The countdown begins...

In one week and one day, this is where I'll be:

I love U2. I love old U2 most, but I will love them till the day after I die. I love Bono. I loved early "I'm too cool to care that I'm awesome" Bono best, but I still love "I'm a super rockstar" Bono. Even when he humps the camera (which, as I explained to Not-So-Ex a very long time ago, is acceptable behavior only because he's Bono).

I mean, seriously, I even love the mullet.

I've seen them once before. I was seriously, scarily pregnant with my son. And standing and singing for two hours did not agree with my extremely pregnant status and I almost ended up in the ER. But, luckily, I made it home and had a nice, if emergency, c-section a matter of weeks later.

One of my favorite new songs during the Elevation tour.

That time, it was just after the release of their incredible All That You Can't Leave Behind album (the Elevation Tour). It was a return to their old lyricism and was kinda between the chaos of the ZooTV tour and their early, simple concerts. I was thrilled to be seeing them at just that point in time.

This time will be a little different. This time it will be me and my two kiddos. It's their first real concert and I'm so incredibly happy that I get to be the one to take them AND that its to see a band that means so much to me. It's also in the city that should probably be our second home, Pittsburgh. So, in addition to the incredible concert and a great hotel within really easy walking distance, I know where to get a great dinner and breakfast, where to find killer cupcakes, and where we will be stopping just before we leave town for BBQ. And we may even check out a new museum, if we so choose.

Where would you haunt?

So I haven't written in forever! I'm so sorry! To be honest, life has fallen into a lovely, simple rhythm. Not too much to talk about. LOL

But anyway, my beautiful geek girl and I had a much needed TV marathon the other day. It's always been one of our favorite things to do but we hadn't had anything new to watch for a while. But then one day we discovered that we both love Ghost Hunters. That's right, two of the biggest wimps in the world love watching people sit in dark haunted rooms. How bizarro!

But, since our marathons are generally provided via Netflix (and Ghost Hunters isn't available instantly on Netflix), we had to look for a similar show that we could watch. And so we found Paranormal State. Now don't get me wrong, I know this show is suspicious at best and, some would say, fake. But they're still creepy fun.

According to the show, there are two kinds of spirits. Of course there's the mean demonic kind, but there are also harmless spirits that haven't crossed over because they're holding on to something on earth. Sis and I just couldn't help but discuss where we would haunt if we were stuck. In the end, while there are all kinds of exotic locales, I chose here.

I never thought I would be so attached to this place. It's an old, not particularly well maintained apartment with a minuscule kitchen and an even smaller bathroom. And there have been some tough times here as well. But, overall, the years that we've been here have been some of the best in my life.

Part of the reason is that I think I'm the best mom that I've ever been here. I have a job, but not one that I feel the need to live at, so I'm there for my kiddos in every way. Similarly, I think my marriage may be at the best place it's ever been. We still have our moments (God knows marriage is never easy), but I know I'm with the person that was created to be my other half. And then, of course, there are the doggers that finish out the family equation. I can't imagine ever wanting to be anywhere else (although another bedroom would be nice).

So, if any future residents of my apartment hear bumps in the night, it's probably just my ghost trying to find the butter for another batch of frosting. No fears.

Well anyway, speaking of frosting, I better head back to the kitchen and finish up Hunt's birthday cake! We're having a belated b-day party tonight since we were gone camping on his real birthday. Should be a blast!

So... Much... Quiet...

So today is a super rare occurrence. I am all alone (other than the two doggers anyway) and I am clueless on what to do. I've already done some straightening up, taken the dogs out for a bit, gone into work for a minute, and watched last night's Treme. I anticipate lots of DVR clearing, some Netflix viewing, and plenty of sleep in my near future.

At least tomorrow is my long day at work so I won't have as much alone time. The bakery continues to be awesomely busy, which makes me happy. I also have a lot of freedom, which makes me even happier. Like over the weekend, for example, I text my boss and say we should do a special cupcake since the world was gonna end that day. Did she hesitate? No. Her response, "It needs to be black and have red frosting." And it did. It was a blast!

The Doomsday Cupcake!

Anyway, I guess that's all for now. The rest of my time will be spent obsessing about how I can make sure we can afford another family vacay during the summer...

Things I wouldn't know if not for my kids (part 1)

So there are a zillion posts I could write about all the squishy, gooey type stuff I've learned from my kiddos. But this is a more practical post. And probably more interesting (I hope).

This week, my daughter had a huge project due that involved research and all kinds of stuff. She was given complete freedom on picking the subject of the project, which always means there's gonna be an interesting result. Her choice, being an awesome 14 yr old geek girl, was pokemon, which has been an obsession of hers for years, often to the chagrin of parents and grandparents. I told her that, if her teacher was cool with it, then so was I.

To make this part of a long story short, her teacher, Grammy, and I helped her kinda hone her topic until she was researching the guy who originally created Pokemon. What she found out about this man has truly helped me understand her so much better.

To give just a tinge of backstory, my daughter is currently a brilliant, incredibly funny (often in that straight man style, much like her momma) teen. She hasn't always been that way. There were times when she was cruel and angry or sometimes even worse. But I'm not going to focus on those times. She has several diagnoses, but it wasn't until her doctor added the term Asperger's, that we were able to find real solutions.

And, as it turns out, the man who created Pokemon, also has Asperger's. His name is Satoshi Tajiri. As a kid, he lived on the outskirts of Tokyo, which was then more of a rural area. As he aged, the city of Tokyo began to sprawl and his rural childhood stomping grounds gave way to concrete. When he was little, he loved collecting bugs and, through Pokemon, he wanted to give kids worldwide the ability to catch and collect bugs the way he had as a kid.

It's funny cause the idea is so simple and so pure, but just that little fact completely changed the way I felt about the game. As I read more about him, I found it difficult to suppress the urge to find and hug him, although, since he's an Aspy, he would probably really hate that (and God knows I'm no hugger either).

Anyway, before he became the Pokemon master, he was a teenager in Japan who became obsessed with video games. In his mind, there was very little else that mattered. His parents thought he was a delinquent. He only graduated from high school by going back and doing makeup classes. His dad even tried to get him a steady job, which he refused. Is this not every parent's nightmare?

But, instead of taking his parent's route, he started his own, hand written and stapled, video game magazine. This led to meeting more people involved in that world and, eventually, to him beginning to design his own games. He worked on various games and built up such a good rep that Nintendo was interested in the original Pokemon games even though they didn't really get the idea.

I'm gonna glaze over the rest because, clearly, Pokemon was and continues to be huge. But, for me, the main message was just to relax. Let my child's future come as it will. Maybe it won't look the way I expect it to... Maybe it won't be simple, or clear, or conventional... But it will be hers. And it will be good.

What's this? Another day off?

So I had a busy, awesome weekend. And I now have a day off all by myself! Not-So-Ex went back to work today, after about a month or so of being laid off, and the kiddos are at school so I'm alone! How weird!

I'm excited to have a slower week at work. No major holidays or anything so I should have plenty of time to try some new flavors. Maybe even try some new items. But we'll see.

I do have a new recipe to share. For Mom's Day at work, I made Flower Pot Cupcakes. They're a cookies n cream cupcake with vanilla or chocolate buttercream covered in crushed Oreos with a mini sugar cookie (which was baked on a small skewer) stuck in the top.

To start with, I found this recipe, which I used for the cupcakes. It's a nice, light recipe. I didn't put Oreos in the bottom because we only had crushed cookies, so I just mixed extra chunks in. I used my basic buttercreams for frosting, which I piped on using a large round tip, then turned them over and dipped them in more crushed Oreos. Make sure all the frosting is covered and don't even consider frosting the cupcakes until they are completely cool cause you don't want the frosting to fall off when you're dipping them. Then you just gotta stick the cookie in the top and they're adorable!

More "How to Succeed" Love

So I've been swamped at work and I haven't written in forever! And I probably won't write much till I get this wedding all handled in a few days. But, until then, I found this awesome preview thingy of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, which we saw and loved in NYC. So hope everyone enjoys!

Just a few shots

I'm so exhausted this morning that I can't even seem to make sentences so I'm just gonna post a few pics.

Hunt on the subway!

Museum of the American Indian (near our hotel)

Lady Liberty, who we visited on Day 1

Hunt in Central Park

The girlie in the park

A beautiful day in the park

Spent some time educating the kiddos

Some of our options

The first show we saw (highly recommended)

Our second show

My favorite!