a title that does not result in google searches that lead to this entry

the sole purpose of today's entry is to express my outrage over the cupcakes i just purchased at publix. i should start by telling you that i promised amelia (whose birthday was a few days ago) that i would send some cupcakes in for her 5th grade class (in the hope of buying her a friend at her new school). unbeknownst to me at the time of the promise, there are 26 kids in her class - and don't forget the teacher - you can't not bring an extra cupcake for the teacher. so, as you might guess, publix does not sell 27 pre-packaged cupcakes. i had to buy two dozen cupcakes at $8.59 each and then buy six more for $4.99. i can't figure out how much it cost altogether (because that would take a lot of effort on my part), but it seems like a lot of money for some cupcakes, particularly cupcakes that i find to be mediocre at best. i actually paused right there in the publix bakery and considered making them myself. but only for a second because i remembered that in addition to being entirely too unmotivated to do that, i am completely inept in the kitchen (except for my drinking and snacking skills which are nearly perfect). i used to believe that i was bad at cooking because i hated it so much and perhaps wasn't giving it my all. but sadly, more recently, i have actually put forth some effort and discovered that everything i make either sucks or is completely average and certainly not worth all of that effort. as you may have guessed by now, i can justify spending money on a lot of things, but somehow, i cannot find a way to make it acceptable for me to have a personal chef. this is not to say that it can never be justified, but it is nearly impossible to do so now when i can't afford some new tires or the minimum payment on at least one of my credit cards. but the story has a happy ending because the cupcakes were a huge success - the teacher loves me and amelia has quickly made lots of friends so it was totally worth the $8.59 times two plus $4.99 and tax.