My Dog Lacks Opposable Thumbs

Jess is a youthful twelve years old and she thinks she should be with us at all times. Most distressing to her is knowing that one of us is behind a closed door. 

I just might spend twelve percent of my time opening doors for the dog, and an additional five percent saying, "Just a minute, Jess. I'm coming!" 

It would be more efficient to teach her to open doors. Or just to take all the doors off their hinges.

And then she'd figure out how to open the fridge. Ah. Never mind.

Nostalgia

"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."

Oh, to be as wise as Ferris...

John Hughes wrote the script 30 years ago this month.

Matthew Broderick will be 53 next month. He, Mia Sara, and Jennifer Grey are all raising teens.

And we're still mourning that car.

Dessert

I just finished a pretty darned good chocolate lava cake. DARK chocolate, not sweet, gooey, and pretty much no work for me. I preheated the toaster oven and put the disk on a tray. Fifteen minutes later, yum yum yum. 

Oh Trader Joes, your freezer aisles contain so many blessings!

(I assure you, I got some real food there, too. The heirloom tomatoes are amazing, and the haricot vert increase my chance of getting a veggie on the dinner table.)

Fringe Benefits

A school rents much of the church's religious education wing during the week. It can be a little disruptive sometimes, but in general they're good tenants and the children give good energy. They like to wave to me, to catch my attention when we're in the hall together, and they keep an eye on my door and windows to see what new art I've put up.

Best of all, though, are the periodic dance parties in the classroom next door. Pretty awesome benefit.

Remember in The Fly, where he wore the same outfit every day?

Clothes shopping. Ugh. Not even as a teenager did I understand the allure of going through countless racks of clothes and trying on pieces, trying to find something that looks good, feels good, and doesn't completely drain the bank account.

Left to my own devices, I would have four or five soft shirts, jeans or yoga pants. Fuzzy socks. 
I am told that this is not professional attire.
Sadly.

Perhaps if I switch to a career with a uniform...

Until then, I have to go shopping from time to time. Today I managed to hurt my rotator cuff. Somehow I doubt I can call that a sports injury.

Making Home

I'm a lousy housekeeper. I don't necessarily notice messes, and even when I see them, well, I'd rather read a book than tidy things.

But I am not without some domestic graces. I can cook and bake up a storm, and generally I can keep us in clean clothes and such.

Today was my day off from church work. I relaxed most of the morning, and then managed the following:

• Hard boiled eggs (14 of them did not make their own sculpture in the boiling water)
• Sourdough, transformed into rolls for dinner, and this many-layered cinnamon bread
• Pinto beans, cooked up from scratch, which were then split between charro beans and venison chili
• Delish Swiss chard (because there has to be some vegetable to counter the cinnamon bread...)
• Two loads of laundry, washed and folded

And I managed to have conversations with everyone I live with.  Bills and paperwork (and tidying) will wait for another day.

Stop Making Sense*

11 PM on a Sunday night and I'm starting tomorrow's sourdough bread.

Bread making is not efficient. It takes hours and hours. Sourdough especially.
It's not the easiest of things either--it's persnickety and requires attention.

I could go to the store and for less than $5 get a lovely loaf--probably more consistent than my batches have been thus far. (Yes, my ingredients are less expensive. Until you add in the time and effort, and having to do dishes.)

It would be sensible enough for me to give up this hobby, to spend the time more appropriately--catching up on housekeeping, remembering the dry cleaning, becoming a well-rounded person, or you know, sleeping.

But sometimes life isn't about a direct goal or what is most efficient and obvious. You might need to follow a passion, to have a place for experiments and growth. It may or may not make sense on paper.

This is true of our church lives as well. For all that it's good to have a clear mission and a long-term plan, there will come opportunities, relationships, passions. I find that these often come as interruptions, often in the middle of a hectic afternoon/week/year. It may very well be more sensible to stay the course, to say "that's a lovely idea, but we don't have the capacity for it right now." To give the short greeting and have every intention of getting back to that person later. All the things that create community.

What is rising in your soul?



*Yep, I just referenced a thirty-year old Talking Heads movie. Goofball Gen-Xer...