Speaking of animals, Cecilia texted me earlier, saying that today is St. Francis's Day, and her brother, a lay deacon, came to bless her dog. She saw a cat in her yard and, I quote, "told my brother to bless it out of my yard." That was her way of telling me my outdoor cat, Hermy, might be inadvertantly blessed. That woman makes me smile, no doubt. Honestly, though, if it was an all-gray cat like she said, it was probably Bullet, Hermy's brother. He used to be my outdoor cat too, but eventually wandered off to greener alleyways. I see him, every so often, but he stays away from our house. Herms must have already sprayed all over the yard to keep his brother and other strays out.

Shit. Helen gets here in about an hour. I should head over to Harbor Freight to pick up some tools I need. Once we pick up the dog house(s?), I can finally split the pups up, give them their own individual area of the lawn to destroy. :P

Once I get the dogs their stuff at PetSmart (PetsMart?), I'll head over to Hobby Lobby for some red food coloring (gel-kind), 6" cake pans, maybe some Copics. I have a cake to produce by Friday. My very first commissioned cake! It's for a friend of my sister's. Her little boy, Leo, had a birthday in June, but his mom had no job at the time, and now that my sister got her a job and she's been saving up, she wants to throw him a late birthday party. I'm not charging her for the cake, because I don't have time to even cost out the recipe and ingredients, but I did ask that if she likes the end result, to please spread the word of FaceBook or something. If I do eventually start selling cakes, I want to start really small. No more than ½-dozen cupcakes, and cakes no bigger than 8". This particular cake will be chocolate (I want to make a brownie layer in between the two cake layers), and the theme is Big Hero 6.

I'm gonna have a lot of baking this month! Ángel turns the big 1-0 this month, so I have to make sure his cake is extra-special. I still don't know what theme or flavor he wants. Nick, Art, and Ruben all have birthdays this month, too, but of course, Art and Ruben can go straight to hell. Still, I wanna make chocolate cupcakes with strawberry filling and creamcheese frosting for Nick's birthday, which is a day before Papo's. Oy, vey! Maybe I'll make her a mini-cake like Leo's instead, whatever's easier. If it's a cake, I'll probably make it a chocolate cheesecake instead, with strawberry swirls or glaze. Hrm, I'll think of something. I just want to make something nice I know she'll enjoy.

[12:40 Hrs.] I was distracted slightly by a phone call from my mother and a textversation with Nacho and Mayra. See, that's the other thing that's gonna keep me busy today. TCA has an evening event, and they need volunteers. Since I really wanna go to that cruise next year, and they said they'd pay for it if we did at least 8 community service events, yeah, I'm totally there! Plus, it's good exposure, and experience for me. I'm so psyched! I love hanging out with my friends, and I love the culinary world, so I'm happy to go. Anyway, part of the text conversation went like this:

Nacho: Come to the gazebom.
Mayra: What is that?
Gazebom?
Me: It's when you gaze at someone and your heart goes "bom"...?
Nacho: Gazebo is like a palapa...
Mayra: You serious or joking with me chris.
Me: I'm being a dumbass, of course! :P
Nacho: Lol. Gris you need a ride?
Me: Nah, I should be fine. Thanks, though. Plus, I don't want you going way out of your way to pick me up. I'll drive myself.
Nacho: K... and Mayra picking you up around 7

It's a done deal, then! I swear, I'm almost giddy about this.