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By kilax, December 22, 2008 9:26 pm

Today is Steven’s birthday. Can you guess how old he is?

When I asked Steven what kind of cake he wanted for his birthday, he said he wanted a “huge bavarian creme donut.” “Not twice the size of a normal doughnut, but like, four times bigger.”

Hmm.

I sent an email to our favorite bakery, to see if they could accommodate the request:

Dear Deerfield’s, My husband loves your bavarian cream donuts. I was planning on ordering a cake from your store for him for his birthday, but he asked if I could order him a big bavarian cream donut with chocolate frosting. Is it possible to order something like that? I think he just means bigger than a normal donut, about four times the size. I would order it for pick up on Dec. 21st. Thanks for letting me know (and for humoring me!) Kimberly

They responded right away:

Hello, We don’t make a “jumbo” donut however we can either do a layered birthday cake with a custard filling or a Bavarian Cream Pie which has 2 layers of yellow cake filled with Bavarian Cream and topped with fudge icing. Please call Customer Service @ 847-520-0068 ext. 4 to place your order, Thank you. Cindy

At least they humored me. I laughed when I saw “jumbo” in quotation marks.

So, Steven didn’t get his “jumbo” donut – he got the leaning tower of donuts (thanks for the suggestion, Denise!) as well as a birthday cake, and some black and white cookies (which were very, very disappointing).

I gave him the donut tower, cake and cookies yesterday, since I wouldn’t have the opportunity to pick them up today. I also made sugar cookies, peanut butter cookies, and snickerdoodles yesterday (for Steven to take to work). So breakfast was donuts and cookies. Lunch was cookies and cookie dough. Afternoon snack was string cheese, then cake and ice cream with our neighbors. Pre-dinner snack was cookies. Dinner was penne pasta with alfredo sauce and green beans.

No wonder I had a headache when I woke up this morning!

When I was walking from the train to work this morning, I thought maybe yesterday’s sugar overload had finally cured me – I had made me feel awful enough that I would never binge on cookies again!

Yeah, right.

Sweet treats will always be around at celebrations! Birthdays just aren’t the same without a special sweet treat. I hope Steven enjoyed his! Happy Birthday, babe!

Steven and the furbaby.

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By kilax, December 13, 2008 10:49 pm

Teeni has tagged me!

I am to find and post the 6th photo on the 6th page (folder?) of my computer and my photo/host sharing site. I don’t actually use flickr (or similar) though, I so I can only grab something off of my computer.

The photo is of me and my father at the Richard Petty Driving Experience at the Chicagoland Speedway (I actually wrote about it on 10/20/07 at my old blog). My siblings and I gave my dad a gift card to ride three laps at full speed on a racetrack for his birthday. I think he enjoyed it. I think I would have too. I seem to be one of those adrenaline-seeking people.

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By kilax, November 26, 2008 12:30 pm

When I was decorating sugar cookies on Sunday, I said “I like how Grandma Ilax’s sugar cookies always look so spontaneous – one will have a smear of frosting and a few random sprinkles – they all have so much character!”

So I decorated mine that way.

Apparently, my mom and grandma didn’t like that too much. They went back and added little frills to decorate them and make them look nicer. I wish I had a photo to show you how awful they looked before, but I don’t.

There was a particularly awful gingerbread man I decorated. He had purple pants, a yellow top, a white face, two chocolate chip eyes, and sprinkles for hair. My mom went back and gave him a red belt and a red smile, but there wasn’t really much she could do to make him nicer – he was UGLY.

I put him in the basket for my older brother, and told my mom to tell him I made that one special for him.

She must have told him. When I opened my email this morning, I had an email called “Cookie Adventures” from my brother.

I guess the cookie didn’t survive his big adventure, but it looks like he had some fun along the way. I think we need some captions for these photos!

This email from my brother made me laugh out loud at my desk for a long time. I really needed that this morning. I was already pissed off when I got on the train at 6:25… and my day hadn’t even started.

I am realizing more and more that I have not been handling stress very well lately. We all have stress in our lives on a daily basis, but I feel like this has been a particularly stressful month for me. I have a lot going on at work. And just having a busy social schedule has been making me stress.

I seem to just sort of… shut off when all of this stress hits me. I can’t think straight. I am angry. I don’t want anyone to talk to me. I want to be left alone. I try to do some deep breathing to get over things. I get anxious. And jumpy. And nervous.

I need to figure out how to handle this, because I kind of doubt things are going to die down at all between now and New Year’s.

I do know that writing things here helps. At least for the moment it distracts me.

All of this stress has been holding me back from looking forward to Thanksgiving AT ALL. Yeah, I am excited to have the time off from work to relax and see family, but that’s it. I feel sad that I am not looking forward to this holiday. That I am viewing it as more of a burden. I hope I snap out of this.

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By kilax, November 24, 2008 1:17 pm

When I went to bed last night, feeling like I was going to throw up from sugar overload, I said, “I don’t want to bake, see or eat another cookie EVER again.”

But when I woke up this morning with a splitting sugar-induced headache, and went downstairs to feed Data, I almost ate one of the cookies sitting out on the counter.

What is that about?

We ended up making 7 different sweets this weekend – caramel popcorn, frosted sugar cookies, caramels, kringla, snickerdoodles, fruitcake and no-bake cookies (we also had toffee and crispix mix to put in all of the gift baskets).

My favorite treat we made – Sugar Cookie Reindeer!

All the sweets we made

Some of the wrapped gift baskets

We had a few issues though. And that made the day a lot more stressful. The first batch of caramels took over an hour to make and turned out too hard. The fruitcake wouldn’t bake, so that ended up being a waste. The kringla got burnt because the temperature was too high on the recipe – only half the batch turned out.

Ugh. At the end of the day, I think all of us were thinking, “Why did we want to do all this?” We still had a ton of fun, but it was too much work. My back has hurt all weekend from standing on my feet so much. And I am dead tired. Oh well. That’s why I took the day off – to catch on rest.

We talked about getting together again next year around this time – but not doing all the baking. Ha!

And now…

… so forget everything I wrote on Saturday about being in control of my eating. Yeah, I was on Saturday, but yesterday was like a free for all with the cookies and sweets we made. I don’t know WHY I thought I would be able to resist. I tried for awhile, but that didn’t really amount to anything.

I am sick of thinking about it and writing about it, but it really helps. So bear with me.

I loved Diane’s comment on my post on Saturday:

Try not to worry too much about gaining weight. I mean, I think it is sort of inevitable that we are all going to do that this week, and that lots of sugar and comfort foods will bloat us up a bit. But real substantial weight gain happens over a long period of time. Get back to your routine as soon as you can and you will be fine!

I felt a lot better after I read that. Because it’s true. I AM going to eat more during the holidays. If I didn’t, I would feel deprived. And all I need to do is get back to my routine as soon as possible.

I realized that there are at least two patterns to my overeating – my crazy, “out-of-control” binges where I stuff my face with whatever is in the house for a short amount of time (like 30 minutes), and the all-day free for alls where I pick and eat at things all day long – never getting uncomfortably full, but always eating, eating, eating.

I’m actually excited that I am learning what is bringing on these beahaviors. I just wish I didn’t have to deal with them to begin with. I think we all have problems though. It’s just… being human. Or… American. Or something.

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By kilax, November 22, 2008 11:25 am

Ask…

… and you shall receive!

My parents arrived bearing gifts last night. Yes, I know I am spoiled!

I am so completely exhausted right now. I don’t think my body has felt this physically exhausted in a long, long time.

My sister, mother, grandma and I got up early and took the train to Chicago My grandma had never been to downtown Chicago! We mostly shopped, but I also had a chance to meet up with my friend Clare, WHO I HAVE NOT SEEN SINCE SHE WAS A BRIDESMAID IN MY WEDDING OVER A YEAR AGO! (Yeah, I was a bit excited!)

Kim, Clare and Katie (a college roommate of hers)

It’s really crazy that you can feel so close to someone, after not seeing them for an entire year. I meet Clare the last semester of college, and I always wish we had gotten to know each other sooner. We immediately clicked. That doesn’t happen often. I wish we could have visited longer today, but she was in town for a conference and had to leave.

We had a lot of fun in Chicago, going to the shops on State Street and Michigan Avenue. We took the train home very late. I am so happy Steven had dinner started when we got home. We cooked, ate, did dishes… and started in with the treats! I made all of my sugar cookie dough so it could cool in the fridge overnight, and my mom started in on the caramel popcorn!

Yummy… cookie dough! I resisted!

It’s just as good as it looks!

Even though it was a somewhat stressful day – not because I am unhappy, but because a lot is going on – I still managed to be in control of my eating. Yes, I ate more than I do on a daily basis, but I didn’t stuff my face. I suppose I just hope to make it through this weekend and next week without gaining weight. It’s going to be hard though. I cannot do my normal exercise for a few days this week, and I get pretty stressed about food around Thanksgiving. But, like I’ve said before, I am just going to keep going and trying.

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By kilax, November 16, 2008 10:34 pm

We have a super stressful week ahead of us. Besides preparing for my family’s visit next weekend with the typical cleaning and shopping, we also have to ship four Saab winter wheels and tires somewhere (?), put up our Christmas tree, as well as finish PAINTING our bedroom so we can SLEEP in it.

And did I mention the shopping won’t be normal shopping for guests, but shopping for guests and for ingredients for about 10-15 different cookies and sweets?!

And what did I do all weekend that I did not get any of the above mentioned done? I had neighbors over for dinner, ran a 5K, got my oil changed, test drove a car, went to Lowe’s, went to Quantum of Solace, did laundry, painted test samples, went back to Lowe’s and Target, taped, painted, cursed, went to Home Depot, cut up all the vegetables, took the garbage out, cleaned the kitchen…

I feel like the only time I sat down this weekend was at the movie. And I was being anxious and jumpy anyway (slow movie).

I am stressed out. I have so much to do, and what? Two and a half free hours each night to do it? If I skip dinner, and don’t exercise?

I don’t care if I have to stay up late to get all of these things done. I just want to exercise. I am already feeling anxious and stressed out about the fact that I may not have the time to (logistically, I can’t right now – there is no room in the bedroom to pull the treadmill out).

And I’m feeling stressed about stress eating. And stressed about the fact that I’ve been feeling so much more hungry lately. What is THAT about? I thought you got LESS hungry when you weighed less? Am I confusing hunger with something else?

I am trying to mentally prepare for the week and these challenges. I may actually have to make a little schedule to make sure I get all the things done I need to get done.

Monday – Paint
Tuesday – Paint?
Wednesday – Shopping
Thursday – Cleaning / Tree

I’ve just gotta let out all of my stress here. And say that it’s going to be a rough week, but an awesome weekend with my family. And a great Monday off NEXT week. That’s when I’ll get my rest!

Comments (18)

By kilax, October 23, 2008 7:53 am

Even though it is an entire month away, I am already getting really excited for a trip my parents and sister are planning to Chicago for the weekend before Thanksgiving.

When I was back home last weekend, my mom said, “You know what would be fun? If all of us girls got together at Grandma’s house and baked a bunch of cookies like we did that one year*!”

Of course, I had to be selfish and say, “Why don’t you all come out to Chicago? We can spend one day ‘window shopping’ downtown, and the next day baking the treats!”

My sister is going to be in Chicago for a one-day trip the Friday before Thanksgiving, so it works out perfectly for her to just stay here and ride home with my parents! Yay!

And Steven is really excited that they are visiting, because it means free slave labor he’ll have some help (my dad) working on his “project car” – a 1978 Datsun 280Z.

Now… we just need to figure out who we are going to give all these cookies to!

* In December 2001, when I was a senior in high school, my mother, grandmother, and a friend of mine decided to make tons of cookies for all of our friends, family, and teachers at school. We baked them all at my Grandmother’s (now she lives in a different town that my parents). I have always loved to bake! I am excited we are going to be doing this again!

All of the trays of cookies.

Small plates of cookies to hand out!

Me, looking like the goober I really am.

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By kilax, October 19, 2008 11:44 pm

Time for a collective “Awwwwwww!”

I finally got to meet my new nephew, Thomas Patrick, this weekend. Finally! What a cutie.

Beth embroidered Thomas’s name on a bib and burping towel and sent them to me! How sweet is she? That’s one of the things I love about the blogosphere – the thoughtfulness of the other bloggers you get to know. My brother and sister-in-law really loved the bib and towel. My mom even pointed out that the towel was made out of a baby diaper! She got a kick out of that. Thank you, Beth (and sorry I did not get a very good photo of him!).

Another blogger helped me out this weekend – teeni! She recommended this apple pie recipe, which I made for my dad for his birthday on Friday, and I thought turned out tasting really good. (But notice how much better it looks in HER picture than in mine? Oops. “Presentation” isn’t really my strong point when it comes to food!) Thank you, teeni!

What an exhausting weekend THAT was. Maybe I should have taken Monday off as well!

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By kilax, August 26, 2008 1:50 pm

Yesterday was my sister Christina’s nineteenth birthday AND her first day of class (Happy Birthday, right?!). [She is applying to the interior design program this winter, so she is taking classes similar to the ones I took! Drafting! Elements of Design! Woo-hoo! Maybe someday we will work together…]

We took her skydiving for her birthday back in July, but Steven and I still sent her a gift – this “sisters” necklace. I bought one for myself as well.

Christina is the only sister I have, but she has a lot of other sisters – sorority sisters.

And here’s the part where I try to explain what it is like to be jealous of a bunch of girls that I have never even met.

I feel like I wasted most of our time growing up together, playing the part of the bitchy older sister (while she was perhaps playing the part of the bratty younger sister?). We’re only five years apart, but I never felt like we were even close to being in the same stage of our lives during those five years – until the last few years.

Now it’s like I’ve met this really cool person for the first time and I want to spend a lot of time with them, but I can’t – because they live in a different state than me.

Don’t get me wrong – I’ve always loved my sister to death, and would do anything for her. There’s never been a huge rift between us, I just never felt a true sisterly bond with her. Not like this anyway.

Hence, why I am jealous of all of her sorority sisters – that get to live with her, and hang out with her, and share all their day-to-day adventures with her. While I am lucky if I even get to see her 10 times a year.

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By kilax, July 9, 2008 1:49 pm

It seems like I have been around kids a lot lately. A few of Steven’s high school and college friends have young children. Our neighbors (that we have become friends with, not our immediate neighbors) have a young daughter. Two of my coworkers brought their kids to the bowling party. Beth brought her two daughters to dinner last night.

HRC with Beth + girls and Kevin

I don’t plan on having children anytime soon, but when I meet all of these cute, sweet and well-behaved kids, I think “Maybe someday!”

Maybe.

Anyway, the things kids want to talk about totally cracks me up. They are always straight-forward and unashamed about what interests them. Wouldn’t it be nice if adults could be like that (sometimes) as well?

Some of the amusing questions kids have asked me lately:

1. What was your favorite grade in school?
2. Is it hard living in Chicago?
3. How many cats do you have? (this one seems to be popular)
4. What’s your cat’s name?
5. Do you have any kids?

I don’t know why I think it’s so cute that they ask questions like that. I just do. (And I just love the stories that Tori tells about her kids. Okay, now I really sound like a freak. Enough of that)