Date Night #1

So last night was our first kid-less night and it was one of the best, stress-less, relaxing evenings I've had for a while. The plan was to go out after work, look at a house, go to dinner, and then hit a movie.

We went and looked at the house, which I had already seen but wanted Not-So-Ex's opinions. And, luckily, we both felt exactly the same about it. It has possibilities, but would require money and time before it would be what we would want it to be. Now this house is very cheap and, to be blunt, we would offer even less for it because of all the work and changes that are needed. We could use some of the money we had saved planning to buy a more expensive house and spend it to do some work before we even move in. And the payment would be low enough that we could stay in our current apartment while the work was being done. So the plan right now is to keep looking and, if we don't find anything as it gets closer to the cut-off for the big tax credit, then it may end up being our house.

After the house, we went out for a nice dinner and it was nice to just sit and relax and eat. We had planned a movie after dinner but I was enjoying everything so much that I just wanted to go home, get in my PJs, and watch Chuck. So that's what we did. A perfect evening.

Tonight Not-So-Ex is stuck working a bit later than normal so I'll probably get a jump on the cupcakes I need to make for my order and for the kids' Valentines parties. Love it!

Monday Pros and Cons

Pro: Had the greatest, most relaxing weekend I've had in ages. It took me a little bit to figure out why it was so good but then I realized that it's the first weekend Not-So-Ex has had off for a while. It was nice to chill out, do nothing, and catch up on rest and a little house work.

Con: I didn't want the weekend to end! However, I am still in a pretty damn good mood anyway.

Pro: I wore a brand new, cute little pleated grey skirt to work, which meant I got to pull out the killer grey Mary Jane-ish heels for the very first time. I love rocking awesome shoes!

Con: My cute skirt is shorter than I normally wear so I'm constantly self-consciously pulling it down. And the heels will eventually kill my feet but I really don't care. LOL

Pro: It's a date week! Woo Hoo! The parents and in-laws have the kiddies so Not-So-Ex and I can house shop, hit the movies, and dine out all week long. You really can't beat that.

Con: This is a kinda weak con, but I will miss the kids. But probably not that much! LOL

Pro: This week is Valentines so I have lots of cupcaking to do. I have an order this week plus the cupcake competition at the mall on Sat. I'm really super psyched about it.

Con: I personally think Valentine's Day is a complete crock. I think it's a made-up, bs holiday but I will admit to enjoying all the heart stuff and cool cupcake materials that come with the holiday.

Pro: On the house hunt front, we are going to look at a house today that is our current best shot. I don't know if we'll take it or not (it needs a LOT of work but is so cheap that we could afford to put into it what is needed) but we're gonna give it a look.

Con: I'm a terrible decision maker. And really impatient. I tend to jump into things while Not-So-Ex is much more wary. The last house we bought (during marriage 1.0) was a disaster. We both want to make sure we make the right choice this time.

Pro: I'm working on naming my cupcake business. I've been getting lots of suggestions and the current front runner is Creative Confections, but I still can't settle on one. But I can say that Paigeycakes has been vetoed. Definitively.

Con: There are just so many possibilities that it's hard to pick. And I'm happiest when things are settled.

OK... I think that's it for today! Have a great Monday!

So you don't have to (kinda)

So last night I made a mess. It turned out just fine, but it was still a little lesson learned in the kitchen so I might as well pass it on.

Dearest Not-So-Ex bought me the incredible Kitchenaid Stand Mixer for Christmas. It is perfect and has made my baking much easier and just generally awesomer. However, the mixer comes with one metal bowl and, if you need one for cupcake batter and one for frosting, you'll have to buy another one.

So, not long after Christmas I started looking for the best deal. Since they have to lock in place on the mixer, you have to buy the Kitchenaid brand. And a duplicate of the bowl that came with it cost $50-$60. So I decided to be frugal and buy the smaller bowl for $20-$30. My thought process went something like "Gee, you never fill the whole bowl up anyway so it'll be fine."

When I got the bowl, I saw that it was about 1 1/2 inches shorter than the normal bowl. I noticed that, when I used it, I had to be careful that flour or milk didn't slosh out of the bowl. But still no biggie.

Last night I was making my Strawberry Champagne cupcakes and wanted to try a new frosting so I decided to make a Strawberry Champagne Italian Meringue Buttercream (a modified version of this recipe). The bigger bowl was dirty from the cupcake batter so I figured that, if the egg whites stayed in the bowl during the whipping stage, then I should be fine for the rest of the recipe.

The whites whipped up perfectly and quickly. I added a little red food coloring to pink it up and then started adding the simple syrup. This is where things got rough.

The syrup went in fine but then you're supposed to crank up the speed and beat it for a while. I tried that and SPLAT! Pink frosting flew EVERYWHERE! It was on the mixer, the walls, my shirt, my pjs, the floor, EVERYWHERE!

Luckily there was still plenty in the bowl so I soldiered on. The next step is to add pieces of chilled butter to the mix. This also got interesting. Especially when one chuck hit the mixing blade when I was adding it and it literally flew out of the mixing bowl.

Anyway, it did turn out lovely in the end. I'll make it again, just with the bigger bowl!

More housey talk

So I don't think I've thought about much this week other than THE house. I talked to one bank yesterday and I have a meeting with another one tomorrow.

It's one of those situations where it's just a bit more than we were looking for. It's a big house that we could grow into but we also don't want to get something that, in the long run, we won't be able to afford. There's really nothing that will stomp the fun out of a new marriage faster than money problems.

That being said, I'm going to go tomorrow and see just how much I can offer, then I will make my offer. We may get shot down, but I want to offer.

Until then, I will be at my desk looking at screens or papers full of words but my mind will be full of floating numbers. And, to me, numbers are a soft, theoretical thing rather than hard, definitive words like yes and no.

But keep wishing me luck!!!

Fail meet Win

So I referred to yesterday as Fail Day 2010. But then the funniest thing happened. My Fail Day turned good!

I had been trying to get ahold of a realtor to look at a house and Not-So-Ex took over and set it up lickety split! I couldn't believe it. Then we got to the house and it was spectacular. And I don't mean, well, it was ok. I mean WOW. It's not perfect but, considering the price we can afford, it was pretty damn close.

But now comes the effects of too much win. My mind is racing. I can't sleep. All I can do is wonder if we'll be able to actually get the house. And God knows there's nothing I can do to get any closer to getting in that house at midnight!

*sigh*

A little reminder

You can still vote for me (Starting all over again)! I am losing terribly and have almost no shot of winning but who doesn't love an underdog? LOL

House hunting and Fail Day 2010

So today we'll have 2 posts in 1 since I have two very different things to discuss.

First off, I started the house hunt yesterday by viewing the very first house. It was a promising little place here on the East End. It was the perfect location (close enough to the things I want to be close to and almost far enough away from the things I'd prefer to distance myself from) and the exterior was perfect. It was an older brick home in a kinda funky sorta style. It has a very old south, New Orleansy feel to it. So that part was promising. However, once inside, it looked like the outside was all that was promising. It was roomy enough, but arranged a little strangely. There's an extra room on the first floor that doesn't make a whole lotta sense. The kitchen, which seemed huge compared to our current spot, was laid out strangely as well and featured an antiquated in-wall oven not even large enough for a pan of cupcakes (I think I hear a huge collective gasp). In addition to all that, the house features a groan inducing pink/red carpet that would make for a truly interesting look once all my red furniture (my couch and chair) and bed were moved in.

However, despite the flaws, it would be something we could work with. And that is what we're looking for. Something we can gradually turn into our real home. But we're gonna continue looking and see what else we can afford.

Now, as for the rest, let me welcome you to Fail Day 2010. I'm seriously hoping it will be the only Fail Day this year but who knows.

This morning started rough because, when the alarm went off, I really felt as if I had just gone to bed. I seriously thought I had somehow screwed up when setting the alarm but, alas, it was correct. I got the kids up and ready and realized that, even though Hunt's teacher had gotten his work assignments ready for him before he took Thurs and Fri off school cause he was sick, we had never done the work. It was a HUGE parent fail moment. I was mortified. Hunter was doubly mortified. So I shot off an apologetic email to his teacher explaining that it was truly our fault that it wasn't done.

Then I headed out to get the kids to school. We were about 5 minutes away from there when I realized that I had forgotten the medications for the kids. Luckily, Not-So-Ex had my back and was able to drop them off a little later, but it was out of his way and frustrating for us both.

I got back home to get myself ready, only to realize that I left my brand new coat at a meeting downtown last week. So I tried to make my old coat usable, but it's this old black coat that has become a total Jake hair magnet. I tried to get the hair off of it, but could never even get it looking half-way decent. Again, luckily, Not-So-Ex had given me this thin but warm jacket that he got from his company. It wasn't pretty or dressy, but it kept me comfy on the walk to work.

As I was walking in, I ran into a former co-worker who used to drive me insane. So, of course, he insisted on walking all the way together and chatting. I "uh-huh-ed" my way to the office and thanked my lucky stars that we no longer work in the same building.

Once I got in and settled at work, one of the secretaries came around and handed me my W-2. Now I started work on Dec 1st. However, I didn't get paid by my new job until (I thought) Jan 1st. But I actually got paid on Dec 31st. So that means that, since I filed our tax return yesterday, I will now have to file an amendment because I received ONE EFFING PAYCHECK from the new gig. *BIG SIGH*

OK... now that I got that all out I feel better. Let's hope Fail Day doesn't do too much damage from here on out!