May Love Day

We had such a swell time celebrating our May today. The Mexican restaurant in Monticello is such a festive place and we all felt festive. I sat next to May so I could hug and kiss her a lot. And I did. 
As always, the service and the food were so good. As was the conversation and company at the table. There were presents and smiles and laughter and we all sang Happy Birthday and May blew out her candles. I hope her wish comes true. 

On my way to Monticello, I passed the road I lived on with my first husband and Hank, who was almost two when May was born. I threw a kiss as I drove by, sending it to that time all those years ago when a lay midwife and her assistants, my friends, sat with me through the night while I labored until finally, at dawn, my baby was born. My darling baby May, and I gathered her to myself and knew that all of the secret and terrifying fears I'd had for the last nine months of not being able to love another baby as much as I loved Hank had been all for naught as my heart opened up another whole place which until that second I had not known it held and I was in complete and utter love again. 

And I was holding all of that in my so many times-opened heart today and it was beautiful. 

Here are the kidlings. Owen had to work and so we missed him but I think maybe Gibson liked being the oldest one there. I love how well these cousins get along, folding into each other as if they were meant to fit and I guess they were. 

Now the cake. That was a trip! I had actually used a thermometer to test the icing as it cooked instead of just doing the old hard ball test of it the way I've always done and it came out a little differently. Differently in that it was almost impossible to cut through. I had to get out my handy, very sharp pocket knife for May to use and we were all laughing and I figured that we'd all be chewing caramel until our fillings fell out but the funny thing was is that yes, it was like a caramel candy but it was not chewy at all, but soft in the mouth and absolutely delicious. The cake was moist and good. So that worked out well. We gave slices to the owner of the restaurant and to our server and they deemed it delicious. 
I was pleased. 

And then all of us but Jessie and the boys who had to move on to the THIRD party of the day they were attending, walked down the street to Wag the Dog to hunt for fun treasures. 
However. 
There's a little shop right next to Wag that sells vintage and antique things and for a very long time they had two lamps in their window that I had been intrigued by. I'd never even gone in to check the price but today I thought would be a good day to do that. So in I went. The place is packed with all sorts of interesting things, some far more interesting than others, but the vast number of items in it gives me anxiety and the ridiculously over-generous use of scented candles or something chemically smelly makes me feel ill but I found the little lamps almost immediately. I looked at the price which wasn't cheap but wasn't so much, either. I left them there and went back to Wag and shopped around there a little but then I decided that I wanted those lamps and it occurred to me that if I put those lamps in our bedroom at Mr. Moon's house by the river, that might make me want to go there a little bit more. 
So back I trotted and bought them. 

Lily was afraid that they might be a little bit offensive but I figured that the risk was worth taking. I think they are lovely. They are heavy, plaster, and I really do not know much about them. Or anything. I believe they may be mid-century but they have no markings on them. I've done a quick google search without coming up with anything definitive but in the end, my affection for them is what matters. I hope that Glen can tolerate them. 

And that was our birthday celebration for May and I loved it. Perhaps I bought the lamps as a birth day present for that 23-year old hippie girl who had her second child forty-seven years ago today in a little trailer which was old when we bought it and yet, because it had running water and a bathroom and a stove that didn't explode when it was lit, felt like luxury. 

I was curious and a little apprehensive about how the lunch at the Mexican restaurant would go for me today. I love Mexican restaurants. Who doesn't? My favorite things about them are always the beans, no doubt smashed and cooked in lard but today they just didn't seem that appealing. I had no desire to sit and eat chips, one after the other either, but had a few with the guacamole bought for the table. That was delicious but I didn't need more. I ordered some grilled shrimp and rice and steamed vegetables and the vegetables tasted far better than they had any right to. The shrimp and rice were good too but I couldn't finish it all. I brought the rest home. 
So that's how it went. 
I got a little hungry awhile ago and had...wait for it! Some cottage cheese and fresh pineapple and the sweetness of that pineapple almost knocked me out. I'm not sure what I'll eat for supper tonight but it will most definitely include leftovers. Well, it'll all be leftovers. My refrigerator is filling up way too fast these days with all of the things I DON'T eat. I have a lot to learn. 

Dear Linda Sue sent me a link to a video yesterday of an episode of The Oprah Podcast and although I didn't watch it, I listened to it. The link to that is HERE. 

Or, if you're interested, here's the video.

I learned a lot. It's not an in-depth scientific description of how these weight loss drugs work in the brain- and there are plenty of those out there- but a more basic, simplified explanation. 

Guess what? Obesity is a disease which is why these drugs work so well. They work on the biological, neurological cause instead of the symptoms which are experienced because of the disease. 
Not everyone understands this yet. Very few people are aware of it. And that includes health care providers, many of whom are sticking to the old diet-and-exercise routine advice which, after all these years, we know does not work in the long run. 
These drugs, however, seem to. Will we have to take them for the rest of our lives? At this point, it seems so. 
I don't care. I will gladly do that in order to switch off the part of my brain that demands and insists that my body needs to be fed almost every minute of the day. 
I almost feel as if I have been in a dream of a parallel universe for the past week. As I keep saying, I have a lot to learn. A lot to learn about how to live in this parallel universe. It is wonderful and it is scary, y'all. 

It is also quite interesting. 

Except to Maurice who does not care at all and who would eat treats all day if I gave them to her. (Liz- recognize that?)

Love...Ms. Moon