Chemo surprise - good one!

7/11/11 – Monday, Monday.  It’s kinda funny, but Mondays are good days for me.  I feel that I’m supposed to not like Mondays, but eehh…better than a Thursday for sure.

Today has been a good day.  I woke up and realized that I was going to have a chef come cook for me today – yay!  I was given a chef to prepare 5 meals for me and Todd.  I am so excited because I love, love, love good food and I didn’t have to cook it.  I picked out the meals that I would like and all Todd and I have to do is warm them up.  The chef was really a great gift because cooking during chemo weeks is nonexistent.  I generally don’t eat anything resembling regular food when I’m sick and that leaves Todd to fend for himself.  This way he can heat a meal that is already prepared and not have to bother with all the details.  The meals are also going to be uber helpful once I am hungry for real food because I don’t always have the energy to stand and cook.  This is heaven sent. 

Todd and I enjoyed a chef prepared dish last night before all my ickiness sets in.  We had a turkey cutlet in port wine sauce with spring risotto.  Todd opened a bottle of wine and we celebrated good food and the fact that I’m going for my last treatment tomorrow.  The food was delicious.

After dinner Todd suggested that we take our drinks outside and sit under the gazebo.  I mentioned that it was hot outside but I guess we could do it because the atmosphere would be nice.  I went out and turned on two of our lanterns and settled in.  Todd met me outside with his hands behind his back.  Something was up.  He had been telling me that he had a final chemo gift for me, but it was just something small so I shouldn’t get my hopes up.  I don’t care if something is small.  You could buy me a Cosmo magazine and I would be happy.  Well, Todd takes his hands from behind his back and I can see a book.  He places it in front of me and I relies it is a scrapbook and start flipping through the pages.  Todd had written me a letter on the first page and then the rest of the scrapbook was dedicated to my journey.  The water works began before I even opened the book.  I cried the entire time.  There was a letter from Todd telling me how he felt when I was diagnosed and how we have grown as a couple through the process.  There were pictures of me in the hospital, Christmas at mine and Todd’s house, me and my close friend and fellow cancer fighter, the Rumpshaker, chemo time, and then I turned the page and there were pictures of New York and Radio City with the Rockettes and Wicked.  What was going on?  I saw tickets.  There was a name of a hotel that I knew I hadn’t stayed in before.  I was so confused.  I wiped the tears out of my eyes and said “What’s this?”  Todd smiled and told me that we were going to New York on the exact one year anniversary of when I found out that I had a mass in my colon.  We are going to see the Rockettes and then going to see my favorite musical Wicked and I’ll be there in time to see the Christmas tree and the skating rink too.  He had gotten pictures off my phone and from my friends to coordinate the scrapbook and spoken with my manager and booked my vacation days without me ever finding out.  Wow! 

I like to give Todd a hard time about not being too romantic.  There are guys that write sweet mushy things to their wives over facebook, prepare elaborate dinner reservations, set up spa days, bubble baths, and beds scattered with rose petals.  Todd and I aren’t that kind of couple.  A lot of it seems too cheesy for us and simply isn’t our style – I’m not knocking those that like it, it’s just not “us”.  All girls want something romantic to happen.  No, I didn’t want anything mushy but I did want something cool and special and totally unexpected to happen to me one day.  I didn’t have a time period and never really told Todd about my secret girly dream.  How did he know?!  He totally nailed it.  This was not what I was expecting.  This was a total surprise.  It is all the things I love wrapped into one – New York, Christmas trees (!!!), and Broadway musicals. 

I gave Todd the biggest hug possible.  Let’s remember that we were outside and it was hot.  It was a sweet sweaty hug.  The sweaty hug probably would have normally bothered me and I would probably consider not hugging at all, but I just couldn’t resist.  The moment demanded a good hug.  I was still pouring tears and smiling at the same time.  Good times.

If I could have anything to eat I would like a cookie.  My song of the day is “Set Apart this Dream” by Flyleaf.  This is Todd’s song for me because it says “you’re a princess now, you own this world.  Twirling in your twirly dress.  You’re the loveliest, far above the rest.”

http://grooveshark.com/s/Set+Apart+This+Dream/2zr3Uf?src=5

Night y’all!

Why is it so hard to wake up on Sundays?!

7/10/11 – Why is it so hard to wake up on Sundays?  I think it has something to do with going to sleep entirely too late the night before, working a whole week, and the devil.  The only reason I mention the devil is because it’s Sunday and I need to wake up and go to church.  I never want to wake up and go to church.  Never.  That may sound “bad…wrong…unchristian” of me but it’s the truth.  I would LOVE to just sleep.  What actually winds up happening is that I sleep until the very last minute, past the snoozing for a hour point, and wake up groggy and startled all at the same time.  Groggy because I would much rather sleep.  Startled because I only have 15 minutes to get ready for church, I’m so gonna be late.  I get ready as quickly as I can for moving slowly, throw on something cute but comfortable, eat breakfast (because I know I’m going to get hungry without a snack for that long and everyone can hear your stomach growl when you are in a sanctuary!), grab my coffee and I am out the door.  When I arrive at church I have to do the walk of shame, must not be too shameful because I do it every Sunday, to my seat and pretend like I’ve been there the whole time while sipping on my coffee (Sunday school, not in worship for those who were wondering) and trying desperately to keep my eyelids apart. 

Once I’m awake I enjoy church.  I help teach the 6^th grade girls class and they always entertain me.  We have a large group before and breakout into small groups for about 15 minutes to discuss the lesson and spend some one on one time with the girls.  I’m always inspired by their interesting hair colors and jewelry.  A lot of the girls are wearing ankle bracelets that are cloth.  I would totally rock that, but I’m afraid that it might look weird since I’m probably a good 15 years older than them.  All I will dare to do is dye my hair weird colors.  I’m not trying to look young then, just fun. 

After Sunday school Todd and I head “up the hill” to worship service.  They threw us a curve ball today having the preaching first and the music second.  The sermon was on how God uses all things for good and dealt with security, even in the rough times.  I enjoyed the sermon but I’m used to the sermon being at the end so when the pastor finished and it was time for the music I was mentally ready to go home.  The after church munchies and nap effect were starting to kick in.  I was tired.  I tried to amp myself up for the music because I always love the music portion of the service.  We sang some good songs but by that time I was physically and mentally tired.  I needed to sit.  No, what I needed was a Coke. 

After church we had lunch with our friends and one group of their parents that were in town.  After lunch Todd and I thought we would be reckless and went car shopping.  My car is slowly approaching old age.  I’ve had her for 7 years now.  She’s been a good car, though Todd turns his nose up at Mitsubishis.  All I’ve ever had was a Mitsubishi – an Eclipse and now a Gallant.  I like to pronounce it “Gallanté”, it sounds more fun.  We aren’t in a big rush to find a new car because mine still runs well, but we would like to get something new in the near-ish future.  We went and test drove 2 cars.  There is something about car shopping that makes me nervous.  I hate having to tell someone that I’m just looking. 

I can look at shoes, clothes, and jewelry but when it comes to a salesman actually approaching me and saying “let’s make a deal”, nu uh, no way, I do not like it at all.  It makes me feel like a jerk to say “I’m just looking”.  Why is that?  Why is that any different than looking at all my options before I buy my next pair of wedges?  Is it that I can’t handle confrontation? Doubtful.  Anyone who has encountered me on a bad day knows that I don’t have a problem with confrontation, warranted or not.  Maybe it’s the whole rejection thing?  I don’t like being rejected and I feel bad to bring that on someone else.  I know that it’s not the person that I’m rejecting, but it feels like it.  Simply…I need to get over it. 

After test driving the cars Todd and I headed to Wal-Mart and spent too much money on nothing.  We then headed home to relax.  Todd cut the grass and I cleaned out the fridge and freezer.  Relaxing, right?

If I could have anything to eat I would like a slice of key lime pie from Cheeseburger in Paradise – theirs is the best!  My song of the day is “Blessings” by Laura Story.  I heard this for the first time at church today.  I love the message.  “What if Your blessings come through raindrops? What if you’re healing comes through tears?...What if trials of this life.  Are mercies in disguise.”  Wow!  That’s how I feel about my cancer.  It’s been hard but I’ve gotten more good from it than bad. 

http://grooveshark.com/s/Blessings/3Fk3lN?src=5

Peace out!

I'm on the edge....of normal!

7/9/11  - It’s Saturday and I have made pancakes, cleaned up dog throw up, cleaned and mopped the kitchen, worked to straighten up the garage, organized my craft area, and changed out my Christmas china for the new (old) stuff I got.  Productive day?  I think so.  I am now sitting in the man cave watching a movie. 

Have any of you seen the commercial for the “Love Calculator?”  You text “Kiss”, your name and your partners name to some number and they tell you if you’re compatible or not.  Yes, this is a real commercial.  I can’t believe it either but then again there is a commercial for pajama jeans so why not a love calculator as well.  I find a few things flawed with this product.

1.       Why is the word “Kiss” even necessary?

2.       What do your two names tell anyone other than they can then decide whether the names sound good together or not.  And, what does that even mean in the first place?  Names don’t have to sound good together for you to be a compatible couple.

3.       What the heck do they do with the information that they receive?

4.       You don’t even see a person, so how do we know that they are any better at deciding that a couple will work or not any better than the couple themselves.

5.       If people actually use this product then I should set up one of my own because I’m 98% certain that I could do it better than the Love Calculator.  I would call it Shea’s Love Compatibility Test and would like people to tell me their age, their partner’s age, and both of their favorite colors.  (I would totally do a better job than the Love Calculator.)

Tonight we went and hung out with friends.  I know that is such a simple thing but I can’t tell you the last time that we really just had one on one time with friends since the first of December.  I don’t think it has happened.  We’ve had a few group things but haven’t really had time to hang out with one couple.  It seems like such a simple thing – having dinner with friends.  You do it all the time and think nothing of it.  But tell me one thing, what would you do if suddenly you didn’t have the time or strength to spend time with your friends, how would you feel?  I mean, seriously consider it.  Friends that you have a close personal relationship all of a sudden gone, not because they aren’t there and not because you don’t want to spend time with them but because you simply can’t.  How would that affect you?  It’s hard.  You may be secretly telling yourself that if you where in my shoes you would make the time.  Unless you’ve been there you really can’t say that though, time is harder than you would expect.  It’s not as easy as it sounds, believe me. 

There have been many days were I have wanted to talk to my friends and ask how their days are going and hear all the funny stories they may have to share but I couldn’t because I wasn’t strong enough to carry on a conversation.  My conversation skills are limited to a small time span somewhere between 2 and 3 in the afternoon and my verbal skills are limited to “yes”, “no” and “eehh…”.  Not very good for a meaningful conversation.  You might be asking yourself, “Shea, why don’t you just talk to them on your good weeks?”  My good weeks are great and I enjoy going to work and spending time feeling “normal” but there simply isn’t enough time.  I spend my good weeks go go going, but at the end of the day I’m still wiped because it’s at those times I realize I’m not normal quite yet.  Time with friends is something normal Shea would have time for, but I’m not normal Shea, well, not yet at least.  I’m lucky I have friends that understand.  Love you guys!

So, last night was special for all the reasons I listed above.  We went over to Phillip and Tara’s for dinner.  We had some good conversation and enjoyed brownies and ice cream along with a movie.  We stayed entirely too late but had a great time.  I realize that with all that has happened and continues to happen I will never be able to go back to where I was before last December.  I’m always going to have the scars to remind me of what happened (figuratively and actually).  All I and my friends can do is learn how to adapt to a new normal.  One day I’ll be normal again.  I got my first taste of it and it felt good.   Watch out world.  I’m almost done with chemo!

If I could have anything to eat I would just like a glass of water, no food.  I’ve already eaten enough.  My song of the day is Lady Gaga, “I’m on the Edge” because I’m on the edge too – of normal.

http://grooveshark.com/s/Edge+Of+Glory/3KLizM?src=5

Night y’all!

I'm an undiscovered star!

7/8/11 – Seen on my ride home yesterday: A woman walking down the road with cute shorts and a top with bear house shoes.  Yes, you read right.  I said bear house shoes.  As I spotted her I thought her feet looked abnormally huge.  I got closer and had to squint to confirm the sighting.  Black fur, big, and toe nails sticking out.  Bear sighting in Sugar Hill!  Be warned people. 

So, I have finally made it.  I have worked from work the entire week.  I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to do it, but I made it through without being too overly tired. 

I have to mention my trip to Alabama for the 4^th of July.  I have too many stories and too many updates that all my information tends to have a lag time.  Last weekend Todd and I trotted down to Lake Harding for a little R&R.  As I mentioned in an earlier blog we left town a day earlier than expected because I had already determined that church was going to be a no go, so why not start our weekend earlier? 

When we arrived we quickly settled in and started to enjoy ourselves.  My parents have recently moved from in town up the lake.  They are slowly turning the cabin into a home.  After settling in I had to access all the updates that they have made.  The place looks great but still feels like the cabin – I think that’s important.

We took the dogs outside and let them run around and play.  As we were watching the dogs run and about to head back in my dad said that he had told Sadie (my parents’ dog) that Buster and Percy and Lilly were coming to see her.  Todd and I both said “Lilly?!” at the same time.  (Lilly is my sister and Mark’s dog.  Erin and I grew up with the firm belief that the 4^th of July was the best holiday and that we should always, always be at the cabin for the 4^th.  Since Erin and Mark have moved to D.C. I had resigned myself to a weekend with her – sad.)  So, when I heard my dad say “Lilly” I couldn’t believe my ears.  He quickly said “Y’all didn’t know?! Y’all didn’t know?” We both responded “Know what? Are Mark and Erin coming?!”  Dad then says “Your mom’s going to be mad at me.”  Confirmed, Erin and Mark were coming!  Yay!  Dad went inside and told mom that he had spilled the beans.  I assured them that I was an undiscovered talent and could totally pass off my fake surprise as real.  I quickly sent a tactful text to Erin saying how awesome the cabin looked and how much I was going to miss her.  Man, I am good!  Erin and Mark showed up the following evening and I masterfully played out my fake surprise – not too much, and not too little.  Perfect performance, unfortunately my dad felt the need to tell them that he had already accidentally told us they were coming – personally I felt that took away from my awesome performance.    

The weekend was wonderful.  We ate a lot of good food.  We had barbeque, Brunswick stew, slaw, baked beans, and homemade peanut butter ice cream.  It was nice to hang out with mom, dad, Granny, Uncle Reggie, Erin, and Mark.  Good family time.  We relaxed, talked, and floated in the water. 

There is one more story that I have to tell to make the weekend adventure complete.  I broke Todd’s tooth.  Yep.  I chipped one of my husband’s teeth.  I was lying with my head in Todd’s lap because I was feeling puny.  Todd was drinking coffee and I couldn’t get comfortable.  Since I was uncomfortable I had to readjust.  I slightly raised up, well, to be honest I jerked my head up, and hit Todd’s coffee cup which then hit his front tooth and resulted in the afore mentioned chipped tooth.  I am a husband tooth chipper, husbands be warned.

If I could have anything to eat I would like some vanilla and chocolate mixed frozen yogurt.  My song of the day is “Circus” by Brittney Spears as a perfect complement to my awesome acting performance when Erin and Mark showed up.

http://grooveshark.com/s/Circus/3z1UDy?src=5

Happy Friday! Night y’all!

Viagra anyone?

7/6/11 – Happy Wednesday everyone!  This week has been close week (remember I’m an accountant and we have to close out the month).  It is the first close week that I’ve been able to participate all 5 days for, well, a long time.  My goal has been to work at work for as long as I can – hopefully the full 5 days – without having to take it to the house.  I take my B6 energy support vitamin every morning and hope that I’m able to rock it out.  So far I’ve made it 2 days straight.  I have to admit that today was harder than yesterday.  At the end of the day I was worn out.  Power through.  Let’s see how the next 2 days work.

Ok, I never really shared how my week went with chemo last week because I got so sick and just couldn’t blog.  Well, there you have it, I was sick.  Tuesday was ok.  I generally do well as I’m getting chemo and still have some energy into the afternoon.  I start to fade around dinner time.  Wednesdays are usual “ok” days for me.  This past week I had my mom to keep me motivated and entertained.  The day was hard but it wasn’t horrible.  Enter Thursday, dunt, dunt, DUM….  Thursday mom actually woke me up saying she was ready to go get my port removed and I hadn’t even gotten out of the bed yet.  I quickly (as quickly as a chemo patient can move) got out of bed and threw something on.  Totally not my usual Thursday going to have my port deaccessed style.  I like to put on my makeup and look kinda cute, not as cute as Tuesday but cute nonetheless.  Let’s just say I looked ok, but not fabulous.  We booked it up to Gainesville and I had my port deaccessed but not before I got a nausea med shot through my port.  Aaahh…. port given drugs are the best.  They don’t last long, but they work.  Mom drove me home and then headed out back to Phenix City.  It was kind of a relief because I don’t want anyone to ever see me truly at my worst (aka Thursday afternoon), that is something that only I and Todd know.  I passed out on the couch and slept basically until Todd came home from work on Friday (notice I said Friday).  Seriously I slept for 2 days straight.  I have a lot of nausea and getting out of bed just makes it worse.  I take my new med for the nausea and it completely knocks me out along with the fact that my body probably needs the rest. 

I started to perk back up once Todd came home Friday afternoon.  I had already determined that I wouldn’t feel well enough to make it to church Sunday so Todd and I decided to go ahead and drive to the cabin for 4^th of July early.  We took our time and left the house Saturday late afternoon.  I felt much better by that time.  It was a rough, rough week.  I survived. 

I know that the wedding story has concluded but I have one more little side story to share that happened during that time period.  Todd and I both took off Thursday and Friday for the wedding so Wednesday was my last day of work for that week.  Wednesday morning I was checking my personal email account and I received an email from one of my friends with no subject.  I didn’t think it was all too odd because sometimes people send me emails without a subject line.  I opened the email and there was a link on how to spice up my sex life.  No, I did not open the link.  Dirty…..  I deleted the email because it was obviously spam.  I thought it was slightly funny because of who it came from.  I sent Tara a text saying “haha, I just got a spam email from Whats-her-name advertising sex enhancement! LOL!”  Tara agreed that it was funny and we moved on with our day.  Fast forward to oh, 4:30 that afternoon.  I was then at home working and noticed that I received an email from myself on my work email with no subject.  I knew that it couldn’t be a good sign.  I opened the email just to see if it was the same as what I received earlier from my friend.  Of course it was and when I looked at the recipient list I noticed that it also went to my manager!  My manager!  I, well not really me, sent my manager a “spice up your sex life” email!  As Sue Sylvester says on Glee, “HORROR!”

Todd and I headed out to Bambergland for the wedding festivities at 5:00, not long after the first email went out.  Well, as I was riding down the road I get text after text after text from my friends saying my email has been hacked – no duh.  One of my friends tells me that I need to change my password.  What should have seemed so obvious completely passed my radar.  I was on the road then, there was no way to change my password.  I tried to do it from phone and was unsuccessful, worse yet we were headed to the land where cell phones do not work and internet is hard to come by.  I knew my password would have to wait.  So, my sex enhancement, Viagra, and Cialis emails to my friends continued for days.  Yes, my email sent dirty emails to all of my friends.  What does this say about me?  I’m concerned about my friends’ sex lives?  That I’m a closet freak?  That I promote these items?  Let’s go with the simple my email got hacked.

After a few days, I finally had time and a usable internet connection to change my password.  I am now no longer sending out sex crazed emails.  If you receive something from me now, it is intentional!  It was fun while it lasted. 

If I could have anything to eat I would like some sweet potato fries.  My song of the day is “Dirty” by Christina Aguilera – hahaha!

http://grooveshark.com/s/Dirty/3CRhku?src=5

Night y’all!

I'm a wedding warrior!

7/5/11 – I am on fire!  Blogging, blogging, blogging.  Who needs sleep?  Not me.  = )

On to Saturday of the wedding.  I woke up around 5:30 and found Carley sitting on the couch.  Apparently Ashley’s alarm was set on vibrate so it didn’t wake her up on time.  She and Carley planned to be at the church at 6:00 to finish the remaining items.  I planned to be at the church at 8:00 to help and start the day’s festivities.   I woke up at 5:30, went to the bathroom, said good morning to Carley, and went back to bed.  Of course my alarm for 7:00 decided to not go off either.  It probably was user error on my part, but I like to blame at&t because I’m perfect (sideways glance to make sure no one catches me in my lie). 

I wake up at 7:45, freak out and thoroughly disturb Todd with my ranting about how I’m late and how I thought they were going to be at the church at 8:00 too.  Apparently the guys had decided on 9:00.  Todd called his mom and she was about to leave but could pick me up.  I scurried into the shower.  It is a miracle that I didn’t harm myself shaving my legs so fast.  I threw on some clothes, grabbed my dress shoes, jewelry, and the groom’s cake and headed out the door.  Mrs. Janet and I arrived at the church fueled by Coke and a honey bun that I picked up at the gas station.  I dropped the cake off in the kitchen and started melting chocolate for the chocolate covered strawberries that were supposed to surround the cake.  I dipped a few strawberries and laid them out to harden.  I had to get to my matron of honor duties.

I checked in on Ashley and all the other girls.  I was supposed to get my makeup done, but time started to run out.  I had to put the hounds tooth under the grooms cake and make sure the table looked nice.  I also needed to check in on my strawberries.  There was too much to do.  Suzanne who we borrowed the crystal platters from and who was doing the chocolate table was in the kitchen.  She came to my rescue and volunteered her husband to finish up the strawberries for me.  She and I then laid the hounds tooth out on the groom’s cake table and placed her decorations back in order.  It all looked great.  I took my leave of absence and headed back to the bridal area. 

Either I needed to get my makeup done or Mrs. Janet needed to get her hair done.  Since makeup isn’t that big of a deal I opted to do my own and let Mrs. Janet go ahead of me.  Carley volunteered to do my makeup.  I was game.  I love someone else fixing my face.  I told her my affinity for eye makeup and let her do the rest.  She made me look awesome. 

It was quickly approaching time to do our prewedding pictures with Ashley.  I needed to squeeze myself into those spanx!  Squeeze is the correct word because I danced, I wiggled, I tugged and I pulled to get that thing up and situated.  It didn’t seem all that horrible.  I slid my top and skirt on and then had someone tie my belt for me.  Our “dresses” were actually a black convertible top and a black skirt with a white ribbon belt with flower detail and red shoes.  We were classy but we matched the black and white Alabama theme.  Since the tops were convertible each of the bridesmaids chose a different way to wear the top.  Kandi chose the strapless option, Carley went with two straps, and I did a halter.  I really liked that we all looked the same but different. 

We met in the sanctuary and started our photo time.  Ashley wore a beautiful dress that was white with black lace detail.  It might sound a little odd with the black lace but the dress was beautiful and Ashley has the personality to pull off a different color lace and still look awesome.  She also wore red sparkly Chuck Taylors for her wedding shoes.  Since all the groomsmen were wearing black Chucks with their tuxes her shoes were the perfect unseen accessory.  The photo time went by quickly and before we knew it, it was time for the wedding. 

Ashley handed me Jason’s ring and simply said “don’t lose it”.  Easy enough, right?  Do you people remember who I am?  I’m Shea Bamberg.  The girl who has chemo brain and completely lost her husband’s wedding band who knows where, and I was the one entrusted with Jason’s new shiny wedding ring.  Big deal.  Slightly scary.  What made the situation even more scary was the fact that the ring was too big for my thumb so no matter where I put it, it was loose.  I wouldn’t want to know the Las Vegas odds of me losing the ring before the wedding even started.  I’m sure they wouldn’t have been in my favor.

The wedding started and I walked down the isle to my painters tape marked spot.  Avery, one of the flower girls was supposed to stand beside me during the ceremony.  The thing about Avery is that she is curious and she loves people and loves to talk.  She told me the night before that she wanted all pink flower petals and that her official title was flower princess.  Sweet!  I want to be a flower princess too.  As Avery mounted the stage I held out my hand for her to hold and hopefully keep her place.  I had asked Ashley before the wedding what she wanted me to do if Avery went rouge and she said to just let her do whatever.  Well, not 2 minutes into holding hands Avery decided she was done.  She wanted to talk to Destiny (Jason’s niece and other flower girl) instead of standing and holding my hand.  She wandered over to Destiny and started whispering.  Do you know how hard it is to hold a loose ring, flowers, and try not to laugh out loud during a wedding while on stage.  Hard.  It’s hard.  Avery decided that she wanted some of Destiny’s flowers that were left and started putting them into her basket.  Destiny quickly protected her petals and focused on the wedding.  Avery then decided she was done with the wedding and wandered out into the sanctuary down the isle she had come.  I focused on the wedding and tried not to laugh, but she was so darn cute.  I looked out at one time and saw Avery distributing more petals into the isle.  She was serious about her flower princess job.  I handed the ring off to the minister without incident and the ceremony ended and we all proceeded out.  Job done.  Mission accomplished.  Party on!

We hung around and took more photos before heading to the reception.  Once we arrived at the reception I met up with Tara who had driven over from Suwannee for the wedding.  We tried out my groom’s cake which was going fast.  It was good.  I like the chocolate peanut butter combo.  I credit my sister for that.  I saw no sight of the chocolate covered strawberries but helped myself to all the other items.  I was starving.

The reception went well.  I got to talk to a lot of people that I hadn’t seen in a long time and hug a lot of family.  After a while the crowd started to dwindle and I knew that it was go time again.  I hugged Tara goodbye and headed off to change and get to business. 

Funny side note: Somewhere between the photos before the wedding and the actual wedding I had to go the bathroom.  No big deal, except for the fact that I had my spanx on.  They where the kind that were like biker shorts at the bottom.  Since our dresses were two pieces I had to unhook my top to pull the spanx down.  I unhooked the top but decided to leave the hook and eye still attached because that was too much trouble.  Well, as soon and I bent in my dress without the spanx holding me in a heard “Pa POW!”  Yep, I busted the hook and eye.  Those spanx were worth every penny!  You are either laughing or mortified after reading this little detail of my day.  I hope you’re laughing because I was mortified but couldn’t help but bust out in laughter.  I busted my dress!

Once the reception was done and I changed clothes it was time to get the church back the way we found it.  Reception and sanctuary back the way they were, flowers removed, floor swept, and kitchen cleaned.  It was a task.  I hate cleaning.  The wedding was at 2:00 and lasted maybe 15 – 20 minutes.  The reception didn’t last too long, maybe an hour after the wedding.  We didn’t finish cleaning and leave the church until a little after 6:00.  Yet another worn out day, but a good one.  Everything worked out and the wedding was beautiful.  Only a few slices of my cake remained which I snatched before they were gone for Jason.  Good day.

We headed home to unpack the cars and trucks and unwind.  Todd and I had planned to return home Saturday night, but there was no way that was gonna happen.  We were too tired.  We nibbled on the leftovers from the reception and relaxed the rest of the night.  I slept like a baby and was only drug out of bed by the sound of Buster throwing up.  Eehhh….  Time to get up I guess.  We had brunch at Mrs. Janet’s and then hung around some and shot guns again.  I shot a 38 special and actually didn’t mind the noise or the kick.  I now have a 38 special – lol!

Todd and I headed home around 3 or 4 and crashed once we got home.  Time to recoup and power up for the chemo week to come.  The wedding was fun, but only the bride and groom get to relax and go on a honeymoon after all the work.  Something seems wrong with that picture.  I think I need a vacation too. 

Well, this concludes my wedding blog series.  I hope all of you have enjoyed the detail and gotten a few laughs or two at my saga.  All’s well that ends well.

Since I’ve already written one blog I’m not going to list what I’d like to eat, but I am going to have a song.  This is the song that we processed out to at the wedding.  It was awesome.  I felt like I was supposed to be rocking a fist pump or something.  “5 Seconds” by Canton Jones.

http://grooveshark.com/s/5+Seconds/2uuMFD?src=5

“Go wild, go wild, go wild!”

Frazzled Friday



Ungliest cake I've ever seen, but I did make it.  War Eagle!



7/5/11 – I feel bad.  I have seriously neglected my blog.  My excuse is that (1) I felt horrible from chemo last week and (2) I went out of town again (4^th of July).  Poor excuses, right?  Oh, well.  I will attempt to make amends thanks to my insomnia.

I left off on the Thursday before the wedding.  Let the story continue…  As you may recall Mrs. Janet, Ashley, and I arrived home somewhere around the 12:00 AM hour Thursday night running on fumes and rolls from Logan’s.  Friday morning Ashley and I woke up early, threw some bummy clothes on, and headed to the church.  (This is where the real action begins.)  We arrived at the church and started unloading the truck.  We laid out the plan for how the reception area should be set up.  Ashley and I both picked our area to work and started setting up the area.  Tables were moving, chairs were sliding everywhere, we were blasting it out.  Nikki (one of Ashley’s friends) showed up and started helping.  The flowers were running late so we wanted to get as much accomplished as possible to make time to focus on the flowers once they showed up.

About an hour into it the guys (Todd and Jason) showed up.  One might be wondering why the guys didn’t come from the start, but don’t hate.  Ashley and I had wisely dispatched the guys to find a Hardee’s and pick up gravy biscuits to fuel our day.  The guys and Mrs. Janet showed up at the same time and we took a much needed breakfast break.  I was starting to fade early and the food helped perk me up.  After our meal we all got to work.  The guys had to set up the sanctuary area and move a lot of equipment and chairs.  Ashley and Nikki continued with the set up.  Mrs. Janet and I started making isle marker bows.  We all worked simultaneously and knocked it out.  Of course after we finished our tasks there were more to do.  Polish the silver servers, clean the mirror box, set out the bowls and floating candles, iron the table cloths (Nikki is my hero.  I don’t iron and she did it all.), organize the kitchen area…  I happen to have a mild/serious case of OCD – it’s a blessing and curse – so I appointed myself as the one to make sure all the tables were spaced the same and all the table cloths hung exactly the same, no exceptions.  Those table cloths were perfection. 

As the day wore on I became more and more anxious about making the groom’s cake.  They needed me to help at the church but I needed to start my cake.  I wanted to wait until the flowers arrived because the guys needed to help unload the flowers but they were going to run to Wal-Mart with me – yeah, I hadn’t bought my ingredients yet – and  then drive me to house.  Where were those flowers?  Earlier in the day Ashley received a call from the person who was supposed to pick them up and the flower store had completely forgotten her order.  Ashley had to dictate over the phone which flowers she was supposed to get.  Around 1:45-ish the flowers showed up.  The guys unloaded the flowers and we scuttled out the door to Wal-Mart.  We split the list of items between cake supplies and random things that we still needed for the wedding.  I booked it to the grocery isle and picked up my cake supplies and items for the punch.  I only had one minor breakdown on the juice isle when I couldn’t find white grape juice and then mistakenly thought an old guy was either Jason or Todd and started complaining about how I couldn’t find the juice.  After recovering from my slight embarrassment – it was only slight because I was too tired and frazzled to actually become fully embarrassed at that point – I finally found the juice and headed out to find Todd and Jason.  I’m unsure why I was the one who had to find them because I was the one who had the most items on my list.  I believe this points to women’s superiority at multitasking and the fact that we can have a breakdown and recover at an alarming rate.  Yes, we know we are all crazy but at least we are a high functioning part of society.  I helped Jason choose which card to pick for Ashley and seriously contemplated buying an energy drink – why?  Why didn’t I buy that energy drink? – before we checked out.  There was a moment when I almost punched the lady checking us out in the face – yes, I was to that level of hysteria.  Another employee came up to her and started talking about how some other person was slacking and not doing their job and our check out person kept talking to her and discussing how she needed to take her break all the while she was not doing her job.  What job was that?  Checking out my stinkin’ groceries.  There was a brief moment when I looked at Todd and all he said was “don’t”.  Enough said.  That lady was lucky. 

We made a brief stop at McDonalds to get me a cheeseburger to contain my rage and headed back to the church to drop off the punch and other wedding items.  The guys and I then headed to the house to make the cake.  It was 3:00 when we arrived at the house and we had to be at the rehearsal at 6:00 and were then supposed to go out to eat in Birmingham.  Stressed.  Stressed.  Stressed.  I whipped up the cake ingredients with the guys help and shoved the batter into the oven.  Yes, Jason helped make his own groom’s cake.  Todd was my runner.  I blew out Ashley’s hand mixer making my first (first) batch of buttercream.  Todd would run up to his parent’s house and get things I had forgotten or things I needed to borrow (like Mrs. Janet’s mixer).  Around 4:00 the guys received a call that they need to go pick up some ferns that we were borrowing for the wedding because they were too big and the pots were too heavy for Ashley and Carley (Ashley’s friend and other bridesmaid) to lift.  The guys needed to leave at 4:30 to get them to the church.  There was no way I could leave with the guys as I had originally planned.  I was only at the beginnings of my cake baking.  The guys headed out and I was left alone to work.  Mr. Berle had gotten home from work so he came down to Ashley’s house to help me and keep me company.  I made my batch of buttercream and then wrapped my cake base with aluminum foil to look better and then started stacking my cooled cake. 

The cake was dark chocolate with extra cocoa and chocolate morsels.  Jason likes peanut butter and chocolate so I made a peanut butter fudge cake.  I laid the first layer down and then covered it with a fresh jar of creamy Jiff.  I then spread a layer of chocolate buttercream on top of the peanut butter and placed the second and final cake layer on top.  It was at that point that I remembered that I had no clue what the time was.  I asked Mr. Berle and he said 5:00.  Holy crap!  We needed to leave in 30 minutes and I was disgusting.  I quickly showered and got ready and we headed out the door in the nick of time. 

We made it to the church and started the rehearsal.  Everything went smoothly.  As we walked through everything I was already calculating what all I still had to do.  Finish icing the cake, smooth the cake (hard), roll out the fondant for the Alabama A and then draw and cut it out (side note: I had never worked with fondant before.), then add the edge detail and side detail, and line the A with white buttercream to stand out.  I don’t know if any of you have ever made a cake like this before but that is a lot and takes a lot of time.  I started to think about how long dinner would take – hour drive to Birmingham, then dinner, then another hour drive home.  I would then be forced to do all the cake items once I got home from that and I was already worn out and my eye was starting to twitch.  I simply couldn’t go to dinner.  That was it.  I hated to miss the dinner but I just couldn’t go, not if I wanted the cake to look good and get to bed sometime before 4:00AM.  I told Todd and apologized to Ashley and Jason.  I really wanted to be there.  Mr. Berle signed on to stay with me and be my personal assistant.

Once the rehearsal was finished Mr. Berle and I headed to the house.  We made a quick stop for gas and I made the wise judgment that I needed beer.  Only alcohol could fix this predicament – my nerves, that is.  We made it to the house and I got to work.  Mr. Berle made me coffee (yes, that’s right coffee and beer, weird I know but it worked) and then made us both 2 tomato sandwiches.  I love, love tomato sandwiches.  I wasn’t missing Japanese at all.  I started to ice the cake and realized that I needed another batch of buttercream.  I made my second batch and continued to ice the cake.  I had made the icing thick because I wanted it to stick well and be easier to smooth, unfortunately this meant that I ran out of icing yet a third time.  I made my third batch of chocolate butter cream and finished icing the cake.  I dreaded smoothing it.  I let the cake sit and focused on the A.  I had dyed the fondant earlier in the day only to wind up with red hands.  I looked slightly like a killer – red hands and a crazed look in my eye from being so worn out.  Mr. Berle and I rolled the fondant out (only having to start over once) and then I stenciled the A into the fondant and cut it out with a knife.  I let the fondant sit and get harder and focused back on the cake.  It was the moment of truth, the time to smooth the icing.  Smoothing icing has always been my nemesis.  It is hard to do and very hard to make it all look uniform.  I used my knife under hot water technique and blasted it out.  I don’t know if God cares about cakes, but He was definitely with me when I was smoothing that cake.  I was able to smooth the cake on my first try.  I was beginning to feel hopeful.  It was now time for the A.  Mr. Berle and I manned our spatulas and placed the A directly in the center of the cake.  The hard part was over.  I still had a lot left but they were easy decorating things.

I added the beading around the edges.  I was afraid that I would run out of buttercream again but I was able to make it last.  I then added the white around the A to make it stand out (it was ok, but didn’t look like I had envisioned.)  I then remembered that I was supposed to have a side cross hatch detail.  “Mr. Berle!  I need a toothpick.”  He searched for a toothpick and could only find one of those toothpick flosser things.  That would have to do.  I used the toothpick flosser and added the side cross hatch detail.  It looked cool.  The cake was done.  We placed it into the fridge and I laid down on the couch.  Aaahhh….   The longer I sat on that couch the more unhappy I became thinking about the white around the A.  It just didn’t look right.  My cake was going to be in a church with people who know good food and with a professional wedding cake.  I began to feel sick because I knew the white should look better.  My inner monolog was something like this - “But it’s 10:00.  I’ve worked on this cake 4 ½ hours.  I’m tired.”  “No, good Bamberg.  You can do better.”  Mr. Berle had cleaned the kitchen and started to nap on the loveseat.  I stood up and announced, “I’ve got to fix the white.  I have to make another batch of buttercream.”  I had to make another (5^th) batch of buttercream because I was out of icing and had to have white, not chocolate buttercream.  I whipped up my final batch and decided on how to fix the cake.  A star tip.  A star tip is always my best friend.  I added the additional lining to the A and Mr. Berle and I assessed my work.  Mr. Berle said “I thought you were crazy at first but that really made the A stand out.”  Success.  I was happy and finally satisfied with my cake.  Done.  It was then 10:45 and I had worked 5 hours and 15 minutes on the cake.  It was awesome and it was finished.  I crashed on the couch.

A few minutes later Todd, Ashley, Jason, and Carley all showed up back from the dinner.  It was definitely a good idea that I skipped out.  Todd had brought me a sushi roll so I didn’t fully miss out on Japanese.  It was delicious.  Time to go to bed.  Friday was finally over. 

That concludes the Friday before the wedding.  Only one day left…. 

If I could have anything to eat I would like a pickle.  My song of the day for that Friday would have been “Nothing to Lose” by Billy Talent.

http://grooveshark.com/s/Nothing+To+Lose/lAJI8?src=5

Night y’all!