Birthday wrap-up

 Well, I made it to 53. Hopes and prayers that we are all around for me to see 54. (Given news of the world....)

Friday night was upsetting. My mother had ordered a small cake for me from a well-known Danish bakery in Wisconsin. They sent it - she paid for - two day delivery, and they sent it on the 23rd, with delivery on the 25th. But. They sent it FedEx, which is the worst of the delivery services here. (USPS is currently the best, UPS is below them - they used to be the best - and Fed Ex trails far in third)

They kept pushing back the delivery time, and finally when I got through on the phone to someone I was told "oh, no, they won't deliver it tonight now, the plane was late getting in, you'll get it Monday" and I explained that (a) it was a 2-day delivery and (b) it was a food item that might spoil but that didn't cut any ice, "You'll get it Monday, unless there's another delay"

(Though I think really my upset over a cake was a proxy for other upsets that I had less control over and less say in - I think that was the first real day of Russian troops marching on Ukraine? I often tend to get upset over some small stupid trivial item when I'm really upset over a larger thing that I have no control over and have no idea how to "handle" in my brain - calling a Fed Ex rep and pleading with them that the cake will be "spoiled" feels like doing something even if it didn't really do anything)

There was another small item - it turned out to be loose-leaf tea a friend sent me - that was supposed to come THURSDAY and at one point they essentially said "lol we don't know where the package is"

Then Saturday when I was out I got a text claiming my cake would be delivered by that evening. Lolnope, I was glad I didn't cut my trip out short in hopes of getting it. 

It finally came today. It seemed to be okay, I had a piece after dinner

It's called a "donut cake" - basically a bundt type cake (baked in a ring pan) that tastes something like a cake donut. It was actually a little sweeter than what I optimally like and I admit I probably would have been more excited if it had come on time.

Anyway. Saturday I took the day and went to Whitesboro. I had been there in early December but just to the yarn shop. This time I also went to the quilt shop (Kaleidoscope Quilts, which has changed hands but still has the same listings - in fact, I had a 10% discount still in their files!). And I ate lunch out, first time in a restaurant in ages and ages. But Lovejoy's is one of my favorite little places, and they weren't busy, and I figured it was probably fine.

I got bacon and Swiss quiche. They make good quiches there.

And a cup of hot tea; they are one of the few places here that makes tea from loose leaves rather than bags. (It was chilly on Saturday)

And of course, since I didn't get my cake Friday night, I had to have a piece of cake

Their cake is also very good; clearly not from a mix like so many restaurants do, nor is it something like the frozen Pepperidge-Farm cakes. 

I don't have a photo of the fabric I bought - I got a jelly roll of a new line called Dance in Paris and a bigger piece of this one for sashing or border. (I might use it as a border and use plain white as the sashing or "block background" fabric. I haven't fully committed to a pattern yet.

I also bought a book of "one block" quilt patterns, mostly using fat quarters

I also bought some yarn - the bronze color is for a lace shawl, the dark pink is probably socks or perhaps a pair of fingerless mitts, and the heavier weight speckle is for another scarf, called "Off Kilter" (a tilting lace pattern). (Yes, I have a lot of scarves, but I find them comfort-knitting because you do not have to do shaping or worry about increases and decreases - you can just go once you figure out the pattern)

Sunday I filled the pulpit - the minister had to take a vacation day; there was a funeral he wanted to attend. It went pretty well, though I think the sermon was maybe a little short. (It was over the Transfiguration passage from Luke). I do it again in a month - the lectionary is the Prodigal Son and I think I have an idea for a different way to approach it.

There was also a potluck after church (I am getting to be a social butterfly again, I guess). It was Mexican-style food, and there were several good chicken enchilada casseroles and a tamale casserole. And one of the women knew it was my birthday and got me a cake! I think it was from Pruett's. Only about half the cake went - there were other desserts and not a lot of people stayed for lunch - so I also have half of the cake in the fridge, later this week I'll have to figure out if I can freeze most of that and most of the one my mom sent me (I think hers will freeze more easily, being basically a pound cake with minimal frosting)

With a few bumps and bruises, the birthday turned out pretty well. (As I said earlier: here's hoping I get to have many more, and that everyone else gets to have many more February 27s, but I don't like how much like an echo of the mid 80s things feel now)