Who is Carol Elaine and why isn’t she writing this blog?

If you’ve made it here from my Facebook page, this post will make a lot more sense. Ha! If you’ve just stumbled upon this blog first, I invite you to go to my Facebook age and connect the two. 😊

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61572185846253

Years and years ago I had a mom and I remember that she was a good mom. She was a single mom because my dad had passed away when I was 5, so she was raising me and my brother, who is 3 years older than me. She still had her mom and dad and sisters and brothers around. She also had a best friend who lived right across the street. Did you hear me Sarah?! Right across the street. I would kill for that now. Although – now that I think about it – I *do* have a good friend who lives just down the street from me, and we can’t ever seem to get together… Hmmmmm…. Anyway, I suppose that’s another rabbit hole I’ll have to pursue later. Ok, back to my mom. She liked to bake and cook, and she let me help. Actually, she probably made me help. Ha! We did all kinds of 80s crafts together – the shrinky-dink things like these – https://amzn.to/3D5o9lk, we crocheted around pop can holders to make ornaments, we made anything you could think of with pompoms and/or beads. Give me a box of macaroni, a glue gun and some glitter and be prepared for a masterpiece. We also made cookies often, and for sure we made them at Christmas. Yes, of course, the sugar cookie cutouts! We dyed Easter eggs, we made ribbon roses and we made doilies. My aunts and grandma would come over and I was allowed to be involved in whatever the activity ended up being.

Her name was Linda Carol, and she passed away when I was 9.

One of my mom’s sisters was the one that my brother and I went to live with after my mom passed. Suffice to say, it was rough on all of us. But that’s not what this blog is about. Besides being a fabulous cook and baker like my mom, my aunt was the artist of all artists. One of her favorite shows on TV was Bob Ross. She learned a lot from him, and I don’t know if I could find the words to describe how amazing of a painter she was. She could do anything – flowers, people, scenery, real, abstract, etc. And – not only painting, she was always arting. If she didn’t have her easel set up in the dining room, she had clay out on the table. Or she had faux glass paint out to do stained glass art. Or maybe she had the sewing machine out making dresses (from the curtains) for the Ugly Dolls she made the week before. I remember going back to visit after I moved to Iowa for college. Every time I came back, I never knew what would await as I opened the door to their house. Once it was painted lampshades hung to dry from every possible place in the house. Once it was little clay heads and hands and feets laying on any flat surface. She learned to use copper and pound it somehow and used a solder of sorts to make little copper baskets. I always was excited to see what blanket or hat or scarf she had crocheted.

Her name was Roberta Elaine, and she passed away when I was 30.

I absolutely regret not making the most of the time I had with these women. I’ll give myself a pass on my mom since I was really too young to know, but I sure wish I had spent more good solid quality time with my aunt. So when I started making cupcakes as a side business about 15 years ago, it only seemed fitting to name it after two of the most influential people in my life.