Keeping My Promise

Italian Cream Cake

Cake:
2 sticks butter, softened
2 cups granulated sugar
5 eggs, separated
1 tsp. baking soda
1 cup buttermilk
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 small can coconut
1 cup pecans, chopped fine

Cream Cheese Frosting:
Two 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened
2 sticks butter, softened
2 boxes of 1 lb size powdered sugar (32 ozs)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
(may halve this if making a sheet cake)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour three 9 inch (or a 10x14) cake pans.

Cream the butter and sugar together until fluffy. Add the egg yolks and mix well. Stir the baking soda into the buttermilk. Add flour to the butter mixture alternating with the buttermilk, beginning and ending with the flour. Mix well after each addition.
Stir in vanilla, coconut and pecans. Fold in stiffly beaten egg whites. Pour into prepared pans and bake for 25 mins. ( About 45 mins for sheet cake). Cool pans on a rack for 10 mins then remove from pans. Invert on a rack and turn right side up to cool thoroughly before frosting.

Frosting:
Cream the cream cheese and butter together until thoroughly mixed. Gradually beat in the remaining ingredients. Spread between the layers of cooled cake and then frost the top and sides.

This is very caloric and unbelievably scrumptious. Enjoy!

Jordan

I finally have an idea who this Katie Price (aka. Jordan) is.

Here lately i've been seeing her all over the net and tabloids but yet I had NO idea why we should be excited to see her or even give two craps what she's up to. Other than her big ol boobies... what's so special?

She's just someone who has been made famous by her looks and being a little bit of a rebel. She's British goods....

Katie Price (born Katarina Alexandra Infield on May 22, 1978) is an English glamour model, television personality, magazine columnist and businesswoman commonly known as Jordan. She is mainly known for her large surgically enhanced breasts, and her personal life is regularly featured in British tabloids and celebrity-based magazines.

I Like Tootsie Roll Pops

Thats just too funny....

Our office was on our way back from the funeral services of our 'gonnamisshimsomuch' boss, and I was telling Teresa how I hope this weekend that our soccer games dont get cancelled again because of weather. She had no idea we were in for lots of rain and possiblities of snow in some parts and just an overall crummy Friday/Saturday, and I thought 'I'll blog it'.

I started to type and for some reason checked the site real quick and Circe had posted about the weather! Great minds think alike!

Our soccer season hasnt gotten off to a real good start. More games than not, have been cancelled (postponed - because we will be playing them later) due to weather. They've started rescheduling them and we're playing deep into June which means hot, sweaty weather. This is the middle of April and we're not supposed to be digging out wool blankets and wearing four layers of clothing (we did last weekend during the soccer games and still froze our booties off). It should be nice spring weather! Is this an indicator of summer weather? Will it be chaotic too and lordy... just nasty hot?!?

I haven't been a woman of many words this week... I have lots of thoughts, but for some reason can't get them down in words.

One Thought... who the hell is Imus (sp?) and what the heck did he say to piss everyone off so bad!? And honestly, did he do something so terrible to warrant being fired?

This may be cold but... sticks and stones may break my bones, but words may never harm me.

Didn't they ever learn that in grade school?!?

Rain, Snow, Pestilence

"TONIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY MORNING... RAIN AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL INCREASE ACROSS MUCH OF THE AREA. A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE... AND SOME STORMS MAY PRODUCE HEAVY DOWNPOURS.
FRIDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING... THE STAGE WILL BE SET FOR A POTENTIALLY SIGNIFICANT SEVERE WEATHER OUTBREAK FROM EASTERN TEXAS INTO THE ARKLATEX REGION. TORNADOES... VERY LARGE HAIL... AND DAMAGING THUNDERSTORM WINDS WILL BE POSSIBLE FROM AROUND THE GAINESVILLE AND DALLAS FORT WORTH AREAS EASTWARD AND SOUTHWARD. A SURFACE LOW WILL MOVE EAST ACROSS FAR SOUTHERN OKLAHOMA OR EXTREME NORTHERN TEXAS... ALONG A WARM FRONT THAT WILL MOVE NORTH TO NEAR THE RED RIVER AND EASTWARD ACROSS SOUTHERN ARKANSAS BY EARLY FRIDAY EVENING. A DRY LINE WILL EXTEND SOUTH FROM THE LOW... AND WILL MOVE EAST ACROSS CENTRAL TEXAS. VERY UNSTABLE CONDITIONS WILL DEVELOP SOUTH OF THE FRONT AND EAST OF THE DRY LINE. SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE MOST LIKELY IN FAR SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEASTERN OKLAHOMA... BUT WIDESPREAD SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS NORTH OF THE WARM FRONT AND THE SURFACE LOW WILL RESULT IN A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS WESTERN NORTH TEXAS AND THE REST OF THE SOUTHERN HALF OF OKLAHOMA... COLD RAIN AND SCATTERED EMBEDDED THUNDERSTORMS WILL AFFECT NORTHERN OKLAHOMA. TEMPERATURES THERE WILL BE IN THE 40S AND 50S... WITH A RAW EASTERLY WIND GUSTING AT TIMES TO 30 MPH.
FRIDAY NIGHT... WINDS WILL TURN GRADUALLY TO THE NORTH AND INCREASE TO 20 TO 30 MPH... GUSTING AT TIMES TO AROUND 40 MPH. RAIN AND SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL TRANSITION TO SNOW ACROSS NORTHWESTERN AND NORTH CENTRAL OKLAHOMA... WHERE ACCUMULATIONS OF AN INCH OR 2 WILL BE POSSIBLE ALONG WITH SOME BLOWING AND DRIFTING. RAIN COULD CHANGE TO SNOW LATE FRIDAY NIGHT AS FAR SOUTH AS THE I-40 CORRIDOR. HEAVIER SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW... WITH POTENTIAL BLIZZARD CONDITIONS... WILL IMPACT MUCH OF THE CENTRAL HIGH PLAINS OF KANSAS AND COLORADO. A LIGHT FREEZE WILL BE POSSIBLE IN FAR NORTHWESTERN OKLAHOMA BY SATURDAY MORNING."

Party Central

The honoree holding the tape I bestowed upon him. He always "borrowed" my tape so I thought I'd send him off with his very own. (Too bad I didn't throw in a dispenser hehehe)



The site of the bash replete with a very droopy fern.



Best wishes, dear Will. It won't be the same here without you!

hugs,
circe

Will Week

As I’ve mentioned in an earlier post, a dear sweet tech leaves us at the end of this week and his going away party is this afternoon. Throwing on the ole apron last night, I whipped up a delicious homemade Italian Cream Cake in his honor. It was all I could do not to discreetly slice off a piece for “testing purposes” but willpower prevailed and it remained untouched and unmolested. Grand Poobah purchased two large cheesecakes so between that and the forthcoming balloons and departmentally-signed card, we are good to go. So help me if the Food Mooch comes within a country mile of that specially-made confection, I will bitch slap him into next week. His drool and germs are hereby verboten and that rule shall be harshly enforced. Also, after two glorious, carefree, halcyon days, Water Buffalo is back wandering our hallways, poking her unwanted nose into Admin’s business and chatting with her buds. Her office has been relocated back to its original building and with the exception of picking up her mail, has no business annoying coworkers stationed in my compound. I have no doubt her meddlesome snout will be shoved into the foodstuffs as she forages for tasty sustenance during the celebratory repast. Such is life.

My Humps

Today is my one year Anniversary.

One year ago today, Richard and I got married.... whooohooo!

Little did he realize that exactly one year later he'd be sitting in the doctor's office listening to the heartbeat of his first baby.

Yep. I'm preggers. We're not sure of a due date yet. The best I can come up with is December 3rd, but the doctor seems to think it's sooner than that. She's doing more tests to try to determine the date.

Richard is so excited! I doubt he gets much work done this afternoon. He was all grins as we left the doctors office and even bigger grins all through lunch. He was going to get to tell Eric that he heard the baby's heartbeat. He said at first he thought he was hearing mine... but then Misty clarified with "well, one heartbeat... that's good!"

*wiping sweat from brow* yes.... that is very good!

Wanderlust

I had a rough time falling asleep last night as vacation destinations tripped merrily though my spinning head. It was about this time last year that we visited the DR and I just loved it. Another Caribbean adventure is most definitely on the back burner and most likely happening early next year. TBC and I haven’t road tripped in awhile so that will be next up on the getaway agenda. It’s been entirely too long since our last Wine & Sex tour and I think we plan on making up for that come the end of June. I like to keep a journal of each day’s activities and I had fun tripping down memory lane last night as I reread my thoughts from vacations gone by. Sis and I had a lively conversation regarding what year we went where as we’ve done OBX together twice and Cali once. It’s always a toss-up whether we point the vehicle east or west as both have their advantages but so far Wagons East is winning the holiday lottery. After all, both hometowns are in that direction and he yearns for the nearness of NY while I perceive Cleveland’s plaintive call. Repeat after me: “There’s no place like home.”

You Just Never Know

I've had a great birthday weekend, but with a sad note.

This morning, my VP (there are several in the company, but the one I report to) called... and I should have known something was amiss. Bill wouldnt just call me on a Sunday morning, Easter morning at that... AND through the call center. We chatted for a minute about our weekend and then he hit me with I have some bad news.

My immediate boss, the one who hired me a year ago... the one I have thoroughly enjoyed working with... the one who is easy going and supportive... passed away suddenly last night while on an Easter egg hunt. I was shocked. Stunned. Sick to my stomache. He was only in his mid-forties. Friday I sat in his office for an hour while we chatted up a storm. We made short term and long range plans for our department and employees. We talked about our goals and projects. He was in a great mood... he looked like he felt good and looked rested. I (nor anyone else) even thought this was going to be the last time we saw him.

I'm sick about the whole thing. I finally get the opportunity to have a manager that is hands down the best... and it's short lived. At Chaos College.... that one just wouldnt go away! She was mean and destroyed everything that crossed her path.... and she's still there! Yet, the one that is so good to his employees, and any of us would have bent over backwards for him... he's gone.

My heart goes out to his wife and son.

Happy Easter... don't eat too much chocolate.