Zach's Birthday and Weekend Update

Thursday was Zach's 29th birthday!  Every year, I cook him a birthday breakfast, and instead of surprising him this year, I asked him what he wanted.  He chose pancakes with berries and bananas, a poached egg, and bacon.  YUMMY!

At lunch, the Advising Center had a birthday celebration with a cake, and Roseann invited me over.  She said she wanted to put something that screamed, "Zach!" so she went with "It's Zach Day!"  It was a very relish marble cake with chocolate whipped frosting.

We got off early and headed to McAlister's for Free Tea Day!  Then we went to the carwash to vacuum the car out really well because that's what Zach wanted.  *haha*  After a nap at home, we headed to Fayetteville for dinner at the Greenhouse Grill.  We drank Ruby Roses (a gin-based drink), I had a bison burger, and Zach went with the quesadilla.  This was the first time in a long time that we had such a good conversation that I forgot to take any photos of our food!  *HA!*  Following dinner, we drove through the U of A campus, and Zach pointed out where he lived and places he remembered.  This was the honors hall, Pomfret, where he lived the first two years.


Zach got his birthday present last week--a Kindle Paperwhite!  But I did save this super funny card from Target for him.  (Inside, it says, "Haters gonna hate."  *lol*)
On Friday, I planned to get up super early and bake his Black Forest cake so it could cool with plenty of time.  But I wasn't feeling too well, so I got started late.  Then I started to frost it with the whipping cream before the cherry filling had completely cooled.  I didn't hollow out the top of each layer, so the layers weren't going on level because of the cherries in between.  Once I got the top layer on (which ended up being the thickest layer--total fail on my part for not noticing) and started to frost, it started to buckle and cracked in thirds.  That caused it to slide off.  Our friend Amy arrived by that time, and she tried to help piece it back together, but it was a no-go.  BUT IT TASTED GREAT!!  :)

I should have known then to get out of the kitchen!  Zach ordered a cast-iron griddle for me, and it came on HIS birthday.  So he gave me a reverse birthday present!  We had planned to have grilled cheese and tomato soup with Amy, so I was able to use my griddle for the first time.  BUT I ended up burning Zach's grilled cheese!  Then, when I went to blend the soup in the blender, somehow it was attached to the base correctly or I wasn't holding the lid on tight enough, but it EXPLODED!  It landed on my left wrist, my right big toe, and my right arm!  I had a cardigan on, but I ended up with a blister the size of my thumbnail with a smaller one next to it.  Thankfully, it's not third degree, but it was crazy.

Saturday, we had to work orientation, which threw a wrench into the day's plans because we slept ate, grabbed breakfast, and then had to work when we were hungry for lunch.  We grabbed Subway on the way home and watched Cloud Atlas, but I wasn't too into it because I was still feeling badly, I guess from the blister.

Today, we've been lazing about and cleaning the floor because someone (*cough* DINAH *cough*) is now in her terrible twos, and for some reason, has started pottying on the floor.  HELP!

Any ideas for how to stop our kitty?