Hey everyone! I wanted to share an event I’m participating in tomorrow. It’s a networking event that’s free to join and a great way to connect with some new people. The details are below. It’s the first of its kind and is shaping up to be a great experience! Hope to see you there 🥰

So today was supposed to go one way… and it went another. Heading to Toronto to honour my middle child (you know - the difficult one!! ) because she’s graduating from the University of Toronto. It’s my dad’s alma mater. He’s not here to see it, but he would be so incredibly proud of her. But stressed because of a lot of different things going on. Spending the weekend with my ex and his girlfriend and his family… a celebration hosted by their family. It takes me out of my comfort zone because I like to be the host, especially for something that honors my daughter. I get along with these people so well, I’ve known them for 40 years, but still… But grateful to have Billy by my side. We make everything fun! I had everything ready to bake - a ton of things for these celebration events, we were driving up, and I wanted to contribute. I was organized within an inch of my life. I even made sub buns to pack a lunch for our drive to Toronto. Then when we woke up… The cat was sick again. He literally did not move for five hours. We’re in crisis mode thinking what are we gonna do? Do we bring him with us? Do we leave him with a 17-year-old boy who’s our cat sitter? Like what do we do? If the end is nigh, should we leave him? Soooooo Billy uses his credit card points to buy me a ticket to Toronto, and off I go for the whirlwind weekend to celebrate my daughter, solo. Not at all what we had envisioned. And I sit at the airport waiting feeling completely defeated. You see, my daughter has lots of family around her dad is there. I’m there, and Billy - well he’s kind of peripheral. But I love that. He’s excited to be there. He’s the only one who hasn’t seen her apartment in Toronto, and he was really looking forward to that. That type of thing just makes me feel warm and fuzzy. But the truth of the matter is this isn’t about me. This is about my daughter, Paris. Her accomplishment from one of the top universities in the world. It’s been a rough four years for her. She had lots of ups and downs; things I don’t even wanna mention. So it’s an accomplishment that she made this far. And I have to put my personal feelings aside to remember that this is about her and not me.

Went to open the camper / cottage for the summer. Minimal planning, minimal hassle. It was a nice sunny day, a little chilly but still shorts weather. We lit a fire a roasted hot dogs!! It was lovely!! What are you up to today?

Betrayal in the form of disengagement is is something that sneaks up, and we don’t even notice it. This is the type of thing that I want people to be aware of, because it’s so easy to avoid. Spending time and staying engaged with your partner can be as simple as five minutes a day. It’s that connection moment that you have to share all the time. Making sure you have those date nights every month or every couple weeks is crucial. This is exactly why I created the Chef’s Kiss Date Nights… so people can connect and keep that flame burning. Disengagement can happen without you noticing, but it’s a simple fix to avoid it.

Happy Monday, everyone! I hope your week is shaping up to be fantastic. Mine definitely is, especially because I get to let you know that we've got three wonderful new members for this community. You guys are all great at welcoming new members! Let's give a shout out to @Mary Nunaley @Sandy Torbet and @Gwynne Conlyn ! I love how our little community is growing, and I'm so happy that all of you are here contributing to the energy! For all you newbies, feel free to drop in and introduce yourself. Remember, if there's anything that you would like to learn how to cook that maybe I can help you with, drop that in the comments as well!