Twenty-Nine Days

During the 15 months of my unemployment I have made a deliberate effort to get out of the apartment almost every day. I volunteer one day a week at the church office. I meet our priest during her open table hours at Dunkin Donuts. And I spend a lot of time at the local Barnes and Nobles and Starbucks. Free Wifi is a wonderful thing.

Yesterday I went to the Rings End here in Norwalk to look at paint colors. Rings End was founded in my hometown of Darien and now has a number of store in the state. It's the first place I think of for lumber and other building supplies, even though I usually go to Home Depot. But for painting the new apartment, Rings End is the place to go because they carry Benjamin Moore paints exclusively, and that's the brand they use at the Seminary.

This is only the third time in my life that I've chosen colors for my living space. The first time was when I got my own room after sharing with my brother for almost ten years. I picked a deep yellow-gold. The second involved one of those Everything Is A Project times when Mom and I shifted rooms in the house after Dad died, and I'd separated from Brian. That time I selected a sandy yellow. At the moment I'm leaning toward a shade of yellow for my new kitchen. Do we detect a pattern here?

Some days, of course, there's already something on the schedule. Today after services we had the farewell celebration for the Whites. It was an emotional morning. Not only were the Whites moving, but I was experiencing another one of those lasts: the last time celebrating Palm Sunday as a member of Grace/Betania. Of course, it may be the last time Grace/Betania celebrates Palm Sunday in the current configuration as well. I went home and took a nap. I started out reading, but I ended up napping.

When I woke up a couple of hours later, I took one look at my apartment and decided I needed to get out. Empty boxes, packed boxes, piles of Goodwill donations, a half-filled trash bag for the dumpster, and a desk full of paperwork piles. There are some neat areas, but they're neat stacks of packed boxes. Time for a Starbucks break. Ice tea and a good book work wonders as a restorative.

Shortly, I'll go home, fix something simple for supper, sort through another drawer, pack a box, and work on a prayer shawl while watching some television. Well, there's something else to add to my list of things to look for when I get to Alexandria, a prayer shawl group...