Happy Birthday Momma :(

It’s been a while since I last blogged, and I was hoping when I got back to it this month, that it would be a happier blog post since my last one was sad because I found out my poor doggy is sick Unfortunately, this one isn’t going to be the happiest in the world, but I’m hoping these cookies will make up for it.

My family and I are still working through out “firsts” since the passing of my mom last February, and today happens to be another one of those firsts.

Mom at the Sioux Falls in South Dakota, 2008

Today, my momma should have been 66 years old.

I say should have, because it wasn’t fair how she left us, left me.

Mom and her children, Christmas 2010

She had been sick for probably around 8 or 9 years before she passed, and my family and I didn’t know until she was finally diagnosed a year before she passed with COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease).

My mom didn’t want us to know, because allowing us to know would be allowing herself to recognize that something was wrong, so she hid it from us. And now, because of this choice, my mother will never see me graduate from junior college with my Associates Degree in Music… or see me transfer to a 4 year university with a wonderful harp ensemble {just like she and I talked about while I was in high school}… or see me getting married and watch Daddy walk me down the aisle someday… or see me have my babies.

None of these things will ever happen, and I am so jealous of my older sisters because they were lucky enough to have mom there for their weddings and babies.
It’s just not fair.

Mom and I at The Peninsula Beverly Hills, 2007

Everyday I try to push forward, moving towards my current goals of finishing my credits at my junior college so I can transfer in Fall of 2013, all the while pretending everything is fine…

…and sometimes I actually believe it is.

But the truth is, it’s not. And it won’t be for a while.

Mom, Dad, and I in Borrego Springs, 2008

I miss my mom, and I miss the times that I have lost with her.

Sure, we never got out of our Mother-Daughter Fightallthefreakingtime Relationship, but that was going to change eventually.

But now I’ll never have that chance.

Mom and I at Mt. Rushmore, 2009

The only good thing about all of this is that although I’ve lost my mother, I have changed a lot from the person I was back in high school/right out of high school.

That person was an extremely lazy, un-motivated person who wanted nothing more than to wake up and play video games until it’s time to go to sleep.

Now, although I still struggle with that person {especially when I don’t have any hard commitments for the day}, I am now accomplishing things and moving forward for my life. And I have no idea when that would have happened if my mom getting sick wouldn’t have happened.

Because with my mom’s illness came time for me to finally become mature and grow up because my mom needed me to help take care of her because she couldn’t anymore. And now that she no longer needs me, I have to take care of myself and do what I need to do to move forward with my life.

Mom, Me, Grandma, and My Oldest Sister, 2008

*sighs*

So, the other day, I was absolutely starved for something sweet {I’ve been trying not to keep cookies in the house because they are my usual go-to snack, and when I eat them, I sit there and work on the whole dang pack, instead of a few}. That’s when I read Sweet Sugarbelle’s blog post about Easy Cake Mix Cookies.

She calls them the “easiest cookies you’ll ever make”, and boy was she right! They are so quick and simple, anyone can make them. And since they are quick, I was able to satisfy my sweet tooth craving in about 30 minutes

When I went to make these cookies though, I didn’t have any chocolate cake mix on hand. However, I did have some Funfetti Cake Mix! The recipe said “1 boxed cake mix”, so I figured it would work! And it did.

I planned on just sharing her recipe with you all so you could enjoy these fabulous cookies too, but since it’s my mom’s birthday, and since these cookies reminded me of birthday cookies {sprinkles and birthdays just seem to go hand in hand if you ask me}, I changed the recipe to be used specifically with a sprinkled cake mix!

I hope you all enjoy my {only slightly changed, and by slightly, I do mean slightly lol} adaptation of Sweet Sugarbelle’s recipe!

Oh yeah, and Happy Birthday Momma.

I miss you…

…and hope you’re having a good birthday in Heaven.

XOXO from your daughter who misses you with her whole heart and soul.

Mom at her favorite desert escape, La Casa del Zorro

<3 and harp strings,
Kate

Happy Birthday Sprinkle Cookies      [click to print]

Makes about 2 dozen cookies (adapted from the super easy, and delicious recipe by Sweet Sugarbelle)

Ingredients

1 box Pillsbury Funfetti Cake Mix {any cake mix with sprinkles should work, or you can use a vanilla cake mix and add your own sprinkles too!}
1/2 cup {1 stick} unsalted butter, softened
2 eggs
2 tablespoons flour
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

 

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Add all ingredients to a mixer bowl and combine well {or a regular bowl and use a hand mixer}.
3. Use a cookie scoop to scoop out the dough and drop it onto a Silpat lined cookie sheet {an ungreased cookie sheet works too} to make evenly sized dough portions.
4. Bake for 10-12 minutes {if cookies aren’t done after this, continue to bake, checking every 2 minutes or so}.
5. Let cool on the cookie sheet for at least 10 minutes.

Photo Walkthrough:

Everything you'll need for thie recipe.

Add all ingredients to a mixer bowl and combine well {or a regular bowl and use a hand mixer}.

Use a cookie scoop to scoop out the dough and drop it onto a Silpat lined cookie sheet {an ungreased cookie sheet works too} to make evenly sized dough portions.

Bake for 10-12 minutes {if cookies aren't done after this, continue to bake, checking every 2 minutes or so}. Let cool on the cookie sheet for at least 10 minutes.

Sad Days Need to Go Away and NOT Come Again Another Day

I need to voice some personal worries right now. Just to help get them off my chest.

Yesterday was a very sad day for me.

TJ and I took Sophie {aka dog-dog} to the vet for her follow-up visit. She had her first visit just before Christmas because she’s had a terrible cough and I was really worried about it. When I brought her in, they wanted to take chest x-rays {for the low low low cost of only $155! *cough*}, but since my dad and I hadn’t planned on spending that much money on vet stuff right before Christmas, we decline. So they went with their best assumption that her cough was kennel cough. So they gave her a shot, and sent me home with cough syrup and an antibiotic for it that I had to give to her three times a day.

During Christmas and New Years her cough got a little better {it had sounded like a seal bark when I took her to the vet the first time}, but then it sort of… plateaued. So I went into the vet yesterday knowing they were going to need that $155 for x-rays.

Well, sure enough, they did. They took them and they are pretty sure they found what is wrong with my poor, sweet, Sophie-dog. The right side of heart area is larger than the left side. They don’t know specifically what it wrong {they wanted to do an ultrasound to help determine it, for the low low cost of $400!}, but it could be heart disease, or cancer…

The thing that really sucks is that she’s 13 years old already {she’s a Shih Tzu, so because she’s a small dog, she’ll live longer than bigger dogs}, and even if we had the money to pinpoint what exactly was wrong with her, Sophie doesn’t have that many years left to save.

Sophie stealing Dad's favorite chair.

So, I sat on the floor of the vet with her and I cried.

I cried because I missed my mom.

I cried because this was all too much for me to take.

And I cried because I wasn’t ready to lose my very first dog-dog.

Sophie helping me practice harp. She's a big "help"!

After talking to the vet and my dad {he was driving back home from Texas}, we decided to have the vet give her an anti-inflammatory shot to see if it would take down any of the swelling, and then I was sent home with an antibiotic and some pain meds, both need to be given twice daily.

Once we got home, Sophie started coughing again. Pretty much any “excitement” will trigger her coughs, so the prospect of going outside and getting a dog treat really got her going.

Oh, I should I also mention, my dog has an addiction problem.

She’s addicted to dog treats.

She will go bark and bark and bark {although lately it’s been cough and cough and cough} at you to take her outside, and then once she gets outside, she’ll try to be sneaky and run around the corner of the house to the far end of the patio, and come back pretending she went potty.

All for a treat.

I swear, she need’s DTA, Dog Treats Anonymous.

Sophie and Picasso, friends for life.

I gave Sophie her first pills disguised in her dog treat, and then started looking around for my phone and book. Turns out, in all of my distraction, I left them both at the damn Vet’s office.

*sigh*

It was a good thing TJ and I were planning on going out to lunch.

So once we picked those up from the vet, we headed to Chili’s. It was about a 15 minute wait because we were there about 12:30PM, but it wasn’t too bad.

I ordered their Soup of the Day to start with.

Baked Potato Soup

It was delicious, and everything I love in a potato soup. And despite it being 85 degrees out yesterday, it hit the spot in the chilly restaurant.

For lunch, I ordered my usual from there.

Grilled Chicken Sandwich

Talk about yum! Horrible for you? Yes. But dang did it taste good.

If you happen to see all the short stubble on his face, he's trying to grow a beard. He just doesn't know how he's going to shave it yet, so he's letting it all go.

TJ ordered their two meal combo thingy, where you get to choose two things for ~$15.

1/2 rack of {his favorite} dry-rub ribs, and some not so good fried shrimp.

I didn’t eat as much as I usually do while we were out, because I was too focused on Sophie and busy doing what I do best: stressing myself out.

Once lunch was over, we headed back home and snuggled watching NCIS for a few hours {an hour or so of which I apparently fell asleep}, before we made our way to visit his grandparents and his mom so he could say goodbye.

Then it was off to the airport so he could make his 9:05PM flight back home.

The drive back home from the airport was long, and lonely.

And coming back home to an empty house was even lonelier {my dad still hadn’t gotten home from Texas yet}.

Sophie ready to go bye-bye and go see the new house!

So yeah… all in all, yesterday sucked. And I sure hope that I have less of those types of days this year.

Sophie sleeping in her favorite dog bed.

I hope that your day yesterday was infinitely better than mine, and I have my fingers crossed that the same can be said about my day today.

But, I better get off the computer and go get dressed! If I don’t, I’ll just stay in my jams all day, and I don’t want today to be a lazy day. Especially since I want to drive down to the gym near me and see what it’s like.

Please though, if you can spare the time, send a thought/prayer my way. For my precious little girl-dog, Sophie. I just want her to get better, so she can live out her last year or so comfortably, and hopefully without her awful cough.

♥ and harp strings,
Kate

Savory Sundays: Loaded Baked Potato Chowder

Hi everyone, and Happy New Year! Since it’s a new year, I’m going to share some fun facts about 2012!

Fun Facts!

• 2012 is the year of the Dragon — I don’t personally know anything about Chinese Astrology {other than I was born in the year of the Snake}, but I thought it was interesting!
• December 21, 2012 is supposed to be the “end of the world” according to the Mayan calendars — I don’t buy that for one second. My history professor last semester was talking about it when we were studying the Mayans and I have to agree with him. The Mayans had certain times on the calendars that were bad luck {or something like that, an omen or something}, and December 21, 2012 is one of those times. So yeah, something “bad” may happen {maybe something as bad as a whole bunch of people fail tests or trip simultaneously or something, I dunno} but I think we’ll all still be around to see Christmas and New Years. But maybe I’m just crazy??
• July 27 – August 12, 2012 are the Summer Olympics, hosted in London — I’m more of a Winter Olympics type of girl, but it’s cool to know that the Olympics are just around the corner!

So… I ran out of fun facts that I could easily find on the internet. Sad day… But, I s’pose that means I can tell you about my super fun/exciting way I spend New Years Eve?

And by “super fun/exciting” I really mean “really lame because I have no life”.

TJ and I stayed home, just the two of us. My Dad is still out in Texas until tomorrow, and I didn’t have any awesome parties to go to because my life is just that exciting at the elderly age of 22 apparently.

{*sarcasm* jealous yet?}

He made yummy Chicken Alfredo while I read Prodigal Son by Dean Koontz {the first in his Frankenstein series}. While we ate, we watched Storage Wars: Texas, because as I said, I’m a super LAME-O. Then we headed back to the office and continued to level our characters in Star Wars: The Old Republic.

Exciting, right?

Then, when it was midnight, TJ and I kissed. It would have been romantic except for the part when I started sobbing like a baby on his shoulder. I don’t even know where the sadness about my mom came from. It completely blind-sided me and turned me into a blabbering baby…

But that quickly passed and we returned to our game.