Mandarin Festival Madness

Mandarin Festival 2015

Through the years, you all know how much the Partak family loves the Mandarin Festival. My first festival was with Mason in 2003 who was just one month old. Dave was training to deploy to Iraq so he was in Fort Lewis, WA. Through the years, because of the relationships we've made with the people at the festival, Mason and I were able to do live cooking demos, I got to run the cooking stage for a number of years while the woman who had done it had to be home with her family, and of course, we have all had so much fun participating in and sometimes winning the recipe contest. I can't be sure off the top of my head, but Dave, Mason and I have all won 3rd, 2nd, and 1st places in all categories, Mason, Dave, and I have all won the Snow's Citrus Court Award, and Dave has won the Best in Show Grand Prize as well. The last two years between running the cooking stage and life getting so busy with Mason becoming a teenager, I've been less plugged in to the time it takes to develop and create winning recipes. So much of my process to develop a recipe happens in my head. I process ingredients, techniques, and how it may look on the plate over and over before I ever try to make it. I've been doing this for the Mountain Mandarin Festival recipe contest since 2009, that's 10 years! Granted, I did not participate one of the two years I ran the cooking stage, but Dave and Mason did. With all of that said, I think we have a cookbook worth of mandarin recipes!

Mandarin Brown Sugar Ham w/Ham Sauce

Here we are in 2018, the 25th anniversary of the festival and the 10th year the Partak's have been participating in the recipe contest and I’m still in shock. This year the recipe that I developed in my head was a brown sugar mandarin ham with “ham sauce." Have you ever heard of "ham sauce"? Me neither. Sunday morning when I got up to get  things together for my ham, I decided at the last minute to make a mandarin upside down cake. I had thought about it, and I was enamored with how pretty I thought it would be. I had time and thought what the heck. I entered the ham and the cake and I won second place and $50 in the main dish category with my ham, but I won Best in Show and the Grand Prize with my cake! I seriously could not believe it. My take-away from winning the big prize is that I need to recognize that I do better when I don't over think things and when I don't try so hard. Seriously, I thought it was pretty and just whipped it up looking forward to how pretty it would be. I'm just over the moon, I have so much to be thankful for and I can't wait to be with all of our friends for Thanksgiving. 

Grand Prize Mandarin Upside Down Cake

Vacation in the Smoky Mountains and Nashville, TN

Gorgeous fall colors and 100-mile views. The weather is spectacular and of course, my people are my whole ❤️ He’s been making me laugh for more than 20 years. It’s our anniversary month and I couldn’t love him more, except tomorrow, I’ll love him more tomorrow, and the next day, I’ll love him even more then.
We have been having such a wonderful time. Only in the south can you sit and watch an outdoor show in individual rocking chairs, play hillbilly golf on the side of a hill with an elevator kart that takes you up to play, oh, and a hole with a Plinko board! Of course, you can’t leave out if I had a nickel for every time I heard “Y’all” and “Bless your heart.”

Waking up in the arms of crazy fall colors and light rain is just like our wedding day 17 years ago in Nevada City. Happy Anniversary Flower Dave, I love writing our story and can’t wait to see what’s next. As a little girl a love like we have was truly only in fairytales, thank you for showing me a new, incredible reality. Nashville, here we come!
Nashville was a hoot! We needed more time, but we ate wonderful food, went to Music Row, and spent several hours at Opryland Hotel that was all decked out for Christmas. It’s tough catching a crazy early morning flight home. It sucks waking up in the middle of the night, but we will be home early with the time change and still have some daytime left. Another epic vacation in the books.

Happy Anniversary Month!

Happy Anniversary Month David Partak! I still marvel at the idea that of all the fun things and experiences I've won on the radio through the years, the most meaningful would be you (Circa 1996)? As we approach 17 years married, we are going to spend our anniversary in Tennesee while last night, you had so much fun hosting Trick-or-Treaters here at home in Auburn. We were both so exhausted come bedtime that I think I was asleep before you, which in and of itself is unusual. We plan busy days, juggle schedules, and laugh a lot, that's what we do, we laugh about silly stuff, like "Free Jesus" pizza, and how middle age has our middles expanding! After a night of laughing, the next morning we will often still be giggling through sleepy eyes - yes, we really do wake up laughing sometimes. The bumps in the road are so few, they are not even worth talking about. Our love and marriage has been easy as far as the marriage gauges go, wouldn't you agree? Way more laughter than tears and even some of those tears have come with belly laughs and a little pee, too! I am grateful every day for you, our marriage, our family, our life, and I'm the first one to say, "I won the lottery when I won this guys heart." November 9th. 

We arrived in Charlotte to have issues with my debit card, the rental car reservation and had to taxi to the hotel, where we had to pseudo hike from the street due to road construction. It’s frustrating, yes, but we are in a luxury hotel, safe and together. Tomorrow everything will work itself out. And tomorrow we will also get an hour back, so there’s that bright side, too. Sweet dreams... 💤

It appears Team Partak is back in the game. We got our rental car, went shopping for more Carolina Panthers swag than any one fan needs (WalMart baby!), and it seems we have worked out the debit card issue.

With that said, I have to share what a great feeling it's been to watch Mason move through the activities of this trip like a full blown adult. I sent him to check bags while I sat with mine and Dave's while Dave parked the car. He navigated the kiosk, got the tags on the bags, took them up to the counter and laughed with the agent, thanked the man and shook his hand before coming back to sit with our carry-ons while I went and checked my bags. He's growing up and he is so very able. It made me smile and so proud to see him taking care of himself and being good to the people he was interacting with. If you have young kids, let them do as much for themselves as they want to do. Don't worry if it takes longer or they make a mess doing it, it's okay. They will realize they need to plan their time and if they make a mess, they get a bonus life-lesson about how to clean it up. It pays off and I am sure it will give me a little added peace of mind as he heads out on his own more and more. 

Sunday we wrapped up the week at the Carolina Panthers game where they hosted the Tampa Bay Bucs. It was epic! I arranged for Dave to participate in the Salute To Service program getting to carry the flag on the field to open the game. As if that weren’t cool enough, Mason was on the Bucs side and not only got a pair of Mike Evan’s gloves, he got an official practice ball! Our trip is going great and we have barely started. å

Mason's First Movie Premiere!

I am so excited to share with you all that we went to a special screening of APParition last night at the IMAX theater. This is Mason's first film and screening. I'm not a fan of horror films, but whatever, I couldn't wait!!  Seeing Mason on the big screen surrounded by so many amazingly talented, creative people was indescribable. A defining moment in both of our lives for completely different reasons for sure. Thank you to Sally Forcier and Mark S. Allen for giving Mason the opportunity of his life, sincerely. The only thing that put a damper on the evening was that Dave got pretty violently ill just before we were supposed to leave the house and physically couldn’t come. 

I'm sure it was also intentional that the screening is just days before Halloween, that makes complete sense. Other than decorations for the house, we don't have much else going on. We are leaving for vacation on the 2nd of November and are looking so forward to visiting North Carolina and Tennessee. For now, we will revel in the premiere of Mason's first movie and get ready for lots of little ghosts and ghouls coming to trick or treat!

Happy 15th Birthday Mason

15 years ago Mason Bonham Partak came into this world, immediately placed in his daddy's arms, he smiled. Well, I don't know if he smiled, I was knocked out and filleted like a fish, but I will tell my tale as if he did. 🙂

This kid has been strong-willed from day one, smart, funny, kind, and a pain in our asses from the time he realized he could be. He is courageous, he takes chances, he seems fearless (well, except for that time he insisted on riding the sheep, but then got in the chute and cried to not have to ride the sheep!), and he has already made a huge impact on this world in more ways than one.

Mason, I am not loving your teenage years - you test me, but you still make me proud. You make me cry, you make me laugh, and you practice some serious dumbassery. I do my best to not kill you. But no matter what you face in the coming years, I will always love you. I am so thankful that you are my son, you are the best of your dad and I and you are a rock star! Set this world on fire kid, you have work to do and it will all be noteworthy, I just know it. ❤

Good Bye Ty

You know, I'm sitting here crying thinking about Ty Rowe and his family and our town and how polarized this world is right now. The fact of the matter is that we as people and a community are allowing the politicians and media to divide us. Why? We don't hate, we don't judge before we help, we are not the political agendas of those who live their lives for personal gain. Our family has been treated badly by a select few in this town and it's so sad to me that people feel the need to be mean simply for the sake of being mean. Ty, I can hear you telling me today like you've told me so many times before, "Fuck 'em, Kathy. You and Dave are amazing people with a family and life that most would kill for. Keep being awesome you and fuck 'em." People, choose your words carefully, they are powerful, they touch people deeply, be kind.

Ty passed away after a short illness and I am simply devastated. He mentored Mason in the world of food and he was a true friend to Dave and I like few other people. Rest in peace Ty, you will be missed more than most. You touched lives deeply, mine for sure. 

The Reality of Mid-Life As a Woman

We all have those moments in life when we are hit with the reality of something, in fact, most of us have several of those moments in our lives that can be very profound, maybe even life-changing. For me, they have been coming like rapid fire. Several of my dear friends have been very ill or passed away and it's made me see my own mortality coming sooner than I'd like to admit.

I've mentioned menopause here several times in the recent past and indeed it has been a major life event. Outside of the things you hear about like hot flashes, weight gain, and moodiness, there are a number of things that nobody tells you or really talks about. Maybe because the connection is not made or the women experiencing it are too embarrassed or frightened to tell anyone. Let me share a few of the "little known" menopause symptoms, some I've *personally experienced and learned that a number of women in my secret group on FB have experienced as well.

• *High blood pressure
• *Panic attacks
• *Anxiety
• Vertigo
• *Debilitating joint pain
• Hair loss (all body hair)
• Vaginal atrophy
• Sexual aversion (more than lack of interest)
• All kinds of skin rashes
• *Depression
• Emotionally numb
• Insomnia
• Migraines
• *Periods (erratic) that stop, start, go for 20 days, stop for 2 days, go for 9 days, etc.
• *Body odor (horrible body odor)
• *Bad breath
• *Rage/Grief
• The sense of pending doom
• *The sense of imminent death - this one for me came in my dreams almost every night for more than a year.
• Age Spots
• Lethargy
• Nausea
• Dental pain/teeth breaking

Most women start menopause (peri-menopause) in their late 40s, early 50s, menopause is typically in her 50s and runs on average for 10-15 years. Sit with that for a minute, 10-15 years!!! It started for me at early 48 and at almost 5 years in, it's not as bad as it was, the hormones have alleviated the hot flashes, anxiety/panic attacks, rage/grief, and I am taking a low dose of blood pressure medication. I don't love that, but I'm not sure what to do with that for now. The body odor, bad breath, and my periods are just a matter of diligent management. I've not had dreams of imminent death since we moved into this new house in January of 2016 but once or twice, so that's been an improvement. 

With all of that said, why isn't more of this information mainstream? This is not just my experience, this is thousands of women around the world! Our medical community is not serving women once we are outside of our childbearing years, and it is simply not acceptable. We need to speak up and step up to be heard. We also need to speak up and step up for other women. I am doing that here, I want women who have not reached this age yet to know when (and if) their time comes, what is happening, and to know, not only is it normal, it will be okay. Estrogen, progestogen, and testosterone are decreasing and our bodies are adjusting. It will be different for each of us so just know, as the time comes, tune in and expect the unexpected, ask questions, don't be afraid to talk to the women in your life, and insist your doctor test your blood for these hormone levels.