piece of cake anyone?

so there have been a ton of thoughts whirling around my head lately.
but i figured it was time for a fun story!

i mean, really.
it's time.

there was this kinda strange gathering that was happening.
strange because.....well.....because it was happening in the first place.

i'm normally an introvert and shy. and on top of that wayyyyyyy too busy to
really squeeze in a heck of a lotta extra stuff.

and then if it's thru bone sighs, i get really antsy about that kinda thing.
cause people seem to always expect me to be something different than i am.
altho, i gotta say, facebook has helped that a lot. i don't hear it as much
as i used to. but it makes me a bit antsy, so i shy away from it because of
that as well.

but here it was.
a gathering.
happening.
at my place.
and josh's place!!

some people i knew thru bone sighs and the computer were coming here
to meet up in person.

they came from all over....idaho, ohio, pennsylvania, even canada........
none of us had ever met in person.

i thought it'd be really nice to make a 'welcome' cake.

now.
we gotta be clear here.
my cake baking history is a bit um.......well.....tarnished.
my sons laugh and roll their eyes when i'm going to make one
because they usually come out kinda slanted or crooked or dented or something.

(at least they don't beg me NOT to make them like they do when i say i'll
make brownies!!)

but! there had been several occasions lately for me to make a cake....
three times, in fact, and each time the cake came out BEAUTIFULLY.
one could go wild and say 'perfect.'

(and just so you know....i'm not talking making a cake from scratch.
oh no, that's yet a whole different story department! i mean from the BOX!)

so, okay, i made three beautiful cakes within two months.
i considered myself a pro now.
i considered those slanted dented caved in days now past.

and well.........i guess i got too cocky.
cause....um..........

as i tried to ice the cake it didn't go too well.
the icing was too thick.
i tried to smear that stuff all over that darn cake.
and it just wasn't smearing.
you know how you can get a few of the cake crumbs in the frosting?
well......i made it look like the cake crumbs were part of the frosting.
i had so many of 'em in there.

i was okay with that.
it was speckled.
had a bit of a gourmet look.

but it was when i kinda took a hunk outta the top, i realized i was in big trouble.

i hollered from my place in the kitchen, still trying to smear frosting around...
'ZAKK! I THINK I NEED YOU TO RUN DOWN AND GET US A CAKE!!'

i heard laughter from around the corner as the guys came in to see what i had done.

noah, with the straightest face ever said 'oh we can fix that.'

now, i gotta tell you.....it was already a heap of a mess.....but with that straight,
serious face, i actually believed him.

'we just need to soften the frosting' he said calmly.
(that's noah's strongest trait.....his calm patient demeanor)

and then he offered to go get the blow dryer.

'the blow dryer???' my eyes got big.

'sure' he said patiently, and went off to the hall closet to get it.

zakk was just standing there with a smirk on his face watching the action.
but then the phone rang.
knowing it was josh, i said 'zakk can you grab that, tell him i'm in the
middle of a cake crisis, okay?'

still smirking, zakk picks up the phone and starts laughing as he tells josh
that noah and i are blow drying the cake. (which we had started to do at this point.)

the icing was melting a bit, and it could spread just fine.

noah had a satisfied smile on his face and i just kept smearing that stuff around.

hmmmmm.........it worked! (kinda)

'perfect! just needs a little candy corn, and the word 'welcome' on it, and we'll
be as good as ever!' i exclaimed as noah started wrapping the cord around the
blow dryer.

i looked at the cake. hmmmmmmmmmm.....let me start with the writing.
i wrote the word 'welcome' and then moved onto the candy corn.

hmmmmmm.......what exactly should i do with the candy corn??
i got it in the first place cause there's something wrong with me.
i can't pass a bag of candy corn without feeling the need to buy it.
i don't even like candy corn.
but i sorta think i do every time i buy the darn stuff.
it's memories.
and i love it.
even tho i hate it.
and i gotta have it.
even tho, let's face it.......it's not really good for a whole lot....

so there i stood poppin' candy corn around the top of the cake.
'kinda like a sun' i said hoping to convince myself.

'okay, not really like a sun' i said after i had finished.
i sprinkled the extra around the bottom as i threw a few in my mouth.

uh oh.
i stopped in mid-chew.

there was this kinda flattened spot of the cake.
kinda like the bad spot of a christmas tree. ya know?
you know the side you always put towards the wall?
well this side shoulda been put towards the back.

uh oh.

too late.
i had it front and center unless you wanted to read
'welcome' upside down.

hmmmmmmmm.....
okay.
okay.
it's not so bad, i told myself as i stood back and cocked my head.
and closed an eye.

it'll be a good story.

ahem.

people arrived.
we got to know each other a bit.....

and then........it came time for the cake.
as i brought it out to this gang of people i didn't know,
i started telling the story of the cake.
as i was in mid-story, a side fell over.

plop.
right on over.

i never saw a cake do that before.

ooops.

i mushed it back up. stuck some candy corns there.
you couldn't tell if you closed your eyes a bit.....

someone took a picture of it and showed me.
i fell on the couch laughing so hard i cried.

someone mentioned facebook.

'NOOOOOOOO' i screamed.
'NOOOOOO FACEBOOK'

and i fell back and laughed some more knowing full well it was
gonna be up in no time! (it's now my profile picture!)

we decided to eat it later that nite.
in the dark.
around a campfire.
thought maybe that'd help a little bit.

and i think it did.

turns out, the cake was one of my highlights of the whole visit.

it was the moment i laughed so hard i cried.
and it was all about seeing the total humor in the situation......
and bringing that thing out even tho it looked like it did.
cause it didn't matter.

i've come a long way.
i never ever would have done that years ago.
i woulda hid it and bought another one....

cause somehow it woulda embarrassed me.

i think living with my sons and being with that guy of mine has helped
me so much with this stuff. they find the humor in so much stuff and
they don't care if they mess up.

they've been teaching me.
so well so that it turned out to be one of my favorite moments.

and yes...of course.........i HAVE to share the picture with you.........

here it is.....
think twice before you ever suggest meeting me.

i may bake you a cake.