Culinary Liberation Paint Party Friday

This looks completely different in person! For some reason I'm in child art mode!!

Cupcake was away a full week, and Beardo a few days! Oh my, life was slightly simpler save the dog I babysat! I didn't have to drive anywhere unless I wanted to! I had to search for extra dishes so I could put the dish washer on after four days! I ate things like left over pizza with smoked oysters, poached eggs, and  a salmon sandwich for dinner! Not all at once of course!! I had one load of laundry. The house stayed tidy....save my art supplies strewn everywhere and quickly tidied before they arrived home.

Can you tell I have a great idea for a kids book brewing!

 Still, something was amiss without my little buddies...The house was void of laughter, teasing, meaty conversation, and real joy that comes from loving people so much you could cry.....

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Still as much as I love my alone time, 
I love my kids more!

 Plus they do hundreds of things for me

that makes life special!!

I found this poem from 2007, I wrote it at 51, 

I thought I'd share....Except for this one line 

"Once in a while I manage a spurt
Bustle around, somewhat alert" 

which is no longer applicable...

The rest still holds true!! 
Let me know if you can relate! 

Culinary Liberation

I used to be a merry kitchen Bitch
Whipped up anything, without a glitch
A gourmet meal, a dinner for eight
Precisely timed, nothing was late
The kitchen was clean, pretty table was set
I’d chatter with company, it was never a fret
Times of soup in the crock every week
Baking galore is now quite bleak
Culinary abundance is finally gone
Enthusiasm for cooking is more of a yawn
Once in a while I manage a spurt
Bustle around, somewhat alert
Then in an instant it becomes mundane
When Supper hour approaches, I feel disdain
I rather go out, pass on the work
It’s a redundant chore I’d rather shirk
I’ve done my duty for my family and friend
Surely I’ve earned a liberty transcend
Into my writing, computer, and art
It’s these passions now that capture my heart
A potato, or salad, sandwich or tea
Things without mold from the fridge that I see
I eat random times, when the urge strikes
And damn it, i'll eat more to my likes
Smoked oysters and cheese placed on a bun
Sole, and seafood, from which the kids run
Finally it’s my turn to make my own choice
For years I made food my family would voice
Although I’ll admit at times I’ll succumb
After all I live with the guilt of a MUM! 

Written in 2007 by Happytiler

Did you ever love to cook?
 How do you feel about it now? 

My Contribution to Paint Party Friday

She Believes! Paint Party Friday

When my daughter was seven she declared that she would travel, but didn't know how that would happen. Her dad and I were never travelers. A few years later she said I would always live with her. She also teased that she would put me in a old age orphanage... that kind of scared me after I stopped laughing!! I'm hoping that the demise of my parents by the time I was thirty-five is what she meant about me being an orphan.......

It always surprised me how mature Ms.Cupcake was at such a young age. She seemed to know things I never taught her.  The way she thinks always give me new perspective. Her innate wisdom still surprises me....and others too!!What she's  taught me over the years is insurmountable.

When she was twelve, two years after my divorce we'd been driving along when she voiced concerns about her dwindling savings.  I told her not to worry things would work out. When we arrived home a call from a neighborhood nurse assured she'd have quite an extensive babysitting job for a few weeks from morning to late at night. It entailed feeding her children and walking them to and from school daily. Money problem solved!

A few years later while volunteering at a haunted house she met a young man who noted her ability to   read  people with great precision! Mature for her age Cupcake knew exactly what kind of music  crowds wanted when she accompanied him Dee-jaying.  A diligent student Cupcake was concerned about finding a placement for  her mandatory 80 hours unpaid work experience. This boyfriend turned Cupcake onto a woman reluctant to hire teens at her Dee-jay company. The owner,  a type "A" personality took Cupcake on, started paying her before the 80 hours were done, then hired her permanent weekends as her eyes and ears. Cupcake was  a production assistant for several wedding parties at a time and a dee-jay where needed. She did well there, and is friends with the owner to this day.

Her first job after high school was a fluke. She was shopping in a store and overheard a girl on the  phone desperate for an employee. Cupcake piped up  that she could work. The manager asked her a few questions, begged her to show up the next day and hired her on the spot without a resume. Cupcake was second in charge within weeks. However, a district manager started to hassle her because of her second job at the golf club. She contemplated quitting the new job because of the unreasonable treatment and loyalty to the other employer.  Meanwhile her manager at the time was being recruited for a new company...but didn't accept the job. Instead she recommended Cupcake. Eight years ago she was hired as a manager by a young women who now owns the company she's working for today! She has traveled all expenses paid all over Canada, to the United States and London twice. Loving each and every trip some of which entailed extensive work and long hours. Even though it can be stressful at times she loves the owner and her job!! This week she's at a trade show in Vegas extended into a short holiday!

There have been many bazaar things Cupcake has put out into the universe  over the years that  have actually manifested in the oddest ways.  She wanted to see  Dr. Hook...who I thought was dead...turned out the band was alive and well, although they are all older than dirt,!  They were in fact scheduled to play  in a small venue on her actual  twenty first birthday....So I bought her tickets...that one boggled my mind!!. For the full story go here!

 On the bus to work she voiced to beardo she had no idea how they would top the Paul McCartney  concert. That night her boss gave her very expensive Oprah tickets for the twelfth row.

Her very expensive  red fluvog boots were starting to wear out, they no longer make them but...she was given a vintage pair of the same boots worn only a couple of times. She had them resoled to update them and has a new pair of her favorite red boots for the price of a new sole!

She has had two brand new smart phones for next to nothing given to her... and so many wonderful opportunities and things come her way. But, to whom much is given, much is expected...this girl is so generous I can't even begin to tell you all she has done for me and others...it is beyond what I imagined a child of mine would be and do!! Somehow she always manifests what she wants because she believes!!

Cupcake paid 9 dollars for these $180.00 ugly beige shoes and painted them to suit her fancy!

I too believe, however I have not manifested to the degree my daughter has, or maybe I have!  Do you believe and manifest what you truly want?  Or does something hold you back!!

This is my contribution to the wonderful Paint Party Friday!

We All wore black paint party Friday!

 
This is the card I made for Dream goddess, 

 a coffee lover who also dabbles in bird watching!

Love this Photo of my friends, we have so much fun!!

 One thing about my goddess friends of quarter a century

 we ALL LOVE color!!

Quiet squeals and giggles ensue 
realizing we ALL wore black!
Of course we accessorized
with punches of pink, orange and white!
 Unbelievable how connected our little group is! 
This happens often too!

  I love that about us!!

Gypsy Goddess created the artful cake with flowers from her garden!!

This is the card I made for Beardo on the 5th! 
He loved it, and of course there was piles
of mush inside cause I love him like my own!!

Last week I was putting away clothes

and changing my bed with the tv on for company.

 Honey boo boo was on, our sad to admit 

silly guilty pleasure.

 Instead of bellowing from my room 
to the kitchen downstairs,

I called Cupcakes cell from our land line!

Or so I thought!

 I chimed "Honey Boo boos on!"  

She said " pardon!"

Again I chimed,"Honey boo boo's on!" 

thinking she'd be excited!

The voice at the other end  who was not my Cupcake
 said," I DON'T GET IT!"

Mortified.......I  " stuttered a few A's and hung up

hoping the girl on the other end didn't recognize my voice!!

With  my OLAD.......(old lady attention deficit.)

I had dialed my Cupcakes place of business that she manages,
instead of our kitchen downstairs......Oops my bad!!!

 The perplexed girl on the other end sounded just like Cupcake...

the worst part was.....I had to TELL Cupcake............bites nails!!

I secretly told Beardo first , he howled, then insisted I had to tell her!

Cupcake was not impressed by my mistake,
but she too laughed pretty hard!

If her employee ever figures out it was me who called
telling her Honey Boo boos on

 she'll soon know what renecks we are!! ;0)

This is my silly contribution for Paint Party Friday!

Be A Skeptic, Because In the End

Skeptics

I see beautiful people stumped with relationships. I see some 
pairing with those so unparalleled to them it's doomed to fail!  
I see people naively give their heart freely away to  
the wrong partners!  And yet when you have children, you 
must be extra cautious to protect your heart.....
because their heart is also a  part of you!

Recently I have seen a few situations with children that truly
breaks my heart. A mother of a one year old parted for a month 
while her child visits the father and his girlfriend. 
He left her before the baby was a year.  Now, for the next twenty 
years the mother will have to relinquish her child 
to whom ever the father deems okay to have sex with. 
Sorry to be so blunt but it's a sad fact!  
The mom is distraught missing her child.
  
Another second marriage breaks up, the children are very attached
to their stepmother and her family. They have missed out on
previous planned holidays, a wedding, seeing step cousins 
they grew up with, and large family gatherings are now nil!

Digital art, and color changes!

In the End

 And in the end,  the kids lose it all
parents move on, 

Friends pick sides
All that’s left are the brothers
and  the sisters
Aunts disappear  into the dust
bonds broken in irreparable ways
Summers spent together in sunshine
Have drifted into the maze
of sorrow and regret,
of  children they forget
Chasing around the camp fires
Christmas gatherings now gone
Blank cards on birthdays
Disappear into muddied air

And in the end, Nothings ever the same
Soon the light will dim
Everyone will forget their name
Lives will go on as though someone died

Many hearts will break, 
and all the kids will have cried
For  their memories of childhood
Were swept up as crumbs
tossed into the fire
Leaving them to succumb
To a grief they never asked for
For a loss so unprepared
Where people move on anew
And little souls are left undone
For relationships they counted on
Are now dead, and gone!

Were you ever hurt by someones breakup other than
 your own? Did you ever truly get over it, or did if fester 
under the surface? 

This is my contribution to Paint Party Friday, check it out and join in!!

A Bird Day with My Goddesses

                                     The Card made for Earth Goddesses Birthday!

                   

For just under a quarter of a century I've gathered to celebrate every birthday with a group of five sage women! Over the span of the last decade we started calling ourselves the goddesses...and each took on a suitable name! At one point we all worked together save one who was in the same writers group as two of us!

This is Nature Goddess, she is just shy of  64! Unbelievable!! She looks even better now than she did four years ago! As an avid long distance biker/ hiker, she's outdoors every moment she gets!  Her home is near the beach with the most gorgeous view,  she holidays yearly in Mexico traveling all over the world whenever she can! She made the sailboat cake for our youngest Earth Goddess.

An avid birdwatcher, she  loves to race her sailboat! A decade younger than most of us she was born in the wrong era,  I think our comedic  Earth goddess would have made a great hippy!

This goddess could hold an audience as a stand up comedian, a writer or an artist with her innate humour that  often has us  in fits of laughter! So talented she has yet to tap into any of her gifts with any kind of enthusiasm!

 

It was very last minute that I crafted a card for Earth Goddess

knowing she loves quirky art!

This card was the perfect candidate for a digital color change  in my favorite Pixlr program! There is even a phone app for it, should you be interested!

Gypsy Goddess is an adventurous woman who does anything and everything fun! She loves to dress in costume or otherwise and celebrate anything but herself! Once she turned 50  she began boldly wearing  whimsical leggings which previously she was too timid to wear! Gypsy has a very fun bohemian flair, and the most amazing curly locks!

Constantly helping others  Gypsy has little time for herself. Yet she is a creative in every aspect of her life with the need  to exude her true artists nature! She's either baking a beautiful cakes for others, or  decorating a fancy table with leaves, candles and little characters!  She has written several yet to be published books over the years, does crafts, sews and has done a few gorgeous fun paper mache art pieces.  She's  an amazing photographer who loves the fantasy of  fairies and gnomes!

Our Faery Goddess is also a writer with several 

unpublished books. She did her first triathlon a few years ago

 and became a fitness instructor this year at 55!

Proving with lots of hard work,

dreams can come true at any age!

Often times as our dreams manifest

life throws us a curve ball. Faery is in the process

of waiting for heart surgery. You can read about

her journey here!

  Dream goddess  is an amazing florist, can

 make anything look  beautiful

with her  natural decorators eye!

She possibly missed her true calling!!

A witty generous soul, Dreamer dabbles in art, 
bakes beautiful cakes, and is a wonderful writer.

I've tried to encourage her to write a blog!

 A voracious reader Dreamer remembers 

the most interesting scientific facts about diseases! 

This wise goddess really thinks out of the box, I often

turn  to her for unique perspectives!!

 Earth Goddess, Gypsy Goddess standing, Nature Goddess, Dream Goddess, Me Love Goddess, and Faery Goddess July 16th. 

I love to celebrate these beautiful souls, other than family 
what do you love to celebrate?

 I no sooner gave this card to  Earth goddess and received 

this beautiful card packed with postcard icads that I won, 

plus a  wonderful unexpected gorgeous piece of shoe art 

that I apparently inspired  from the lovely 

Sharon at Art inspirations!!

Created by Sharon  at Art Inspirations!

 Daily I get so much joy out of this

beautiful art sitting on my mantle!

Art Created by Sharon art inspirations!

 

 

Created by Sharon art inspiration!

My contribution to Paint Party Friday!