let's think of something else

Alice is coming for a visit today.
And I'm going to teach her the bread recipe and take her to lunch and I don't know what else.
I've got a large college-age following out there, so it's a pleasure to meet her.
Gay readers are invited to Tuvalu next week.
Needlecrafters are expected in late July.

How long is a minute?
Watch the whole thing...

That fig body butter I bought is very nice, but it has an interesting feature.
I've been rubbing it on my feet at bed time and going to sleep.
The next day I go about my business -
I eat, do laundry, fill or empty the dishwasher and wash my hands several times over the course of my activities.
And then, late in the afternoon or evening, if I happen to chew at my fingernail, I CAN TASTE THE FIG.
Isn't that odd?
We had some kind of baby cream when Middle was tiny and I'd give him baby massages with it but he loved to eat it. When he got old enough he'd ask me for little tastes...it had a Peter Rabbit label on it and he called it Pima Rabbit.

Can you tell I'm on anti-anxiety medication? It makes me a little dreamy.

When K and I first lived together we bought the knock off version of these plates. Someone snotty said to us: oh, I didn't know that Royal Copenhagen had open stock, and I don't even think we got it.
They were open stock - from Conrans. We used to walk through Conrans all the time and gaze lovingly at the grown-up furniture and kitchen things. We couldn't afford much in there but we'd spend hours browsing. We desperately wanted a couple of these -

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and I can't even remember why. They were $100 each. Now they are $250. So, now, 25 years down the road, I wouldn't buy a wooden folding chair for that kind of money either. Why is outdoor furniture so costly? This will be the third summer wherein we could purchase outdoor furniture - but won't.

K has always wanted one of these too...

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me, not so much. Though good lighting is often expensive $460 seems a bit much.
I cannot think of something "I've always wanted."
That's the thing about us - K has dreams of large expensive toys, and I want world peace.
No, wait, that's not it either.
I want people to accept mental illness as they do physical illness.
If Oldest was born with Polymyositis it would be a hell of a lot easier for people to deal with him when he had a flare up.

Oh, wait, I'm thinking about it again.

Aren't people kind? The people here are. And each and every comment yesterday lightened my burden just a little. Emails all day meant the world to me.
I always think my child is the worst. And, it turns out, that many people have an Oldest, and I am not so alone.

I'm done now.
I can't be all misty for Alice.


Alice said…
It's okay to be misty... we can be misty together!

I'm now on my way... get those tissues ready.
robiewankenobie said…
of course you think that your child is the worst...you have only had your own experience to draw from. i'm so glad that so many people shared their stories with you. it's hard to feel alone. and yeah, the stigma of mental illness is huge, isn't?
Glenna said…
I was hoping you were going to say that the fig body butter left little seeds behind (like the ones that you can crack between your teeth hours after eating a fig newton).
MizMell said…
I guess the long weekend just gave us all a bit more time to mull over the injustices of life. I have openly weeped a few times over he course of the weekend after speaking to my daughters long distance. (sigh)

Keep calm and carry on indeed.
RW said…
Have a most lovely day together!
Saoirse said…
awww.. Good to know we made your day a little bit brighter. You do it for all of us, your readers, EVERY DAY!

Enjoy your day today!
Maryam said…
Hmm.. If you can actually taste fig, then there must be fig extract or pureed fig in the body butter. That is very interesting, and a bonus too!
Badger said…
I have an Oldest, as you know. But she is my Youngest (or rather, Younger, since there are only two of them). And she's only nine.

And AMEN on accepting mental illness like physical illness.

My local paper posted a version of the no-knead bread recipe that had been tweaked by Mark Bittman. And now that I HAVE it, I fear I do not have the right sort of casserole/bowl/pan thingie in which to bake it.
jenny said…
so gay needlepointers would get to visit twice??

enjoy your day today.
blackbird said…
It's true - I've built the schedule so that gay needlepointers get two visits...
KathyR said…
No, my kid is The Worst. And he's an only, so he gets to bask in my laser-like undivided picky goddamn attention.


Hang in there.
BabelBabe said…
am beginning to needlepoint RIGHT NOW. The heterosexuality is a little trickier.

as for your plates - very pretty, *I* wouldn't know open stock from livestock, however.
Anonymous said…
Oh, you two did have a bad bad day yesterday. I'm so sorry. But I'm glad email helped; it does help, doesn't it? Husband doesn't understand how help can be got from someone you've never before met or spoken to (or seen)--but he's being overly cynical in this case, since I've been helped by email buddies several times in these last bumby 6 years, and for their help and for myriad other things we share, I love them dearly. Sight unseen, voice unheard.
They are my friends as much as anyone. More, in many cases, they are more my friends than those I can talk to and touch, every day.

bb and Alice, have a loverly day and laugh a lot and smile a lot and raise a glass to both of your brilliant blogs, which brought you together.


Saoirse said…
A visit AND breadmaking? Sounds like a great day. Pictures, pictures, of hands kneading bread and beer/wine being quaffed (sp?)!!
margalit said…
Now you reminded me that I was gonna make a no-knead today and got busy with school stuff and just didn't do it. Shame on me.

BTW, I grew up with those Royal Copenhagen plates. Those were a dairy plates. Pretty, aren't they? But expensive!

And the reason Conrans was so pricey is that it was a British fad and use dumb Americans bought into it. I loved their stuff back then, even in the big London store, but way too expensive. Knockoffs were cheaper and just as good.
Alice C said…
I am not living in Positano
I am not able to identify Middle
I am not a garden furniture refusenik
I am not a gay needlepointer
What can I say?
I am a Tuvalu failure
I'll get my coat
blackbird said…
don't be so hasty Alice C...
August is Alice month!
All Alices are welcome.
catsteevens said…
"I want people to accept mental illness as they do physical illness"

AY-MEN! I raise my Blue Moon and drink to that !
islaygirl said…
i don't have anything to add, but today i've been thinking about you and oldest and the issues. and thinking good thoughts. xx
Kathleen said…
I tell people that mental illness is similar to diabetes - simply a chemical imbalance. We don't think diabetics are freaks, do we? I don't have an Oldest - I am an Oldest. I've suffered off and on my entire life. I spent the first 25 years of my life being told to "snap out of it..." Clinical depression is, for me, like a pan of water - sometimes it's a rolling boil, sometimes simply a low simmer. Love and understanding go a long way. Your Oldest is a lucky young man to have you for a mother.

BTW, after reading that "Love, Actually" was your favorite movie of all time, I happened to catch it on USA this weekend. What a great movie - I really liked it. But whatever happened with the Clive Owen character shown at the beginning? Did I miss something. I never saw him again... or did I?

I thoroughly enjoy your blog, even though we have completely different tastes in fashion... ha ha

Lastly, enjoy your Blue Moon with a slice of orange. Very nice.
Loretta said…
If I'd seen those plates at Conran's, I would have bought them because I've always loved them. There was a huge Conran's here when we were first married. I bought a great butcher block standing counter with cool red industrial legs. I miss that place.

can you hand me some of that anti anxiety med through the monitor? I have a bottle with about 5 left and I've misplaced it.

Or did I take it all?

I'm too crazed to remember!

Hang in there - soon it will get really hot and humid and we will hide in our houses like caves.

Caves sound good right now.