The Cookie Widower Recap of CookieCon Reno 2019

Hello to all my fellow widows/ers out there.  My deepest apologies for my lengthy hiatus.  I’ve been extremely busy, which is a poor excuse I realize, as you count on me for support in these trying times as our SO’s spend countless hours on the sweet side.

I am breaking radio silence as CookieCon 2019 is in the books.  My bride has returned home, at least physically.  I’m pretty sure a lot of her mentally and spiritually is still in Reno.  And speaking of Reno, you how they say what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas?  Well it sounds like whatever happens in Reno, may require antibiotics, or at least bleach to get rid of.

But I digress, one of the unique things I love about CookieCon is that while it is certainly a reunion for many that dabble in the iced arts, it is a constant parade of firsts.
-First time the event was held in Reno
-First time the attendee count was over 800!
-First time my wife taught pre-con classes
-First time I realized we owned a washing machine.  I just figured the clothes were cleaned, folded and put away by elves.  Talk about a rude awakening.

The week was an adventure, as it always is when mom is away.  School, work, grocery shopping, cleaning the litter box...once again, I didn’t even know we had one of those in the house.  I just assumed the cats used the toilet like everyone else.  I also assumed they kept it cleaner than our 2 sons.

I even tried to be a hero husband and paint some while she was gone.  I managed to get half the ceilings done and one wall in the dining room.  I realized at that time the color was too dark, but thankfully it covered the stain.  Don’t ask, we’ll cover that in another post. 
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My sons and I decided that buying a new television was a good compromise for not getting the painting finished.  I got to watch the NCAA wrestling tournament on a screen about 30% larger!!!  So who won the tournament?  I did.  But enough about me...

I’ve been a cookie widower for over 6 year now.  Time flies, and so does my wife apparently.  Louisville, KY is next on the CookieCon circuit!  As I previously stated, this was the first year my wife taught a pre-class. Technically she taught 2.  Well, technically she taught 3.  What can I say, I’m still recovering from CookieCon as well.  ​​​

I watched my wife’s routine as a middle school teacher for 15 years.  The amount of planning, preparation, fretting, worrying, purchasing of supplies, sharing ideas with other educators and so on. . . and I can assure you she brought that same energy and passion to teaching her newest students how to re-purpose cookie cutters and fool people into thinking a stack of sugar cookies was a cheeseburger platter.  Kinda diabolical if you ask me.  

On a daily basis I am in awe of that woman, usually first thing in the morning for not smothering while I snore loudly.  But after that how she worked so hard to make her classes the best she possibly could.  And based on all the feedback she’s getting, I’d say as usual, she achieved her goal.

She’s so amazing.  If you haven’t seen the burger cookies, I've added them to this post. But you need to track down her students' pictures on Instagram- they did an amazing job creating their own burger platters!  Now I’ll take partial credit.  Since we’ve been together over 20 years, she seen me eat approximately 3.76 million cheeseburgers.  So at the very least I’ll accept the title of her muse.

Until next time folks.  I have to help my wife unpack.  She’ll handle the suitcase with her clothes. . . I’ve got the larger one. . . filled with receipts. . . sigh. . . 
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