Something new and different

I've been working on helping out with an upcoming event called, Seven Straight Nights.
It is a group of people who want to support equal rights for everyone including gay and lesbian people, folks from all cultures, you name it. I like that idea. alot. So on Friday night, Oct 12,on the Capital Grounds, there will be an all night vigil of sorts. Games for the kids, family picnic, some speakers, and a movie at 9.

I don't do crowds, so my participation has been in the background. helping with games, and of course, food and drink. I"ll be bringing the coffee through the night and might visit a little then, when the crowd thins. KK donuts first thing Sat morning, of course.

I'm curious to see what the reality will be like. Will there be people just listening and talking and learning? or will there be cranksters at work as well? No one knows, I guess. I sure hope that the evening opens some eyes and ears, and that some people make new friends.

Connections

Oh, boy how exciting when friends from one part of our lives meet another. Here at work church, one of the myriad ministries is the prayer shawl ministry. Monthly, this talented group of people sit together, clicking needles and sharing stories and questions. It is a peaceful time, and represents one of the especially good aspects of this church. I have often thought of just sitting in with them, bringing a pair of needles,and parking myself among the busy needle-toting friends, just to absorb their good energy. I think I could get by with yarnless knitting, at least for one session. I may give it a try.

Someone at home church was the recipient of a prayer shawl from work church. This happened some time ago. Recently, that friend at home church decided it would be interesting to try having a prayer shawl ministry, so she contacted me for more information. I sent her copies of the prayer shawl website, and some directions.

Today, I attended a knitting meeting, and it felt very special. Being a part of the beginning of something good feels like breathing deep, clean air. I enjoyed the women’s time and projects. Now, I want the two groups to meet.

I hope we can arrange a time for home church to field trip this way and meet and get to know our work church shawl ministry members. How cool is that? and, I hope to introduce my home church family to work church family members. Good + Good = Better, I'm thinking.

I feel like a proud mom.

Summertime

I think one of the hardest adjustments to growing up is the reality check of losing Summer. As a parent, I am still grieving the loss of naptime, but as a just plain grown up, losing summer vacation is hard. No schedule to follow, spending days at the pool, reading and playing. Minutes seemed like days seemed like seconds, all without rhyme or reason or intention- free free free free time

Even so,I see that I have adjusted in many ways- when the pace slows around this busy church, it feels a lot like summer. I can dress more casually, priorities shift and lessen, or rather- the intensity lessens.

When I do take time off from work, I plan a day- or half a day here and there because it makes me feel like I have choices as I did when I enjoyed "real" summer oh those years ago.

I hold onto a cluster of days so that I can really take a getaway if I want to- (whenever the sweepstake comes in), and until then, I am creative with my bits of time off here and there.

Most days off at work church are spent at home church. It feels good to help just because I can and want to. When I take a few days together in early fall, I may return to the same exotic location I visited last year. I went to Raleigh. I'm sure you've heard of it. Hard to get reservations, but I found a great B&B ( resembled my own home in very many ways- the couch had cat scratches almost exactly as mine does at home) I traveled around a highway called the beltline, oh, there were so many sights to see. I think I wrote about it last year, so I don't want to repeat myself too much too much too much.

As I type, there are two doves visiting my birdfeeder. Doves in the Alley. Neat. Now a cardinal. Gosh. I've got a birduary right here in town. shh. Oh, losing focus, pardon -ahem.

I have had indications this year that craving summer is felt not only by me, but by others as well. Since summer has started, I've had visitors plop down into my huggy chair and say, " I just don't feel like working. Can I have a nut or a chunk of bubblegum?" Something about voicing that frivilosity acts as a salve. So we sit a minute, crunch or bubble up and off we go again.

Last week, I had the most entertaining time with a couple of my co-workers. I needed to make an emergency trip to Staples to get card stock so that I could copy an urgent URGENT document so that I could turn around and go back to Staples and have them bind it.

One someone heard me give the Staples call which resembles Tarzan's call of the wild. He responded with, "I want to go."
I said, "Sure, but it will be a quick trip"
Before my very eyes, he shrunk from 6 feet to maybe 4, his shoes became too big for him, and his face took on the shape of a kid with a tootsie pop in it and I could have sworn I saw a slingshot sticking out of his back pocket. " Can we put the top down?" he asked- coy in his voice, and a milk moustache in his smile.

Okay, folks. It was 100 degrees outside. No wind. High noon. Does this sound like a rational idea to you?? I considered my reply. "Sure we can."

Another co-worker joined ranks and we were off.
Riding in a convertible in the heat of a mid summer day feels a lot like sitting in a sauna with a hot fan blowing . Call us convection- We were baked, baby. Washed, dried and ironed in 10 minutes flat. Add to that a Black convertible and you've got freeze dried people on the go.
..
We entered the store, I grabbed what I needed and checked out. My passengers were no where to be found. I waited. I perused. I waited. I asked to use the intercom. "Will the HBUMC team please come to the front?"

Amazingly, the people who answered the page were not my passengers. Seeing as I don't take kindly to strangers, I had no intentions of taking just anyone back to work with me so I started walking the aisles like any responsible parent would do in search of her wayward children. Here comes co-worker one, sling shot Sammy. "I'm not ready" he pouted when he saw me. True. T R U E.
As if that wasn't enough, he added, " You said you have to come back, didn't you? Just leave us and when you come back, we'll be ready, oh, and leave me the Staples card so I can do some shopping."

This scene is so parallel to real life with my kids that I actually bought it and I came back to work, made my copies and returned to the store. Where, oh where do you suppose my peers were? NO WHERE TO BE FOUND. Now, let me ask you- How sad is it that walking the aisles in an office supply store provides a break in hard core work?

Anyway, this little fieldtrip experience acted as a blast from the past and I saw all of us as we wished we could be again for just a little while. In school/out of school and on vacation without a care in the world.

We returned to work, refreshed and rejuvenated. That's all I'll say about that.