Archive | August, 2015

Sunday: Some More Sharing of Friendship 

31 Aug

Friendship marks a life even more deeply than love. Love risks degenerating into obsession, friendship is never anything but sharing.Elie Wiesel

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A wonderful weekend at Crescent Moon Lodge with friends. Not only did we share, meals, drinks, and laughter, but we shared stories, thoughts and artistic endeavors. I loved sharing a few watercolor painting techniques with my friends. 

  Sherri and I painted outside Saturday afternoon. There was a lovely view of the lake. Her first watercolor. It was beautiful. 
   
 
Michele and David tried their hand at the same scene. Fantastic! David said he was unteachable   and couldn’t even do a stick figure. Guess what ? Artist!

  
Fun weekend! So many more pictures and sites to share… To be continued….

Saturday Sharing and Caring

30 Aug

No greater feeling of friendship than gathering around a table to eat, laugh, and create memories. 
~Toni Armenta Andrukaitis
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I’m having so much fun at Crescent Moon Lodge in Oklahoma with my dear friends Michele and David Betnard, our hosts, and Sherri, Sherry and Lynne. 
Sherri asked me for a little instruction on doing a watercolor of the lake scene right outside the lodge door. She never painted with watercolor before. Her painting was fabulous. 
 Ok. Internet was out all afternoon/evening. Still can’t post photos. Hope this works. 
Michele and David never painted with watercolor either, and they did a fabulous painting, but can’t share till I get home. 
 We’ve been painting, eating, drinking Black Russians, eating gourmet meals, gossiping, eating freshly baked chocolate chip cookies, more eating and drinking. What a great weekend! 
More tomorrow

Saturday Sharing and Caring

30 Aug

No greater feeling of friendship than  gathering around a table to eat, laugh, and create memories. 

~Toni Armenta Andrukaitis

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I’m having so much fun at Crescent Moon Lodge in Oklahoma with my dear friends Michele and David Betnard, our hosts, and Sherri, Sherry and Lynne. 

Sherri asked me for a little instruction on doing a watercolor of the lake scene right outside the lodge door. She never painted with watercolor before. Her painting was fabulous. 

 Ok. Internet was out all afternoon/evening. Still can’t post photos. Hope this works. 

Michele and David never painted with watercolor either, and they did a fabulous painting, but can’t share till I get home. 

 We’ve been painting, eating, drinking Black Russians, eating gourmet meals, gossiping, eating freshly baked chocolate chip cookies, more eating and drinking. What a great weekend! 

More tomorrow. 

 
    

Friday Friends and a Road Trip

29 Aug

I haven’t been everywhere, but it’s on my list. 

~ Susan Sontag

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“Well, I’ve never been to Heaven,  but I’ve been to Oklahoma.”

~ Three Dog Night

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WAIT! I’ve never been to Oklahoma. But,  

 here I am. It’s kind of like heaven, but with a thick Southern accent. 

Spending time with some wonderful friends. ROAD TRIP!!!!!

   

  

  

  

  

Theme Song Thursday 

27 Aug

May good luck be your friend in whatever you do and may trouble be always a stranger to you.~ Irish Blessings quotes  

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A beautiful day. Zumba in the morning followed by a long walk/run. I was energized  and motivated for a great day.  I found a lucky penny on my walk.  I’m not sure if I find these lucky pennies or they find me. 

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWvblZh8yt4&sns=em

Then, a leisurely lunch with my friend Lynda. I found a lucky feather on the sidewalk walking from my car. 

  
The signs are there. The songs are there. We just have to see the signs and sing the songs. The rest will follow. 

  

Wednesday Words of Wisdom 

27 Aug

“If the sight of the blue skies fills you with joy, if a blade of grass
springing up in the fields has power to move you, if the simple things of nature have a message that you understand, rejoice, for your soul is alive.” – Eleanora Duse**************

I am in awe of each hazy sunrise and fiery sunset.  A crystal blue sky is a backdrop for soaring hawks. The bright green pastures feed the frolicking colts and fillies in the field across the road. 

The  “simple things in nature have a message.” My soul is alive.  

   
I appreciate it all and celebrate the simple things of nature. 

  

 
I celebrate it all. Cheers, my friends !

  

Tuesdsy : Toni ‘s Tip of the Day

26 Aug

You gain control over any situation with a positive outlook.~Lailah Gifty Akita, Pearls of Wisdom: Great mind

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My timely tip for this Tuesday:

When life gives you old squishy lemons, make new refreshing lemonade. And when life gives you not so fresh and fluffy cupcakes, make new yummy cake balls and pop them in the freezer for a rainy day. 

 ~ Toni Armenta Andrukaitis

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I had a few cupcakes that were a couple of days old. The frosting was starting to get crusty. Oh no ! You can’t waste cupcakes. I do this with brownies, except rarely do I have left over brownies. 

Step. 1: Put cupcakes in a bowl. Yes, take the paper liners off, silly goose. 

  
Step 2: Mush and smush and blend cupcakes with a big fork. If you’re lazy or have a lot, you can use a good processor. I hate the clean up. 

  
Step. 3: Blend in some left over frosting that you have tucked away in the back scary recesses of your freezer. ( yes, I always have some in a baggy ) Or use about  1/2 cup of canned frosting. Smoosh that all up together. 

Step 4: Grab about a tablespoon of mixture and roll into bite size balls. I just use my hands. This way I can lick my fingers at the end. 

  
Step 5: Pop a couple in your mouth to make sure they are delicious. Yes, they are! 

Step. 6: You can either freeze them or dip them in melted chocolate or both. Or, just stand there and eat most of them like I did. There weren’t that many ! 

  

Montage Monday: More Marvelous Sunsets and My Poem 

24 Aug

“Never waste any amount of time doing anything important when there is a sunset outside that you should be sitting under!” ― C. JoyBell C.

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Instead my usual week in a peek, I wanted to continue the celebration of my  1 year anniversary of my new home and my new life. The amazing sunsets that I see every evening are just breathtaking. 

I’ve shared this poem before , but it’s one of my favorites. 

  
COME CHASE THE SUNSET                    

 

 

                    Come chase the sunset, come chase it with me

                    Fiery reds of the sky, tranquil blues of the sea.

                    Sizzles of summer, the softness of spring

                    With autumn upon us, winter’s chill on the wing.

                    Time is but fleeting, there’s only one chance

                    Shall we sit by the fire or get up and dance?

                    The journey is long, with burdens to bear

                    I never noticed, you carry more than your share.

                    Together let’s run and never look back

                    The clouds may be looming when the sky fades to black.

                    Just take my hand as the road rounds the bend

                    Run as fast as you can ‘til we get to the end.

                    Let’s race to the finish and shout out with glee

                   Come chase the sunset, come chase it with me.

                   

                   Toni Armenta Andrukaitis

  

 
  
Cheers!!!

Sunday: SEX, LIES, and AUDIO TAPES (A true story of betrayal and survival) Happy Anniversary!

23 Aug

(If you haven’t read my posts from beginning to end before, please read this one. Please, share in my healing, my joy, and unfortunately, the most excruciating pain a person can endure. Please share on your blog, your Facebook or Twitter page, or email. 

Thank you.)****************

Mess around and cheat on a musician, they’re going to write a sad song about it. Betray, lie, and cheat on a writer, well, they’re going to write a tell-all true story about it.  (He wanted “to be seen in public.”)

Toni Armenta Andrukaitis
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Divorce’s most brutal battles are fought in the mind-not in the courtroom. If you’ve had a long-term marriage, you tend to look back on all those years and you feel that you’ve wasted your entire life. It appears at first glance that you have more years behind you than ahead of you. You think, “What a fool I’ve been to have wasted my youth on such an unworthy or, worse yet, such an untrustworthy man!”

Kari West is the author of Dare to Trust, Dare to Hope Again: Living With Losses of the Heart. She maintains a grief recovery and divorce care website atwww.gardenglories.com.

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Today, August 23, 2015, is the one year anniversary of me moving into my new house, and starting my new life. A time for celebration? Perhaps. BUT, it also would have been my fortieth wedding anniversary. That never happened. 

Tony Andrukaitis and I were married on August 23, 1975, forty years ago, and our divorce was finalized on August 20, 2014. Yes, we were Toni and Tony, Antoinette and Anthony, the high school sweethearts and happy couple that met in 1970. We were together forever. Those are all bitter-sweet, murky memories now. 
  
I found this photo on my son’s Instagram page from an old entry. 

Betrayal and pain can fog up your brain, and those beautiful memories and faded photographs are just constant reminders of …I’m not sure of what. I can’t think about it.

One thing I do know is, I’m a writer, and a darn good writer, and I’m going to tell my story. I’ve been writing and journaling as long as I can remember. It varied from a single daily entry on a calendar page, to long narratives about events, trips, or celebrations. When we moved to McKinney, Texas in the fall of 2004, I started a daily journal in a navy blue spiral notebook, and eleven years later, I’m still writing in that same notebook.

  
July 11, 2013

Zumba, got sick, called Dr., Y (Y stands for Tony) drinks with the guys Henry’s. (OUT) ( he wasn’t with the guys )

One line for one day that will live in infamy. I confronted him about his affair 7/11, when he came home drunk, yet again, stumbling to his chair, petting the excited dogs. 

I said, “You weren’t out with the guys. You were with her!” 

His reply was, “You’re crazy. What are you talking about? Where is this coming from?”

What he didn’t know was, I had uncovered everything. As he kept lying and digging a deeper hole, I recorded the entire conversation on my phone. He didn’t know that I knew the other woman was Debbie Causey, the waitress/cart girl at his country club. I had hotel confirmations, photos, disgusting emails, and phone records from many months. The sequence of events that followed were devastating. At first I was in denial, then I was numb, then I was in pain, ending up in the emergency room with chest pains after seeing my doctor for STD testing. Long and short, I survived, but the marriage didn’t. It couldn’t be repaired, nor did he make any effort to do so. 

During one tearful heated argument in the Starbuck’s parking lot, he said in a booming voice, “Just sign the damn divorce papers already.” I asked him what was his big hurry. He said, and I quote, “I can’t be seen in public!” Through my muffled sobs, I had to laugh. 

“What do you mean you can’t be seen in public? Do you think a signed piece of paper is somehow going to change what you’ve been doing all these months? You didn’t have any trouble going to bars, restaurants, and checking into hotel rooms!”

He wanted to be seen in public. Well, now he can be seen in public. He has his divorce, he’s shacked up with the waitress, but what he doesn’t have is honesty, integrity,  or the respect  of anyone who knows what he has done and what he has put his family through. He is a true narcissist. 

Here are pictures that she sent him long before I caught him cheating. Debbie Causey set him up to get caught by calling and texting him constantly, sending incriminating photos and emails. She wanted my husband, my life, the big house, the trips, expensive gifts, and she needed a new “sugar daddy” after she was thrown out of the house by her long time boyfriend. Well, she got her wish. And you know what? She can have him! She’s a user and he’s a loser. She cheated with him, she will cheat on him. That’s what cheaters do.

   
    
 
Now, you can be seen in public !!!!!!

It’s such a long story, and I’m going to take my time and finish writing it. Through all of this, I continued to journal, and wrote many long detailed letters entitled, “Open Letters” that I emailed to myself. Some were written to my sons, to Tony Andrukaitis, and to his mistress, Debbie Causey. (I just call her the HO and he is AH. You get the drift.) But, I only sent them to myself. It’s all documented, now all II have to do is edit and finish writing the story. Perhaps then I will have closure. This is plan B. All of this has been bottled up inside me like a time bomb waiting to explode for two years.

Today is my anniversary. HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO ME!

I’m going to break open a bottle of champagne and drink from one of my hand-painted champagne flutes, and celebrate my life. I have many more glasses and many more stories if you want to come join me. 

  

Saturday: Sittin’, Thinkin’, and Drinkin’ (Stay Tuned )

23 Aug

All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence that you know.Ernest Hemingway

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Prelude to tomorrow, all revealed and released. The bottled up betrayal, pain, and lies. Tomorrow I share the first page  of the first chapter of a new life. (Stay tuned )

“Tjen you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

John 8:32

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On a brighter note, my day started with an hour walk/run. I found a beautiful feather by the pond.  

 
Then , off to Zumba at. 9;30. A fun great workout of Latin dancing mixed with Bollywood and country line dancing. I stopped at the bank afterwards, and found a lucky penny in the parking lot. 

  
A lazy Saturday with no place to go, no one to see , so I plopped in front of the TV with my iPad, and to my delight, it was Star Trek Marathon Saturday. ( it was The Next Generation…next best thing to the original ) 

  
Now, Doctor Who Marathon. Maybe time for a drink. Let’s see? Hmm, a black Russian or a cup of tea?

  
 

I think you know which one I chose. 

Hope you’re having a great weekend. Cheers!