Happy, happy November! Eleven months in...can't believe it, this year is flying by!

We had a very busy weekend around here and looking around the blogs, we weren't the only ones! Lot's of good stuff happening out there this weekend. I find my travels through the blogosphere tremendously reassuring. It's so easy for me to get caught up in my own stuff or to get really bummed out about some of the sad things going on out there in the world. The snapshots of life I get on my virtual trips are ever hopeful and inspiring, and even though I don't have the time I would like to explore every nook and cranny, and still be as present as I want to be in my own life, I am ever grateful the glimpses I do get and see my time in front of this little window as an investment in optimism and connectedness.

Here's a glimpse into our world...
In addition to Halloween fun, we had a birthday this weekend! Yes, all of my babes are now in double digits...truly unbelievable for this mama...where did it go? Anyway, here is the birthday boy deliberating over the perfect birthday wish and blowing out 10, count them 10 candles! He wanted an orange bundt cake this year. This one was tasty (and is very good for breakfast) but I am still searching for that perfect recipe...any suggestions?

In addition to baking a birthday cake this weekend, I agreed to a last minute cake job. So needless to say I've been living in my kitchen for the past few days. Here's the view...

The client wanted a faux wedding cake and they wanted it to be off-center and not straight. I learned something with this cake, something about me...I don't usually think of myself as a person who is overly invested in making everything absolutely symmetrical or perfect. My family and friends may laugh here, but I really don't consider myself a perfectionist at all, my work is so often so far from perfect and, as I tell them, I don't expect it to be perfect, I just want it to be right (cue the eye rolling). And as evidence that I am not overly invested in perfection and symmetry, I point to the fact that I often make mismatched socks and asymmetrical elements frequently make their way into my weaving (by accident or design)—more eye rolling. Apparently that doesn't extend to cake baking, since looking at this cake made me crazy...really crazy. It took all my resolve not to take it apart and restack it...

As you can see, I even had to get the level out...and yes, it was level believe it or not!

And here it is delivered, all in one piece, before I set it up...

Anyway, it's always fun and interesting to learn something new about yourself...even if it is a little thing, it can be oddly revealing. Looking at the pictures of the cake, the lack of symmetry doesn't bother me so much—it was more just being it the cake's presence—I really felt a need to "fix" it...that in itself gives me loads to ponder...hmmm. Was it the fear of ending up on cake wrecks?...or something bigger?...or more likely both!... Helloooo....Narcissa...back to reality...enough gazing at my own reflection for one morning. I've got ~~a little one~~ a big ten year old down with the funk today and I think he's almost at the end of his chapter. Time for some lunch and quality cuddling...is it wrong that I kind of love the occasional sick day?...especially when they are too sick to go to school but not too sick to play Scrabble and read together?...Gotta love the coziness!

Hope your day is cozy...xoxoAlison