Keira-anne.com

Earlier today (well, technically yesterday), Becky wrote on my FB wall and stated that she bets I’ve been wearing an apron 24/7 since arriving at my mom’s, simply because I can (she obviously knows me well). Oddly enough, she’s right. In the last 48 hours since I’ve been in Courtenay, I have baked, or assisted in baking, no less than ginger spice cookies, ladyfingers, rum balls, my fabulously famous 3-day buns, cranberry lime shortbread and a valiant attempt at ripping off Starbucks’ Cranberry Bliss Bars.

Much of that was made with a shake and bake at my dear friend Bethany’s this afternoon. Her daughter made a brief appearance after her nap, long enough to roll out some shortbread dough, before she was whisked away to Mt. Washington for an afternoon of snow tubing. I used Bethany’s camera to snap some shots of the afternoon in progress…

Sure it looked like Starbucks’ Cranberry Bliss Bars, but tasted nothing like them. Whoever formulated that rip-off recipe was way off.

Once we had finally finished our flurry of activity in the kitchen, our tired and powdered sugar-covered bodies flopped onto Bethany’s over-sized couch. What I’ve come to appreciate of my new friendship with Bethany is the talks that we have. She is one of the most open-minded and straight-shooting women that I know. I can’t tell you how refreshing that truly is to my soul. Did I mention that she is also very sweet? She made me a Christmas present.

And yes, she designed the cover too. She’s a talent, that girl.

Before I left, Bethany gave me another gift. She gave me a compliment, unlike any other I’ve ever received. Usually I get the compliments of the following sort:

“Keira, your hair is gorgeous.”

or…

“Keira, I wish I smelled as pretty as you do.”

or…

“Keira, how come you’re so good at everything you do?”

or…

“Keira…oh, Keira…mmm…yeah…”

No, Bethany’s comment was nothing of the garden variety. “You know what I like about you so much?” she began. “You’re an enigma. I can’t figure you out.”

Here I am, a girl who has long wondered if she’s too boring or too plain or uninteresting. And then someone calls me an enigma. It’s a compliment of the biggest sort that only really serves to better illustrate the kind of girl that Bethany. To me, she seems as though she’s one who sees straight to the heart of things and can easily cut through the shit to see what’s really there. There ought to be more people like that in all our lives.