My daughter is getting married next Saturday. Gah!

As such, I've been thinking about writing something to share at the wedding luncheon. I want it to be sweet, wry, and funny.

As such, I turned to the greatest inspiration I know for sweet, wry, and funny: Louise Plummer. I am remiss to say that in the busy-ness of my life, I discovered that Louise has been actively blogging these days.

Remiss that I didn't know, but happy to find this treasure trove of Louise's wit, I ended up spending half the morning in bed scrolling through her stuff. Heaven!

While I took some notes for my speech next week (are mothers even allowed to give wedding speeches? I haven't asked, and I don't care. I'm doing it anyway.) I was also inspired by her photos and her lifestyle, which got me thinking about my own life. I suppose that's also a natural inclination with children getting married.

So that led me to oatmeal. I've had back pain for a month, and this week found out it's actually my gallbladder giving me grief. My doctor (a naturopath) gave me some supplements and told me to avoid sugar, dairy, and raw foods for the next 10 days. I'll write more about that later.

I don't mind oatmeal - in the winter - when I'm dashing out the door to work and need to nuke something up real quick. But in the summer, when I have time, I make breakfast parfaits, chocolate protein smoothies, and this year, acai bowls loaded with fruit, coconut, and happiness. I can't have any of those things right now because... gallbladder.

Yesterday, I nuked the saddest bowl of oatmeal you ever saw. Clumpy, flavorless, blech. But after sifting through Louise's posts about all the pie and eclairs she loves to eat, I decided to turn my oatmeal into something better. I cooked it on the stove, people. I stirred and stirred until it turned smooth and creamy. Then I thickened it with unsweetened coconut milk. I brought up some home-canned peaches from the basement (canned peaches are not raw peaches) and stirred them in. Then, because I was feeling refined, I added a dash of cardamom and a smidge of cinnamon. Heaven.

So on this last Saturday before Jessica becomes a married woman, what started out as a speech for her, turned into a perfect bowl of oatmeal. 

Thank you, Louise!