An assorted pack of my thoughts...

1. Went to meet the new principal of my daughter's school last night. She goes to a rather small private school and the are making some huge strides forward. While private schools have a reputation for being white and upper class, her school is working hard to defy that stereotype. Next year she will have a teacher from Serbia. I feel for him the first few weeks cause I'm sure she's gonna butcher his last name on a pretty frequent basis.

2. I go to the doctor today. It'll be the first time I've gone for a "checkup" in a gazillion years. I went without insurance for three years and I still act as if I'm uninsured. So I'm trying to learn to take care of myself and having a real doctor to call when I'm sick or something is a big step in the right direction.

3. I need a bio and pic for the White movie website. I've never had any need for even a semi-professional press kit. It's kinda exciting. The director has started to call on me again for little things every now and then (cause he swears I'm just the best) and it's a nice feeling. Plus I'm hoping to get to a film festival in Kentucky next month. I should get that experience at least once.

4. I'm completely convinced that my dogs are possessed. Or at least Lucy is and she talks poor Jake into doing bad stuff. Today I came home from dropping Hunt off at school to see that they had found the package of the little pads you put out to house train puppies and they had shredded them and spread them all over the house. I walked in the door scolding them and Lucy ran in circles around me while Jake first hid in the stairwell and then made sure he never made eye contact. His guilty conscience is so damn endearing.

5. My garden is kicking! I have so many plants and, for the most part, they're doing exceptionally well. And I got an email yesterday saying that my strawberries are finally coming in and, with them, are several dwarf citrus trees. And yet another blueberry bush. For those of you who haven't heard my blueberry rant before, Jake has eaten several baby blueberry bushes. They must be tasty.

Just gettin' through today...

I had a long weekend that was spent helping my daughter write a paper about the Hubble Space Telescope (which I now know far too much about) and feeling yucky. As for the feeling yucky part, I really can't explain it much better than that. All I know is that, if I had a choice, I wouldn't have gotten out of bed and, despite having good food all around me, I had no desire to eat much of it.

While my ickyness is disconcerting, I'm not too worried. I have two doctor's appointments this week so, if anything is actually wrong, I'll find out.

But the thing that is running through my head over and over again is that I have a day off tomorrow. It's primary election time and I couldn't be happier. There are so many possibilities. I could sleep some. I could bake. I could head to State to get my new laptop hooked up with software. I could sit and watch episode after episode of Treme without there being a week between episodes (this one is looking REALLY likely). And, best of all, I could spend most of my day at home so there's not too much worrying about what the dogs might destroy when I'm gone.

Photo Friday

Me in my office this morning showing off my earrings

So yesterday evening I came home to a Fed Ex box full of goodies from I ♥ Cuppycakes! It was full of cupcake related stuff that I got for winning Cupcake Hero: Caramel. So here are some pics of the items that came to work with me this morning, especially my favorite item ever, the cupcake earrings!

The perfectest earrings ever!

The earrings on me

A leather cupcake keychain

PS - On a completely different note, if you're local, don't forget that tomorrow is the East End Yard Sale!!!! Woo Hoo! Can't wait!

Action!

So I've been seriously busy at work this week and haven't posted too much. Plus I really haven't had too much to say.

While my work life may be in the eye of the storm right now as I try to get funds to 45 different organizations, my school life is in the calm before the storm. I'm currently in the process of scouting locations, casting, and planning my thesis film shoot. Right now things seem to be falling into place, but I know the storm is coming. If it was this easy, everyone would do it.

I go this evening to pick up my new Mac laptop. I got a great deal from an old friend so I'm psyched to get it all ready. Then another friend is going to look at it and get it ready to capture and edit. It'll be a big relief to know that all the technical stuff is in place and I'll be able to work from home instead of relying on the labs at State.

Right now is more or less a waiting game. Wait to solidify my actors... wait to secure my locations... wait to lock my crew in... wait to start finding wardrobe, makeup, and hair options... And I'm not great at waiting. LOL

What a way to start the morning

This is yet another thing I never thought I'd see... a movie I produced being reviewed by the New York Times. It continues to amaze me that people watch it and feel the same things I felt (although in easier to tolerate pieces) while we filmed. Such an incredible experience. That I could never live through again.

Anyway, the film is preparing for a quick theatrical run in NYC and the director will be there to do Q&A most nights. So if you're in NYC, check it out.

Happy Birthday Baby!

Today is Not-So-Ex's birthday! Yay!

And here's this year's birthday creation: Rexy's Choice Cupcakes. They're a shortbread/peanut butter cupcake with Reese's chopped up and mixed inside and topped with a peanut butter frosting.

Here's the recipe:

Shortbread/Peanut Butter Cupcakes
Makes 12-14 cupcakes / 350 F oven

What You’ll Need...
1/2 cup of butter, room temperature
1/2 cup of sugar

1/2 cup of brown sugar

1 good size spoon full of peanut butter
3 eggs, room temperature
1 cup of milk

1 cup of flour
1 1/2 cups of shortbread cookie crumbs
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1/8 teaspoon of salt

Chopped Reese's

What You’ll Do...
1) Beat the butter for about 30 seconds until well creamed. Add the sugars and mix for 3 minutes using a paddle attachment until light and fluffy. Add the peanut butter.
2) Add the eggs, one at a time, being sure to beat for 30 seconds for each egg.
3) Place cookies in a food processor or in a plastic bag and crush into small crumbs and powder.
4) Mix together the flour, cookie crumbs, baking soda and powder, and salt. Add about 1/3 of the flour/cookie mixture to the butter mixture, then add some of the milk. Continue to add the ingrdients in a dry-wet-dry method, ending with the dry. Continue to mix until just combined. Mix in chopped Reese's.
5) Scoop into cupcake papers and bake for 15-18 minutes in a 350 F oven or until a cake tester comes out clean.

The frosting is one of my favorite peanut butter recipes because it doesn't get all greasy but is still really delicious!

First blooms