Craving Sunday Afternoons

I have this little Sunday afternoon ritual that I'm growing to love. If there isn't anything pressing to get to for several hours after getting home from church and it's noticeably cold outside, I do this: I build a fire in the fireplace, grab the newspaper and my Bible study materials, and wrap up in an afghan by the fire with a cushion from the Blue Couch. Usually there is orange juice with seltzer water or coffee involved, and sometimes I end up taking a nap. Sabrina typically arranges herself in her typical princess fashion and places at least one paw on me and relishes in the solitude as well. Ahhhhhhh....

The pace of the week usually only begins to slow by Saturday afternoon. By worship on Sunday, I've usually quieted my mind and heart enough to settle into the Sabbath and my mind doesn't wander as much to all that should be getting done. I say this as if it's routine and solid. Nope. Last Sunday I involved myself in a flurry of writing and researching for six hours and was quite concerned about the duties of the week. God really impressed it on my heart that he wanted His day today. So here we are (we being Sabby and me). Sometimes it's like I have to beat my heart into submission about taking time out to rest and recharge, other times it's a much more subtle surrender. Either way, it has to be a conscious decision on my part or the maddening pace of this world will just suck me in, leaving me absolutely spent in a matter of days. I find myself occasionally longing for the days when you'd Mom ask how long until supper and it always seemed like an eternity away because time was passing so slowly. :-)

On a lighter note, a long-lingering mystery has been solved. The noise above my bathroom that caused much speculation, installation of a trap line, purchase of a "rat zapper," and the recruiting of my amazing friends who didn't mind exploring my attic...ended up being something that wasn't of a vermin nature. On a windy night I noticed a funny noise around the side of the house where the ventilation fan comes out of the siding. Apparently there are these odd little plastic "flappers" in the duct at the the exterior of the house that exist to prevent cold drafts from entering the ductwork to your exhaust fan. The sound they make conducts through my walls and the ductwork and sounds like scraping and scratching--intense sometimes and light at others...not unlike a small or very large rodent. Now that my brain knows that this sound is technically what's keeping me from freezing my rear end off in the shower in the mornings (hellooo shower curtain-rearranging draft!), I've been able to disregard that ambient noise as I sleep.

So I can safely say I have identified all of the regular noises of my new house. :-) Thanks, Jen, Peter, & Matt, for investigating my attic. Now that I know a pissed-off racoon isn't going to jump out of the what-is-it-that-stuff insulation and gnaw on my ankle, I might actually venture up there with you guys next time.

I'll just skip the part about it being forever since I've blogged. We know it happens to everyone. No need for apologies or explanations.

I'm becoming a firm believer in 4-day weekends. The mini-vacation of the past few days was long overdue! There's something about going to sleep and then waking up to nearly a foot of snow on the ground. It was pensive snow that stretched over several days. It would fall steadily and then pause for effect...then begin falling again. The entire weekend was like being inside of a snowglobe--it was absolutely gorgeous. Highlights included spending time with my siblings and seeing a band of which I'd never heard (Disciple, a little hard for my taste, but I could appreciate it for a few hours and their message was pure and clear), hanging out with Odessa and Johnathan, 1am conversations about the stuff that matters in life--a reprise of our college days, making pizzas and molten chocolate cakes, venturing out to Christiansburg in questionable conditions, watching for and spotting Johnathan's cameo in Extreme Home Makeover, spending time with my parents at Macado's and Joe's and O & J's, and watching the temperature rise and fall on the drive back to Lexington. The atmosphere was completely white. Evergreen trees on the sides of mountains are HUGE. I'm sure there are bunches of shorter ones beneath their boughs, but good grief, how do they get any light?

OK, rambling and obviously in need of some shut-eye. Happy Valentine's Day, all!