Making cakes and eating them, too

Posted by samantha on Aug 2, 2014 in What I Think

After my position was eliminated last year, I decided to take advantage of the extra time on my hands by tackling something on my bucket list: cake decorating.

My mom was always a culinary genius when it came to baked goods, and my baby sister can whip up some extraordinary scrabbled eggs and tilapia dishes.

For years I’d wanted to take some classes and learn a few decorating techniques to add to my inherited baking skills. And with Michael’s craft stores offering classes half off, I really had no reason not to.

For 12 weeks I had a blast learning about making different types of icing, how to use them to create patterns, petals and more, and even got some work with fondant and gum paste.

What’s been really neat, though, is how I’ve been able to continue learning and practicing — and even making some spare change — through making cakes for friends and family.

Check out some of my sweet creations!

Word of the day

Posted by samantha on Jul 29, 2014 in What I Think

Is it unusual to wake up with a random word on your brain? I do this regularly, but I am not sure if others do the same or not.

About a week ago the word was “excoriate.” Before that I kept repeating the word “erudite” over and over. Days before that I enjoyed the word of “verbosity.”

Today’s word of the day is “preternaturally.”

There isn’t much rhyme or reason to which word pops into my head in the morning, but once it’s there it just sticks around until a new one replaces it. Often the word is one that I’ve heard before, rather than read, but not always. I usually know the meaning of the word, but again, not always, which provides the opportunity to grow my vocabulary.

My favorite words are discombobulating and neologism. The first one I love because of its pronunciation and meaning, and the second because of who I learned it from — Ms. Jimmie N. Ovington.

It was Ms. O who encouraged my writing when no one else did. And it was Ms. O who supported my application to American Mensa. It was on my bucket list for years, from the time I was about age 17, really. I asked Ms. O what she thought about me applying and learned that she was also a member. Not surprising because she is brilliant. It was a blessing having her as a teacher during some of the most difficult years of my life — middle school.

Thinking of her reminded me of a different word: Pedagogy. *Smile *

Football is almost here

Posted by samantha on Jul 17, 2014 in What I Think

I’m excited because I just realized that football season is approaching. In a few — okay, several — short weeks I’ll be going to the first Blue Raider game of the season! I’m practically bursting with excitement.

Time to get out my gear. Tickets should be arriving soon.

Let’s go Blue! Let’s go Blue!