Behold... The Beluga Whale!!
I know you are all wondering about the title. Well Candie probably isn't but that's because she was my cohort in crime. But the title fits believe me. I had a week of bad ordeal after bad ordeal after bad ordeal! And it all really did start with a Beluga whale. Cute and sweet as those things may be... when used incorrectly they can cause a weeks worth of havoc. Lesson learned. Do not make fun of things that you aren't supposed to. You know like things that God himself has created!! And definitely don't go so far as to google pictures and share with your cohort!! And absolutely DO NOT include witty captions with the pictures! As funny as it was, and I will admit even after the hectic week I have had... I still giggle, but I will try my best to never ever poke fun of the Beluga whale or anything that may creepily resemble it!! :) Now onto that weeks worth of havoc and shall I say SEVERAL visits from that person we all know as KARMA!! But first I'll let you in on the good stuff! Just like any storm there is always those beautiful moments of absolute peace before the next wave hits!
Rootbeer Buttercream Icing
I just have to share this recipe. I love icing and I really love buttercream icing and one of my favorite things to do when I have time, money and it happens to be a splurge day (which is only once a month) is to experiment with different flavors of homemade buttercream icing. January's dessert splurge day was rootbeer. Here is the recipe so you too can splurge. And those of you who don't have a kitchen aide mixer... you really really SHOULD!! I know they are really expensive but I swear they are one of the best inventions EVER! As far as icing goes you can't get creamier. And not a single lump in my mashed potatoes. Sooooo GET ONE!!
Ingredients:
KITCHEN AIDE MIXER :)
1/2 - cup of solid vegetable shortening
1/2 - cup (or 1 stick) of butter, softened
1 - teaspoon of rootbeer extract (or like me... you can put any flavor extract you want!!)
4 - cups sifted powdered sugar
2 - tablespoons of milk
Directions:
In a mixing bowl with an electric mixer, cream shortening and butter. Make sure it is really creamy and kinda fluffy before moving on to the next step. Add vanilla and mix 20 more seconds. Gradually add sugar one cup at a time and beating really good before adding the next cup. Make sure to scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl often with a spoon or spatula. When all the sugar has been mixed in it will look kinda dry. Add the milk and mix until it is light and fluffy and creamy good.
I love HUGE page counts!!!
Luckily on Saturday my imaginary friends, Harlowe and Fletcher, came out to play. It's always fun when they do that of course but Saturday they were here for 11 pages. I can usually coax them out for 2 to 5 and on a really good day 6 but never more than that in one day. I had to take like 10 pictures before I got one that had all the words blurry. Technology today really drives me crazy when I'm actually trying to take a bad picture. The stuff on my screen isn't ready to be shared. Although I will give you a hint... It includes Harlowe, a rope, a can of gasoline and a chair! Hmmm... maybe I shouldn't watch BONES on the days I know Harlowe and Fletcher are stopping by. Just in case you guys haven't figured it out yet... My imaginary friends talk to me. They want me to write their story and I have decided to oblige them. I'm ready to get their story over with because Jordan has started visiting me also and he is just as insistant that his story be heard as well!!
Karma Pt. 1
How I know it was Karma caused by the beluga whale?? An hour or so after my ''fun'', the most important flash drive I own came up missing. I searched every little spot I had ever been in my entire life. This particular flash drive contains a year and several months worth of hard work. I was in major panic mode. I only save the 3 chapters I'm working on at the time to my computer. It may be chapters 3, 14, and 35. Not a book that will make. And even if I got the chapters that I have sent Candie, I would still have been missing more than 10 chapters. I knew in my heart if I never found that drive I would more than likely give up. It would have just been too great a loss. But after 4 days of searching I finally found it laying on the table out in the open like it had been there all the time. I know it couldn't have been. I searched a million times. I will never believe that it had been laying there the whole time. Junie would have been like,'' Hey Mandy is this it?" She has a special finder power. So I have my f drive back and I am not letting it out of my site. I am going to be getting another f drive just in case. I never want to experience that kind of panic again.
Karma Pt 2 & 3
So the day after the missing Flash drive, I find out that all my classes have been dropped for non payment and class registration was over except they were doing late registration (which they charge you a $20 fee for). Somehow my financial aid didn't get put in AGAIN!! 2 semesters in a row! I'm just glad it was done fast enough for me to still get some classes even though I ended up with an entirely different schedule... that's after I had bought the supplies for those other classes. After spending an ENTIRE and EXHAUSTING day sitting at the school talking to DIFFERENT people trying to get my stuff worked out things finally started looking up! It was an extremly long day and tears were involved. So pt 2... After getting everything worked out with my classes and financial aid I go down to the campus bookstore and round up 595$ worth of books for my new classes. Luckily I had gotten my financial aid worked out or it would have been $5.95 worth of books. Which may have gotten me a package of pencils. So after spending an hour waiting in line at the bookstore I go home with my new schedule and my new books!! I am a happy happy girl at this point. I get up early Friday morning and head to school for my first set of classes of 2012. I LOVED the classes so I'm like ok maybe this schedule thing was meant to be. My English professor was fun and upbeat and a lot like one of my English teachers from high school. So it was just an awesome first day even though I was a week behind the other students due to the whole schedule drop fiasco! Then I wake up on Saturday morning and I have an email in my student mail telling me my English course has been cancelled and I need to go back to the couseling center and get my schedule fixed becuase thanks to financial aid I have to have a certain amount of hours. This is just bad news since this was the class that I was the most excited about. Bummer. However when I called the bookstore to see if I could do something about the book I had bought I found out that I am going to have go and fight with them (I"ll let you know what happens next week) because even though I never got to use the book.... I opened the book so I won't get a full refund. I'll have to sell it back as a used book! I have no use for that book because the other English professor I'll hopefully be switching to doesn't use that book. And the book wont be used again after this semester. Soooo Monday morning I'm off to try to get another English course ( that I'll now be 2 weeks behind in) and to buy another 100$ book and to hopefully get my money back on the other. Karma is apparently still upset with me. I'm just hoping she doesn't make me name my first born Beluga!!
Bi-Weekly Book Review
Book one in the Lucky Harbor series. A series about 3 sisters and 3 best friends. This is a new author to me but she was recommended to me from an author I have loved for years. This author's writing style is a lot like my favorite author Nora Roberts who is amazing but she isn't putting out books fast enough for me since I am an extremely avid reader. So if you love Nora Roberts or Lisa Kleypas you will love Jill Shalvis' Simple Irresistible. The main characters are Maddie Moore and Jax Cullen. Maddie is the middle sister that just escaped an abusive relationship that had cost her her job. Now she's headed to a small coastal town to meet up with her sisters and look over their inheritance from their recently deceased mother. She's the sweet, quiet, clumsy peace maker that never stands up for herself and does everything to keep everyone happy. And she has given up men. Especially lawyers and lawyer types. Jax is the small town mayor, co owns a bar with one of his best friends, his other best friend is the sherriff, he owns a construction company and he used to be a big city lawyer. Plus he is well... a man. A gorgeous one. Basically everything on Maddie's "I don't think so list! I loved this book. It made me literally laugh out loud. And you can relate to each characters own personality and their individual problems. It's full of fun and you feel like you are actually reading about real people not the unbelievable ones authors sometimes dream up!! Soooo... If you are a reader, put it on your list!!
