No More Teenagers
Posted By Cori on December 14, 2009
Today is my youngest’s 20th birthday. Amalie is 20. No more teenagers.
Weird.
I don’t feel like the Mom of two adult children.
Not that I mind. Aging has not yet bothered me. I figure as long as I keep telling myself I’m not old, I won’t ever get there. And every birthday I have on this planet is… a birthday I have on this planet surrounded by those I love. Why would I not celebrate that?
But it’s just still a shock to me to be “done” raising children. I had expected to have more like four to six kids. I had expected to be a full-time Mom for much more of my adult life. But, here I am. At 45 (no, I don’t care if people know how old – or young – I am) without an active-parent roll to occupy my time.
It’s time to move on. And to figure out what that means to me.
In the mean time, I want to celebrate my beautiful daughter, Amalie, whose birthday it is.
She is priceless. The last couple of years for Amalie have been fraught with challenges that she chooses to see as “opportunities”. That doesn’t mean that she doesn’t hurt, or even cry over the hand that has been dealt. But it does mean that she chooses a joyful life.
Amalie is compassionate. Since she was just a toddler, the sight of a homeless person or someone in need can make her cry. She loves any chance to help others. She even stretches the truth about her weight so that she can donate blood!
Amalie is talented. She is an artist in every sense of the word. She has an eye for color, for composition. She can hear and recognize art in almost any form of music or in the sound of her niece’s and nephew’s voices (who, by the way, adore her and call her “TAM-alie”). She crochets, does photography, processes photographs, designs incredible memory pages, is artful with her make-up and clothing choices, can bake well, etc., etc.
Amalie is beautiful. Inside and out. She has a tremendous sense of style that compliments the beauty within. One of Amalie’s favorite blogs is a woman name Kandee who is a make-up artist and has emerged from some serious challenges. Kandee describes us as mirrors that reflect light. Poignantly, the mirrors that reflect the most light, are the cracked or broken ones. And there are no perfect mirrors. We all have cracks and breaks. Amalie uses hers to shine light onto all around her.
I am grateful for my beautiful daughter Amalie. For the way she handles tough times as well as good. I’m grateful that she is here with us at this time choosing a path that is extremely hard, but – in the end – the best for her.
And, in addition, her favorite cake is Texas Sheet Cake. And YUM! I am SO grateful for that!
Texas Sheet Cake
2 C. sugar
2 C. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 C. butter (“You can never, have too much, BUTTER!” What’s that from folks?)
1 C. water
1/3 C. cocoa
1/2 C. buttermilk or sour cream
2 eggs
1 tsp. baking soda
In a large mixing bowl, sift together sugar, flour and salt. In a medium saucepan bring butter, water and cocoa to a boil. As soon as it boils, remove from heat and add to dry ingredients (I have been known to bring to a boil in the microwave with great success). Add buttermilk and combine. Add eggs and baking soda and mix until well blended (I always just use a whisk rather than drag out my beaters). Batter will be thin. Pour into a greased 11 x 17 pan. (Many people use a jelly-roll pan. We don’t like the cake that thin and I feel it dries out the cake. But a 9 x 13 is too small.) Bake at 350ยบ for 25 minutes.
Prepare frosting:
1/3 C. milk or canned milk
1/2 C. cocoa
1 C. butter (“You can never…)
2 – 3 C. chopped nuts, if desired
1 lb. powdered sugar (3 – 3/4 C.)
1 tsp. vanilla
In a medium saucepan, bring milk, cocoa and butter to a boil, stirring regularly. Stir in nuts, if desired. Stirring constantly, add powdered sugar and vanilla until smooth. Spread over hot cake.
Cori’s Notes: I always add a bit more cocoa than the recipe calls for. And after I pour the frosting over the top, I pull the edges of the cake in a bit with a large spatula so that some of the frosting drips – no pours – onto the sides. Almost essential to have vanilla ice cream with this cake because it is SO UNBELIEVABLY RICH!!!
Enjoy!
And…
Happy Birthday, my Sweet Amalie!!
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Happy Birthday Amalie!!!