What a week (or two...)

The past few weeks have been absolutely insane! In the nearly nine years that I have worked at the doctor's office, I have never seen a September this crazy! Of course we have the H1N1 flu making everyone sick, but we've had TONS of respiratory viruses, infections, and who-knows-what else. We've had crazy staffing issues between some employee turnover, new hire training, and illnesses...oh I'm exhausted. I've been sick for nearly 3 weeks now (different from my normal CFS/fibro stuff) thankfully my flu test was negative, but I have had a miserable cough, fever, sore throat, and congestion as well as headaches and just plain misery. I've been on prescriptions including a Zpac, Tessalon pearls, mucinex, a prescription cough medicine, inhaler, and a steroid shot and nothing is working!!! Oh it's frustrating. The fever is at least gone, but the cough & congestion just won't leave.

In spite of all the sickness, I have had 2 cake orders in the past few weeks (two cakes for each order) as well as some pies for work. The first order was my first ever for someone who I did not know at all. The lady works w/my sister-in-law and needed some cakes for a surprise birthday party for her sister, and I had committed to doing it several weeks prior. The week of the order I kept seeing my doctors and getting tested for flu and everything else...trying to do anything to feel better, but it was not working. I finally called the customer after seeing my doctor on Friday and in the middle of a coughing fit--I told her that I was still up for doing the cake and didn't have the flu, but wanted her to be prepared for the fact that I was sick. After discussing it for a while and promising to wear a mask and gloves while doing the cake, she said she would be okay with it as long as I was up for it. I baked the cakes and left them to cool overnight, and then the nextr morning I actually felt better! I decorated the cakes, one a music theme and the other chocolate w/purple dots and writing, and then delivered them. It must have been a burst of adreneline, b/c as soon as I finished the cakes I went into a coughing fit again and felt just as bad for the next several days...but I got them done! And she loved them!

the music themed cake--white cake w/white buttercream. the piano keys are fondant and the rest is piped icing.


side -ish view of the music cake


chocolate cake w/chocolate icing and shades of purple writing (it looks blue in the picture...but it really was purple!)

My other cake order for the week was birthday cakes for my husband's aunt. She lives in an adult care home that has many residents with diabetes, so in addition to a chocolate cake decorated for her birthday, they ordered a sugar free cake! I was honestly terrified of that, but my mother-in-law told me about some diabetic-friendly cakes made with a cake mix and can of diet soda. Now, I always make my cakes and icings from scratch, but decided to use this method due to the type of the cake, and the fact that my health was not condusive to trying several different sugar substitute cake recipes over the weeks leading up to the order! I decided to go with a strawberry cake mix and diet lemon-lime soda (I really wanted to use a diet cream soda but could not find one ANYWHERE) and a few whipped egg whites. Then for the "icing" I mixed cream cheese with sugar free vanilla pudding (prepared w/milk), sugar free strawberry jello, and lite cool whip, then I topped it w/a few strawberries. I am very sensitive to artificial sweeteners, but I must admit that for a sugar free cake it was really good! They said both the cakes were hits and some people took my cards for the future, so yay!

chocolate birthday cake


sugar free strawberry cake w/cream cheese "icing"

Also, between my coughing and hubs' allergies, we haven't slept in the same room in two weeks! I feel sad and lonely. :( He is filming and editing so much that bedtime was our only time together, so it's sad. He said that he will come back to the bedroom "after the first frost" b/c that's when his allergies should get better. boo.

Now I'm trying to clean the house a bit while also dog-sitting for my parents (butch and autumn are CRAZY together) and trying to rest and recouperate a bit as well. (I treated myself to a pedicure yesterday!) Here's hoping the next few weeks get better!