So, I’m not good about keeping up with this blog thing…….My last post was in March for Easter and now it’s almost Thanksgiving!!!!

Check out my cake blog.  http://blog.russos.net/cake/

I set this up when I was teaching Wilton.  Oh, I taught the Wilton Method of cake decorating at Michaels for 4 months.  I had to give it up because the environmental consulting thing was interfering.  Anyway, it has more updated posts on recipes I’ve been using, tips and tricks I’ve learned along the way.

Here’s the end of the year outlook:

• Ken (my brother) is getting married next weekend
• We’re spending Thanksgiving in CT
• We’re going on a cruise to the southern Carribean with friends
• And somewhere inbetween we’re working, Randy’s going to Seattle, twice, Christmas, then New Year’s!

It’s exhausting to read!

Catch ya in the new year!

—Sadie

Easter 2008.  Hard to believe it’s already here. 

Made an Easter cake (The Easter Bunny and his Peeps)

Got a NordicWare pan from Williams Sonoma for 1/2 off! Gotta love sales!

Randy helped me with the cake. He provided suggestions, as well as, piped all the grass!

We used several different mediums…..spice cake for the bunny….ground up Oreos for the dirt……cream cheese frosting for most everything else….peeps….M&M eyes….Red Hot for the nose…..Ghiradelli dark chocolate square for the Carrot Patch Sign…..Tempered Hershey’s Special Dark for the raised beds!!!

I made it through the third course of the Wilton cake decorating classes.  It was all fun.  I made a ton of cakes!  There’s only one more class that they offer — Fondant and Gum paste.  I’m thinking of taking that and dragging Randy with me.  He made some cool fondant orchids over the weekend!
Here’s a picture of the final cake:

What can be said about 2007?  It was a decent year.

Let’s start with “what did not happen in 2007″:  No police called to our house (2006: bullets at 4am, 2005:  druggie chick in our basement in the early morning hours, 2002?:  garage burlarized at 1am.) That’s a good start.  No trips to the hospital (I sprained my ankle at the end of 2006)!!

So, what did happen (in no order of time or importance)? 

• Went to San Jose del Cabo with Randy’s company. 
• Went to Playa del Carment with my company. 
• Went to CT for Uncle Jim’s wedding. 
• Randy went to Maryland, NYC, Atlanta, and Tel Aviv for work and managed to fit in a trip to Munich for Ocktoberfest on the way back from Tel Aviv. 
• I started taking cake decorating classes (See Cakes page). 
• I went to Disney World with Uncle Jim, Mary, Mom, Dad, and Isis. 
• I was a bridesmaid in my college roommate’s wedding in San Antonio.
• Randy went to Vegas for DefCon.
• We went to Vegas and stayed at Mandalay Bay with Hillius, Theresa, Linda, and Johnson.  Played Texas Holdem at Mandalay Bay — it’s boring without having someone to talk to.
• Played lots of poker over Johnson’s house.
• Started Geocaching
• Canoe trip down Colorado River from Moab, UT (See Randy’s Moab photo gallery) hosted by the owners of Plum Creek Winery in Palisade.
• Started 12 gallons Pinot Grigio, 6 gallons Chardonnay, Sangiovese, and Riesling (total 30 gallons of wine)
• Bottled and labeled lots of wine from 2006
• Lots of trips to the vet — stepped on Starr’s foot, Starr had kennel cough, Neo slashed Starr’s eye, Fuzzy had a bladder infection…….
• Went camping with the Saias twice.

All in all, a good year.  Wonder what 2008 will bring.

Believe it or not, Fuzzy, our Maine Coon Cat, is the being that first started using the word “Merr”.

Merr can be used to mean anything:  pleasure, pain, frustration, hunger, That Sucks!, I’m tired, I don’t want to do that!.  Anything.  It’s all in the inflection and tone in which it is said.

 I started using the word around the house to characterize anything and everything.  I’ve found that I’ve started to integrate the word in at work.  Though, it’s usually used in frustration, disappointment, etc at work.  Like when the printer isn’t working and I need something now.  I figure it’s better than swearing, though sometimes if the circumstances warrent it, they do slip out!�

The Cake Walk › Create New Post

Merrrrrrrrr……I’m in the middle of my 2 week vacation and attended a required meeting for work.  I happen to stop by the office and may now be on the hook for presenting one of my projects at the Colorado Water Congress Conference at the end of January.  I hate public speaking.  I forget my own name when facing lots of people.  My supervisor on this project has offered to do the presentation for me.  Should I take him up on the offer, or suck it up and do the presentation myself?

Of course Randy thinks it’d be awesome for me to do the presentation.  But all he heard was presenting to “Congress”, not the water part.  He wants me to use the line, “I just briefed the President on the subject….”