The Summertime Slump

We are in the midst of summertime here in Texas, and while the meteorologist might tell you that summer is on it's way out, the true Texan knows that it doesn't get cool here until early November… at best. If you read my last post, you have probably figured out I have succumbed to The Summertime Slump and forgot about my blog for some weeks.

So, what have I been doing while skillfully ignoring my blog? A whole lot of work. Between the pressures of my everyday job, my studying, fretting about my studying, and helping my sister move all her belongings (and she has a lot of belongings) to her new home, I'm pretty well exhausted. Oh yeah, and it feels like a pressure cooker every time you walk outside. But who's complaining…

School starts this coming Thursday for me, and I wish I could say I was excited. Quite honestly I'm dreading it. Based on my experiences this summer, I have found this particular University program to be lacking in the teaching department. So, I expect the same caliber of class this fall. The real bummer of it is the class is from 6pm to 9pm Thursday nights and it's an hour drive each way. And, I'll have to leave even earlier than 5pm from work so that I can bypass all the rush hour traffic and make it to class on time. I'm not excited, but at least these classes don't require me to generate much effort.

In other news, I still have yet to finish my cross stitched roses I started way back at the first of the year. I always start to get antsy towards the end of a project, don't you? Anyway, I figured it was a waste to post pictures of my "progress" as you've already seen the pictures from the first production. Hopefully I will be finished with it sometime this century.

In regards to cooking, my errors never cease to amaze me. Last night I decided to be really feminine and cook dinner for Mom and Dad. What better, or easier, to cook than chicken, right? Well, perhaps that is true… if you cook the bird right side up. I used this recipe which was posted on my Facebook news feed about a week ago, figuring it would be a great success. I really thought I had my stuff together as I buttered that bird and shoved it in the oven. When the timer went off, I pulled the chicken out of the oven, and it looked like perfection. I handed a knife to Dad and asked him to carve pieces for everyone, my femininity stops at cutting up meat. This was where the confusion ensued. He seemed perplexed for a minute. Confused by the very odd lack of a presence of the breast he rotated the chicken for examination. Not only had I buttered that bird upside down, the bottom wasn't even close to being cooked. Thirty minutes later, the chicken came back out of the oven mutilated, but cooked (mostly) to perfection. And for dessert (because it's just not enough to make dinner!) I made a plain two layer butter cake and frosted it with this excellent vanilla bean buttercream frosting. If you do decide to use this recipe, I added more salt than was called for. I think it really accentuated the flavor of the vanilla beans.