let's melt the sugar

I just made simple syrup, two cakes, and a chocolate ganache. I also frosted two of the cakes that I made last night. This is the most cooking that I've done in months, since living at home made it v. easy to not cook (particularly since my family is unappreciative of my "California-inspired" cuisine). But I'm happy to report that I've got the cake-baking down to a science; I'm much more efficient than I was the first time that I made these things, as evidenced by the fact that my feet don't hurt -- I clearly haven't been standing over the counter mixing stuff long enough to merit foot pain. The only hard part about making these cakes is having them all sitting there taunting me, since out of principle I can't cut them until the official start of the Olympics. And from the taste-tests I took of the batters, each of them is better than the last. I can't wait!

So today was a good day; I am starting to get set up in my new office, although I'm missing a keyboard, a mouse, and the connector necessary to convert my monitor's plug to the different receptor used by my laptop's docking station. I also had lunch with one of my new team leads, which was really great; we hadn't met before today, but I had fun getting to know him at lunch. I'm having lunch with the other one tomorrow, although I know her from previous experience since she reported to me before I went on leave. And the three of us will have a chance to do some more bonding next week, since all of us are going to Ann Arbor. I spent the rest of the afternoon in various meetings of the catching-up variety, then came home to finish the baking.

Tomorrow's going to be a little hectic early on -- I have to be in the office at 8am for a videoconference, but I'm going to leave early so that I can come home and finish prepping for the Olympics. There isn't much left to do, but I have to assemble the cakes, make some spinach-artichoke dip (which I'm dying black -- I found black food coloring at Safeway! miracle!), take out the trash, and shove any remaining detritus in my closet. And then the Olympics start! It's the culmination of a long two-year wait, and I'm so excited I can barely contain myself.

I'm expecting to see some awesome sports performances and some even more awesome controversies -- like the fact that Joey Cheek, America's speed-skating darling from the Torino Olympics in 2006, just had his Chinese visa revoked because he's part of a group of athletes who are advocating for action on the Darfur/Sudan genocide situation. But even better, the guy the athletes selected to carry the American flag in the opening ceremony's parade of athletes is one of the 'Lost Boys of the Sudan', who actually escaped the violence in Sudan and sought refuge in the US. Drama! If you know anything about me, you know I love a good drama, preferably with a high portion of absurdity thrown in for flavor, so this Olympics is going to be right up my alley. Now, though, it's time for bed!