Lot o'crap
Lots has been going on since I last posted, not surprisingly! Should I continue from where I left or go from today back? I guess it would be easier to understand the first way, so here goes.
Obviously, Dustin and Stephanie got married, that is kind of cool I guess. There wedding was actually very nice and I had a good time. Everyone really loved the cake and the mini cakes! The minis did look very awesome, if I do say so myself. If I had a brain, I could post it here, but I don't know how, maybe one of my friends will tell me so I can. :) After the wedding, we went on mini vacation to the coast for 4 days and stayed in a cabin at Seaside with Tyler's parents and his brother and their family. That was a bunch of fun. I really like Tyler's family, and his brother's kids are so cool. Amy (my SIL) is so awesome, I wish we lived closer because she is seriously one of the most cool fun people I know. So that was the coast, it was lots of fun.
Then a few weeks ago, I had a wedding cake to make. It was for Jennifer's friend's friend (if that make's any sense). I didn't know the lady at all. So I met with her to come up with a cake design, and she says her colors are pink and gold. She looks through a bunch of cake books and picks out elements of several cakes that she likes and wants to put them together. I would like to add at this point, that she was a cheapskate, and I should have turned down the cake, but I did not because I wanted the experience. I got more than I bargained for. So the cake was to be 4 tiered, white. The bottom tier would be seperated from the next with pillars, and the 3 and 2 cakes would be stacked, and the top would also be on pillars. Then the cake was to have a buttercream ribbon/ruffle around the base, with a gold bead boarder atop that. Then I was to make some light pink flowers for each tier, 1 on the first, 2 on the second, etc. And the top was to have royal frosting swans cause she was too cheap to buy a cake topper. Then she wanted the flavors of the cake to be (bottom to top) chocolate chip cake with chocolate filling, chocolate cake with raspberry filling, vanilla cake with raspberry filling, and the top tier chocolate chip cake with chocolate filling again. I should have charged more for the flavors of cake (cause chocolate chip cake is expensive to make) but I did not.I did charge for the flowers and the swans though, but not enough. I was afraid of losing the cake, so I undercharged like I usually do. Anyway, the day of the wedding came, and I made the cake and delivered it. It looks hideous, no kidding. It is seriously one of the ugliest cakes I have ever seen, but it is not the workmanship that is poor, it is the design, but there is nothing to be done about it, so I set the cake up and left. I was hoping she would like it and it was just me, because it was what she had asked for, and she had picked the design, etc. I hear from her about a week later. She said, and I quote, "That cake was so ugly, when I saw it I almost shit my pants because of how ugly it was." She then proceeded to tell me all the things that were wrong with the cake, it wasn't white, the flowers were not pink, the ribbon was wrong, that's about it. She wants to know what I'm gonna do about it, I tell her I will call her back later that day after I think about it for a bit. So I call Jenn, Tyler, my mom, and poll them on what they think I should do. They uninamiously said I should not give a refund at all. So I also poll That Cake Board, who has a mixed response, but several people also said no refund or a small refund. So I decide I will write her a letter explaining no refund and why. Tyler says no, that is a bad idea, you should just call her. I tell him I don't want to call her, she is going to yell at me (and yes, I am a big baby when it comes to being yelled at, those of you who know me well, know this). I want to write her a letter, but Tyler keeps saying not to, so I do nothing instead. She calls me EVERY DAY, but I did not answer the phone. Eventually, I hear from Jenn, who has heard from her friend that this chick is gonna sue me if I don't call her. I tell Jenn, she'll sue me anyway, but I'll call her to get everyone else to quit bugging me (ie Tyler and Jenn). So I call her and she tells me she wants a FULL refund. I tell her no. She says she's gonna sue me. I say ok, here's my address and information. That was pretty much the last I've heard. Now, this has only been about 4 days ago at this point. Who knows if she will actually sue me, but I'm guessing she will. I just hope I don't have to refund her money. BTW, her cake was white, the flowers were pink, and although the ruffle was not exactly as it was in the picture, she KNEW that I am not a professional and that she was getting a cheap cake. It was only my 4th wedding cake for goodness sake. Oh well.
During all of this crap above though, I have my own insanity to deal with. I entered the baked stuff into the state fair. 40 baked items, 20 preserved items, and 3 decorated cakes. Yes, it is a lot, but I wanted to compete for the grand prize. I don't think I won it though, my jams/jellies did not do so well. I only got 2 blue ribbons in those. I don't know what I'm doing wrong, but hopefully they left notes on the judging cards for me to figure it out. As for the baked goods, I saw those today and I think I got 10 blue ribbons, 9 second place, and 2 or 3 third place. I cannot remember though, and those numbers may be off a bit. As well, I got 2 blue ribbons for the decorated cakes (one of those a judges choice, the other a special award), and the third got third place. So that is pretty cool. I know I won a few things at least, if not the grand prize. :) Maybe next year (or the following if I take a break next year). Anyway, so all of that is done now too. I turned it all in on Wednesday.
And medically, my hair is falling out. It is quite lovely. I began to realize it a few months ago, but last month it was becoming very noticable, so I quit taking a medication that I have been on for 9 months cause I thought that might be causing it. My hair continues to fall out at the same pace, so I no longer think it was that medicaiton. Really, I need to see my doctor. But I keep forgetting to make an appointment. I will try to remember that monday...
Natalia starts in preschool again in a few weeks. I am VERY excited for this. We have been cooped up all summer, and although we have done SOME things, it is not nearly enough to keep us both happy and undestructive. So, my house looks like a cyclone hit it because of the fair stuff and Natalia just having a great time being unsupervised enough. She's messy enough without me being distracted, lol. So school will be very nice for her, she will have people to play with and to talk to that are her age. I am so excited for her this year. She also had another speech evaluation about a week ago, and they referred us to some speech therapists, which is good. Now I need to make her an appointment to begin treatment again. She is doing so much better, but she still has difficulty speaking and being understood. As well, she has comprehension problems still, but they also seem to be improving. I asked the speech therapist if they thought she has any signs of autism and the lady said definately not. So that is good at least. But no one knows if she will out grow this delay or not. It is all very frustrating.
Also, I think we may be going to Reno again soon. Maybe in about 2 weeks. That will be loads of fun. We have to decide if we are taking Natalia with us or not. I want to take her, Tyler not, lol. I think she will have fun at Circus Circus, and really, the only thing we can't do with her is gamble, which we shouldn't do anyway, so big deal. I don't know, it will have to be decided soon though.
Oh, and we've decided to get a dog. Natalia needs a playmate, and since the second kid thing seems like an impossibility, a puppy is our next option. :) We are trying to decide on a dog breed, Tyler wants a Norwegian Elkhound, I want a Beagle. The elkhound is fine except that they are extremely rare, especially around here, and I think it will be next to impossible to find one. Beagles are much more common, and are smaller, they are extremely good with kids (so are elkhounds). And Snoopy was a beagle! I would also go for a Collie (lassie dog), or a Cocker Spaniel. Tyler hate's spaniels though, and thinks collies are too hairy (too hairy, HA! the elkhound is just as hairy, lol). So that is the debate. Tomorrow we are going to see an elkhound breeder, but she currently does not have puppies. Hopefully she will be able to tell us of other breeders and where to get a dog. I want to get a dog so bad! Tyler is being way to methodical about this, it's a dog for goodness sake! Anyway, we hope to have a doggy in about a month or less (if it was up to me, we would have had it 2 weeks ago). I am excited about the dog thing as well. I have wanted a dog for a very long time now, so this would be awesome.
Ok, and that is the recap of the last month and a half. I hope I did not forget anything important. :)
Obviously, Dustin and Stephanie got married, that is kind of cool I guess. There wedding was actually very nice and I had a good time. Everyone really loved the cake and the mini cakes! The minis did look very awesome, if I do say so myself. If I had a brain, I could post it here, but I don't know how, maybe one of my friends will tell me so I can. :) After the wedding, we went on mini vacation to the coast for 4 days and stayed in a cabin at Seaside with Tyler's parents and his brother and their family. That was a bunch of fun. I really like Tyler's family, and his brother's kids are so cool. Amy (my SIL) is so awesome, I wish we lived closer because she is seriously one of the most cool fun people I know. So that was the coast, it was lots of fun.
Then a few weeks ago, I had a wedding cake to make. It was for Jennifer's friend's friend (if that make's any sense). I didn't know the lady at all. So I met with her to come up with a cake design, and she says her colors are pink and gold. She looks through a bunch of cake books and picks out elements of several cakes that she likes and wants to put them together. I would like to add at this point, that she was a cheapskate, and I should have turned down the cake, but I did not because I wanted the experience. I got more than I bargained for. So the cake was to be 4 tiered, white. The bottom tier would be seperated from the next with pillars, and the 3 and 2 cakes would be stacked, and the top would also be on pillars. Then the cake was to have a buttercream ribbon/ruffle around the base, with a gold bead boarder atop that. Then I was to make some light pink flowers for each tier, 1 on the first, 2 on the second, etc. And the top was to have royal frosting swans cause she was too cheap to buy a cake topper. Then she wanted the flavors of the cake to be (bottom to top) chocolate chip cake with chocolate filling, chocolate cake with raspberry filling, vanilla cake with raspberry filling, and the top tier chocolate chip cake with chocolate filling again. I should have charged more for the flavors of cake (cause chocolate chip cake is expensive to make) but I did not.I did charge for the flowers and the swans though, but not enough. I was afraid of losing the cake, so I undercharged like I usually do. Anyway, the day of the wedding came, and I made the cake and delivered it. It looks hideous, no kidding. It is seriously one of the ugliest cakes I have ever seen, but it is not the workmanship that is poor, it is the design, but there is nothing to be done about it, so I set the cake up and left. I was hoping she would like it and it was just me, because it was what she had asked for, and she had picked the design, etc. I hear from her about a week later. She said, and I quote, "That cake was so ugly, when I saw it I almost shit my pants because of how ugly it was." She then proceeded to tell me all the things that were wrong with the cake, it wasn't white, the flowers were not pink, the ribbon was wrong, that's about it. She wants to know what I'm gonna do about it, I tell her I will call her back later that day after I think about it for a bit. So I call Jenn, Tyler, my mom, and poll them on what they think I should do. They uninamiously said I should not give a refund at all. So I also poll That Cake Board, who has a mixed response, but several people also said no refund or a small refund. So I decide I will write her a letter explaining no refund and why. Tyler says no, that is a bad idea, you should just call her. I tell him I don't want to call her, she is going to yell at me (and yes, I am a big baby when it comes to being yelled at, those of you who know me well, know this). I want to write her a letter, but Tyler keeps saying not to, so I do nothing instead. She calls me EVERY DAY, but I did not answer the phone. Eventually, I hear from Jenn, who has heard from her friend that this chick is gonna sue me if I don't call her. I tell Jenn, she'll sue me anyway, but I'll call her to get everyone else to quit bugging me (ie Tyler and Jenn). So I call her and she tells me she wants a FULL refund. I tell her no. She says she's gonna sue me. I say ok, here's my address and information. That was pretty much the last I've heard. Now, this has only been about 4 days ago at this point. Who knows if she will actually sue me, but I'm guessing she will. I just hope I don't have to refund her money. BTW, her cake was white, the flowers were pink, and although the ruffle was not exactly as it was in the picture, she KNEW that I am not a professional and that she was getting a cheap cake. It was only my 4th wedding cake for goodness sake. Oh well.
During all of this crap above though, I have my own insanity to deal with. I entered the baked stuff into the state fair. 40 baked items, 20 preserved items, and 3 decorated cakes. Yes, it is a lot, but I wanted to compete for the grand prize. I don't think I won it though, my jams/jellies did not do so well. I only got 2 blue ribbons in those. I don't know what I'm doing wrong, but hopefully they left notes on the judging cards for me to figure it out. As for the baked goods, I saw those today and I think I got 10 blue ribbons, 9 second place, and 2 or 3 third place. I cannot remember though, and those numbers may be off a bit. As well, I got 2 blue ribbons for the decorated cakes (one of those a judges choice, the other a special award), and the third got third place. So that is pretty cool. I know I won a few things at least, if not the grand prize. :) Maybe next year (or the following if I take a break next year). Anyway, so all of that is done now too. I turned it all in on Wednesday.
And medically, my hair is falling out. It is quite lovely. I began to realize it a few months ago, but last month it was becoming very noticable, so I quit taking a medication that I have been on for 9 months cause I thought that might be causing it. My hair continues to fall out at the same pace, so I no longer think it was that medicaiton. Really, I need to see my doctor. But I keep forgetting to make an appointment. I will try to remember that monday...
Natalia starts in preschool again in a few weeks. I am VERY excited for this. We have been cooped up all summer, and although we have done SOME things, it is not nearly enough to keep us both happy and undestructive. So, my house looks like a cyclone hit it because of the fair stuff and Natalia just having a great time being unsupervised enough. She's messy enough without me being distracted, lol. So school will be very nice for her, she will have people to play with and to talk to that are her age. I am so excited for her this year. She also had another speech evaluation about a week ago, and they referred us to some speech therapists, which is good. Now I need to make her an appointment to begin treatment again. She is doing so much better, but she still has difficulty speaking and being understood. As well, she has comprehension problems still, but they also seem to be improving. I asked the speech therapist if they thought she has any signs of autism and the lady said definately not. So that is good at least. But no one knows if she will out grow this delay or not. It is all very frustrating.
Also, I think we may be going to Reno again soon. Maybe in about 2 weeks. That will be loads of fun. We have to decide if we are taking Natalia with us or not. I want to take her, Tyler not, lol. I think she will have fun at Circus Circus, and really, the only thing we can't do with her is gamble, which we shouldn't do anyway, so big deal. I don't know, it will have to be decided soon though.
Oh, and we've decided to get a dog. Natalia needs a playmate, and since the second kid thing seems like an impossibility, a puppy is our next option. :) We are trying to decide on a dog breed, Tyler wants a Norwegian Elkhound, I want a Beagle. The elkhound is fine except that they are extremely rare, especially around here, and I think it will be next to impossible to find one. Beagles are much more common, and are smaller, they are extremely good with kids (so are elkhounds). And Snoopy was a beagle! I would also go for a Collie (lassie dog), or a Cocker Spaniel. Tyler hate's spaniels though, and thinks collies are too hairy (too hairy, HA! the elkhound is just as hairy, lol). So that is the debate. Tomorrow we are going to see an elkhound breeder, but she currently does not have puppies. Hopefully she will be able to tell us of other breeders and where to get a dog. I want to get a dog so bad! Tyler is being way to methodical about this, it's a dog for goodness sake! Anyway, we hope to have a doggy in about a month or less (if it was up to me, we would have had it 2 weeks ago). I am excited about the dog thing as well. I have wanted a dog for a very long time now, so this would be awesome.
Ok, and that is the recap of the last month and a half. I hope I did not forget anything important. :)