Whiney McWhinerson

So this is definitely a blog post where you should either call the waaambulance or tell me that I should work for the airport "COME PLANE, COME PLANE!" (get it?)  So if you're not into that, then just ignore this post and check back with me in a day or two!

Some days, you just want to do things your way.  It's like Burger King, "Have it your way."  That's all I want.  There have been quite a few times this week where I've felt neglected, ignored, and flat out forgotten.  My way might not always be best and it might not always be perfect, but there is reasoning behind it.  So could you PLEASSE just hear me out for two seconds?!  All the girl counselors want to dress like gangstas.  Now that's fine when you're a size 2 and want to throw on some baggy clothes and borrow your boyfriend's basketball shorts, but when your a fatty like me, you don't want to have to buy the extra large just to have some extra room and a new pair of shorts that you'll never wear again.  No.  I would like to wear the adorable floral dress that I bought forever ago with my cowboy boots.  I just want to wear something cute, do my hair all sweet and have some pretty make up on.  But no.  ALL of the girls are doing this gangsta thing.  Yet, no matter how many times everyone assures me that everyone is participating, I can't help but feel like it's just some ruse to make me look like a fool.  And ya know what? I don't like the way that feels.

Hiatus

So I know that Camp is all consuming and everything but...... A shooting in Norway, Amy Winehouse dying, something going on with the national debt, AND Borders is going out of business??? Seriously, I leave the real world for camp world for three weeks and THIS is what happens??!?!?!? GEEZE!!
I'll be back to blogging soon!!

This One Time at YAP Camp...

I am going to wholeheartedly apologize right now for the plethora of YAP camp stories that I'm going to be sharing.

So this camp is for Gifted and Talented kids and while I don't want to go too much into the logistics of our camp days and lives, it's basically like this:  We live in an off campus dorm, and each morning we take our kids to their class in the morning for a few hours, then go back to the dorm for lunch, then go back to class for another couple of hours and then come back for some downtime/group activity and then dinner and another activity or something. Then the counselors get together and we meet and then we have free time to dod whatever...a.k.a. sleep and go back home to get the things we forgot.
ANYWAY....
Before camp started, I made cupcakes as a "Welcome to Camp" surprise for the counselors.  This is what I ended up with:

Chocolate Cupcakes with a Whipped Chocolate Fudge Frosting 

I also made a fellow counselor a birthday cake this week.  I did the same chocolate cake that I used for the cupcakes, made the fudge frosting the filling and didn't make it as thick.  Then I iced it/decorated it with the basket weave that I learned as mentioned in a previous post with a blue tinted vanilla buttercream.  It was pretty tasty but I won't be posting any pictures because it was pretty messy.  A word of caution:  when piping buttercream, you want to make SURE that it is thin enough to pipe easily.  If not, you will not only take FOREVER, it'll make your hand hurt ridiculously badly the next day.  You can thin it out with water, or milk.  I used milk but not enough so it was still reallllllly thick.  

HOPEFULLY, I'll be able to post again fairly soon, but no promises because downtime is limited and mostly used for sleeping.

Stress Relievers

What do you do when you need to relieve stress?  My sister goes to the batting cages or goes to a pottery painting place. My mom quilts.  A few friends of mine go to the shooting range.  I've heard some people who swim or run to clear their minds and relieve stress.  Me? What do I do to relieve stress, you may ask. Well, I like to bake.  A lot of people say "The secret ingredient to excellent baking is L-O-V-E."  Well ***NEWS FLASH*** The real secret ingredient to baking is rage.  I do the best baking when I'm stressed and take my stress out in creamy, custardy, creme brulee and chocolate chip cookies.  My desserts come out well when I'm not stressed, but stress elevates it to the next level.  Whenever I get stressed I head to the kitchen and whip something up.  This weekend, I was a tad (read INCREDIBLY) stressed so my great friend Amy brought me to the bakery that she works at.  There, the bakery owner gave us a short tutorial on how to do a basket weave with icing on a cake.  In order to not waste cake, she gave us cake pans to practice on!  Here is my results:

Happy Fourth!

The Fourth of July is one of my most favorite childhood memories.  When I used to be a Yankee (in geography only NOT to be confused with a fan of that damn baseball team from New York), our town used to celebrate the Fourth of July for the holiday it truly is!  We're talking a parade with the LOUD fire trucks, flying candy, burgers, hot dogs, fireflies, flags, friends, families, and MOST importantly FIREWORKS.  I'm not talking the crappy ones you set off in your backyard here, we're talking about a fell fireworks display put on by the city.  Our house was situated in the PERFECT place so all we had to do was grab a picnic blanket or a lawn chair and throw it in the front lawn and we had the best seats in town.  We used to have my Aunt, Uncle and cousins from my Dad's side of the family, the neighbors as well as some family friends.  The kids used to light up sparklers and those popper things that explode when you throw them while the parents did whatever.  We would stay up late to see the full show and we never fought on the Fourth of July.  Since moving to Texas, I don't remember seeing fireworks besides the crappy ones that our annoying neighbors do.  This year, we had burgers and corn on the cob, no fireworks and let the evening pass as if it were just any other Monday night.  Drought restrictions suck :(