The Joy of Writing Bad Sex, Coming Home, Sending Horses to an Indoor Arena, Corsets, etc.

I came home to find sick kids. Last night my husband did not have a good time. After I left something emphatically hit a few of the kids and they were in bed or asleep on the couch. They are fine but sleeping a lot.

I threw out my back while straightening up Danille's tack room. Not wanting her to know, I didn't get aspirin at her place and kept up massaging her. Anything I feel with my back is minor. My back pain is an 8 and will be an 8 for a few days, but hers will be at a 10 until the cold snap is over and will probably take several more days for her to recover. Her husband and kids came home when I found out that if they signed the contract early that they could get her horses in to an indoor arena for a couple of months. He'd been wanting to do this but she didn't like being far from her equine babies! They will only be a few miles away but women and their horses have a pretty strong bond. He wanted to get them over before Danille changed her mind and he was too happy to get back early.

With my back hurting but me still doing what I was asked to do, I was taking extreme care of it. I don't bend, I swoop, using my legs. Danille thought this was great, "Honey, watch Tea! She has perfect posture when she shovels manure!" I couldn't even grimace as I chipped manure to demonstrate my perfect posture lest they catch on! She knew that I'd gone to finishing school when we were in high school and she was laughing, "I can't believe how you are so perfect in negative weather!" Perfect in negative weather-- ah, that's me!

I corset, so swooping without bending is something that I have learned to do when laced up. Last year I was going to get surgery because birthing 9 kids took a toll on my bladder control. Six weeks after starting to tight lace, I didn't need the surgery that was to sling my bladder up. Swooping without bending my back for 6 weeks did more for me than doing over a million Kegals over the previous 10 years. I look atthat surgery that I was to get and I am flabbergasted that in the time it takes to recover from the surgery, I solved the problem with a corset! Aside from me having zero recovery time, it cost way less than the surgery would have cost, too!

Steve at On the Slow Train sent me to Eudaemonia's article on writing about sex. This was helpful. She also directed her readers to Elizabeth Benedict's Joy of Writing Sex. Before I go any further I am going to buy this book next week.

Un projet beau et tellement utile que l´on se doit d´accomplir.

A project so beautiful and useful it must be completed. . . this is the translation of the title of this post and I am writing about my short story that may turn into a book that I for certain want to get put into Women's Day or Home Journal. My main character has come to life and wants a gratuitous sex scene with his wife. I wrote one and I can't get it right. I am NOT inhibited. That is not my issue. Can these scenes be written intelligently?

I did something very stupid this morning. My friend Danille called. I said, "I was just thinking of you! I was out in this -30 weather and I thought about how much I miss watering and feeding my dad's horses in the early mornings before school. The cold air, the warm mash, getting the hay all over me as I flaked it off. . . "

She said, "REALLY?"

I recited some poetry thinking that I sounded wise and learned. (I'm giving my Frazier smile to you all as I reflect.) She said she had prayed about who to call (ruh-roh!) and was so glad she called me first. She has the flu that is going around that lasts three days and she, younger than me has arthritis flaring up in the bad weather. She'd talked to Tiger about coming back out tomorrow to stay with my kids while my husband returns to work on Friday-- could I possibly stay over the weekend? Her husband and kids are gone until Sunday. This woman is so nice that I can't refuse. Her arthritis debilitates her. She is a dedicated horse woman, the kind of person who should be cloned.

She wired me gas money (I'd not accept it if I wasn't so strapped after Christmas) and I went out immediately to feed and water the beasts. Guess what? I do not miss feeding my fathers' horses in -30 weather! I miss the memory of feeding and watering them in -30 weather! I took my portable massage table over to her place and set it up and gave her a 2 hour long massage. She was in tears-- she hurt like hell and the massage was pushing gunk out of her joints and muscles.

I'm leaving in a bit again and may stay. I don't like New Year's Eve because I would like to be celebrating with champagne and lobster. I love my children, but it's been so long since I got dressed up to the nines and looked beautiful in a skirt that shows off my long legs. My husband is happy with the kids and they will probably play Monopoly or Risk and the little kids will have some crafts. I'm grateful to go over there and pass the evening without fanfare and just study my texts and wake up early. She needs a special diet when she has the arthritis and HAS to eat even though she wants to curl into a ball and not wake up til it's over. I do not envy her.