5 posts tagged “mom”
After all that filming Mom and I did for the commercial, here is the very few seconds of us that didn't make it to the cutting room floor!
Well, Mom and I just got done filming our big TV debut this week. Us, on TV? Yes, amazingly. Turns out that the caregiving company that helped my mom out when she was really sick and whom I use for respite care when I can't make it over there, thought that we would be good candidates for a commercial they are producing for TV. No, we're not actors, we're actual CareForce clients!
It was an an exciting day for Mom, having all the crew come in; sound guy, lighting guy, makeup girl, producer, the people from CareForce and me. It took all day for the filming to happen; most of the time was spent moving furniture around, adjusting the lighting, lining up the shots, putting makeup on our faces, etc. The actual time spent taping was small compared to just getting everything good to go. Mom was a star.......her interview went well and she had fun watching the tech guys do their thing. They interviewed me too, but knowing my luck, I'll be on the cutting room floor.
Which is fine, actually. I see why celebrities have their own trailers on movie sets. Most of the time is spent doing other stuff than actually acting. We didn't get our own trailer, but we did get some free snacks and water. Mom and I will have to work on our CV to actually get a trailer.
Pardon the crummy photos......there were lots of bright lights going on and all I had was my iPhone. Yeah, my husband is a video and photography pro, but none of his talent has rubbed off on me; much like my ability to make cakes hasn't rubbed off on him. Yes, I know, with our partnership, why aren't we making our own cake show? There's enough cake shows on TV now, doncha think? And they all piss me off. If you're a cake pro, then you know exactly what I'm talkin' 'bout, Willis.
It was fun being "starlets" for the day and very interesting to see what goes on in a video production. Oh yeah, we'll be on in HD, too! I thank my lucky stars I didn't have a giant zit that day. An HD zit, that would be horrifying. Oh, I know, they get rid of all the yukky stuff in post production, that much I know from being married to a video guy. Hope they make me thinner in post too.
I figure when the commercials are aired, the total time on air will give Mom her 15 minutes of fame because she hasn't had it yet as far as I know. Glad to know I could help arrange that.
Baking? Yeah, I've actually been baking quite a bit on weekends to feed the fam. Problem is, the stuff I make doesn't last a day. Pan of brownies I made on Friday? Gone? Pear crisp I made yesterday? Gone. Two big loaves of bread I made, nearly gone. Tuna casserole I made for dinner tonight? I think that one will last awhile.
It's so nice not to bake professionally anymore, for the time being. Just baking "home size" items satisfies my baking jones for now. But my family eats commercially it seems. I can't keep up with 'em!
And they blame me for making them "fat". Hey, just doin' my job as nurturer/gatherer!
I was digging around in my computer files today and found a picture of this cake....it's one of the ones I'm most proud of:
I have this unusual knack for being able to do things my way and making my clients agree to it. The only thing I'm good at selling is my own skill. And speaking of skill, I ran across this:
- 10 lb passion for your craft
- 6 lb drive to help you through the rough times
- 9 lbs pride in oneself and the team
- 7 lbs vision to look beyond normalcy (or insanity!)
- 2 lbs intelligence
Yield: A life full of joy and satisfaction.
This recipe is for volume skill; for a la carte, reduce ingredients to 70%
How is my mom?
Currently, my life is being made miserable by the Hood Canal Bridge.....or, rather, the absence of it. I'm not the only one, I know. We, out here on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington State depend on that frickin' bridge to get us to civilization (aka Seattle). There's a lot of us who commute to areas that are on the other side of that bridge, and not having it there is a major major BITCH.
See, it's like this:
The purple line represents how far I have to drive around all that water to get to my destination. On a good day it's 4 1/2-5 hours with no traffic. But of course there's traffic, 'cause everybody else has to drive around too. Before the bridge work happened, the state and counties were pretty good about preparing for the 6 week closure by having transit operations work together, getting extra buses, scheduling them to meet up with one another, and implementing a water shuttle to take passengers across the Hood Canal. The water shuttle? Good idea!
Now the water shuttle works fine as long as there's no stormy weather or wind to jeopardize its trips. But c'mon, this is Washington, where rain is the norm! The water shuttle gets canceled once the water starts to get a little choppy, because they are worried about docking and getting people on and off the boat. Today was one of those days....where the shuttle was canceled most of the afternoon. This screws up a lot of people, especially since they don't really have a backup plan when the shuttle can't run. Tomorrow the weather is supposed to be worse, and I have to travel again. I don't want to go through what I went through last week, but I may have to. I can't cancel my trip 'cause Mom needs me and my brother is coming into town too, so I think another long trek is in the cards. This whole thing just sucks.
If it weren't for Mom I wouldn't really have to travel off the Peninsula at all during the bridge closure. I could stay up here in cozy little Port Townsend and not miss the tourists who aren't coming. But Mom comes first, so travel I must. They told me in elementary school by the time the Year 2000 came, we'd have flying cars. Where's my &*$%&#@!!! flying car!!!!!???
I'm a pastry chef that is used to deadlines and pumping the product out.......move move move.....time to lean time to clean......that sort of stuff. On my feet all day......die on the couch when I get home....etc etc etc. Life was moving at 78 rpm (for you young'uns, that means 78 revolutions per minute, which was the speed of very old record albums), and now I'm at 33 1/3........actually less. I'm like the bionic man, who, when he was shown using his bionics, he ran verrrrry slowly with the accompanying sound effect....ch ch ch ch ch (or was that when he was jumping off buildings?) Ok, I've got to stop dating myself. Kids today are like, "record albums? 33 1/3? Bionic man? Huh?"
Anyway.
This caregiving thing isn't about deadlines or moving my fat butt around the kitchen as fast as I can go to "git 'er done". It's about patience, sacrifice, putting another person's needs over yours.........something similar to what Moms do everyday, except I've never been a "mom" until now. Now I'm my Mom's mom. Did I say anything about patience? Yeah, well lucky me, I have it. For instance, the other day my mom decided to go through her rolodex and reminisce about every person in it, from A-Z. She'd say "Oh remember Herb and Irene?" I'd say "yes", then she'd say, "they're dead now". And so I got the current update of who of our friends and relatives were still alive or dead. I can't TELL you how much fun that was. My eyes were glazed over and I hadn't even had my glass of wine yet.
Mom doesn't want to move into a retirement village or assisted living or any of that. She wants to stay home. I'm doing what I can to keep her at home without wiping out her finances, which is why I'm her primary careperson. Daughters work cheap......well, at least I do. Plus I manage her financial affairs, which is something a hired caregiver cannot do. She is too confused to manage her finances anymore, so I do that and pay myself a small fee.
Mom has Crohn's Disease, and Myasthenia Gravis, both are which autoimmune disorders. They tend to make her somewhat homebound, and she's gotten to the point where she is uncomfortable driving. So she doesn't get out of the house unless I take her out and she enjoys that a lot. It's just that there are limited places to go. It can't involve a lot of walking, and a restroom must always be nearby or within a short distance. This presents me with many challenges.
Especially since Mom doesn't show much interest in anything in particular. No hobbies, crafts, or anything like that. A lot of the day goes by where she just prefers to sit in front of the TV. I have this feeling that I need to keep her company, or entertain her and so I'm watching a lot of tube with her. TV is fine, but not THAT MUCH. I need stuff to do so I search for recipes and I cook a lot. At least my chef skills are still in fine tune.
I'm still in touch with Jewlz from the bakery, and she gives me the scoop as to what's going on. I can't help but obsess about that place since I was the starting chef for the cafes......it's like it's my "baby", and I've had to give my "baby" up.
How's my "baby" doing?
Seems that we didn't find a suitable replacement for me until the DAY BEFORE I had to leave, but we found one, which is what was important to me because I didn't want to leave Jewlz in the weeds with no help. Lizzie did a great job, but we only got her for two days and she left her key on the third saying her husband got an opportunity on Orcas Island that they couldn't pass up. And just like that she was gone. So it was just down to Jewlz and our assistant whom I shall not name. We'd had her since December and was a great help to us; getting a lot of the grunt work done and such. But there were personality problems between her and Jewlz, which to this day I (and Jewlz) could not figure out. She didn't seem to have much of a problem with me........but for some reason she wanted to blame Jewlz for all her dissatisfaction there. Not a week went by that I was gone, and our assistant left her key saying she "didn't feel welcome" and that the volume of work that had to get done is not what she expected. Oh, that's nice. It's too much work so just leave Jewlz by herself....she'll magically get it done. Nice move. And this leads me to my pet peeve.........
An alternative newspaper we used to have here called "Vigilance" had an article on the so called "Port Townsend Flake Factor". I found it amusing then, since I had just moved here, but now that I've been here a few years, I can attest to the validity of the "Factor". I hate the "Factor!" I personally will never succumb to the "Factor".....I may live here, but I'll never be one of "THEM".......
On a brighter note, while shopping with Mom at Bartell Drugs the other day, I spotted THIS!!!!
Ack. Look at this blog deteriorate! From pastry, to caregiving to freaking PEZ. Well, dear readers, at least I'm still blogging!
