WSG 10 Me, again
Women's Survival Guide
Tenth (10th) Edition of WSG! To celebrate I am offering a free pony to anyone who comments below, or shares with ten (fun) friends.
Or, better, just sign them up!
I was visiting a friend yesterday who had surgery recently. It was invasive and the recovery will be long, but she is steadily feeling stronger. What struck me as we chatted were (grammar?) the number of times she mentioned advice or gifts that friends had given her that made her experience better. The tri-fold lawn chair that allows her to lay back for a snooze, prop her legs up to avoid blood clots, and a lever that assists her to stand all for $99.99 was a key suggestion from one of her buddies. Another example, a friend bought her a dress that buttons down the front so she would be able to get dressed, or be dressed, after surgery with much greater ease than if she had to pull over a shirt or put on pants. The nurses were impressed by her planning, she told me. Plus, it is cute and she will wear it in the future! It was also a group of her friends that convinced her to do the surgery and she is grateful for their support which gave her the courage to do so.
The story of my friend is what I want the Women’s Survival Guide to be about. The things that friends do for friends in need. If you have a situation, I want a place for people to go to read about what others have benefitted from in the past. Type in “Going in for surgery” and come up with someone’s list of “Everything I am glad I knew before going in for surgery” or “ What I wish I had known before surgery.” Or, perhaps it’s something a lot less serious like “changing the color of my hair” or “what should I know about dating now?” And on and on. The Wikipedia of Women! Anyway. Just thought I’d talk about the concept behind the newsletter on this joyous occasion of the Tenth Edition. Onward
Me, again! I’m not sure any of you have thought about it, but getting a fresh interview together every two weeks isn’t as easy as it sounds. I have a ton of ideas of people to interview, though love to hear from you on suggestions (really).
I seem to space out after I submit an interview and come-to a week later only to realize I have to get an interview out in a week. Then I scramble around. It’s not fair to put the pressure on some unsuspecting person to produce a full interview with me in a few days, is it? It’s not. It really isn’t. So, I end up where I am now working on several interviews but knowing none will be ready for Sunday, a few days from now. Can you feel where this is going? Yes, I’ll be interviewing me, again.
Have you done anything fun lately? YES! I haven’t been wearing a mask when I walk out of my door! I went to a restaurant in my neighborhood that hasn’t been open since last March that we used to go to once a week. It was tasty!
Last night I went to a graduation party for a friend’s daughter, also a friend. I don’t know how many people were there, but it was a lot! Parents crowded around the bar and we actually shook hands. At first, I was hesitant. I thought, ‘this is crazy! Should I touch a stranger?” Eventually, hugs replaced the handshakes and we were all giddy with the normalcy of enjoying people and seeing their whole face. Has anyone else had an experience like this in the past few days? What was it?
Here in Boston lots of people went to the bars last night where at 12AM the ‘no mask needed” law took effect! I don’t want to compare the new reality of back to mask free ‘normal’ to VE Day and the end of WWll, but, I think it’s in the same ballpark.
When you’re not watching Harry Potter, reading Agatha Christie or listening to John LeCarre novels, what are you doing? Ok, very funny. Is there sarcasm in that question? Because I think I detect some attitude. I look at all of those pastimes as “meditative.” OK? If you must know, I do lots of stuff. For instance, I do yoga with Rose Goldblatt, seen here, on zoom a couple times a week. She is an Iyengar guru in Littleton, NH. I play tennis about once a week, which is great for laughs. I plan appointments by the dozen for me, my three kids, and dog, and now a cat. I grocery shop (loathe). I pay bills (loathe and not very often). I run (walk). I paint (www.kimdrukerstockwell.com). No kidding, I really do.
I hear your daughter’s kitty has come home again. How does that make you feel? I see what you’re doing. You’re trying to get me to say how unhappy I am about the kitty coming home. Well, the worst part of her coming home is that she will leave again when the kid goes back to NYC. Please see @gidget.and.7 on Instagram. I think there are 27 followers. But it’s a compelling account. Really.
How do you feel about cooking these days? I feel it sucks. I usually love cooking but, like the chicken and the egg, is it that I hate grocery shopping so much that I don’t have any ingredients? Or that I went grocery shopping, left it all on the counter for too long and it went bad? Or, That I have the ingredients, but I just don’t feel like cooking. Nyeh...Just not feelin’ it.
What books are on your bedside table? I feel like this is another trick question. The same books are on my bedside table as the last time I wrote. Especially the ones I won't be reading any time soon. But, as it turns out my husband and I walked down Newbury Street a few times recently to Trident Book Cafe and I have added some new ones! The Redbreast by Jo Nesbo, Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi, The Murder of Mary Russell by Laurie R. King, That Old Country Music by Kevin Barry and a little novella by Amor Towles called You Have Arrived At Your Destination.
What else is on your bedside table? It looks disgusting! Again, the line of questioning is mean spirited. True, there is a bowl of snacks from a few days ago sitting there, and an old tea cup. Tonight’s plate from delivered pizza (as if there is any other kind), that has cheese goo on it and the cat is licking off. There’s a crumpled up ten dollar bill that was meant to be a tip if the delivery guy could break a ten, which he couldn’t, his loss. Just kidding! I wrote-in a tip on the credit card thing. I have a bottle of magnesium plus calcium I was told to take at night. The pills are the size of suppositories. If you remember the old photo I have of my night stand there is a pitcher full of pens and pencils, a brass snail (50th b day gift from a friend), some prescription bottles, none of your business what’s in them. My ancient red wallet. A phone. And the truth is that I have so much crud on the table that I use the drawer as an extra surface. My current read, Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell is wedged in there along with a rubber band for my leg exercises I never do. Some more reading glasses. Tissues, lotion, etc, etc. And no, nothing R rated this isn’t Goop. Clean it up! Actually, I take it back.
A Recipe You Wont hate
You wont hate this recipe because you’re going to do a search for your favorite local food and order it online. So, the recipe is:
Take your phone out of your back pocket
search for your favorite food
order it
wait for the food
while waiting, fix yourself your favorite beverage and get a little bowl of snacks
Wait for the food
Wait some more
Open the door, shove the dog aside, ask the delivery guy if he can break a ten. Sign a receipt and put the tip there after he says he can’t break your crumpled up paper money.
Take food directly to bedroom, turn on a show and eat in bed.
So, that’s it for this week. Look forward to another exhilarating edition of WSG in two weeks.
xo
k
Lynne Wolverton get a pony, too.
Amy and my mom get free ponies! I was hoping for more people to comment or sign people up ! What am I going to do with all these ponies??