… or haste makes waste, or I’m just getting more absent minded the older I get – pick your favorite cliché. On Tuesday (second to last day of October) I had to be at work until about 8:30 at night, so I didn’t go in to the office until about noon. I got about 3 of the things on my big list of stuff I thought I could cram into a morning off, done – although some were quite satisfying, like taking the big comforter for the guest room bed, that doesn’t fit into my washer in the basement, to the laundromat to get the cat hair off.
Later that night, I was feeling quite smug, because I did all the stuff on my list for the 9:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m. part of the day – carved my pumpkin and baked a birthday cake for Al.
But – I made an Obama pumpkin, like I did in 2008 – the only year that my pumpkin has been stolen off the porch. The 2012 edition is a little battered, and I had to use a toothpick to hold the sunrise together – I guess that’s just how we are in 2012. And I jabbed my finger with the toothpick.
My slightly battered Obama ’12 pumpkin
And – I reversed the proportions of baking soda and baking powder in the cake – it didn’t blow up in the oven, but I am afraid it will taste too soda-y, like old corn bread. And we haven’t cut it yet, because Al was too tired (and so was I) to come over on Halloween night to eat it – so I think we’re probably increasing the chances that it’ll taste like a cake with too much baking soda.
Al’s 24th birthday cake
And – later on Halloween night, in anticipation of Thursday – trash day – I ended up throwing out leftovers: half a pan of squash from the school woods anniversary dinner, that I’d topped with breadcrumbs & cheese – it was good, but getting old, and I think might’ve been responsible for my not-quite-right tummy Weds. (that and I’m getting a cold); about 1/3 a pan of the the broccoli-cheese casserole from How To Eat Supper that I usually like so much – again good, but getting old and starting to stink up the fridge with that old broccoli smell; and a pan of 3 (small) hamburger & rice stuffed peppers that we enjoyed the first time around but probably would never have eaten again. I left all the dishes in the sink, and didn’t wash them till morning.
Al’s 24th b-day cake with two slices out
And, PS – we cut the cake finally last night and it was good – not soda-y at all. Mark had his with ice cream and mentioned again this morning how good it was. Although – Saturday half the cake finally went into the trash, too – the raspberry jam filling was turning grey. All weekend when I stepped on the lever to drop something else into the kitchen trash can, there it was, looking sad & grey.
