Of Paint, Cake, Horseshoes, Sleepovers, And Musical Geekery

I've been busy y'all. First, I spent a few days last week changing our dining-room-that-isn't-a-dining-room from this

to this. It's not done, by any stretch, but this is a little sneak peek. And I am so much happier walking by that room now than when it was the depressing yellowy beige/dark brown.

We also had a celebration. It was touching to watch my daughter who most of the time regards her dad as an obstacle to fun and a walking, talking lump of embarrassment decorate a cake for him to celebrate his belated birthday. She worked and giggled and he complimented her work. I told her perhaps she would be the next Ace of Cakes and she promptly rolled her eyes and told me to stuff it. Ahhh, love.

In addition to cake, we celebrated with these:

If you are from central Illinois, you will know this on sight. If not, let me introduce you to the artery-clogging deliciousness that is a Horseshoe Sandwich--toast, meat/shrimp (we usually do chicken), a super fab cheese sauce, and fries (the nails on the horseshoe). We don't have them often, maybe once or twice a year. They are usually the special dinner request of someone who is celebrating a birthday.

And then there was this:

The aftermath of my boys and two neighbor boys watching a pay-per-view wrestling match and allegedly sleeping over. I speculate that there was very little sleeping. Although when I came downstairs this morning, I found one boy asleep in the recliner, one on the floor, one on the air mattress, and James face down on the hardwood floor of the dining room whatever room, covered by his Steelers blanket laying down some z's, two televisions on,  and every light ablaze. I confess, it was a little like walking into a junior version of The Hangover minus the tiger in the bathroom.

I woke them with the call of these:

Later today, I will attempt to make King cake for tomorrow. I'll let you know how it goes. In the meantime, because it has made me happy in a music/science geek way, you should watch this.