SWISS MERINGUE!!?? Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

It's 10 am. Guess where I am? IN MY PYJAMAS!

No I didn't get kicked out of school. I kicked school out of the…park.
I think I got my metaphors confused.
But anyway. My midterm is done and gone with a 97% scribbled in nearly legible writing! Boo-friggin-yah man! Going into my exam this morning, I was coaching myself, "It's not about the grade. The grade you get doesn't matter. Trust your abilities." And then I found out my mark. Suddenly, it IS about the mark.

And of course, it being the Pacific Northwest, I walked to school in the rain, wrote my test so fast that my clothes were still wet when I walked home in them. But suddenly you are in your pyjamas, drinking the first cup of coffee you've had all week, sitting down in a comfy chair and catching up on blogs as if this is your life.

All kidding aside, my practical is on Wednesday and that's the one that really counts. When I was in school for writing, it was all conceptual knowledge. In the 'real world' as a writer, you would sit in your pyjamas in a public place and look like you were doing nothing so book knowledge did matter. As a baker or pastry chef, you will NEVER be sitting as a part of your job. Being able to hustle, do rosettes double time, whisk-whisk-whisk are all the pieces that make the man. (Isn't that a reference to a suit? Metaphors. Not my thing today. My writer-self is ashamed of my baking-self right now.)

And academia is a totally different world. You take your exam in a gym or a huge lecture hall with three hundred other people. The teacher sits at the front and plays Angry Birds or talks to some brown-noser TA. In pastry, there is absolutely nothing standardized about it. The Chef looms and looks over your shoulder to tell you that the answer you just wrote is wrong.

Moozh walks into his exam in a couple hours. He'll kill it too. He has so much discipline when it comes to studying. I'll have all of my books spread out around me and yet still be on my computer looking at Pinterest. He's constantly writing, printing off worksheets and diagrams. He always draws sunglasses on the diagrams of the animals on his butchery worksheets.

Yesterday he made Foie Gras, which is a fatted duck liver,

And Braised short ribs to finish off his journey in Foundations. He won't be eating a three course meal at 730 at night anymore once he gets in Advanced. Which I think he'll be just fine with.

Five days until my Practical. Having another go at eclairs and truffles on the weekend. I'm gonna SLEEP IN. I may or may not make myself a Rocky montage. And then Wednesday comes. And I RUN.

Find yourself a crossword. (Or a sudoku, word search, or a word scramble.) Whether you finish or not, reward yourself. (Hot chocolate, wine and/or cake acceptable.) Repeat.