Things to Distract Me from Not Being in Mexico

My next-door neighbor Lynda is in Mexico celebrating her fortieth birthday with good friends. As noted previously, I am not there. I am missing out. Distractions are a must. Here’s a bit of what’s been going down since she left:

Work. Well, of course work. Fly-fishing manuscripts and a pamphlet for pregnant teens about having a baby. It’s good to get a little medical again. (For the record, I’d rather fly fish than be a pregnant teen.)

Food. I have two words for you: osso buco. And two more: firedepartment pancakebreakfast.

Drink. A friend brought five amazing bottles of wine to the osso buco dinner. I like to think that the minor hangover I had the next day was my little way of connecting with the birthday girl the day after her fortieth.

Backgammon. The food and drink ultimately led to a rousing evening of backgammon. I won two, lost three. It turns out that I sometimes I don’t count well when I’m tipsy.

Exercise. A hike up Porch Hill with Tim and a muddy descent. Yoga. Trips to the gym. (Keep moving! Don’t think about Mexico!)

Shopping. Farmer’s market on Saturday. Local buying club order. Online vitamin purchases for winter. It’s all terribly exciting, isn’t it?

Reading. Deloney sent me a bird-nerd/foodie novel by Edward Riche called Rare Birds, which I just finished and totally enjoyed. Thanks, Deloney! (Now I want to see the movie.) I am rereading the November project, a project Mali and I participated in last year, 30 writers, 30 days, 200–300 words. I am reading each day’s booklet on the day itself and skipping the writers I don’t care for! So there.

Screens. Went to see a bird-nerd movie, The Big Year, which was great. (I’d read the book a couple of years ago and it never occurred to me that anyone would turn it into a movie. But with Steve Martin, Owen Wilson, and Jack Black, how could you go wrong?) Have also been catching up on season 2 of Bored to Death. Yum.

Something totally new. Tim and I took a curling clinic last night. You heard me right, my Canadian friends: curling! It was a lot of fun and really hard. My schedule and cold-hands-and-feet thing and fear of team sports generally pretty much mean I won’t be joining the club, but I am so glad I checked it out.

Junk food. After curling, and way too late at night, Tim and I melted the last of the queso Chihuahua (which Pat had left for us before she left for Mexico) over blue tortilla chips and sucked them down with a nice IPA. We never do stuff like that. I felt like a teenager. Plus, we were watching Corner Gas’s curling episode and were pretty psyched that we understood it.

Swing. Yesterday, because it was 67 degrees (F), and to help fulfill my goal of never letting a calendar month slip by without this activity, I got on the birthday girl’s swing set next door. There’s something about swinging really high, up over the creek, hitting the low pine branches with your feet—Mexico or no Mexico, you are right where you are, and it’s perfect.