Three sweets and a shift

Sometimes, when I write this blog, I have a hard time remembering what's been going on during the last week. I find myself measuring my days in the crime or accidents I've covered while working my job, or the stories I've written recently. Or friends who have visited. My friend Taylor and I haven't had corresponding days off since graduating, until last week. It was nice to catch up with him, and go out for my friend Tim's birthday as well. Also, last Tuesday was my Aunt Betty's birthday. Which meant baking, of course!


See, when I have a couple days off, I tend to go over there and bake for hours on end. Generally it's stuff that's a bit harder than I try on my own, because she's done so much more than me. One of those things is the Joy of Cooking angel food cake. I've never made one before — it took 11 egg whites! Can you believe that? It seems it's basically a meringue with enough flour mixed in to make it a cake. Aunt Betty wanted a birthday cake, and this was it. A lemon glaze on top, and it was super tasty.


Also on the list was using the cookie press she got me for my birthday. The pumpkin shape seemed like a good place to start, you know, with the fall season and all. It's basically a sugar almond cookie extruded through a sort of gun-type thing. Once we figured out how to work it (after a couple YouTube videos) we were good to go! I'm thinking these will make good Christmas gifts later, with red- and green-tinted dough and the Christmas tree shape.


Later in the week, I worked dayside and got some awesome news — I got switched to an earlier shift! No more vampire living for me. Except that's not entirely true, since I'm up writing this at like 5:30 a.m. Maybe I still have some adjusting to do. Anyway, it means more writing and multimedia, which is exactly the kind of stuff I like doing. The other day I got to write about a former dairy farm that is being renovated for use by KU, which is totally my type of thing. I love old family histories like that. I've got another historical story coming up, and I'm pretty excited to work on it!


Point is, my shift came about because of a larger shift in our company. It's being restructured, and Friday was my last day working with some of my coworkers. So we celebrate with cupcakes, of course! Kelly helped me make the cupcakes, which we made half chocolate and half yellow to signify the split. Okay, I have to admit, I used boxed mix for the yellow. It's the first time I've used boxed mix for a cupcake in I don't know how long, but I was fricking exhausted and didn't want to go back to the store for a measly carton of buttermilk. So I used the box. Whatever. Anyway, I think they turned out cute, what with the Halloween decorations.


So now I'm off to finish the rest of my new work week, filled with interviews and hopefully fewer car wrecks (it's been a crazy couple week with those). Oh, one last thing, I saw the bar band for the first time ever on Wednesday at the Sandbar. It's a group of guys who play a bunch of typical band songs and the KU fight song and all that, and it was great. Too bad our football team totally blew it the next day. But it did make me excited for two things: 1) basketball season and 2) my friends visiting for the upcoming KU vs. Colorado game. Who cares if we'll probably lose? I get to tailgate! Woo hoo!