...baking, old friends (but not baking old friends), and aging...

coffin brie

I was a baking fool this afternoon all in preparation for tomorrow’s Uncanny Book Swap party which reminds me that I need to look for a few more books that I’m willing to pass along. Today I was so gothy homemaker altering a cool veggie pizza recipe to make Undead sandwiches. I’m calling them that because not only are they cut into coffin shapes but they’re also vegetarian… so nothing is dead :p

I’m sure some of you are a bit sick of hearing about the built up to the party but this is just what has been going on in my life this week and well, working with my hands rather in the kitchen or the garden is a way that I get out of my head… and this week I’ve needed to.

Two people close to me confided in me that their marriages aren’t going so well. It’s difficult for me to watch loved ones go through challenging times and let’s face it… it’s hard to simply listen without offering suggestions. In both cases I ended the conversation by saying, “You know that marriage isn’t forever” all in jest to lighten the mood.

with toothpick stakes :p

Today I also had lunch with one of my very best friends. I say that I’ve had a crush on him for 28 years but really it’s more than that. He’s one of the guys who has saved my life… on more than one occasion I’m sure. I like having friends for so long. He knows my baggage and I know his. There’s a great deal of honesty. I can say, “I’ve never cared for your wife” and he both knows that I mean it and that it doesn’t change a thing between us. Today we talked about birthdays because he just turned 40 and I will be 41 at the end of the month. We watch others worry and fret about age. Neither of us is likely to have a midlife crisis. I pointed out the wrinkles I’ve recently noticed around my eyes… not in an OHMYGOD way but in a Hey, I’ve earned these little lines! We buried some of the same friends. I’m pretty sure my friend Susan who would have celebrated her 41^st birthday two days ago would have wanted to live to the age of having wrinkles. She died in a boating accident at 29. Has it really been that long?  I sometimes close my eyes and try to channel the voices of long-dead friends. I think I can still hear them all in my head. Seeing my friend today was good. It reminds me that I’m still alive.

picture with my eye wrinkles.. go ahead, click on the picture and make it bigger :p

Wow this post ended up to be random.