Adams Birthday Cake

Yes, his birthday was two weeks ago, but i said previously, I promised him a cake.  And not just any cake, schwarzwälder kirschtorte.  He loves this cake. I think mostly because there’s booze in it, but it really is a wonderfully schrumpshish treat.

I’ve only made this cake twice.  after our Honeymoon to Germany and never finding anything as good as what Gabi had made when I first went to Germany, I began looking for recipes.  Also my mom was coming to visit for her birthday and I knew she enjoyed it so I thought I’d make it for her.  But first i had to do a test run, which was a major success and hit with Adam and our test dummies Tara & Alex.

With Adam coming, and staying, home today it was time to make his cake.  After work I headed to Publix, in the rain, to get what i needed.  As i rolled into the canned fruit aisle i found that there were only two cans of cherries left! Dinged up dented cans, but i needed to so I grabbed them and moved on.  Then i got to the dairy section and realized there was 1 bottle of butter milk left!  Man, talk about lucky!  After grabbing the rest of my ingredients and some red wine I headed home to begin the long process of making this cake.

First thing of course is to mix your dry ingredients. Wait…did you think i was going to give you the recipe? Ha! I may have already in an earlier post, but this time…you’re going to have to come over to try it. This is my 3rd time and it’s officially my “thing”. Anyway, so i do the dry ingredients and go to the butter, (or is it shortening? I'm sneaky) sugar part and i realize we are out of sugar!! UGGGGGG I have 1/4 cup LESS than i need. So i turn off the oven and the apron and hop in the car for a trip to 7-11. Luckily they have sugar and it’s not $10/lb.

Back at home I finish up the cake. While it cooks i do my 1st sink of dishes then curl up on the couch with my wine and the new issue of Redbook that just came in the mail.  40 minutes later cakes done, time to cool.  20 minutes later I try to take them out of the pans…Tampa we have a problem. The top of one cake has decided to stick to the wire rack and break up. Not good when 2 cake need to become 4.  So i smoosh it together and let if finish cooling.

Another 20 minutes pass and it’s now time to slice and soak.  This is where the booze comes in and the part that i realize I probably should have bought more Kirsch. Luckily i have just enough thanks to the 1/2 pint Adam bought before our trip up to the tallest point in eastern Switzerland.  Which by the way was passed among us and our friends…germs…nah.

Next comes the filling.  This requires 1 tsp strong brewed coffee.  Remember I gave up coffee. Well I still have it in the house so i pull out the espresso maker and make a pot to get 1 measly tsp.  With the coffee made and the filling complete I begin to assemble this leaning tower of  Tampa cake.  It goes cake, filling (which is sticky and thick) cherries then cake….three times. 

After that it’s time to wash the KitchenAid for a 2nd time, yes this is a 3 time mixer washing cake!  I whip up the 2 cups of heavy cream, add some more kirsch and finish by frosting the tops & sides.  Good thing there’s extra cause a large blob lands on my foot and I get to lick the spoon, but not my foot-that’s gross. 

Finally it’s time to make the cake pretty. Any left over cherries are added and some chocolate is shaved on top.  It’s not the prettiest looking cake, but trust me when i tell you it is good!  If you’re in town this weekend please come over and have a slice.  Just be warned: German rule-You should be tipsy when you stand after eating a piece.  That or you’ll have the sugar shakes.

Happy 32nd Birthday Adam! Now hurry up and get home so you can eat this cake!!

Is your mouth watering yet?

Day 4…

Of no caffeine.

After hearing from my dr. for the umpteenth time that caffeine effects my breast tissue, hence the fibroids and biopsy, I’ve decided maybe I should cut it out.  I (we) also thought it was smart so that when I do get pregnant it will be easier now than then. (Mom even repeated this too) NOW I can take ibuprofen for my headaches, THEN I won’t be able to. 

Day 1 was hard, cause I was tired from our trip. And I had a headache all day long.

Day 2 I had a killer headache that wouldn’t go away and I had a soar throat and thought I was getting sick.  I also felt myself getting really annoyed with my coworkers and on the verge of snapping at them! yikes!

Day 3 still had that lingering headache, but had a good nights sleep (Nyquil!) and didn’t fall asleep at my desk.

Day 4 I made it to the end of the week! And I actually feel pretty good! I didn’t have trouble getting out of bed this morning-which is rare.  Best part, I didn’t wake up with a headache. 

Now just so you don’t think I’m this big crack-caffeine addict, I don’t drink a lot of coffee.  I have 1, ONE, cup (8oz) of coffee a day at work. Then, sometimes I’ll have another at 3pm.  And that’s it. I don’t drink Coke or Pepsi or dr. Pepper. I don’t drink a lot of tea and I definitely don’t eat a lot of chocolate. So my caffeine intake isn’t all that bad.

I am drinking de-caf. I do LOVE the taste of coffee, decaf isn’t as good, but it provides me my warm up cup of java I need to kick start my day of sitting 9 hrs in front of a computer…

Next week should be even better than this.

I almost lost a boob

If you don’t know, I have a issue with anxiety & pain. I tend to get really nervous and freak out if I know something's going to hurt.
Yep, I’m a big Baby.
So this week I had to go in for a mammogram.
I’ve done it before-and was really surprised how much it didn’t hurt.  After all the horror stories you hear I expected to be in tears. But I wasn’t, maybe it’s because I don’t have much to squish, I don’t know. But anyway the LAST time I went in after it was done I was so relieved I started to black out. My vision went spotty, I couldn’t hear and I was close to falling down. But the nice tech helped sit down and all was good.
Well, this time I went in I was NOT nervous, I knew what to expect and that it wouldn't hurt all that bad.  Then the women says we’ll do the right one first. “What? It’s the left one with the lump” I tell her. And she explains that my dr. wrote the RX for BOTH. “Oh”  Well better safe then sorry, I guess we’re doing both.
So the first two go fine, no biggie, I can do this. I’m almost 33 years old. Grownup Then she does the 45 degree one and I feel a pinch of pain. Ouch.
Then it hits me.
I start seeing stars.
Blood drains from my head.
I breakout in a cold sweat.
I’m getting woozy.
And my right breast is clamped in the machine!
I tell the lady I think I'm passing out and she quickly releases me and sits me down.
( I must note here that it doesn’t help that they tell you to hold your breath when they snap the image…because I’ve been holding my breath the whole time!)
So I sit in the chair with my right breast just hanging out of my gown embarrassed that I caused such a scene. After a while the Tech asks me how I’m doing and I tell her I’m slowly getting back to normal. She looks at the machine then at the chair and says, I think we can do this sitting down.
Thank God!
Cause honestly I think if I had to do it standing up again, I would definitely end up hanging by my boob as I pass out. Not a pretty picture.
Luckily, the chair worked. I got my right side and left side done like a champ.  Even when she used the little paddle. (that one hurts the most!)
Unfortunately I have to go back for a biopsy, just to be safe.  But again I’ve been there, done that, and it’s not that bad.  The lump is Fibroadenomas and it’s pretty common and harmless as long as it doesn’t change. So we’ll go the safe route and make sure I’m all good.
Ah another joy of being a women.

And he’s gone….

Adam left again for California this morning. We just got back on Monday night from NC. He’s been  home, awake, maybe 10 hours in the last 3 weeks.  It’s a quick trip and he’ll be back on Friday night and hopefully this will be the last of it for a while and we’ll be able to spend some time together. Because out side of our 18 hours in the car this last weekend, we have haven’t had a moment, just the two of us, since mid august.  Luckily we’ll have Saturday, to celebrate his birthday (I’m making a cake) and spend some time with our poor dogs, whom I think, think that Adam has abandoned them.  We miss our man.

I’m officially on Drugs…

At my last check up at the drs. I left with a load of Rx’s. 

One of which was for Clomid.

It’s a fertility drug that’s supposed to boost ovulation, in short, get you knocked up.

After receiving positive results from my blood work and my HSG Dr. Perkins said this was the next step.  That and getting Adam tested (I had a Rx for him too)

So with detailed instructions, I began the 5 day dosage on Saturday.  Luckily I didn’t notice any side effects, which are said to be like PMS.  The only other BIG side effects is multiples. As in more than one baby, if pregnancy is achieved.  While I have a bunch of friends rooting for this it is actually not that common and only happens like 1% of the time. I told the dr. as long as I don’t end up with a litter I’m fine with taking it.

Adam went in for his testing and those results will be ready in a week or so.  And well, we’ll just have to wait and see if my new drug does the trick.

I had a hard time with deciding to take the drug.  I always said, even before Adam came along, that I’d have as many children as God saw fit.  And well, taking something like this, to me seems like acting like god. It just doesn’t seem natural. But Adam pointed out that my parents had to take medicine to get Joseph (that’s why he’s so slow!! ).  And then you have to look at all the unhappy, unhealthy crack addicts that get knocked up every other year and raise children in a way no one should be raised.  I realized that if God really doesn't want it to happen, he won’t let it happen, with or with out drugs.  So I popped my first pill and said a little prayer. 

Here’s to 1 maybe….2 babies, but again, that’s all in God’s hands.

I’ve Survived

Adam comes home tomorrow night. And boy am I ready to have him back. It’s the little things I’ve missed the most.  I’ve been fine walking the dogs 3xs a day ( I usually do only 1x) I haven’t had to make dinner ( unless you call a loaf of French bread and a wedge of brie dinner). I did find some upsides to him not being home:  I can listen to country music all I want and I can set the air to 80 degrees.  And I can sleep on “his” side of the bed. Which has been a minor debate since we got married.  Maybe I can pretend he’s still gone and keep sleeping there when he gets back, maybe he won’t notice…

So what have I been doing?

Watching Madmen, Sewing and Seeing friends.  The 10 days have gone by pretty quickly. I have one more night to finish up my projects and do some laundry before I have to pack us up for our NC trip on Friday.   I’ll be more then happy when I see him emerge from the tram tomorrow night and I don’t look forward to the next time he goes away, but now that I’ve done it I know I’ll be able to do it again. Before we met I was very independent, and still am to an extent, but I would just much rather go through life, however uneventful, with my partner besides me. 

Fly home safe honey, and don’t forget to stretch.

It’s A Girl!

Baby Zoe finally made herself known late last night.  I was certain she was a boy, but Adam was right on when he guessed girl.

She was born 8lbs11oz at 10:09 pm August 25. 

We are very excited to make the long trip next Friday and go meet her!!

Isn’t she gorgeous.