Nearly Perfect Weekend (so far!)

We had an early deadline on Thursday (it's usually Friday at 5), so I treated this as a 4-day weekend. The first three have been a perfect balance of social time and downtime, and all of it has felt like a real live weekend, not one of those fake ones where it's not relaxing.

On Friday, I slept in, made iced coffee instead of regular and it was good even though I was quite winging it, went to the beach and read and wrote and swam, and hit the Mayfaire concert with the Martins. There are two free concerts every Friday in the summer in Wilmington. Downtown Sundown is crowded, loud, and kind of a meat-market situation (i.e., singles looking for things singles look for). I like some of the music, and if you're in the mood it's nice. This was the first time I'd gone to the Mayfaire one (Mayfaire is like Birkdale, for Davidson folk: a Truman Show-like community where people live but there are also stores, restaurants, a movie theater, etc.). It was much more chill, and people had picnics, lawn chairs, dogs, kids, and fun. Andrew, who's two years old and change, was incredibly cute as always. The band played "Wagon Wheel" and "What I Got," two of my top songs to hear in such a sitch. It wasn't even too hot! A lovely evening. I had been considering going to the movies and decided I would, but I had over an hour to kill, so I went to the Fox and Hound to have a beer and an appetizer. I sat down and before I could even open my book, what to my wondering eyes should appear but Karen and Bob Scheboth at the next table! So I moved to sit with them, and we had fun while waiting for their son, Travis, to finish up at the movies.

I saw Bridesmaids, which was very funny and a very realistic portrayal of a friendship between two women. As my friend pointed out the next morning, it is, in her words, "raunchy." It's true there's a lotta sex in it, which did make me kind of roll my eyes (like when Jaded Lady says to Naive Lady, "Every woman needs those slutty college years!"). Unfortunately, I think I've come to view that as the price of watching a silly comedy. The movie actually made me not like Jon Hamm's character! And the other guy, Chris O'Dowd, is now my main leading man. He's from Ireland. On Facebook, he is set up as a regular person you friend and not a star that you "like," and you know how many friends he has? 33!

Saturday morning, I had breakfast at The Sawmill with Lindsey, then I came back here and cleaned up my inbox and favorites (bookmarks), which took a lot of time and felt great. I went for a leisurely walk instead of a run.

Today, I turned on the TV while making lunch and landed on Legally Blonde 2: Red, White, and Blonde. After that on the same channel, it was The Whole Nine Yards. After that, Fun with Dick and Jane. So, I more or less watched three movies in a row in my recliner. I definitely don't want to do that every day or even every week, but it was exactly the right thing for today. Tomorrow is a day off, but I do intend to do a few light work things since I'm leaving Thursday for cousin Paul's wedding! Yaaaay!

Parents' for the Weekend

I cleared my calendar for today and came to Henderson last night so I didn't have to drive all day on Sunday for the brunch extravaganza. My grandmother's turning 80, my brother's 26, and both Munno (that's the grandmother) and Mom are being celebrated for Mothers' Day. So I get to spend the weekend here, watching recorded episodes of The Office and 30Rock (and Godspell and Jesus Christ Superstar! God bless DVR), running the shorter but hillier route I've walked or run my whole life, addressing invitations for my cousin's rehearsal dinner, filling the birdfeeders, and playing with Mom's iPad. What a great time we have.

I checked my Union (seminary) email to see if they'd told me about housing. Not yet, but there were multiple emails with prayer requests and praises: this person is getting married, that person's mom has cancer. Also, in the two classes that I visited, the professors asked for prayer requests and prayed before starting class. Manhattan and Austin and Princeton and Frisco are great places to visit; I am going to the perfect place for me. I haven't counted the days yet, but I know it's less than two months until Hebrew class starts. Life is good.

Pottery Sermon

Today was United Methodist Women Sunday, meaning the UMW was in charge of all aspects of the traditional services at church. Instead of having one of our pastors or a UMW members do a sermon, they had a special guest who made a large vase before our eyes. As she potted, she talked about the parallels in our spiritual lives: the need for sharpness at some times and gentleness at others, the concept of centering and balance, and all the different types of vessels that are necessary and serve different but equally valuable purposes. It was a very, very cool thing, and it put me in a distinctly Seagrove mood.

Last night, we had a ladies' night fondue party, which was pretty much the best thing ever. And tonight we are having a regular ol' youth group for the first time in at least three weeks. This return to routine feels very good. I'm loving The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter on CD, Dad is home from the hospital and sounds great, and I booked my ticket to Austin to see the seminary there. After some roughness, things are looking up at last.

I spent over two hours yesterday at Panera reading, writing a long-postponed letter, and flirting with all the cute babies and toddlers that are there on Saturdays. Later, at the fondue party, we talked about the necessity of time alone. One couple takes turns leaving for a weekend once a month. Another woman said she always loves being alone but often dreads it before it happens. Having had such a great time at Panera, not exactly alone but not performing for anyone or trying to make an impression, I knew precisely the feeling and the importance of taking time for oneself. Praise God for the opportunities we have to do so.

Excellent Day

This morning I slept about an hour later than usual and felt it pleasantly in my joints upon waking. I visited Karen at the Little Chapel to pick up a book I'd loaned her. She told me I'd lost weight! I always love seeing her.

I went to the Poplar Grove farmers' market to buy tomato juice from Alexis and Betsy, but they gave it to me for free because they liked the article I'd written about them. They had framed a copy! I also picked up a Pink Lady apple and two sweet chili peppers from a booth that had almost a whole table of just peppers and another of just apples, plus fragrant muscadines, blueberries, eggplant, and more. The peppers were individually priced, which pleased me for some reason (as in not by the pound or ounce).

I then stopped at a thrift store and, after much trying-on, bought only books: a Hafiz/Hafez volume and Miss Rumphius. There was a Little House on the Prairie cookbook, but I was happier to glance at it than I would be to own it.

My assignment for the day was to cover the United Methodist Women's Game-a-rama. They were so sweet and insisted that I eat from the buffet. Shockingly, I was happy to see the veggie plate and gleefully took carrots and broccoli to dip in the ranch dressing. I got three or four little desserts and after a couple of bites, thought, "I don't really want to finish this." Who am I? It was a great feeling, to eat good things and skip less-good things not because I felt obligated but because that was what I wanted. I never. (I didn't actually skip the desserts because I was worried about someone seeing me throw away their own creation. And because I was just so incredulous that I fell back on habit. Or something.)

I went in to the office after that and got some interesting work news about a possible change. I saw on email that Harris Teeter's baguettes were half off, so I went there after work to pick up one of those and a few other things. Came home and read, then I went to have FONDUE at the Little Dipper! I can hardly think of anything I'd rather do than dip things in chocolate and cheese, especially in such rich and relaxed company.

Now, to make some more days like it. Go!

A Pretty Sweet Week

Here I am chillin' at Panera of a Saturday morning, on the first day in recent memory that I haven't had anything scheduled. I do have to write an article, but it's a fun one and doesn't feel burdensome. Later, I'm going to run and shower for the first time in at least a week (the run, not the shower) and make granola and green tea and stretch and maybe call Lyndsay for movie/show-on-DVD chill time. This is what Saturdays should be!

So the article I'm (ostensibly) about to write: a response to Shadowlands, the play based on C. S. Lewis's late-in-life romance. I didn't know a dang thing about his life! And I learned it in the most enjoyable of ways. He met Joy Gresham when she was 41 and he was 58. He was a bachelor, and she got a divorce soon after they met but not because they met. They had corresponded by post for a long time. She came to visit from America, and then after her divorce she ended up moving to the same town as him, Oxford. I won't give anything else away, but I will tell you it's a great and unusual story. This is Big Dawg Productions' second time wowing me with atypical romance, which is the only kind I can really stomach in stories. A few weeks ago, I saw their production of Neil Simon's Chapter Two, a more light-hearted but still very affecting love story.

On Thursday night, I went to see the musical The Secret Garden, also for work. It was weird and artsy, like with ghost people showing up during regular scenes so you know they're remembering the past, and red cloths to represent cholera. But it's The Secret Garden, and by no means did they mess it up. I'm so ready to read it again!

Both plays made me feel kind of icky and eye-rolly, like "la la la, I'm not listening," because they were both about trust and loving people even though you know you're going to lose them. My deep dark side said, "Psshht. That's all well and good for other people, but I'm not capable of, or not interested in, that kind of love. I prefer the illusion that I and everyone I care about will live forever, and if maintaining that illusion means keeping everyone at arm's length, then that's what I will do." Not my best moments. Growing up is hard to do, especially when you keep thinking you're done. But Lewis's wife in the play said, "The pain then [later, when one person dies and the other has to handle it] is part of the happiness now. It's part of the deal."

Oh, and the actor who played Lewis was phenomenal. Real tears, I saw.

Speaking of illusions, it hit me a few weeks ago that disillusionment is a good thing. It doesn't feel good, and when I say I'm disillusioned I usually mean "I hated that." But when faced with a choice between illusion and reality, a choice we don't always have, you're not in your right mind if you consistently choose the illusion.

And I think I have some solid thoughts for my article! But before I go on to that, I'll leave on a lighter note.

The boss called my coworker at 8 a.m. the other day to tell her a plane had crashed on I-40. As she was getting ready, coworker thought to look it up and make sure it was true before getting all worked up over it. She found nothing online, so she called the county EMS. The desk worker who answered knew nothing about a plane, but coworker left a message for the director. He called her back much later, laughing hard, and said it was a crop duster. It happens pretty frequently, he said: people see the crop dusters flying very low and think they're planes in trouble. This one landed, on purpose, in a field, not by accident on I-40.
So coworker called boss to fill her in. During that same call, boss said, "Oh, and ask someone about the fire on Teachey Road on Wednesday."
I am so proud of coworker for thinking of it then and not after hanging up. She said, "Are you sure it wasn't a cookout?"

Also, I was really mad over food and drink being missing from the fridge, and then one roommate wrote me a note explaining that she'd been taking Ambien and it made her sleep-eat. The only explanation that makes me not mad! And the last one I would ever have come up with.

Oh, is God ever good.

Self-indulgence

Yesterday, I bought Lucky Charms and milk at HT, along with lime beer for my one alcoholic drink per week, and Swiss cheese and Boursin and Chavrie and strawberries and Oats & More, which were all on sale (they always get me with the sales! Or do I get them? Chicken or egg?). I had been craving Lucky Charms for weeks and always denied myself but finally thought, hey, you only live once, and I had had a long day and needed to chill out with my Michael Mahan first-firing-of-new-kiln bowl/crock full of sugary empty calories.

I sat on the porch for the first time in a while and finished a book, then came inside hoping to catch What Not to Wear, but as usual of late, it wasn't on. So I read Real Simple until The Soup came on. It was a perfect night for the sole soul. Real Simple had inspiring three-ingredient recipes. I'm inching toward clarity on some questions about my future and calling. (Inching forward and footing back, it seems sometimes, but on the whole, progress is progress and not to be pooh-poohed.) Now, here I am at PCJ, having fortuitously escaped Saturday assignments, bit by bit working on my pottery articles. Wishing there were a bike lock-esque thing for laptops for when you're in public and want to go to the bathroom and are tired of asking strangers to keep an eye on your computer while you're away. Glorying in the realization that I don't have to go for a run after this if I don't want to. About to get a free refill. Life is good.