Fun Tuesday

Today my husband started his new job.  He resigned as the pastor of our church and now works for a large non-profit organization as the Chief Operations Officer.  We loved our church and did not leave because of anything negative.  The opportunity to work for the non-profit was just irresistible to my husband.  So, we close the door on ten years of ministry at our church and nearly twenty years of working as a pastor.

So we begin a new chapter of life.

* * *

I am determined to make this summer memorable and fun even though I am working forty hours a week.  I have arranged my schedule so I have Tuesdays off (until 8 p.m.).  Today, I took the kids to a movie (Wall-E) which everyone seemed to enjoy.  (My trick at the movie theater:  buy a large popcorn that comes with free refills.  Put a couple of paper lunchbags in your purse, immediately divvy the popcorn into separate bags and get a refill before the movie starts.)  On the way to the movie, we stopped at a video game store to one of the kids could rent a video game and one could buy a racing game.

After the movie, we stopped by the hardware store to buy a doorknob and brackets for hanging a curtain rod.  Then we stopped by the library.

When I was a teenager, I used to ride my bike to the library and spend the afternoon looking for books.  My four kids acted as if they’d never been in a library before, although they did keep shushing each other.  One of my 15-year old sons is an avid reader and we were there mostly for his benefit, but he couldn’t think of any authors that he likes to read.  So I led all four kids to the science-fiction/fantasy section and picked out a couple of books (C.S. Lewis, Doris Lessing and one other).  It’s tricky to supply him with books because I am concerned about protecting him from images I deem inappropriate.  I read stuff at his age that was wildly age-inappropriate and I don’t want him to do the same.

He loves to read so much though.  For fun this summer, he is almost finished re-reading Don Quixote.  He easily reads a normal-sized novel in a day or two.  It’s remarkable, really.

Anyway, then back home where I spent the next few hours preparing for a handyman to come over to install two curtain rods, a doorknob and a deadbolt.  Remember, I’d purchased brackets for a curtain rod because I couldn’t locate the ones I ordered months and months ago.  And wouldn’t you know it, as I was scooping up Legos off my son’s floor, I discovered the missing packet containing the brackets and screws.  (Did it drop from the ceiling?  How did it just appear?)

I found it rather annoying that my husband, the ex-pastor, scheduled this handyman to come on a Tuesday when we could have been at the pool in the precious few hours I wasn’t working.  I was so annoyed with him but really, it was my hormones speaking because I am irrational with premenstrual syndrome.  It’s bad.

My husband has finally noticed that I suffer from PMS and has stopped taking me quite so seriously.  I am a lucky woman.

My house is in disarray since the garage sale.  I want to right things, to put them in order, but I just can’t quite find the time.  In fact, tomorrow–seven and a half hours from now–I begin a twelve hour day.  It’s the price I pay for having easier days on Mondays and Tuesdays.  (At least I am not directing Vacation Bible School this year–I led it for six consecutive years!)
Oh, I just remembered what I wanted to say here.  It will have to wait until tomorrow.  I rediscovered some slides with the most shocking accompanying captions.  I do not know what to think about it.

But now, I must sleep.