the beginning of october

1. My brother turned fifteen. He's diabetic, so I tried making up a cake that was acceptably sweet that my mother would also let him eat. I came up with a sugar-free box mix for Devil's Food Cake, sugar-free chocolate pudding to add to it, strawberry frozen yogurt in between the layers and fat-free whipped topping mixed with cocoa powder for the frosting. The entire thing was placed in the freezer and became a diabetic-friendly ice cream cake. Tommy has since requested about five more.

2. We had one of our first date nights in awhile. Marcus is becoming a sushi person. I'm really proud of how far he's come in terms of culinary adventurousness. Would you believe I could never get him to eat anything besides plain pizza or chicken nuggets?

3. Surprise--another sweet experiment for Tommy's benefit. My mom won't ever let him order anything from Starbucks because of the sugar, but he loves the strawberries and cream blended drinks. After spending awhile sulking about it, he gave up on asking for them anymore. I was playing with smoothie ideas and decided to try replicating the drink with strawberry frozen yogurt, almond milk and some canned whipped cream. He's deemed it acceptable and asks for these special drinks most nights now.

4. I ordered this beautiful dress from eBay--I really am coming to love Bernie Dexter's designs. This dress is a particular favorite of mine because it combines Tudor roses with a vintage silhouette. Unfortunately, when my package finally arrived it contained the wrong dress. It's currently on its way back, so I'll update you when my other one gets here!

5. My hair is getting long enough to play with a little bit more. I dyed it brown after something like five years of keeping it auburn. I like it better so far, and now I'm just anxiously awaiting more growth so I can experiment with my curls instead of settling for keeping it up all the time.

6. I started a new job (more on that later), and while I was hunting for important work-related documents in my garage I found this little jar I made for my mom in first grade. We have it on the fireplace now--I used to be really annoyed that she never ate the chocolates I put inside. When I found this and showed it to her and my aunt, my aunt exclaimed, "of course! No mom wants to compromise a present like that by eating the candy inside!"

7. I may have also finally gotten my hands on the long-awaited skeleton dress. It glows in the dark and I am in love with the collar. I need to get better at getting real outfit pictures instead of just the ones I use my phone for in the mirror. The full effect is usually a lot more fun! It came just in time for October to start, but I'm thinking I'll be breaking this out even when Halloween is over.

8. In my moments of free time, I occupy myself by rearranging things and keeping the house clean. Our pantry used to look like a tornado had hit it. We buy from the bulk bin at Sprouts for snacks, and somehow the food always stays inside those plastic bags. Nobody could find anything! I finally got impatient and made a trip to Target for several mason jars. The snacks ended up in the jars, and now we can see how much food we actually have. Thank God. (We have pea soup now, too.)

9. We've had family popping in and out for almost a month. I really enjoy watching my mom and aunt together. She's supposed to be coming back next week, so I'm excited to see her again even if the circumstances aren't ideal.

Finally, I'm sure everyone (meaning all two of you) are curious about how my grandmother is doing. She has her on and off days, but she's coming home soon. We don't really know what will happen from there, but anyone who's met my grandma knows she isn't about to go down without fighting.

We love her tons, and, as evidenced in this particular favorite photo of mine, we're all cut from the same cloth as she is. 

In the meantime, I hope things get better. Some family members have really come through, and others have revealed themselves to be largely unsupportive. Strange how these times show you everyone's true colors, isn't it? The family drama has been so insane I could probably write a soap opera about it and retire from the income. 

Well, for now I think we'll just focus on the positives. Within a week or two, my grandmother should be home! We'll just go from there.