What is it about human nature that makes us want the occasional change, but fear it at the same time?
Getting divorced after 26 years of marriage is quite a change. Thank God I have had my supportive friends in the dorm and in other parts of the world to have gotten me through the worst part of "processing". Losing my dream house and actually moving lock, stock and shoe racks to NYC in the next thing on the agenda to try to accept with grace (and a little wine).
Anna is about to put her coop apartment of 30 something years on the market ( so even the Dorm is about to change!)
Ruby is finalizing a move from Los Angles to the outback of Washington state, 3 hours from the nearest airport. For a city girl who still needs to work in NY, a significant challenge that comes along with her dream house.
Claire is starting her internship at Ralph Lauren and is planning to spread her wings and move out with her young friends in a communal apartment. (Who will we have to "mother"???)
I guess, whether you PLAN a major change or it sneaks up and blindsides you, getting friendly with it will help the transition. There is no point in lamenting the loss of the comfort of routine. Comfort is, after all, overrated. No one ever did anything awesome by being totally comfortable with their life.
So if DISCOMFORT is a motivator, look out world! We're heading out of our comfort zone!
If you ever wake up and realize you've had toast every morning for breakfast for the past 120 days, you could be headed for trouble!
I'm going to lose 20 pounds, start feeling beautiful again kick ass and not take names at my job and make a difference in my world! Hold me accountable. Check in again soon!
You go girls!
XXOO
Meredith
June 13, 2011
Hellooooo....Mellow Yellow, Lemon Cello
A few weeks ago, Anna started talking about making some homemade Lemon Cello (pronounced Chello) for us. She explained that it was a very special liqueur, that is only authentic if made from scratch. She travelled to Italy at least once a year, and happened to have a stash of pure Italian grain alcohol for that purpose ( But we didn't know that at the time!) A few days later, we noticed two large bags of lemons and a few days after that, Anna introduced us to her delicious concoction. Awesome! Tastes like the best lemon drop martini ever!
I'd savor a very small glass over ice before I went to bed once in awhile. But we felt, with all the trouble she went to making this "taste of heaven" we should probably save it for special occasions.
Well, last week was one of those spontaneous occasions where dinner took an extra long time to prepare so Ruby and I had "support group" ( which is another term for Cocktail hour) ad cracked open a bottle of wine before dinner. Dinner was excellent, as always, and the three of us got into some very amusing and witty conversations . Before we knew it , bottle one was gone and Ruby, never missing a beat had our glasses filled with Bottle #2 ( BTW, we buy the large economy sized ones- better on the budget).
The conversation did get around to some pretty heavy stuff, since we're going through a wide variety of stressful situations and even crises in our lives at the Dorm ( not the least of which, my divorce). As the last drops poured out of our back-up bottle, we were just getting some good therapy going, and were trying to figure out our next move, when Anna suggested we get out the Lemon Cello.
The last thing I remember was saying "we can't do that!" (meaning we CAN'T drink liqueur after all that wine). Anna thought I didn't want to drink her special hand made recipe, but save it for guests, so she said " why not????"
That really WAS the last thing I remember. When I woke up the next morning, we were already 30 minutes late for work. I could barely see, so a quick trip to the bathroom to drink a quart of water out of the faucet, then I looked up and saw that my eyes were almost swollen shut. I woke Ruby and ( like a nightmare about waking up in Hangover 2) said " What the h... happened last night??
She fell out of bed looking quite disoriented and when she got used to the light enough to open her eyes, said
"I think we shouldn't have had Lemon Cello".
"We drank Lemon Cello??" From the other room, Anna moaned "Yep. All of it!".
Then ... "I'm SO glad you guys are alive! I thought it might have killed you."
"But why are my eyes swollen shut??"
"Oh...You had a meltdown," said Ruby. "A gut-wrenching, soulful, self-flaggelation about all the mistakes you made and how your life is a mess and it's a your fault- MELTDOWN."
But I didn't remember any of it.
"Believe me, you don't want to know... suffice it to say you should feel better for having gotten it out of your system".
But there was more stuff that needed to get out of my system, so I drank another quart of water, and searched the recesses of my memory for when I had felt this hungover in the past 30 years, and what I had done about it. OMG!
Anna later told us that Lemon Cello is made with Imported 195% proof Italian grain alcohol. Even diluted with some lemon zest and sugar, it was clearly our of our league.
We suffered through the day and at dinner that night , briefly wondered if the Betty Ford Clinic would give us a group rate...
Lesson learned.
I'd savor a very small glass over ice before I went to bed once in awhile. But we felt, with all the trouble she went to making this "taste of heaven" we should probably save it for special occasions.
Well, last week was one of those spontaneous occasions where dinner took an extra long time to prepare so Ruby and I had "support group" ( which is another term for Cocktail hour) ad cracked open a bottle of wine before dinner. Dinner was excellent, as always, and the three of us got into some very amusing and witty conversations . Before we knew it , bottle one was gone and Ruby, never missing a beat had our glasses filled with Bottle #2 ( BTW, we buy the large economy sized ones- better on the budget).
The conversation did get around to some pretty heavy stuff, since we're going through a wide variety of stressful situations and even crises in our lives at the Dorm ( not the least of which, my divorce). As the last drops poured out of our back-up bottle, we were just getting some good therapy going, and were trying to figure out our next move, when Anna suggested we get out the Lemon Cello.
The last thing I remember was saying "we can't do that!" (meaning we CAN'T drink liqueur after all that wine). Anna thought I didn't want to drink her special hand made recipe, but save it for guests, so she said " why not????"
That really WAS the last thing I remember. When I woke up the next morning, we were already 30 minutes late for work. I could barely see, so a quick trip to the bathroom to drink a quart of water out of the faucet, then I looked up and saw that my eyes were almost swollen shut. I woke Ruby and ( like a nightmare about waking up in Hangover 2) said " What the h... happened last night??
She fell out of bed looking quite disoriented and when she got used to the light enough to open her eyes, said
"I think we shouldn't have had Lemon Cello".
"We drank Lemon Cello??" From the other room, Anna moaned "Yep. All of it!".
Then ... "I'm SO glad you guys are alive! I thought it might have killed you."
"But why are my eyes swollen shut??"
"Oh...You had a meltdown," said Ruby. "A gut-wrenching, soulful, self-flaggelation about all the mistakes you made and how your life is a mess and it's a your fault- MELTDOWN."
But I didn't remember any of it.
"Believe me, you don't want to know... suffice it to say you should feel better for having gotten it out of your system".
But there was more stuff that needed to get out of my system, so I drank another quart of water, and searched the recesses of my memory for when I had felt this hungover in the past 30 years, and what I had done about it. OMG!
Anna later told us that Lemon Cello is made with Imported 195% proof Italian grain alcohol. Even diluted with some lemon zest and sugar, it was clearly our of our league.
We suffered through the day and at dinner that night , briefly wondered if the Betty Ford Clinic would give us a group rate...
Lesson learned.
June 2, 2011
Mother's Day in the Dorm
In keeping with our philosophy of always creating something to look forward to, we decided to have our own Mother's day celebration at the Dorm, even though none of us would be near our kids (and some of us don't even have kids other than the 4 legged kind). Why sit around and crochet while crying in our tea???
So it was the 4 of us plus Gay's friend Mary, who is a hoot. She lost her only daughter a few years go so we weren't sure she would come, but I know she's glad she did.
At Brunch time it magically came together as if little elves were working all night. Flowers on the table, a card from the youngest member of the dorm, made out to "my 3 Moms" pancakes with fresh strawberries, brown sugan and whipped cream and two pounds of decadent BACON, fried crispy, with no guilt on the side! Oh yeah and wine, wine, wine. We started out with Mimosa's but how far does a bottle of champaign go split 5 ways???Really?
So to go with our wine and dessert chocolate, we decided to see how creative and devious our friends really were... We broke out the game of Balderdash, and found that we are all first class pervaricators! We played and laughed and drank and never ONCE felt sorry for ourselves. In fact it was one of the best days ever, because we made somethnig happen with our goood friends!
Who needs TV? Who needs movies? When we have our friends to entertain us!
So it was the 4 of us plus Gay's friend Mary, who is a hoot. She lost her only daughter a few years go so we weren't sure she would come, but I know she's glad she did.
At Brunch time it magically came together as if little elves were working all night. Flowers on the table, a card from the youngest member of the dorm, made out to "my 3 Moms" pancakes with fresh strawberries, brown sugan and whipped cream and two pounds of decadent BACON, fried crispy, with no guilt on the side! Oh yeah and wine, wine, wine. We started out with Mimosa's but how far does a bottle of champaign go split 5 ways???Really?
So to go with our wine and dessert chocolate, we decided to see how creative and devious our friends really were... We broke out the game of Balderdash, and found that we are all first class pervaricators! We played and laughed and drank and never ONCE felt sorry for ourselves. In fact it was one of the best days ever, because we made somethnig happen with our goood friends!
Who needs TV? Who needs movies? When we have our friends to entertain us!
April 24, 2011
Man of the House
We had one of our many friends come to dinner a few weeks ago to experience the Dorm for herself, over lovely dinner of lamb chops, butternut squash ravioli with browned butter and one of Anna's heavenly salads.
Of course, the Dorm dog, Jersey, gave her the typical "I-can-tell-you're-a-dog-lover" rousing welcome, complete with slobering kisses and finishing with a subtle but heartfelt leg hug "dance". He sat with her to make her feel at home, while giving each of us our due amount of attention, by putting a paw on each hand when he wants a pet.
My friend obvserved that as we sat down to dinner, Jersey sat on the floor at the head of the table (He's a big pup so his head is well above the table line) and watched the interaction with interest.
It's a big job he's got! Taking care of all of these women! ...Making us feel someone is overjoyed when we come home, being sensitive to the one who is the most emotionally needy at any given time, to gently lay his paw on their hand in an understanding way or lay his head on our lap. Keeping each of us in good spirits at all times is a daunting task, but Jersey seems to take it seriously. Each of us is special to him and he makes us feel like his world is more complete since we're there!
He is the man of our house and we have never felt so appreciated!
Thanks, Jersey!
Of course, the Dorm dog, Jersey, gave her the typical "I-can-tell-you're-a-dog-lover" rousing welcome, complete with slobering kisses and finishing with a subtle but heartfelt leg hug "dance". He sat with her to make her feel at home, while giving each of us our due amount of attention, by putting a paw on each hand when he wants a pet.
My friend obvserved that as we sat down to dinner, Jersey sat on the floor at the head of the table (He's a big pup so his head is well above the table line) and watched the interaction with interest.
It's a big job he's got! Taking care of all of these women! ...Making us feel someone is overjoyed when we come home, being sensitive to the one who is the most emotionally needy at any given time, to gently lay his paw on their hand in an understanding way or lay his head on our lap. Keeping each of us in good spirits at all times is a daunting task, but Jersey seems to take it seriously. Each of us is special to him and he makes us feel like his world is more complete since we're there!
He is the man of our house and we have never felt so appreciated!
Thanks, Jersey!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)