Sunday, August 16, 2009

I think I'm Back...?

SIGH.


This week proved to be every bit as busy as I thought it would be. I still haven't finished any reading, I still haven't responded to any comments from when I was gone, and I still haven't looked at my Google Reader. Well, that's not true. Yesterday I spent some time clearing out the memes, giveways, and challenge posts to give myself somewhere to start. If you're curious, this made up about 20% of the posts in my reader.

I spent hours this week going through the 800 pictures from our trip and finally got the picture folder down to 250 and gave up. I'm almost done with a picture post, but it still needs a lot of editing (groan). I had my last cake decorating class this week and had multiple disasters in the kitchen--three nights in a row. I finally had to cave and buy a styrofoam "cake" so I could decorate something in class. The top picture is my cake from before I went out of town and the bottom cake is my styrofoam dummy. It didn't quite taste as good as the first. :P With the first, we were doing several techniques which is why the top border is so mismatched.



It was a stressful week, but I think I'm ready to be back. I noticed that Google Reader has a neat little feature that will now let me mark read anything older than two weeks (the exact amount of time I spent not blogging at all). So, last night I marked anything older than two weeks as read. Then marked anything older than a week read. And then anything older than a day. I do feel awful, especially since everyone was so wonderful about visiting while I was gone, but I just can't. Sincerely, if I missed something on your blog that you feel I would love, PLEASE let me know. Other than scanning for meme/challenge/giveaways, I didn't read anything. :( But, it will be nice to start with a fresh slate.

And...I've never really felt comfortable mentioning this here, but I couldn't resist showing you how gorgeous these flowers are. My birthday was Friday and I certainly was spoiled--no picture does this bouquet justice. Scott outdid himself this year.
Roses
Hope everyone is having a great Sunday!! Can't wait to catch up with you all this week!

38 comments:

Missy B. said...

The cakes are beautiful...you did a great job! Welcome back (and happy belated birthday!)
Try not to be too overwhelmed with getting caught up. We all understand. :)

bermudaonion said...

Happy Birthday a few days late! Your cakes are both gorgeous! Don't worry about the Reader, sometimes you just have to hit that magic button and start from scratch.

Amanda said...

I'll add my Happy Birthday in here also. :) Hitting all posts as read is no big deal. I doubt there's anything super-major to catch up on. ;P It's better to be un-stressed. Welcome back!

Meghan said...

Happy belated birthday! I agree with Missy and Kathy, don't worry about your reader. People are always posting new stuff and I doubt you'd feel like commenting after scrolling through all those posts anyway.

Your cakes are lovely! I have always wanted to do a cake decorating class. Maybe once I'm officially done with grad school.

Jeane said...

Happy Birthday! Sounds like you had a busy vacation. I can't wait to see the photos. That second cake (although inedible) looks gorgeous.

Susan said...

Happy birthday, belated, Trish! I love the flowers, a beautiful bouquet. Did you get any books/buy any, for your birthday? That's what we really care about, here! lol

The cake icing looks beautiful. I've never dared try anything like that. I'm happy when the whole cake comes out of the pan! And a little surprised, too :-D

Trish @ Love, Laughter, Insanity said...

*Missy - It's always a little surprising to me how things just carry right on when you're gone. For me it's such a big deal because I'm NOT here and know what I'm missing!

*Bermuda - It is nice to have a clean slate, although I know by tomorrow it will be ugly again! :)

*Amanda - I did see the Read-a-thon announcement and was really exicted about that, but otherwise I didn't read anything. Oh well.

*Meghan - Scrolling through 500 posts definitely does not make me want to read any of them! Too overwhelming. If you have a chance to take a class I'd recommend it. It's kind of a lot of work but so much fun!

*Jeane - It was very sad for me to have to toss the icing on the styrofoam cake without being able to eat it. Oh well. Pictures coming soon!

*Susan - Well, two nights last week my cakes overflowed in the oven. The third night my cake stuck to the pan--hence the styromfoam dummy. :)

rhapsodyinbooks said...

Gorgeous cakes! I also find the Google Reader overwhelming after a trip. It seems a shame to mark as read, but it's really the only way to cope, unless you feel like pulling an all-nighter!!!

Darlene said...

Happy Belated Birthday Trish! The flowers from Scott are absolutely beautiful! The cakes are gorgeous-I really love the colors on the first one. As for the reader my friend - mark it all as read and start over. I've had to do that several times over the past few weeks when I wasn't feeling well.

CJ said...

Welcome back! Happy birthday! We missed you around the joint. And the flowers are gorgeous. I love the way the styrofoam cake looks - the decorating is beautiful.

cjh

Anonymous said...

Happy belated birthday, Trish!!

And please, please don't feel bad about marking so much read. I'm sure everyone understands the feeling. (I know I do.)

Hmm... The only thing I did that's worth mentioning (in my opinion) is reading Libyrinth which is worth a look if you haven't heard of it before. (The book that is not my post. Feel free to continue skipping the post.)

Beyond that... EEEEEEEEEE! Pretty cakes! (My favourite is the top one, but that's because I'm partial to the colour palette. The styrofoam one looks amazing too, even if it's not edible.)

And those flowers are gorgeous. ^-^ Hope you've had a blast for your trip and birthday, Trish!

Molly said...

Your cakes are lovely! In a former life I decorated cakes (only birthday cakes, never attempted the layered wedding cake) and I totally understand the stress involved. I congratulate you for doing something fun and out of the ordinary!

I am very anxious to see your pictures of Yellowstone - whenever you have recovered, that is. That is one destination that I truly hope to visit some day (of course, I will need to take a photography class before I make that trip).

The flowers are beautiful -- you have a great hubby.

Have a great week trying to get back to "normal"

Lisa said...

What pretty flowers! Good job, Scott! 28 of them? I hope you had a lovely weekend.

Joanne ♦ The Book Zombie said...

Happy belated birthday! Hope you had a wonderful time, your bouquet is gorgeous. And those cakes look amazing, I'd love to try something like your second one, so pretty :)

bethany (dreadlock girl) said...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! And I cannot believe how beautiful those cakes are! you are so amazing.

Glad you are somewhat back, you've been missed.

Trish @ Love, Laughter, Insanity said...

*Rhapsody - In a former life I probably would have pulled an all-nighter with Google Reader, but there just isn't enough time! :)

*Dar - I hope you're feeling better now--migraines sound awful. :( The colors came out a little weird in the picture, but it was a yummy cake!

*CJ - The styrofoam decorating was actually quite tough and my hand got really tired. The back of the cake is much lazier. :) But thank you.

*Shanra - Is Libyrinth at all related to the movie with David Bowie? I loved the movie growing up but haven't heard of a book by the same title. I'll be on the look out.

*Molly - I've heard you mention before that you used to decorate birthday cakes! So much fun, but I don't know that I could do it for other people--so much stress. Yellowstone is gorgeous. We had a new camera, so I spent much of the car trip trying to figure out how to use it. :)

*Lisa - Did I tell you he kind of forgot my birthday was on Friday? There are 48, so I guess I should forget that he almost forgot. :)

*Joanne - I've learned since signing up for my courses at the community college that a lot of craft stores also offer decoarting classes. You should check it out to see if you can find one close to you.

*Bethany - Ah thank you. The cake class has been a lot of work but I'm crazy enough to sign up for the second course in October! Can't wait.

Deb Nance at Readerbuzz said...

Beautiful cakes! Beautiful flowers! Happy birthday!

(And thanks for sharing the info about the feed!)

Kim L said...

Glad you are back! Don't worry about missing out, I'm sure getting out and enjoying your vacay was better than being in the house anyhow :-)

The cakes turned out nice! I'm impressed, especially since I can't do cakes at all. I can make a box cake, and that is it!

Also, thanks for mentioning that new feature on Google Reader, I may definitely need to use it!

chrisa511 said...

First of all, happy belated birthday Trish!! And welcome back :) I know how stressful it can be to see the Google Reader looking like that :/ I just have to suck it up when it gets to that point and admit defeat (AKA "Mark All As Read") Oh, and I think your cakes are gorgeous!!

Melissa O. said...

Happy Belated Birthday! Your flowers are gorgeous!!

Love your cakes, too--great job! Maybe someday I'll get around to taking some cake-decorating classes :-)

Thanks for calling my attention to Google Reader's new "mark as read" options--sadly, I think I'll have to use them on occasion, as well.

Happy Reading!

Melody said...

Welcome back, Trish! I missed ya! ;)

Wow, this is a great post! Beautiful cakes & beautiful roses! What more can a girl ask? :P
Happy belated birthday, Trish!

Amy said...

Beautiful flowers! And don't you dare feel guilty about the google reader!! :)

Stephanie said...

First of all HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! You are right. Your hubby outdid himself. Those flowers are just gorgeous!

Hopefully you guys had a great vacation. I'm loving the cake decorating! I've wanted to take a class for awhile now. It looks like so much fun!

Lisa said...

Welcome back and happy birthday!

TheBlackSheep said...

Happy Birthday and welcome back!

joanna said...

Happy Birthday Trish!! Hope you get through those Reader posts quickly... I have to admit that I often just skip whatever I missed when I was away, otherwise I'd constantly be behind!

Ana S. said...

Happy belated birthday, Trish! So glad to have you back. Please don't feel guilty marking everything as read...I seriously can't imagine not doing that after a vacation. You don't need extra stress in your life!

Shanra said...

Nope, Libyrinth is entirely unrelated to Labyrinth. (Unless you want to count my reviewing both three days apart.) It's a YA novel by Pearl North (though she's written adult-market fiction as A-something Harris before. Don't ask me what the difference is).

It's a scifi YA (though it's heavier on the fantasy than the scifi) and I love the whole thing. The premise is that there's a girl living in a very big library known as the Libyrinth and she can hear books. She can read them without ever opening them. The Libyrinthians are opposed by the Singers (or the Eradicants) who wish to burn all the books. Ultimately it's a story of getting along despite one's differences and I'm doing a horrible job at describing it, but the whole thing is so gorgeous. *recommending it any chance she gets, so...*

http://libritouches.wordpress.com/2009/08/06/libyrinth-by-pearl-north/ <- Here's the review I left, if you're curious, but I doubt it gives you a better idea of why I think the book is so awesome. ^-^;

Michelle said...

Those cakes look delicious! Yes even the styrofoam one! And those flowers! Shut up with those! I bet they smell just delicious! They are gorgeous! Happy Birthday once again! Don't feel bad about the google reader, I know we have all done that at some point, otherwise it just gets too overwhelming. Just one more thing I think you may have missed me mentioning, I am expecting another baby again, due on Feb. 1!!! We are pretty excited! Anyway, glad you are back, and I am sure you will be getting back into the swing of things soon enough!!!

Natasha @ Maw Books said...

Happy Birthday!!! And I'm glad you had such a wonderful trip. Glad to have you back. And seriously? The Google Reader tip? Had no idea about that.

Kate said...

Trini, those cakes are beautiful. I can hardly wait until my birthday next year so you can make me a lovely cake!! The flowers are beautiful too. I can't wait to come home and celebrate with you. Love you---Mom

Karen Beth said...

The top cake decorations kind of look like cute backwards nike swooshes.

I haven't been "back" online yet either, even though I've been back for about two weeks. When I opened my reader, I had about 1200 msgs. I've gotten it down to 411 now, but that's because I'm just flying through and skimming during work breaks.

I can't wait to actually post something! It's kind of stressful, though, after time away. Thanks for sharing your pictures with us.

Serena said...

Happy Birthday! Those flowers are gorgeous. I hope you feel a little less overwhelmed with a smaller google reader. I know I do after vacation.

tanabata said...

Happy belated birthday!
It's hard to get back in the swing of blogging, isn't it? I still haven't really got back in after our move almost 2 months ago. Sigh.
Looking forward to seeing some pictures from your vacation when you get a chance.

Trish @ Love, Laughter, Insanity said...

*Debnance - I didn’t realize that the feed thing was so new! Fun to pass on something to others. :)

*Kim L - Oh—those cakes are definitely from boxes! There’s no way I have time for cakes made from scratch. :P And they taste just as good, right??

*Chris - Thanks about the cakes—still learning, but I guess not bad. Just wish the cooking part wasn’t such a nightmare! Google Reader is such a great thing until it becomes a pain in the ass, right?

*Melissa - You should definitely take some classes. I took the class through the community college, but a lot of craft stores offer Saturday or Sunday classes. For someone who gets so backed up on GReader like I do, that “mark everything two weeks old as read” will probably come in handy. :(

*Melody - We also had a great birthday date—movie and hotdogs. :) Sometimes it’s good just to have a little bit of fun. Missed you too!

*Amy - It’s always hard trying to decide whether or not to hit that “mark all read” button, but once it’s done there’s no point feeling bad about it!

*Stephanie - The cake decorating class was a lot of fun, but I wish I had an actual baking class—that was the hard part for me! Thanks for the birthday wishes!

*Lit and Life - Thanks for the wishes! Happy to be back in the blogosphere.

*Blacksheep - Thanks—feels great to be back, but not to be a year older. :P

*Joanna - It’s hard to miss out on what’s happening on the blogosphere, but sometimes you just have to in order to stay sane.

*Nymeth - Usually I at least try to hit a few blogs to catch up, but when I ended up being “gone” for two weeks instead of one it was just hard. Thanks for the birthday wishes. It’s so great to be back!

*Shanra - You are too cute to resist. :) The story sounds great—I’ll definitely be checking it out!!

*Michelle - AHHHHHHHHHHHH! I’m so excited for you. I know I’m the world’s worst emailer ever, but did you get the one I sent you?

*Natasha - I had no idea the GReader thingy was new. I’m sure I’ll be using it in a pinch from now on—very helpful after being away for a few days.

*Mom - I would LOVE to make your birthday cake again this year. :) You’re the best.

*Karen Beth - Have you started your classes back up? I bet everything’s all abuzz with new students and classes. How exciting!

*Serena - Yup, I marked all as read, but leave it to life to hand me another busy week. Guess I’ll be using Saturday morning for catching up! :)

Trish @ Love, Laughter, Insanity said...

*Tanabata - We've missed having you around but I know how hard it is to juggle real life and blogging. I know your move was a big one and I hope that you'll start feeling a little more settled soon!

Anonymous said...

Happy Belated Birthday. The flower are gorgeous, as are your cakes by the way.

Thoughts of Joy said...

Happy belated birthday, Miss Trish!