Separation (from food) anxiety

OK, everyone knows that church dinners aren't always the height of culinary arts. Often macaroni and cheese, or a pasta salad, or spaghetti bolognese (you get the idea), but the whole point of these things is to be hospitable and break bread together (and pasta is not far removed from bread). So when my sister expressed her displeasure at heading to Alpha for the dinner portion, because of her "sensitive" stomach, I knew it was because the fare wasn't up to snuff.

It reminds me of something Adrian Plass said once on tour in Toronto, about church social gatherings -- they are testament to our fortitude towards others' eccentricities. So perhaps I should take that advice and stop judging the finicky sister, and accept that she is so, and doesn't want another mac and cheese dinner.

On another albeit similar note, I saw the ex in a tee shirt today, and ohboy he's put on weight. I guess Mrs Paradise is feeding him well. I do recall reading a note from her saying she enjoyed preparing gourmet meals (I just didn't realize at the time that it applied to him!).

Who Loves Ya ....

I have a few single mother friends, and we help each other out -- watching out for each other's kids mainly, or insisting they sit down and have dinner with us.

Given my daughter's occasional remarks about how much she'd like to live in a community like Redwall (Medieval mice living in a castle), with everyone making soup together, I've been thinking about this more.

Without the "man" around the house, space miraculously opens up and your home feels almost huge. It's a shame not to share it.

So I'm thinking I should rent or buy a huge house in the country, invite all the single moms I know, and call it the Home for Unwanted Mothers. The one prerequisite is that your husband has to have left for another woman -- hence the unwanted moniker.