A Trip to the Cold Wet

Holy Criperolley. Our Alaskan adventure is approaching at light speed. And by that I mean, Saturday.

Just saying the word gives me the chills, I have so much still to do, and as you know, not that much time to do it in.

We will be gone for three weeks to Cordova our hometown, with a few days in Homer where my sister is getting married. We will be, for the most part, camping. I went crazy and outfitted us with all the “family-style” camping gear, since everything we had was pre-family backpacking style. Arriving in the mail this week will be an 11×15 foot tent! It has a screen porch and I’m hoping will be roomy enough that you can sleep in it without being smashed up against the fly, and therefore stay a bit drier if it’s raining.

Which is what it’s been doing in Cordova for all of June I hear.

In case you haven’t heard the sarcasm in my voice yet, did I mention that I will be solo mom-ing this trip? Yes, that’s right. Tickets are too expensive ($1,000 each for me and the 3YO) so My Man is staying. He’s taking a smaller, cheaper trip to the Southwest to play in the desert with his two oldest friends.

Do you hear it yet?

I’m not a little bit jealous. I mean I want to go to Cordova. But imagine taking a vacation to a place you love and then working your regular job, double time.

Fortunately, I just talked to a friend there yesterday (okay, my ex-lover, which is really not all that strange. I don’t know if other people experience it this way, but I think it’s easier to be good friends with an ex when they are the same gender) who is super excited about our visit. She’s planned a bunch of time off work. She doesn’t have kids, but she likes hanging with ’em. So, maybe I’ll have some backup.

For the most part, we’ll be camping out very close to town. A 20 minute walk, or 5 minute drive. But I hope to do some “out the road” camping, because I miss wilderness and Cordova has it in spades.

So, back to my Before We Leave List.

Did you hear the part about how my sister is getting married? I have to sew both my bridesmaid dress and the 3YO’s flowergirl dress. No, you haven’t missed anything. I don’t post about sewing because, apart from little mending projects, I don’t do it. But, I used to. I know how. I mean, I haven’t followed a pattern in over 15 years, but of course it did pretty much come right back to me, once I got over the belly knot and dove in. All I have left to do on my dress is hem it. It’s a very simple pattern. The flowergirl dress will be a bit harder. It has sleeves and ruffles in the back. But, I’ve got it cut, so hopefully the rest will go relatively quick.

Also on my list for the wedding is… well… back before I knew I would be a single mom, I volunteered to… make her cake. I mean, I’m not a seamstress, I’m a cook, right? The dresses I did to help her out. But the cake I want to do. She’s my sister. She’s getting married. I adore making fancy cakes. What was I supposed to do?

The 3YO’s birthday is on Friday (source of several more to-dos), and I want to make a mock up of the wedding cake for her B-day, just so I have a better idea of what I’m doing. Chocolate cake, blueberry jam between the layers and cream cheese frosting. Pretty basic. Shouldn’t be too hard.

But, first I have to make the jam.

Also I need to assemble the structural components for the real thing which will have 5 tiers, and feed up to 100 people.

And then there’s the basics. Get ready for the 3YO’s party, cover my garden beds with leaf mulch, and, oh yeah– pack for a three week camping trip with two kids in diapers.

Needless to say, I have to scrap the rest of the Calamity in the Kitchen week. Even though I took bunches of photos for it, and kept track of everything I was cooking.

And this will probably be my last post till we get back. Don’t forget about me! I’ll be back with a trip report and some gorgeous Cordova photos in August. Till then, wish me luck!