Monthly Archives: October 2009

The day before a Papen Party is always a bit tense…I usually forget to eat, I ALWAYS burn or at least ruin one of the recipes, and I’m usually running around like a chicken with my head cut off while trying to prepare as well as take care of all the other day-to-day stuff that still needs to get done.  There ALWAYS comes a point when I’m just plain ol’ DONE.  For me, that moment arrived at the exact moment I was just beginning to have a meltdown because my bloodshot eyeball cupcakes weren’t working out quite as I had hoped they would.  Jeffrey literally was standing over me saying, “Less is more, Melissa, less is more.” When…

*ting-a-ling…ting-a-ling*

Oh! A text from my cousin Sarah – she’s always super encouraging and is one of my biggest fans, this will pick me up!!!

“Finished. OMG,” it read.

I stared at the text as the attached image appeared…..perfectly identifiable BLOODSHOT EYE cupcakes. Caught between wanting to cry and being incredibly impressed and proud of her, I simply looked at my brother Jake who had come to visit and swore.  Then I politely responded, 

“They’re awesome.  Mine look like a**”

I tried to upload the photo that she text messaged me, but couldn’t figure out how to do it…she also made some adorable little spider cookies.  They’re so cool, Sarah!!!!  I eventually figured out how to make them look halfway like hers…I think the problem is that the lifesavers are the wrong color! 🙂

While Ellie spent most of the day with Nana Lorena playing in the living room, I, as I’m sure you guessed, spent most of the day cooking and baking in the kitchen.  I did manage to sneak out for an hour or so to get my eyebrows waxed and tinted…and OH MY GODDDDDDD!!!!! I just this second realized that I didn’t leave Emily a tip.  We were chatting away, and I just signed and handed the receipt over. Shit. What am I supposed to do? Oh man, that is soooooo incredibly embarrassing.  Ok, I’ll go see if I can’t find her on Facebook and send her a note saying I’ll fix it…that will at least alleviate some of my guilt, though I’m not sure I’ll be able to sleep. Crap. That’s mortifying!!!! UGH.

ANYWAY, after that, I headed over to the middle school to pick up my sous chef — Teacher Kelley’s daughter Annelyse.  She came for a couple hours after school to help decorate cupcakes.  She’s such an awesome girl…she’s pretty, smart, mature, and funny.  I loved having her around, though I’m not so sure she’ll ever want to come back…I was completely disorganized…in fact, I kept getting so distracted that I had to throwout one particular dessert recipe FOUR times…the fifth time finally worked…yeah, I know: I should have given up after burning the damn custard a second time, but I persevered. Indeed, Irish Cream Three-Ways will be served tomorrow evening.  Everyone had better LOVE THEM! 

Jake arrived at about 6 pm to hang out, visit, and stay the night.  He’s always so much fun to have around.  He and Jeffrey had me laughing so hard, and it was nice to just enjoy each others’ company.  He loves to play with Ellie, and she just adores him!

Must……stay………………awake………………………….zzzzzzzzzzzzz… I tell you what — I’m ready to put my feet up, lay my head against something, ice my wounded leg, have a good deep back massage, and just think about NOTHING.  I don’t want to read. I don’t want to browse the internet. I don’t even want to sit by a fire with a cup of hot cocoa.  No. I just want to close my eyes and drift off into peaceful sleep! That, however, isn’t going to happen simply because I know I’ll lay in bed, thinking about everything that I did today, what I need to do tomorrow, and what still needs to happen for Friday.

Productive, non-stop, and creative describe today perfectly.  I woke early to the sound of Boots and Jax howling and baying in the kitchen. Worried they’d wake EG before she was ready, I jumped out of bed, and ran to the other side of the house…looking out the glass door in the kitchen I saw three deer meandering along the side of the house, oblivious to the beagle who was about to pop a vocal cord because of their presence!  I quickly silenced the dogs, but knew that getting back to sleep would be impossible, so I just decided to go ahead and get my day started!

I love that on my way to feed the horses every morning, I have to drive across our dam — inevitably the view is just magnificent!!!!!

After picking up Victor and Lorena, Ellie Graye and I dropped them off at the house and headed to the Vet’s office to get paperwork printed up so I could actually SEE what my charges were.  I swear, the amount I pay them each month is more than I ever paid for rent in Los Angeles!!!! It’s INSANE — and not because they charge an arm and a leg, but because my damn animals are just constantly having issues…

As I stood there at the front desk going over all the charts with Jennifer, Leah took Ellie Graye to the back (I’m assuming to see animals or vets or something).  I was able to concentrate on what I was doing, and EG was entertained!  Jennifer had to remind me what several visits were…

ME: “What the heck did Jax come in for on September 28?!?!?”

JENNIFER: “Um. Let’s see. Well, the chart says Dr. Fisher checked her tail after you slammed it in the hatchback of your car.”

ME: “Oh. Right. That.”

ME: “But this can’t be right – it’s only a couple days earlier.”

JENNIFER: “Yeah, that was when Jax got her stitches in her front leg after chasing the deer a mile and a half up the road.”

ME: “What’s THIS???”

JENNIFER: “That? That’s Boots’ monthly anal gland infection.”

Seriously, Dr. Fisher’s kids must have a herd of horses by now – God knows I’ve given him enough money to pay for at least 10!  Anyway, a few minutes later, Leah came back with Ellie Graye, and we finished up.  As I picked my darling little girl up, I noticed a dark, chocolate looking thing in her hand.

“What’s THIS, Leah? A chocolate covered cookie???? Ellie’s never had a cookie, let alone chocolate!!!”

I looked at my 15 month old, chocolate melting all over her hands and jacket, and thought , “What the heck.”

“Put it in your mouth, Graye.”

It took a second for her to register the taste and then a HUGE smile broke out on her face, her eyes lit up, and she started signing “Thank you, thank you.”  All the while, she held that chocolate cookie up to her lips.  It was one of those genuinely happy moments that children experience from the simplest things!  All of us in the lobby burst into laughter.  She didn’t finish the cookie.  She took a bite or two, then handed it back to me and asked for water…which I was beyond happy about!  Ellie’s first chocolate cookie is definitely a memory that I’ll keep forever.

Frank seems to be doing much better.  The swelling is still there, but will go away soon, I’m sure.  At least he seems like he’s putting on weight, is moving better, and is in much better spirits…in fact, his “hand walks” are more like “body walks” – it takes my entire body to keep him in check.  He’s so freaking hyper right now!  If I let him, he’d tear around on the lunge line like a mad man!

The rest of the day was spent baking and decorating and working on things that needed to get done…including decorating the entry to our driveway…

Victor got into the spirit of things – he brought a few bales of hay to the entry way, decorated them with the rest of our homegrown pumpkins, and even created his own little scary dead guy and hung him from a tree!  It was quite a surprise to see him getting so creative!

In the kitchen, I managed to make the Skull Ice Forms (they’re so freaking cool), Candy Apple Cakes (with apples from our neighbors’ trees), Rosemary Marinated Mozzarella bites, Plain Scones, Orange Cranberry Scones, Stewed Beef Phyllo Rolls, and Deer Park Farms Berry Cheesecake Bars (with my homemade blackberry-syrah jam and blueberries from the garden).  I think we might have enough food. Just MAYBE.