Pentecost...

I know it's late in the day to be mentioning this, but today was Pentecost, the day the church commemorates the coming of the Holy Spirit.

It's been a particularly profound thing for me this year, and I spent a large chunk of the day writing and reflecting on many things.

Processing events of the last week, and the last month and a half, and the last year and a half.

Some longer reflections on Pentecost may show up here later in the week, but for now, I just wanted to wish you moments filled with the breath and the warmth of the Spirit of God. Filled with the healing and restoration that are miraculous, and can only be brought by him.

Come, Holy Spirit, Come.

Roommate Tensions?

So, our house is feeling a little tense this afternoon.

Our landlord stopped by, and will be listing our house tomorrow. He requested that we keep the inside of the house cleaned and the lawn mowed so that the house shows well. (He'll give us 24 hours notice before any showings, but still...) This means we need to do some cleaning (have I mentioned that one of my roommate's in particular is not the cleanest person around??) and that the lawn needs to be mowed.

All of these are tasks I've taken care of for most of the last year. That I've done far more than my fair share of the time. And today, today I just need to rest. I'm tired and my energy levels are pretty low from yesterday's activities and demands, so, I'm wrapped in some blankets and crashed out for the moment in front of the television, watching a dvd.

I simply left a note on our fridge white board, letting my roommates know that the cleaning needed to be done, and the lawn needed to be mowed. (And, in my defense, I scrubbed the bathroom before I left the note.)

One roommate took it well. The other, not so much. But, you know what, I'm trying to not let that bother me. We've all got stuff on our plates. Yes, she's planning a wedding, but really, with the amount of time she and her fiancee spend at our house, one of them can take an hour to mow our lawn (it's not that large.) So, I'm working on not letting her annoyance bother me. They're all heading out again later and the house will be nice and quiet and peaceful.

At this point, I just want to survive the next month. I need to find one roommate and I a place to live. I need to go through the involved process of packing and moving. I need to survive the last month of craziness in wedding central. And I need to do all of these things without becoming totally homicidal or saying things I'll regret.

I Should Have Known Better...

I should have known better.

I was in a fantastic mood. I'd gotten up slowly, visited the zoo, the farmer's market, and a great bakery before coming home to have breakfast.

There is a grocery store that I particularly hate. Unfortunately it has the best deals in town, so we shop there regularly. As stores go, it's huge and warehouse like. The floors are rarely clean, and it's even more rare that we don't have to go to another shop afterwards, because this store, despite it's good prices, rarely has everything we need (including staples like milk!) in stock. And, they're chronically short-staffed.

I'm sensitive to places, and this store is life-sucking. But, it saves us significant amounts of money, so we continue to shop there.

But, with all of that, I should have known better than to go grocery shopping there on a day I was in a good mood, and was supposed to be resting.

It was a bad move on my part. Within moments of stepping in the door, my mood had plummeted into crankiness.

Anyway... obviously I still need some work on the whole managing my energy and sabbath thing.

Here's to doing a better job of that next weekend.