Long but lazy Sunday

Somehow, I found myself up at 6:30 this morning, way before I usually get up. For heaven’s sake, it was still dark! Even Sophie gave a long stretch and looked at me as if to say, “Really?” The thing was that we were going to nine o’clock church, and I have an internal alarm clock that signals me when I have to be someplace early in the morning. It takes two hours for my hair to dry, and I hate to use a hair dryer. Another sacrifice for the cause: as soon as my feet hit the floor, I washed my hair—I usually wait and do that after a cup of tea and an early prowl through the news.

So there I was at eight, all dressed and ready for church. We were even a bit early—unusual for us. The sermon was on discipleship, and the scripture was the story of the loaves and fish. Struck me as particularly appropriate and bittersweet because I had just read of Kansas City officials pouring bleach on food to keep a community organization from serving it to the homeless without a permit. That reminded me of those bracelets that read WWJD—remember them? What would Jesus do? He sure wouldn’t be pouring bleach on food. What kind of people has our country created?

After church, Jordan and I did a quick grocery run. These days we don’t often go to a “regular” grocery—I do a lot of online ordering—but there are some things you really can’t get without actually going to Tom Thumb or Albertson’s or Kroger’s. We went to the old Albertson’s in the neighborhood where we used to live—familiar, and I know the geography of the store, but they put so many dumps in the narrow aisles that it’s hard for me to navigate in the electric grocery cart. I did fine until I got to a rough place in the parking lot, and then I truly thought for a moment I was going to dump over. Didn’t happen, thank goodness.

Tonight we had a strategy meeting with neighbor Margaret, in preparation for the meeting “in the field” with the engineer from the city about the “No Parking” signs in front of our house. I feel we are on solid ground to argue that we are so far from the new “Stop” signs that they are not needed and are a great inconvenience to us as well as a reflection on our property values. Margaret has a Stop sign in front of her house but says if she puts on her mother-of-toddlers hat, she understands (her two boys are both college age). She feels, and I agree, that the school and the city are being disrespectful to the neighbors who have supported the school.

Of course, we couldn’t have a strategy meeting at 5:00 p.m. without happy hour, and Jordan fixed a lovely tray.