Unsolved mysteries, Indeed.

OK, so Tal managed to REMOVE weight while he was on vacation. We'll see if it catches up with him this week as he is expecting (hopefully it won't, because he's been doing so much better at keeping on program than I am!). Meanwhile, I had a phenomenal GAIN. When I say phenomenol, I mean the past two weigh-ins I've nearly fallen off the scale at the numbers: 5.6 on 10/8 and 6.2 on 10/15. That's a total of 11.8 pounds in 2 weeks.......WTF????

I admit - with Tal being away I did let go a little - taking in a few spots that I like that Tal doesn't care to go to, but I didn't think I did all that badly. Well, yeah I did. And then I had a huge cake to do - made of pound cake made from scratch and my favorite chocolate ganache frosting recipe - the weekend after Tal returned. Here's a pic of it:

That's two 9-inch and four 8-inch pound cake layers, crispy rice treats molded to make limbs, and quite a few strategically-placed dowel rods to keep everything in place during transport.

Of course, I had to carve the cake to a tree shape - and I guess I don't have to tell you what happened to the trimmings. Can you say 6.2 pounds????

So, here I am once again jumping back upon the wagon. I'm thinking that this gain was not only due to my lapse but also to the hormone/thyroid/whatever else will crop up issues. I've decided to go back on the patches, at least until I can see the endocrinologist in November to see about the thyroid stuff.

Speaking of November - the Grove Park Inn National Gingerbread Competition is less than a month away! I've been working on my plans and pulling together my supplies, getting ready to start it all this weekend. Oh, I'm just so stressed and so excited about this - especially when I found out who two of the judges are: Nicholas Lodge and Colette Peters!!!

OMG, I nearly turned myself inside-out when I heard that Colette was judging. For those who may not be familiar with her, if you've ever watched any of the cake challenges on the Food Network she has been the winner of several of them. So many of them, in fact, that I think they finally had to make her a judge just to give others a chance! I've been a fan of hers even before the Food Network days, and I have most all of her cake decorating books. Take a look at her work - she's amazing!

Nicholas Lodge is another favorite of mine. He teaches many cake decorating classes in Atlanta and is a wiz at gumpaste flowers. I hope upon hope to take a class or two from him one day. I believe he's judged a few Food Network competitions, too.

Ah...cake.....gingerbread....you see why I say my skill is also my kryptonite?!?!?!?!?!?! :-)