Welcome to my first blog!! A bit out of character for me, but I've recently realized (and come to accept) that I am entering a new phase of my life, so it's time to step out of my comfort zone! In a nutshell, I am a nurse, a mom, an actor, a singer, and a semi-professional smart ass. Not necessarily in that order. I also love food. I love to eat, I love to cook, and I love to feed people!!
I spent most of 2020 gowned and goggled, most of my face covered in a N95 mask, while taking care of elderly residents who couldn't fully understand what was going on or why their loved ones were no longer coming to see them. Early on in the pandemic, I remember sitting with a resident at the dining table, and she asked how long she got. I asked what she meant. She said, "In jail. How long did I get?" This poor woman, whose son had previously visited her every single day, thought that because he was no longer coming to see her that she must have done something wrong and was being punished. Fast forward a year and a half, and she has hung in there as things slowly return to the way they once were.
Since the pandemic began, I have not been able to perform on stage. My creative outlet, my escape. My chance to abandon my own reality and pretend to be someone else for a couple of hours. Add to that the isolation of the lockdown and I knew I had to find other ways to express my creative side. Thankfully, I work in a facility full of residents who love music and love to hear me sing, and I receive tremendous joy from it. At home, however, I was still struggling. I'm divorced, my children are grown with their own lives, and it's just me, my cat Mulligan, and my dog Brody. It has been lonely, I can't lie. So I started cooking. Family recipes, dishes from recipes I saw in magazines and books, and things I just made up as I went along (which is always the best way, don't you agree?). I would post pictures of my "creations" on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and my friends loved them. Then I thought, "Well, why don't I start making videos of myself cooking these dishes and create a YouTube Channel?" GENIUS. I hopped on to Amazon and ordered a tripod that I could hook my iPhone up to and record my videos to share with the world.
I decided that for my first video I would make my famous tomato sauce with pork chops, cooked so long in the sauce that the meat falls off the bone. I got dressed (something I rarely do at home anymore), PUT ON MAKEUP (which I do even less!), and spent the entire day cooking and talking into my phone, usually focusing on the wrong spot. The sauce turned out great. The video? Not so much.
After hours of shooting, I realized that not only did I not know how to edit videos together but, to my horror, my dress was see through! Now, let's just get this out of the way - I am no petite flower. I used to be. I USED to be a dancer. I was smokin' hot, and after I had my children I was a full on MILF, then I turned 50 and my genes caught up with me while I was asleep, and the only way I'll ever look like that again is if I get a tapeworm. (More on this in the next blog) It was then that I decided that starting with a blog might be a smarter, more low-key, and less embarrassing way of expressing myself.
So here we are. Diva Dishes. In this blog we will dish food (literally and figuratively), books, movies, music, and most of all I will share with you my thoughts, feelings, and experiences as I navigate middle age. Bette Davis once said, "Growing old ain't for sissies." Boy was she right. I would love to hear from you how you have navigated the last year and a half. We are all in this together.
....and one day there may be videos.