Food Of Love

This week, I started working on my friend's new play.  We are headed into full production.  I'm doing the costumes and props for the show.  My friend is a fantastic playwright and the story is a love story.  He and his partner have assembled and amazing group of folks to work on this production.  It is true community.  I'm having the best time in my theater life and it is a much needed project right now. (MickeyGrrrl is hanging in nicely at this posting. Still a moment by moment sort of thing.)

Costumes are simple.  The prop design is where I'm having the most fun. I'm listed as Production Chef.  Wow! Did you hear that Grandma?  Today the word Chef is tossed around with some ease. In my Grandmas's day one really earned that title.  She never did, although she could cook circles around anyone.
So, here I go.  Designing food for a theater production. It got me thinking just how much food plays a part in our lives and relationships with others.  Yes, we have to eat to live.  Yet I've been reflecting on not just what we eat but how we eat, that is so important to our well being and our outlook on life.
It really is a case of garbage in garbage out.  I spent years consuming less than healthy foods on a daily basis. Packing in as much as I could as fast as I could.  The result was a very overweight, unhealthy and unhappy person.  Since starting this Campaign, I've looked at how I eat and what I eat.  Big shift and big result came of the big shift.  I now love eating beautiful fresh food.  I love knowing my cook (me) and love my cook (me again!).  And I love that I have developed this gift of creating good food to share with others.  We really are what we eat.

They say at Weight Watchers that food shouldn't equal love. Yet is does.  I feel where we get off track is when we allow  food to REPLACE love in our life, not add to the celebration of life.  Food often plays a huge part in our relationship with our selves and others.

My focus for creating food for the play involves the creation of an exotic (looking) pastry.  You might be asking, "aren't there bakeries where this woman lives?"  Yes, but I'm doing this as a gift to my friends and the work they are putting in on the play.

Creating this food is fun.  My friend, the playwright is also one of the actors.  Every night when he has to consume the pastry on stage, he'll know that it was just what he envisioned when writing that scene and I'll also be sending him a bit of love and encouragement- because I'm so proud of what he has accomplished with his creativity.  I believe food has that sort of power.

Here are the selections of pastries created for the production of Anything But Brilliant- A love story.
We did a tasting at the production meeting.  Which one was the winner?  You'll have to come see the play and find out.  Yes, I'm going to be like that, because I want everyone to see this play, not only for the pastry, but for the beauty for the story and how it is being told.

Until next week....create to feel great!
8 projects complete!  44 to go!

For more information and to get tickets for this wonderful and moving play please go to www.lightsupproductions.com

Spring Cleaning

The MickeyGrrrl saga continues.  This last Monday, she stopped breathing for well over a minute.  She came back to breath like swimmer rising from deep deep water.   I rushed her to the vet thinking the entire time, this is it.  This is the time.   Gratefully, it wasn't.  Once at the vet she was watched.  Her breathing normal.   She might have a slight little head cold.  She got a laser treatment and some love from the vet techs and we were on our way.  The rest of this week, she seemed lighter and freer.  A friend of mine who deals in animal communication said what happened was Mickey Grrrl was ridding herself of all the unimportant stuff in order to allow herself peace for the final part of her journey.  She also went on to say that, in general, it is good for all of us to do the same.  We don't have to stop breathing, but we really do need to stop and take a look around us and inside us and see what junk and stuff we are carrying with us that we just don't need and it is weighing us down.

So, clutter holds us down on so many many levels.  After this week's little scare, took a long look at how I was handling things.   I too have a ton of internal junk I've been carrying around.  Helping MickyGrrrl has allowed me to release a lot of it.  We are both now in a place of calm, in joy and enjoyment.  This space will help us do we both need to do for the final stage when it comes.

My lesson here, it not to wait until something life changing...like the dying process presents itself to me in order to do some de-cluttering of my internal self.  I know folks who survive life threatening events always say they learned now to live each day.  Yes I agree.  Don't wait.  Clean up the stuff as you go and live fully.

Think of it as Spring Cleaning for now.  As the habit develops, it turns into something you always just do for yourself.

Until next week... create to feel great!
7 projects complete!  45 to go!

Project of the week... a cuff wallet.   I made this from an old fleece jacket sleeve.   I'll wear it on my wrist to carry my I.D. money and cards while I speed walk.   The zipper closure keeps everything safe.

Lessons In The Heartbreak

My little cat and best friend, MickeyGrrrl is preparing to die.  Everyday it gets a little harder for her to be in her body that is wearing out.  This morning she was sitting in the bed and looked at me and let out a big sigh as if to say, "Damn.  I'm still in this old worn out body."
I'm not taking this process very well.  I feel a little crazy in it, and I'm definitely feeling a depth of emotion like I've never felt.   I have amazing support for her and myself.  Amazing. Bottom line, my heart is breaking and I'm allowing myself to feel that break.
I recently heard that pain is weakness leaving the body.  I also believe that when we allow and feel our heart breaking,  breathing into the broken places in our heart, allowing light and love to fill the space, we create not only a place for our loss loved one to be forever with us, but a place for more love to enter into our lives.  Because we are open and allowing.  We do in fact become stronger and more willing to love, accept love and all the other wonderful things this life really does have to offer.
So, yes, I'm crazy and emotional right now, and I'm not going to just get over it. I'll be honest here, I don't like it one bit.  My work here is to be present for her and allow the path to unfold before us.  I am going to calm myself and breath because I know that there is beauty in this process, and I am already stronger and a better person for having known this little amazing, beautiful, wise cat. She has touched so many people and taught so many lessons on love to me and others.  I also know "the side" is waiting for the return of the great queen.  MickeyGrrrl will need me to give her space to do what she needs to make a graceful exit, when her time comes.  In order to do that I have to accept and let her go, whenever she is ready.
I also learned that the root word in courage comes from the French word for heart.  To live a full and wonderful life, that is full of love and wonderful people and experiences we need courage that comes from the heart.

Until next week...create to feel great!
6 projects complete! 46 to go!

Project of the week...Baby sweater!!!

The Magic Word

What's the magic word?  A question I use to hear a lot from parents.  My parents, other kids parents, any parent.  I haven't heard that question in a while.   Except this last week.  My husband Broadside Johnnie had in fill of me asking him to do things.  He finally said to me. "I don't mind doing stuff for you.  Just you never say please any more."  The magic word is please.  I like to think that I say thank you all the time.  I love to show gratitude, but until it was brought to my attention that I've dropped the please out my life, I'd forgotten how that one word makes life go smoother.
Another example is with by kitty MickeyGrrrl.  She has come to a point in her life passage that she doesn't see a need for taking her meds.  Too bad for her, because until her vet says back off...we are doing meds.  I still don't want this to be anymore stressful on either one of us.
This morning, I put her meds in her food.  I placed the food in front of her. She walked away.  I tried again only this time with all compassion and sincerity I said "Please.  Please eat your breakfast and don't pick the pills out."  She looked up at me.  Sighed and ate her food.   I've been using the word please all day with her.  We are less stress and there is a calm that is hard to come by when doing hospice care for a loved one.  I'm also saying please a lot more with Broadside and others in my life.
There is magic in the word, if only to transform me in the moment from impatient this needs to be taken care of person to a calmer it will be taken care of it is taken care of person.

Are there words in your life that spark magic?  What are they for you, please share.

Until next week create to feel great!

5 projects complete! 47 to go

This week's project is a knitted head band.  I decorated it with a heart as I will be wearing it next week when I do my first 10K walking event...The HeartBreaker Half.

Off I go!