Sassy Pastor and Buy of the Night

Having survived yet another illness, another retreat and my second annual congregational meeting, what do I remember from the past seven days?

Being called "Sassy Pastor."

I like it.

So, Sassy Pastor went to Target tonight with Baby Boy.

The buy of the night?
A box of 8 martini glasses for $4.98.
Sassy Pastor bought two boxes.
Cheers.

Magazine Meme

Based on my post below, I'm curious about your magazine reading habits --

Do you read magazines?

Do you keep them once you've read them? Recycle them? Donate them to the library or a resale shop?

What do you read that you recommend to others?

Do you read denomination or craft or vocation-specific magazines?

Where do you get them? Do you subscribe? Read them at the library? Buy them at the newstand or bookstore?

Oooo... Maybe I'll discover a new magazine.... I can hardly wait!

Scheduled Outage and Organization

When I logged into blogger just now it told me about a scheduled outage that they're having. Clearly I wasn't going to blog about that, as I didn't know about it.

However, as I blow my nose and rub my eyes, I desperately wish that I could schedule my outages. After being sick for what feels like all of January, I'm tired of outages. This feels like a pretty standard "common cold" but still crummy.

In my quest to be more organized this year, I've been doing some reading on simplifying and organizing. Funny, isn't it, that instead of doing it, I'm reading about doing it. Ah, yes.

Someone recommended paring down the magazine subscriptions that one gets. Of all the horrifying suggestions that I've read, this maybe takes the cake. It's true that I don't read everything that we get, but I can't imagine not getting them. There are two that I will let lapse this next year. One because in all the years I've gotten a certain cooking magazine, I've only once made one of the light recipes that they tout -- and then I added extra goat cheese to the recipe, so it probably didn't negated everything. And, the other because I feel bad when I read it and it seems that there's enough things in my life that make me feel bad.

So, with that, I'm off to read Real Simple at lunch. Cheers.

Five Pleasures of My Life

In no particular order -- and clearly not the only pleasures in my life!

1. Nice pens. I just bought some new ones this morning and they're dreamy -- Colored Foray roller tips (pink, orange, green, purple, etc.) and more serviceable Pilot Precise v5s in blue, black, red, but also purple and green with a bonus Pilot PreciseGrip pen.

2. A massage or a massage chair pedicure. Enough said. It's been far too long.

3. Joseph Schmidt truffles. The perfect gift when boxed.

4. A flight of wine with cheese.

5. A quick-read book from the library

And sometimes I don't

love the people whom I serve.

I thought about posting this last night, but I was still steaming -- after venting to my Dear Colleague and later to my Dear Husband. Nearly 24 hours later, I'm not really steaming anymore and can sort of laugh it off (until it happens again) but I'm not ready to let it go, so I'll post it here...

Context: It's late afternoon and I'm in my office at the end of the hallway. My colleague's office is next to mine, but he's not in it. I'm finishing up a few things and mentally preparing to transition to two back-to-back off-site meetings.

I hear someone coming down the hall and welcome the distraction. Sweet Liza (not her real name), whose daughter is a pastor, sticks her head in my office and then in Dear Colleague's office and then back in mine says,

"I thought I saw the pastor come down here, but I guess not. Maybe you can help me..."

Even just writing it down makes me get a little bubbly around the edges, because evidently in this context you have to be over 60 and A MAN to be a PASTOR... For the record, it'll be ANOTHER 30 years before I think about hitting 60 and I'll NEVER be a MAN....

Her request?

Whether or not the nursery could use a play-pen. Clearly she needed to talk to The Pastor.

Where was The Pastor during this exchange?

In the kitchen.

That part makes me smile.

New Song Obsession

I know it's a little bit cheesy, but every time I've seen the ad for "Boston Legal" this past week, with special guest Michael J. Fox, I've gotten a little weepy.
I openly cried once, just during the ad. Part of it is the personal cultural impact of Fox as an actor, part of it is the song that they chose to accompany the ad and the scene.
I obsessively searched for it tonight, scouring "boston legal" websites and searching for snippets of lyrics. Isn't the internet a great thing?
After I found it, I bought it from iTunes and am now listening to it on repeat.
In case you're wondering, the song is Warren Zevon's "Keep Me in Your Heart for A While" from his album, "The Wind."
He finished the album after being diagnosed with cancer.

The Four Meme, slightly edited

Four Jobs I've Had in My Life (before being a pastor)
Broasting chicken
Selling books
Nanny
Waiting tables


Four Movies I Could Watch Over and Over, and Have
Beautiful Girls
Whalerider
Love Actually
Life as a House

Four TV Shows I Love To Watch
Will and Grace
Law and Order
The Today Show
The News

Four Places I Have Been On Vacation
Antigua, Guatemala
Galena, IL
Southern California
North Shore, Lake Superior, Minnesota Side

Four Favorite Foods
Zuppa Toscana at Olive Garden
Thin crust pizza
My dad's chocolate chip cookies
Bleu Cheese Burger

Four Places I Would Rather Be Right Now
Target
A wine tasting
Reading in a cabin on a lake
Listening to Barbara Brown Taylor

Travelin' Five

Edited to provide some rationale and changed to be able to provide the reasoning without giving up some anonymity.

In no particular order, five places that I've been that have been important to me...

1. Bountiful, Utah -- because I was lost.

2. Norway -- because it forced me to get a passport, which needs renewing this year.

3. Honolulu -- because it made me feel glamorous. Until I got so sunburnt on my backside the day before I left that it hurt to sit down for the entire flight home. And it's a long flight from Hawaii to the midwest.

4. Lewiston, Maine -- because it was to see a boy who was a summer fling who should have stayed a summer fling.

5. San Juan Capistrano, CA -- because it was to see a boy who wasn't a summer fling but maybe should have been.

Sisters

I've always wondered what it would be like to have a sister.

I'm the only girl in a two-child family.

My brother and I are quite a few years apart and have never really developed that sibling bond. We're both far more like only children than kids who had a sibling. We live in different states and see each other for the occasional holiday that our schedules allow. I wouldn't call us close.

I see sisters in worship and think how lucky they are. I read the blogs of sisters and idealize their relationship -- thinking that the comments they leave one another and the references they make to one another are beautiful examples of what it means to be family. I know that it's not always that way and that there is plenty of strife that probably comes along with having a sister or two.

I know that I am guilty of idealizing the relationships that other families have -- whether sisters or brothers or simply close siblings -- while ignoring or at least minimizing the fights and name calling and bitterness that sometimes exists between siblings. And, that more than a sister, I want that ideal relationship with a sibling that doesn't really exist.

However, when I say it in my mind, it comes out like a little child petitioning a parent, "I want a sister."

Some random thoughts for the morning

Although I realize that it's already afternoon, in my mind it's morning -- because after a 3+ hour council meeting and a darling Baby Boy who decided to get up twice in the very short time between when I got home and when daylight broke, my DH took BB to daycare this morning and I went back to bed ... I feel somewhat like a slacker because I then slept until nearly 11, but I need to remind myself that a) I was really sick last week AND b) I'm at church three evenings this week AND c) I'm on an overnight retreat with confirmation students Friday and all day Saturday AND d) just because my colleague is a workaholic doesn't mean that I need to be, too.

So, onward and upward with some other random thoughts --

I love stamps -- good ol' postage stamps. Without any commentary on rising postage costs, stamps are one venue in which pretty and interesting doesn't cost more.

Tidying the piles on my desk makes me feel like I've cleaned. I realize it's only on the surface, but it makes me feel better.

It would be helpful to look at the texts for this weekend, as I'm preaching and there is that aforementioned confirmation retreat that will suck the life out of Saturday.

I hope you all are well.

Well

It's been a really long time since I've been as sick as I was this week.

I hope that it's a long time before it happens again.

I don't dare to venture that I'm 100% yet, but I'm back to work, for at least part of the day. And it doesn't hurt to swallow anymore.

These are all good things.
Thanks to all for the well wishes. I'm on the mend.