things happened. Fridays are our homeschool workshops day and this semester is awesome! Audrey is taking P.E., Classical Guitar, The History of Rock-n-Roll, Musical Theatre (Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat), and Piano. I love that it is a music driven semester.

Ava is in regular school until noon. Audrey and I walk to her side of the building and pick her up. We have an hour lunch break and then return to the workshops. Ava is taking an arts and crafts class and she LOVES it.

Okay, back to the silly freaky-ness. I volunteered to make a wedding cake for a friend. He was having an itty bitty wedding, so I thought this would be a fun, no intense pressure, kind of project. Friday evening was the night to construct the tiers and decorate. Yippee! My hubby and girls were totally on board for the big "help out". And help, they did. In homeschooling terms, this counts as hours toward home economics. I count schooling hours for everything (Wii, shoveling snow...) The learning never stops!

I had previously baked and froze the red velvet cake. All that was left was to make it beautiful. I made a cream cheese filling and iced it in vanilla buttercream. There were three tiers. We inserted a small juice glass in the middle of the upmost tier, and placed red tulips in it. Ava and I placed edible pearls all over the top two tiers as well.

The middle tier had heart shaped candy with the phrase "Be Mine 4-Ever" on it. The bottom tier had small red candy hearts all over it (Thanks to Audrey Frances for the help out). Eric, in the meantime, took command of the pastry bag and promptly filled it was pink icing. He created a simple border of dots at the base of each tier. Perfection.

We did all of this at my parent's house where the wedding was to be the following afternoon. So a little after 9 p.m., when the Laclede Gas guy knocks on the door, we were all a little surprised. He was there to switch out the gas meter. Those are some interesting Friday hours... My mom and Dad were a bit annoyed, but I thought it was funny. The LG man, we found out, had been doing this for over 20 years. We also discovered that he was quite a talker. He gave me major props on the wedding cake. He even gave me tips he acquired from watching cakes being decorated at The Golden Corral (I've never been there, and he thought that to be mighty unfortunate, as he really likes the place).

We all make lots of small talk, he does what he came to do, and then...

Audrey and my mom had followed him to the basement where his work was to be done. (Another opportunity for Audrey to listen, watch, and learn. I'm still trying to decide how to count these hours.) While I'm upstairs finishing up the cake, he had another lesson in mind for my girl. Apparently, when he was finished installing the gas meter, he had just enough time to give my 10 year old daughter detailed instructions on how to win a fist fight. (This one was easy! P.E. hours)

While I was finishing up the cake, Audrey showed me her moves-the proper "I'm gonna win this fight" stance, how to make a good "I'm gonna damage you and NOT myself" fist, and the vulnerable places to aim. This was actually a good anatomy, defense lesson. Our lives as homeschoolers take on new meanings all the time. I'd like to thank the Laclede Gas Man for his free educational services. They were much appreciated.

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