Birthday Month

My sister keeps wishing me a "Happy Birthday Month." I protest loudly, though, because I am much more of a birth*day* traditionalist. One day that makes you feel special and everyone celebrates you?? What could be better? I don't like any of this lame "Birthday Week" crap where everyone basically admits they're going to forget your actual birthday, so they randomly do stuff for you when they remember. NO! I want SACRIFICE!

However we have company coming for my birthday, so let's face it, my birth*day* extravaganza is not going to happen. And my very own parents sent me my birthday present a month early. I was going to refuse to open it until my birthday, but then I realized a perfectly good birthday gift is sitting in a box. I hate when people waste things just to prove a point.

And then I figured that since my parents sent it so early, they must have wanted me to open it early. So I did. I made the most delicious cake for Break the Fast. Plus, BONUS: It looks beautiful. Thanks Mom and Dad! And thanks Nate, the Photographer, who even told us how to pose.

You're probably wondering why someone who bakes as much as me has never bothered to get a Kitchen Aid before. I actually inherited my Grandmother's old Sunbeam stand mixer and I loved it. Every time I baked something I felt like my Grandmother was with me.

But after washing one of the bowls one day I noticed a chip and then I freaked out because I did not want to break my Grandmother's mixer. She made millions of cookies and cinnamon rolls in that mixer. And so up it went, on the shelf and I used the hand mixer Dustin and I bought for $10 when we were first married over 12 years ago.

And I got prideful. Who needs a fancy schmancy mixer when you can do things by hand, like the old days? Kneading dough for 15 minutes by hand makes your bread taste WAY better. And it means you love your family more. But, I guess my sister doesn't love her family as much as I do, and suggested to my parents it was time for me to get a new mixer.
Actually I'm pretty sure it's one of four reasons:
1. She wanted to talk to me on the phone more and always got really annoyed when I had to hang up to mix something.
2. She realized that this was going to simplify my life and make me so happy.
3. She wants me to bake more, which means I'll eat more, which means I'll get fat.
4. If I bake more, she will receive more packages of baked goods by default.
It may be a combination of all three. Who knows!