My son, his birthday, and a late post...

Hello, my friend!

I'm so happy you've returned. I realize my post is a day late; thank you for your patience. I have a really good reason, I promise!

My oldest son is about to celebrate a milestone birthday. This Tuesday, he'll be turning 18!! I still can't believe it. 

This is also the same kid who told me about his "other grandma" when he was about 4. 

Yes, he was talking about MY mom. The grandma who died before he was born. 

I had thought I was going to tell the story here, myself—but this story is included in an audiobook, titled "Haunted: True Tales of the Paranormal". (Pretty sure printed companion copies will also be available.) It will be available this coming Thursday, October 1, 2020. Check out the Gestalt-Media website at https://www.gestalt-media.com/ to get your copy!

Also, be sure to keep your eye on Gestalt-Media. They are an independent publisher/imprint, with an eye for supporting independent writers and creatives. Not only are they publishing the anthology that my own short story "I Did This For You" will appear in (and, soon, too!) but they really are about creating a diverse, supportive community. Their newest project is launching a subscription book-box, but for e-books. It's affordable and will be sure to deliver new names in the writing industry—names that might otherwise be overlooked by the Big5 publishing companies for a whole slew of reasons, none of which having to do with their caliber of writing. This company is going places, and I can't wait to see how they develop!

Back to my son, his birthday, and the reason my post is late.

I remember the day he was born like it was yesterday. No, I'm not going to get into the gritty details. Gross. Anyway, we decided to celebrate his birthday this weekend (yesterday, Saturday, to be exact) with the meal and dessert of his choosing. He requested Little Caesar's pizza (NON-gluten-free—for him—thank you!) and a lemon cake. However, my husband hates lemon. Okay, cool—I'll make a yellow cake with chocolate frosting for anyone that doesn't want lemon. I got this! 

I contacted a friend I met through Twitter, Amy Lyle, who connected me with HER friend, Lisa Ode - an amazing baker! Lisa hooked me up with fantastic gluten-free lemon cake recipe. I couldn't wait to try it.

Well, let's just say, "I think we can all agree that shit just went sideways in the most colossal way." Thank you, Deadpool. Love ya, man. 

Let me explain. 

Buckle up. I have pictures.

Things were off to a good start. I had all the ingredients...brand new cake pans...plenty of time...

All seems fine, right?

Um, no.

My oven...the pain in the ass, piece of shit that it is, decides that TODAY IS THE DAY it is going to completely balls-to-the-wall break on me. Now, I don't mean, "Awe, the oven won't come on!" Nope. I mean, it's completely confused and thinks that it's in CLEAN MODE, even though the ever-blessed-door is OPEN! So? What does that mean?

It means that my oven operates at 1,000 fucking degrees. Ever baked a cake at 1,000 degrees? Me either. Yesterday, I baked six layers. Most people would have just given up, gone to the store and bought a cake. 

First of all, I'm not 'most people'. I thought we established that. Second of all, I live in a small town. Do you want to know how likely it is to find a gluten-free lemon cake? Let alone on short notice? On a Saturday? Try not at all. I called six bakeries. SIX! Only one had anything gluten-free and it was a chocolate cupcake. Not exactly what I was going for.

So, we're soldiering on.

"But, Alain, what does this story have to do with being Spirit Sensitive or developing your abilities?"

Well, for one thing, I would not have survived the day without my guides, given that I ALMOST BURNED MY FACE OFF. No. I'm not joking. I have a very minor burn (think minor sunburn) to my face. Meh, whatever. 

Also, somehow, someway, I managed to remember all of my...training, I guess you could call it. When I realized that I couldn't find a bakery, I grounded, did some box breathing for a little extra patience, called my guides in for help, and really listened. Lydia, my guide who is especially adept at all things homemaking, cooking and baking above all else, assured me that things could be salvaged. I questioned her because I was ready to just walk away. I had already warned the soon-to-be-eighteen-year-old that he *may* not get a dessert, and he was cool with it. But, she was insistent. 

I tell, ya, I had to do my box breathing a FEW times.

Like when this happened. The recipe told me to evenly split the batter between THREE layers. But, I split it between FOUR. I couldn't understand, at the time, but trusted and went with it. Well, now we know why, right? 

But believe me, when this landed on the floor, I threw a spatula and almost walked away from it all. I'm not fucking kidding. Guides or no guides. Breathe, Alain. Breathe.

The process to get these to bake was...ridiculous. Since it was stuck on CLEAN, the top burner inside the oven was on. You know, the one that comes on when you set it to BROIL. Yeah, not the bottom one, when you set it to BAKE. UGH. That meant that the tops scorched and the bottoms were still gooey. So, my fantastic husband gave me the idea of covering the top and working them like a waffle maker.

Which worked, except that required me to sit in front of the open oven. Hence the 'sunburn'. 

All right. Fast forward several hours later, and we have...success?

I mean, sorta. 

Sigh. 

I figured they were baked all the way through, and I practically burned my face off for them, might as well frost them, right? Right...so...

I mean...not bad, all things considered. I will say they TASTED absolutely AMAZING. 

Did they look as nice as I would have liked? hahahahahaha No. But I made lemon(cake) outta lemons, so I can't complain there. 

Did I cuss like a trucker? Fuck. Yes. Am I still a bit annoyed? You betcha. Will it be a really funny story some day? Sure. It's a little funny now, to be honest, so how could it not be a lot funny later? My kids said the lemon cake looked like a "boulder". They aren't wrong. They were nice to me and we did giggle about it a bit. 

So, do the techniques I have described in my previous posts work? Well, I certainly think so. Tell me honestly, without using them, would YOU have been able to get through something like that? Would you have even tried? I don't know that I would have. LOL

I hope you found this post helpful (and entertaining). 

I look forward to hearing from you, either on this post, or on Instagram or Twitter, soon. 

As always, Namaste

💖

Alain Davis

@HopelessOptimst