Create! This is what we are sent here to do. We have the ability to create anything we wish, to create joy, artistry, harmony, peace, love and fulfillment.
Yesterday I came home and was surprised to find Anthony in the hammock, his hoodie up over his head. He was in a funk. He'd had a bad day.
I had come home with hopes of finally making the manicotti I had been looking forward to. Alas, the project was bumped temporarily by the family, who needed a consult by Mom, STAT!
How do we assist when one is overwhelmed? This too is another form of creation, I call it 'angelic creation' because in doing so one has to tap into one's highest interpersonal skills. I listened. I validated--'it sounds like you are feeling overwhelmed, is that it?'. We have found that some of his teachers aren't kind to his having missed school due to illness. It was an excused absence, and he really couldn't have gotten much done. The one that annoyed him, piqued him the most, was that his French project was due on the day it was due, even if he wasn't there. A family member or friend had to bring it in. Fifteen percent was taken off the grade.
This boggles the mind because we don't have that strong of a support network. It would be a huge imposition to ask someone else to bring it in. With my work hours it would be impossible.
Instead of dwelling on it, I did my best to get all of the information out of Anthony on what was due, and when? I put it on paper. He likes to keep things in his head, but I can't think without paper. So I wrote each class down, focusing on what was due soon.
One of my mom doctor friends told me that when it came to high school, and her kids were overwhelmed, she would help. She said she would color. When it needed an art project for academics, not art, she would cut, paste, draw, and color to help ease the burden off her son, who was often overwhelmed. She thought it wasn't helpful for the learning for her son to be asked to color. So she stepped in to help.
That's what I did. He had to draw clocks, write the time in numbers and in French, the time, before the hour, or past the hour. I drew three clocks and colored. I also set up according to the form the numbers from sixty to ninety (it was supposed to be seventy to one hundred, he made a mistake). I did thirty, skipping three lines until the next one, 1...2...3... and then I put the numerals 60, 61, 62. I cheated and counted to myself in French as I did it. This helped him so that all he had to do was fill in the blanks.
Ross helped too. With the English essay Anthony was stuck on, he had us do small chunks between the assignments. First we figured out what the question was to be answered with the essay. And it's a four paragraph essay. After that, the math, one hour. Next we outlined the paper, introduction, character and personality traits by a character at the beginning of the Cask of Amontillado (he chose the Montresor guy), the same for the end of the story, and conclusion. Only the outline. Then he did the biology things online and the French numbers.
I had wanted to give up on the dinner.
But Ross nudged me to keep going. He said it will be a late night, I might as well cook. (today I am off, I've already saved fifty-six dollars by calling the water company. I used bill pay and sent it to the old house account. The billing person transferred it to this house.)
Dinner took a while.
I made a green salad, manicotti, and tomato sauce for the manicotti. Inside was a mixture of kale, collard greens, cilantro, Hatch pepper fresh kind, and escarole. I sautéed the finely chopped mixture with oil and garlic. Then I mixed the ricotta with eggs--Ross reminded me of the extra yolk and egg white I'd saved from the separating going not so well with the cheesecake. I added the greens. I let the manicotti shells boil about five minutes, I put them on a paper towel to dry, and I filled them by hand with an iced-tea spoon. The sauce had two small cans crushed tomatoes, one can chopped tomatoes, one pint of cherry tomatoes cut in half, garlic, oregano, Italian herbs...it was good.
I had noticed there was extra ricotta. So I made a lasagna out of it for the freezer. I only needed to add mozzarella cheese and pecorino. I am excited how with our freezer I am filling it with homemade food. I have two small packages of cooked manicotti, the lasagna, two ratatouilles, and one or two soups.
For the vegetable, I chopped two romanesco cauliflowers, okra, and added macadamia nuts. I drizzled them with hempseed oil, yes, you can get it from the health food store! And I roasted them.
We ate at the counter. As I was cooking Anthony thanked me for helping him get his head back in the game.
He wanted dessert right after dinner.
I said, 'no paper, no dessert'
He was shocked!
But he understood.
I was too full at eleven p.m. when he finished to eat much. But he was happy. I ate my leftovers from last night, not even half of a piece.
Today was a new day.
Kind words heal.
Food is medicine.
Cooking food you grow yourself helps to heal the budget...food prep kits and restaurants are overpriced by comparison. There's a time and a place for help, by eating out--when you travel for example. But at home? The kitchen is the fastest way to help the cash flow. Seriously.
Today we had for breakfast maple Farmer John pork link breakfast sausage, melon balls of cantaloupe from our yard, and honey dew from our yard, and Dave's famous bread toasted. There was milk to drink. Simple.
Now I will have tea. I found last year's Halloween tea. Only when I opened it, I saw the silky pyramid teabags. I used the scissors and put it into my strainer in the teapot.
Life is good.
Days off make a huge difference. I'm going to get myself used to them : )))
Create.
The process of creation makes you feel alive, and whole!
It doesn't have to be perfect, it has to be from you.
I got sick a lot. And once, mom made me a doll to cheer me up. She used a handkerchief for the head, a sock for the dress, and she put a plastic bangle on it for a necklace. She painted a face with fingernail polish. I treasured it so much because she made it.
Another time she used toothpicks and made a little man and woman out of potatoes (body) and cut carrots (arms and legs). I forget what was the head. But it cheered me up so very much, that she would go to that effort.
She made meals with love, did our laundry, cleaned the house. But those things she created were extra, extra special.
So...create!
I'd like to share with you an exceptionally high-vibration jewelry: https://www.etsy.com/shop/crystalintentions?fbclid=IwAR2wpmQMvVm3_tcy4Hlvlb4EBpmEgBkXIR36MdRs4XZQgGVIDJ0PgMaAa4Q. I bought something ask a gift for someone, and since I know the owner, she added a little something for me. The energy is super angelic, it absolutely zings! You know I like high energy. Everything is wonderful, affordably priced, and made with love. I know many people who make things, and I'm sorry I can't mention them all here today. Since I opened the package yesterday, it's fresh on my mind. That's why I'm mentioning her work. It's the best in this category. It really is. It is as good as it gets!
Ross
It's time for tea for Carla. It's been steeping as she's been writing this. And also, this is how I make the salad. See the little rolling pin? And the sup that's spilling? And the bowl? (He's totally cracking up. He likes me to have my territory/turf in the kitchen. He loves it when I cook.)
That way I'm never invited to make the salad again!
Only the grill.
Outside, in the yard, only the grill.
clap! clap!
Aloha and Mahalos,
Namaste,
Peace,
Ross and Carla
The Culinary Twins
