Kitchen Aid Mixer

I got a wild idea that I want to do some Holiday baking. For those of you who know me well, you know this is probably not the best idea. While I enjoy cooking and have developed some skills, I am NOT a baker. I have a tendency to burn things. I lose my patience with cookies because I believe they take too long with mixing, scooping on the cookie sheet, baking, removing from the over and cooling. I have a bad habit of mixing up the baking soda and baking powder. I could go on and on about why baking isn't my gig. But I wont.

Today I am baking a pumpkin dessert to take to dinner with my dad's dad's cousin's wife. Eunice lives just a few miles from me in Ypsilanti, MI. This is great to me because I am HOURS from South Dakota, where I was born and where most of our family still lives. I am excited to meet her son, daughter-in-law, and granddaughters.

So, back to what I intended to blog today..... When I made the list of things I want to bake, I decided it would be easier to tackle all of it with the use of a Kitchen Aid Mixer. I don't have one, but my mother-in-law does so I asked to borrow hers. Rick brought it home a couple days ago. I just used it for the first time. WOW!! It made things go so much faster, and it was a ton easier than the mess I would have made without it. Needless to say, my wish list now has a Kitchen Aid Mixer on it.

Writing

Many years ago, I did a little writing. Sometimes poems, sometimes just what I was thinking at the time. I once started to write a short story and was using Microsoft Word to do so. But I password protected the document and managed to forget the password. Maybe someday I will try again. This afternoon, I was looking through a box of old photographs and came across something I wrote a while back. I have never shared any of my writing, but thought I would now.

Blue and Orange
Standing between the two houses, I wonder, "What if...?" These two words haunt my every movement. The house on the right is blue. The house on the left is orange. It's not the outside of the houses but the inside that confuses me. On the inside, the orange house is blue and the blue house is orange. I am sure these colors represent something. Maybe sadness, frustration or confusion. But when I try to understand, the colors become brighter, almost blinding.

When I sit on the porch of the blue house, I am sad. I can see the orange house from here. I wonder what it's like on the inside. This mystery makes me sad so I go inside to forget the sadness, but the orange walls here frustrate me more. They are fulled with commitment and resentment. Commitment to a love that doesn't die. And resentment of that love that causes another death. Not a death of a body or soul. But the death of a spirit. A spirit that gives me energy to run and to laugh. The twisting combination of commitment and resentment drain me of the spirit and energy. So I go back to the porch. And I sit... staring at the orange house.

Eventually I journey off the porch. I find myself getting closer to the orange house When I get there, I am afraid to go in. So here, too, I sit on the porch. I can't go in. I am afraid of what I will find. So I sit on the porch looking at the blue house. Remembering the commitment and resentment I felt there drives me to go inside the orange house. The blue walls make me sad. Sad because of resentment and commitment. A resentment of the circumstances that caused a commitment to die.

Planning my 40th Birthday Party

I can't believe I am just 14 days from my 40th birthday. Before my 39th birthday, I realized I'd not had a birthday party since I turned 16. So, last year I had one. It was so much fun. It was on one of the lovely Michigan blizzard night, so some people were not able to make it. But I truly enjoyed my time with everyone. Lots of great conversation, playing Wii Guitar Hero and American Idol, great food and drinks, family, friends, and tons of laughs! I had so much fun, I decided to do it again this year.

Rather than try to pack it into the already busy holiday season, the plan is to celebrate this once in a lifetime event (or maybe twice) on January 23. I have so many ideas in my head. This will definitely be a night to remember. Evites will be out after the first of the year.

Me wearing a Christmas tree as a hat

Rick and Me

My beautiful niece Melissa, her boyfriend Marc and me

Carolyn and Kathy's guitar duet

Tamara and Me

Kathy, John, Mike and Rodney

Kristy singing for the American Idol judges. Simon was not kind.

A Table full of yummy food

A New Adventure

Ok, so I have attempted blogging in the past in a couple different places. But not been committed to it. I am hoping this time will be different. I plan to have a few blogs right now, which may be biting off more than I can chew.

The first is this one, ACreativeFountain. I hope to use it to share my thoughts on anything and everything. I have a lot in my pretty little head and hope to get some of it out here.

The second is ToBeQuoted. It is where I will share my favorite quotes, poems and lyrics. Since I find such an amazing connection with lyrics and love music, I have a feeling it will be mostly lyrics. I hope others will enjoy it and use it to find things that inspire and encourage them.

The third is MyGratefulHeart. This one is my commitment to be thankful for something every day. I started it on November 10, 2009. How long can I commit to every day? Let's find out together.

The fourth is yet to be named, but will consist of the funny, brilliant and amazing things my son says and does. I have been keeping some in notebooks, posting some on Facebook, uploading some to YouTube, etc. I need one place to keep them all. My memory isn't what it used to be. This morning Wally said something so funny and I can't remember it this afternoon. So having one place to put them all will be a great thing for years to come. I will post the link to this one as soon as I come up with a name for it.