Parties and Acceptances, oh my!

So much has happened in the last week I cannot even manage any semblance of literary form.

Firstly: I got into school! Ack! Sooooo unbelievably excited/elated/shocked. When I found out, Ender was napping next to me and I had to quietly squeal (which sounded more like a tire losing air) and wait for him to wake up before I could call everyone. I texted Mike immediately and sent off a few e-mails.

Now, the logistical hell of moving a family of three half way across the country must begin. Not really looking forward to that, but it will be all worth it in the end. Today is a muggy, murky day, warm and always tempting rain, and it reminds me of Halifax. It reminds me of where we are going, and a place that I love that I get to show my son. There is a feeling of completeness about it.

Secondly: Ender had his 1st birthday party! Tomorrow will be his actual birthday, but yesterday was his party. Friends and family all showed up, were wonderful, bestowed gifts, brought food, drank and laughed. It was wonderful. I was worried about managing to fit so many people in our tiny condo, but we had approximately twenty people in and around the house, and it never felt overly crowded to me. I spent a lot of time planning that party, I made a cake that looked like a bullfrog out of fondant and a dense cake recipe I created myself (with a dash of that Guyanese pear essence that I will probably own for the rest of my life because it is so large and there are only so many things that can taste like pears) and learned some hard won lessons.

Fondant is a tricky thing to deal with. We went to the cake decorating store because I was tight on time and didn't want to make it myself (a disappointment to some of my readers, I know) and also purchased some heavy-duty food colouring, edible pearlescent stuff, a cake tray and a huge tub of buttercream icing. After I kneaded the colouring in, as Mike yelled at me not to hurt myself (which I did, but I staved off with a shot of scotch) I rolled it out on the counter which had been greased with shortening. I should mention I was also baking some sweet potatoes in the oven, and the kitchen was very hot. Too hot. So hot that my fondant was turning into a mucky mess. I was too excited, though. It is the main flaw of my baking and cooking abilities. So I rolled out the fondant and plopped it on the cake. The weight of the thing ripped it right down the centre. The fondant should have been a. rolled thicker, b. chilled in the fridge a few moments, and c. handled by someone who didn't have a shot of scotch in their system. Wine gives one the easy sensibility of checking things when they need to be checked, but not over handling food. It is matched to cooking. All baking should be done with puritanical sobriety. Scotch, while an effective pain killer, is best drank during debates, intellectual discussion, and contract brokerage. Just my humble opinion.

But the cake looked great. I patched up the hole in the middle, and in general got the effect I was after. Ender later took a full quarter of the cake and moodged it in his little fingers, looking quite pleased with himself. I couldn't ask for anything more.

The party was a grand success, there was plenty of food, and my favourite sociological effect occured: people who I was worried wouldn't mesh knew enough on their own not to talk to eachother. People who are planning weddings with large number of family members often worry about this. Uncle Bob being an alcoholic and Auntie Yolanda being a temperance lady, how will they ever get along? However, one is not giving their family members enough credit. They want to talk to eachother even less than you want them to. Life just has a way of working that out on its own, without your intervention.

Ender was a bit clingy, but he's been going through some separation anxiety lately. It waxes and wanes, enough for me to not worry about it. He generally was awesome. He played with his toys, and smirked flirtaceously at the ladies. I'm not sure what I did to deserve such an awesome little guy, but I sure am glad I've gotten to spend a whole year with him. I can't wait to see what the next years will bring.

Well I tapped this off in about three minutes, so hopefully it is internally coherent, in the very least....