Of course we will have dinner for the prom ogglers.

Antipasto with grilled vegetables
mixed layered green salad
Mussells fra diavlo
clams and spaghetti
calamari stew with peas and potatoes
Italian bread

Chocolate pots with homemade whipped cream
Rasberry Pavlova
coffee
espresso
tea
iced tea

and lots of wine...hopefully!

anyone want any recipes???

It is almost friday

1) this week was very stressful and busy at work..my patients have complex problems and I feel overwhelmed.

2) my oldest son will go to his senior prom tomorrow night. The family will all be here to oggle him and his date and 6 other couples who will crawl into a hotel sized car dressed in brightly colored silks and satins to have a FINAL dance at school. I'll have to have some good food to take my mind off the fact that my oldest son is ceremonially finished with his childhood. I am not. (after the mother/son lunch, the senior trip, the prom, graduation, baccalaureate mass...maybe, just maybe...I'll accept it).

3) seems like I cannot stay away from ice cream, chips or running. I have CAVED.

4) my dog reveals it is all nonsense except what you hear, feel, smell and instinctively know in your heart and soul to be true.

5)I know I want to sleep, run, yoga, read, write, and hug my kids, family, friends, and husband until they start to smell bad.

"The Glass Castle"

I really like this book...a NYC writer who's parents are street people who will not accept help from anyone. Very interesting.

are you reading this Lucy?
I didn't yet get to "Subway Music"

also

"Magical Thinking"...Burroughs is so funny. A memoir. I want to read his first novel now.

I am so busy and there is so much to do I don't have time to blog. errrrggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhh!

My mind feels like a bucket that fills slowly with water. When the water starts to overflow I have to write or I get cranky. Too much overflowing and I feel confused and unorganized. Writing does make me feel more organized and light...like when you clean out a closet or your dresser drawers or you pull all the lint out of every crevice of the dryer...gives you a certain feeling. I do really love to clean out drawers and closets and dryers too. Crazy. When the water level gets low it is a nice feeling. A feeling of some free time and space but it never lasts. The faucet never shuts off. I am trying to accomplish better water...spring, sparkling, even the kind that can be turned into wine. But that all takes practice and concentration and solitude and time; hard.

I started thinking about animals like my dog. She must think we are all nuts. If some animals could graduate to the top of the food chain we (humans) would really be surprised at our sheer stupidity. Yesterday, I was doing some yoga stretches. My dog thought we were playing a game. She ran under and over me. She licked my face while I was upside down. She barked when my feet and legs flew in the air over my head making my face compress and change it's color. Then, she realized it wasn't a game and flopped disappointedly on the cool tile floor. She moved her eyes but not her head to follow me as I saluted the sun and posed. Did she think I was trying to change into a well rooted strong oak?

I thought I heard her as she thought about what she'd tell Sofie and Rocky when they came into town. "My girl runs around the house with little rags and wets things and then dries them. She goes up and down the steps a million times a day to bring something up and then bring other things down. She runs around answering lots of ringing phones and takes deep breathes when she finally puts them down to rest. The family all change clothing often and eat with lots of equipment. They click away at those blaring lighted boxes on top of the desks and look at the other box that talks to them. They like to go in and out of that door in the front. Most of the time they rush out and then rush back in. They like to carry big bags with books or clothes or other things when they go places. Sometimes, if I'm lucky, someone falls onto those big chairs and snuggles with me for a few minutes until their eyes close and they finally relax."

Imagine what animals think about our collecting things, buying things, wearing things, working! I think they'd only approve of fun stuff like taking long walks exploring the streets and parks and beaches, chasing games and running around in circles and sniffing and chewing and eating. Gardening, sitting on the porch, maybe reading and drawing and painting may look interesting to them.

Sometimes, I watch my dog watch me as her tail gracefully trails up and then down. She practices her cat moves every now and again. After a good while observing, she gets up and takes long stretches, and then she'll either nap or eat or drink or happily trott outside with me for a walk. She doesn't let too many things get in the way of her goals. Her life is content. She judges most things by her sense of smell and then by sound and then by sight. She doesn't listen or contribute to gossip. She doesn't watch the news. She doesn't lie or cheat or steal or kill. She doesn't need to travel hundreds of thousands of miles to get a job done or find an interesting site or happiness. She doesn't dwell on the past or worry about the future.

We rely on hearing and smell more than we realize. I know who is coming in my front door just by listening to how they sound as they come into the house. Thunder means rain. Frying garlic means dinner time. Chlorine smells clean. Lavender is relaxing.
Did you ever watch a TV show with a great sound engineer...I remember a cooking show "Nigella Bites"...her sound guy was great...every sizzle and plop and whip was heard as well as seen...really hearing and smelling are great contributors to our sight. Makes the world more luscious.

When my dog hears thunder she runs for shelter either in the closet or behind the toilet in the bathroom or even under the sink in the kitchen. Nothing we do can make her feel different or comfort her.
She cautiously returns to the house when the storm subsides.

Animal instincts. Maybe we should learn something from them. Maybe we should realize all of our nonsense and relax a bit.

She barks incessantly when someone attempts to come near the house or if a stranger seems, um, strange. She is relentless if she thinks a person is a threat. And yet, sometimes, she is very receptive to a new person. Trust your instincts they say. Female Intuition?

She does not hold a grudge or emotionally remember much. She has no baggage. She forgives and forgets but never forgets the lesson. She knows who loves her and she responds to that love. She is fully and completely giving and receives with gratefulness and gratitude.
When she is hungry, she eats, thirsty; she drinks, tired; she sleeps.

Lucky DOG!

Why do I love the flea market?

I do not know if I can explain the feeling I get when I go to the flea market.

The first time I ever "rented" a stand and was a vendor was a few years ago. I bought some beautiful handmade Nativity Sets from an artist in Rome, Italy. The were made from terra cotta. I thought they were brillant and special and wanted to share them with my American friends. A lack of desire to go store to store with a few of these items (I am NOT a salesman at all) enticed me to set up a stand at a local flea market. I came home excited and spent. My husband thought I got rid of, I mean Sold, all of the Nativity sets. I did not sell one but was hooked on the flea market scene.

Flea Market sellers are almost like circus people. They set up their stands and show their special treasures. They are at home in a strange place for a limited amount of time with strangers. Some stuff is used clothing and house items, hand made items, collections, books, art, cookware, vintage, etc...There are stands that set up quick and sell the items for a song and others take lots of time and effort and even expense to show and charge a higher price.

Of course I have all sorts of stories going on in my head and try to figure every vendor out from first sight. Taking a minute or an hour to talk just opens windows and doors and minds and hearts. There is such a connection to other people. Some really tell a story about their items. It is intriguing. Not only the stories but the people. Their mannerisms, grace and exuberance for their life and their treasures. I laugh to myself when I think the vendors look like their stuff, just like people resemble their dogs. Their is the tall man with a long grey ponytail and a big cowboy hat selling handmade art figures and paintings, there is a proper looking lady with perfect curls in a shirt waist dress and powder blue slip on sneaks selling china cups and vintage table clothes, there is a middle aged lady with a chic haircut selling beautiful bags made of straw and wood and murano glass jewelry. The vintage hunters are all so very lovely (that is what I like best)(lol)..some are retro looking or even the rockers with the tatoos and the rings piercing 75 % of their bodies. They make me want to say "Hey, man" in my deepest voice. I hold back, though.

Some days we make a few dollars and I share it with the kids (my little one helps me). Other times we just gather lessons and fun. The greatest thrill is to zero in on an item like I am in Tiffany's searching for a blue diamond and then get it for a bargained price. Two smiles. And a story. What more can I ask?

My son always finds other kids to play with and he loves to search for dollar items too! And of course, the just made water ice and home cooked cakes are great.

There is no way I'd go through all the trouble to wake up and get out of my house early (for me), load up the car, pay for a spot and unload the car, huxster my goods and then load all the unsold stuff back in the car, drive home, unload and then do it all again in a couple of weeks for a few dollars.

A great thing is realizing how much something is worth....to me, and to the seller, as a second hand item or an item that tells a story or has a rich past. It makes me realizes how high retail prices are and how ridiculous some things are priced in the other world....How we value some items is interesting. Some vendors have so much pride and even love in their wares.

It is all very interesting. And I have the bug. So, you will always see me at a flea market. I am hooked.