My church friends tend to have a Sunday Lunch almost every week, and yesterday it was B.A.'s and my turn. This meant a Saturday of meal planning, shopping, tidying the flat, cleaning the bathroom and the kitchen, taking out the recycling (always a chore as it goes way out past the woods), cooking, baking and mild argument.
Sunday morning included carrying two big tables from beyond the woods into the house and setting them up in the dining-room before going to Mass.
The results were, of course, very much worth the effort: drinks and then a sit-down traditional British Sunday Lunch for eleven people, of whom only B.A. and I were married people. Yes, we fed nine Single people (one of them ordained) yesterday, so think about us the next time you suspect all Married people drop their Single friends. Not true.
Meanwhile, we were certainly not setting any of them up together. Setting Single people up together at our parties would never occur to
Now you. What did you do?
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I hopped in a car with four of my female friends and took a day trip to another city a couple hours away. We saw the sights, shopped, had dinner, and walked along the river and heard music in the evening. It was a lovely day with gorgeous weather! The rest of the weekend, I did homework and went to church. :)
I took the youngest of the children I nanny for on an outing with her uncle and his girlfriend. Then we dropped the baby off and went to the uncle's house to make dinner and drink a lot of wine and chat until the wee hours of the morning.
They spent part of that chat arguing about my being single:
Her: "Andreas told me about that conversation you guys had where you told him that you could almost see yourself staying single. And I was like, "Yeah, duh." but it kind of blew his mind."
Me: "Well, yeah, but it's not really my FIRST choice, you know? I'd still like to get married."
Him: "Okay, so she wants to get married, and there's no reason to think she won't or can't, so that means its her vocation. So, Sarah, don't even worry about it, cause when you get a boyfriend--which is going to be soon, I guarantee you-- you're going to miss the freedom."
Me: "I'm not wor--"
Her: "Yeah, but sometimes people don't find the right person, so she should have other plans."
Him: "Nah, that won't happen to her, though. Seriously, Sarah, just relax..."
Me: "I am rela--"
Him: "...Cause, you know, I never thought it'd happen for me, either, and just when I was about to give up, I met Amanda!"
Me: "You guys. I'm fine. *pours more wine into my glass*"
Anyway, it was a lovely time.
I realized that that comment sounded a bit more complain-y than I wanted. I had a really good time with them! But I just remember sitting there, thinking, "I didn't know I had reached THAT point in life already."
:P
Went to the zoo with my three nieces under 3! It was exhausting but fun. There's something about animals that makes me giddy - I think I was even more excited than my nieces at times. It's just so fun to be there when they're discovering stuff.
I was trying to get the 2 and a half year old to look at some swinging orangutans, and all she wanted to was stare intently at a giant python that I didn't want to go near :S
I spent Sunday as the last day of work for me! It's a horrible set up/location/community, marring the face of a beautiful job (youth ministry). So it was wonderful to see the teens bemoan my leaving, heart-wrenching to leave them, but incredibly empowering to quit a self-damaging job - situation. I always thought being hired for a job that you love would just be the best ego boost ever - but trusting in God's will for me to QUIT a BAD one was also great! As Birdy from "You've Got Mail" states: "You're daring to imagine that you could have a different life. You're marching into the unknown, armed with....nothing!" And it feels really good.
I spent most of the time on the sofa with a cold. I was glad I had no plans for the weekend, because the two or three weekends before were filled up with visitors, a trip to another town to play Klezmer music and tangos with my friends which we are going to perform at another friend's wedding next weekend. In between, I am going to a conference for a few days tomorrow. So it was a lovely quiet weekend!
A tip for the readers: Never start reading blogs while something is boiling on the stove in the kitchen! There might be only coal left in your pot, and you could set the house on fire...
Magdalena, did you burn your house down? And where have you been playing all that cool music?
I went out for drinks with friends on Friday night, went for a swim on Saturday, and contently decided not to attend a bar crawl that night. (The only think worse than waking up on Sunday with a hangover is being out with drunk people while remaining sober. Or maybe they're just equally unappealing.) I watched some Netflix and wrote, and basically repeated the performance the next day after going to Mass in a different town just for the heck of it. Then somehow before bed I got sucked into reading a bunch of mommy blogs and came away with a profound thankfulness that I'm not married yet and don't live a life dominated by spilled cheerios and chaos. Altogether a good weekend.
Saturday morning was perfect early-autumn weather, so I took a hike at a lovely nearby State Park that winds along a river (alone, since my usual local friends were out of town, which was still quite enjoyable). Sunday was rainy and chilly, and I spent the whole day curled up inside the library of my university studying for my first grad school exam, which was today. It went well!
I woke up in a very productive mood Saturday morning, so first I did the mounds of housework that had accumulated. Then I went to my favorite neighborhood coffee shop to finish some computer work left over from the week - it was crowded there, so I shared a table with a cute stranger between a large group ukelele lesson and a table of alternating people and sweet little dogs. Next I spent an hour with Jesus at Adoration, then met up with some friends at a local gastropub to watch some football (American).
Sunday started with Mass, where I ran in to a friend from work, which was lovely. I then had some time to try out my new guitar strings and pink(!) capo. In the evening I had a group of friends over for a Harvest Feast - we cooked a large, delicious, autumn meal together and shared conversation. (I know it is not really fall yet, but I just love theme dinners and autumn and I have indulgent friends!)
All in all, a wonderful weekend...much needed after a long week! :)
I was on work travel, so after a very hectic week (and numerous weeks leading up to it) and the conclusion of a successful conference, I was able to enjoy traveling and visiting the new country - Jordan, this time.
I woke up at 6.30 on Saturday to view the rising sun reflect on the carved sandstone of Petra. Then followed a donkey ride to other sites, a visit to mosaics in Madaba and finally I ended up on Mount Nebo - where I wasn't as lucky as Moses who saw the Promised Land from there (it was too hazy/dusty).
Sunday was spent at various airports/in various airplanes in a varying degree of sleep deprivation, followed by Mass on my return to the US.
It was a marvelous, wonderful, magical weekend - and reminded me how blessed I am to be able to enjoy such moments, and make such memories. Not a though crossed my mind this past week about my 'single' state. Rather, it even enabled me to interact in a more authentic and honest way with the people I met.
Gosh! You peeps are wonderful. I wish you lived nearby so I could go on hikes/library dates/coffee stops 'midst the ukuleles with y'all.
I had a quiet-ish weekend: met some church friends Friday evening for a pub hang-out, and then Cathedral choir BOTH Saturday and Sunday mornings - music quota NEARLY filled, I think. Most of the rest of Saturday and Sunday spent writing at my local no-WiFi coffee shop, aka one of the few places I can get good work done in my tragically internet-addicted state.
Oh, and a really lovely run in the park on Sunday. It's super sunny here in Vancouver - pretty much a miracle. :o)
My weekend was rather different from my norm, as I am traveling overseas (Ireland, England and Belgium, from the US) for two family weddings. Friday night was spent condensing my belongings for a Ryan air flight, Saturday was spent in the air, and being welcomed to my aunt's house in England, and Sunday was spent touring a nearby Jacobean estate (and of course finding an RC church for Mass).
Seraphic, thank you for being the ONLY blog I follow, and in a devoted fashion at that. In general, when I start reading blog after blog, I end up find myself chagrined to realize how much time I have wasted. But I never feel this blog is a waste of time! It is interesting and sensible, often encouraging, always real. And thanks to all the regular commentators for making this place so welcoming as well. I should really make the effort to comment more!
Thank you, Claire!
And thanks for all the comments. They all discredit the lonely-spinster-alone-at-home-with-her-cats-watching-TV stereotype, don't they?
I cook the lunch for my family, drive it over to my parents, go to Church, provide the music for the Missa Cantata, have a cup of coffee, run a choir practice have a quick drink in the parish club and then go back to my parents' house to eat the lunch. My father is very seriously I'll and my mother is his 24/7 carer.
I went to a family reunion and it actually was lovely! I was sad to leave. And my many-times-married-divorced uncle gave me a compliment INSTEAD of asking if I had a boyfriend. Yay!
Oh, I didn't burn down the house, but the kitchen was quite smokey already!
Urzula, what kind of job do you have that takes you to such interesting places?
Glad that your house survived :) to answer your question, I'm in international event management and every 3-4 months I get to travel to a new place for my company. Love the job :)
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