COOKING- MY NEW PASSION!

I just completed my first month of unemployment. I have to say I decided to take it slow and enjoy my summer and if I could pat myself on the back right now, hold on let me try....ummm, argghh, stretch...and um well I got a tiny pat in; three fingers over the shoulder -good enough!

So far I have passed my assignment with flying colors. I have managed to spend lazy days at the beach and even lazier afternoons cuddled on the couch in the AC. I have painted and decorated our home. I have rowed in a boat - numerous times and continue pick fresh flowers weekly and assemble very cute bouquets. There's no deadlines in my life right now, no hustle and bustle. The only deadline is the timer on the oven and the only hustle and bustle are the geese I run into on my morning walks with Lulu.

My life today, 30 something days later is completely different. I am connected - to myself. Even though I am not creating TV on a daily basis I am creating lots of other things.

I have to say out of all my new found creative outlets the one that's most dearest to my heart (and my stomach) is cooking and baking. Who knew?! I have always been a lover of food but a nightmare in the kitchen. I guess it was because meals in the past were always rushed or cooked at 9pm when I got home from the city. Nowadays I can spend time surfing the web for unique recipes and then actually cook some great meals.

I get inspired by many things when I plan a meal but the main inspiration for my cooking is Mike. He works so hard and has provided me with such a beautiful place to live that the least I could do is make him some yummy meals and treats to thank him for being such a wonderful, hard working man.

Mike appreciates and encourages my cooking and he definitely enjoys it. I guess the old saying - the way to a man's heart is through his stomach definitely holds some truth (although there are certainly other ways that work just as good.)

When I first met him I told him "Listen, I don't cook or clean and I am not really domesticated" and he was okay with that! But something inside me came to life when I met him and slowly but surely a liking of cooking became a love of cooking.

Everything came full circle when I got laid off (the same week actually that I moved into this heaven on earth.) My priorities and passions shifted immediately and I decided to fully emerse myself in creating things on a different level. For me, I have the most peace when I am creating - anything! I recipe, a painting a bouquet. It takes a surprise such as being let go to force you to re-evaulate your life and what truly makes you happy. I have not been happy for awhile at work and truly felt like I had any creative outlets at my job. So being let go I feel was truly a blessing in disguise - a wake up call.

So, fast forward a month and you can normally find me in the kitchen from 3pm to 6pm putting together some sort of meal or dessert. Today I was baking some treats for him for his flight to LA when he came in and said he wanted to take me to a movie right away - Julie and Julia. He said his dad saw it and it reminded him of me and he thought it would be nice to go see it before he left town. So I left the kitchen in shambles and we rushed out of the house to catch the 7:05. I am still floored, I actually cried during the movie cause it hit home so hard. Like Julie and Julia I believe the cooking will change my life. Not that I will become a chef or anything just because it brought a spark back into my life and gave me some real soul food.

I hope I can continue on this journey and see where it takes me.

Life is truly surprising!