Key Lime Cake/Cream Cheese Icing

Good Tuesday morning!

I've decided to try a little something different in the Gallery the next couple of days. I'm going to do "A Day in the Life... ." Of course, it will be my life, so don't let your expectations become too high. If all goes well, I may see if Roxie or other family members will sign a waiver and allow me to follow them around documenting one of their days. My guess is NOT!

RANDOMNESS - I told you last week I would be sharing a couple of "back in the day" work stories from my legal secretary days this week. (NOTE - I will not come out looking very "good" in some of these stories. Just saying.)

I worked in a very nice law firm for almost ten years, and I enjoyed the people and the work and my boss. I had my moments of being a good legal secretary... and I had other moments, too. The following is a story of one of the "other" moments.

One of my duties as a legal secretary was to reserve conference rooms for large client meetings, seat the clients in the conference room and make sure they were comfortable. Coffee, soft drinks, pens, paper, documents, files, etc. were delivered and distributed to the proper people. I then worked close by my desk in case a need arose in the conference room. (Copies to be made, more coffee, lunch ordered, etc., etc.)

On one such day when a large conference was taking place, I was called to the conference room for the men to place lunch orders. I stood in the doorway with my pad and pen in hand waiting patiently while they discussed their lunch options. There was a lot of discussion.

Standing in the doorway, my mind began to think ahead about other tasks I needed to do later in the day, and I slightly leaned toward the door frame. It would not have been a full lean... just that side of my body touching the door frame while I wrote down the lunch orders when and if they ever decided. (I didn't want you to think I was lazy!)

I've never implied I was the sharpest tool in the tool shed, but what happened next was pretty bad... even for me.

As I slightly leaned toward the very sturdy door frame, it quickly became apparent I wasn't standing within the boundaries of the door frame. I was standing outside of the door frame in the hall.

Without the door frame to break my "lean," I fell all the way to the ground... sideways. I didn't make a sound (other than "thud"). I didn't put an arm down to stop the fall. I didn't move my feet to try to catch me. I was a like a tree which had been cut down and with no resistance whatsoever, I landed on my side in the hallway clutching my pen and notebook to my chest.

Now, if you have ever fallen in public, there are always questions involved. Do I stay down and act like I fainted? Do I quickly jump back up and hope no one noticed? Do I slowly move my limbs on the right side of my body to see if I have any broken bones? Do I pull my skirt down to an acceptable level since it is now up at my waist?

Take it from me. Those are a lot of questions to answer in only a matter of a few seconds. As I tried to decide what to do, I noticed there was complete silence in the conference room. "Maybe they thought I just stepped away for a moment? That would be great."

With that thought in mind I started dragging my body away from the front of the open conference room door so they wouldn't notice my unbelievably long legs lying motionless... or one of my shoes which had slipped off during the fall. It was not that simple.

My boss cleared his throat. "Uh, Belinda. Are you okay?"

That answered the question of what I needed to do. Since they had noticed my legs moving out of the doorway... had seen one foot trying to retrieve the missing shoe... and had heard me moaning because the pain was starting to kick in, the "fainting" scenario was no longer an option. I was going to have to go with the "quickly jump up and act like nothing happened" scenario.

However, an injured elbow and hip hindered the jumping up part, but I was fortunate enough to have an associate attorney walk down the hall about the time I was struggling, and he set me on my feet, brushed off my skirt and handed me the missing shoe... and never acted like anything had happened at all. (He was my favorite associate that day, I tell you.)

The men quickly gave me their lunch orders, and I quickly hopped/limped/drug myself around the corner to assess any and all damage. My boss excused himself then and came to check on me.

"Are you bleeding?" he asked.

"No. Not yet. I'm missing a lot of skin on my elbow from carpet burn, but it doesn't seem to be bleeding."

"Did you hit your head?" he asked.

"I wish," I replied.

"Can you walk to the restaurant to pick up our lunches?" he questioned further.

"Probably not. You know... Since my hip and right leg don't seem to be working properly yet. I'll see if another girl can run down and pick it up," I offered.

"Do you need to go home?"

"Noooo. I want to stay! Please don't make me go home!" I just said that because it seemed like the thing a really good legal secretary would say. (I didn't mean it... at all.)

I wish I could say the above story and the pigeon falling on my head were the two worse things that ever happened while I worked in the professional world, but I would be lying. And if there's one thing I try never to do on A Simple Life... it's lie... or exaggerate!

Key Lime Cake/Cream Cheese Icing

One of the desserts served at the dinner we attended Friday evening was a Key Lime Cake. Not only was it pretty (lime green), but it was delicious. People were even taking home extra pieces for a bedtime snack. Connie Lee made the cake, and she told me the quick and easy recipe, but I didn't write it down. I googled it this morning, and I think I found one similar to the one she described.

You will need the following:

1 package lemon cake mix
1 1/3 cups vegetable oil
4 eggs
1 (3 ounce) package lime flavored gelatin mix
3/4 cup orange juice
1/2 cup butter
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
4 cups confectioners' sugar

1. Combine cake mix, gelatin mix, oil, eggs and orange juice.

2. Pour into a 9" x 13" cake pan. Bake according to instructions on box. Allow to cool, then frost.

3. Frosting - In a large bowl, beat the butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy.

4. Add lime juice and confectioners' sugar. Mix well.

5. Eat it! Eat it all!

I'll check with Connie and find out what she does differently, and post those instructions later this week. I'm not a key lime pie fan, but I love the key lime cake.

Have a fun-filled Tuesday. Wednesday Wisdom, Seasonal Traditions and so much more await your return tomorrow!

Take care, and I'll talk to you in the morning.

Sincerely,

The Enchanting Belinda