7 Quick Takes Friday #36

See more 7 Quick Takes Contributions at Jennifer Fulwiler's Conversion Diary.

Well, first of all, I have to say that this has been a week of nudity, or at least possibilities for nudity, as you will see. Then, there were the travel snafus, but that is par for the course. Finally, there were some enjoyable moments with great people. All in a week's work!

So, then, here are my quick takes, with emphasis on quick since I have to get to bed tonight in order to get to the airport tomorrow to take the trip back to where I came from and get set up to do it all over again to a new location in a couple of weeks, in other words: business as usual.

1. Sunday. Well, I have blogged about Sunday, at least the part of it when I ended up late for Mass and nearly had no clothes to wear. At least, some okay-but-could-be-more-appropriate things-to-wear fell under my hand at the last minute as I was dashing out the door. (See post, On Being Worthy.) The immediate post-Mass part of Sunday was spent entertaining friends at a BBQ in our yard. Donnie cooked, of course. No knowledgeable person would ever agree to eat something I had made. (As Doah wrote in his book, Mommy Poisoned Our House Guest, "my mommy is a very nice mommy but she is a very bad cook." With Donnie behind the grill tongs, a delicious time was had by all.

2. Sunday again. After our BBQ, Donnie and I had to dash to Casa Maria, the restaurant/community center building at Old Mission, where Fr. Ed had made arrangements for all of us who had helped out with the annual fiesta (I was nearly the sole clean-up person for more than 8 hours for a crowd of hundreds) to have a special meal together. Oh, oh! Two big meals in one day! Good-bye, diet! Sunday's activities added up to a two-pound gain, so eating will be removed from my activity list for this coming week.

3. Monday. Our prayer group met on Monday, as usual, but the meeting was far from business as usual. My co-director had stumbled into big trouble: after moving and having taken on a brand-new mortgage, his overtime was eliminated and his wife lost her job. Stage right, enter panic. Stage left, enter depression. While they have been able to build stability into their financial lives beginning in 6-8 weeks and their mortgage had been taken care of up-front before moving, everyday living and ongoing bill payment looked hopeless. But, never fear, there is always hope when God's credit card is near! Everyone contributed a little bit (total $70), and I charged to God's credit card the remaining amount needed to purchase a $500 visa card for them. (See Sometimes It's Our Own for details of that decision and issues of trust related to it.) So, we met at one of the member's house to give my co-director and his wife a housewarming party and, unknown-in-advance to them, the visa card. Overwhelmed, they told us that the amount was just what they needed to make the bridge to the period of stability that lay a few weeks ahead of them. It was an emotional meeting, and as for that trust, well, the following day, I was able to get airline tickets, using my free miles, for the abused sister of a friend and her two young daughters. My friend, who also belongs to our prayer group, had only been able to raise $200, which was not enough for the tickets. When I was able to get the tickets for free, she donated the collected $200 to helping pay off God's credit card. I have no doubt that the other $210 will appear before the payment is due to the credit card company; it always does. After the meeting, I ran past Shane's house to take in his garbage cans since he, Lemony, and kids had gone fishing. (Nathaniel caught his first fish.) From the sublime to the simple! All in a day's work!

4. Tuesday. As not uncommonly happens, my trip to Georgia became instantly complicated when I arrived at the airport and learned that my plane was delayed. That created a domino effect, and I ended up stranded part-way, in Phoenix. The airline put me up at a hotel overnight, but I did not have access to my luggage, i.e. no pajamas. So, I enjoyed an evening of prancing about nude, except for some moments on the balcony when I did discreetly wrap myself in a towel. Some naughty moments in one's life can be nice.

5. Wednesday. The day had an inauspicious start. On the heels of the plane fiasco, one might think I had had my share of troubles for one trip, but that was not to be the case. Having received the bill under my door, I did not have to check out at the desk, so I left the key in my room, closed my door which locked it, then headed to the elevator, only to find out that I needed the key that was in yh room to open the door from the hallway to the lobby. Catch-22, a real gotcha! After wandering in a few circles, thinking that perhaps I would need to call the front desk and be released from my self-created prison, I discovered that there was another elevator. I tried that, and it dumped out into the lobby, no key needed. Whew! However, my wanderings resulted in missing breakfast. No big deal; I needed to give up eating anyway. With a major dash between the closely connecting flights once I arrived in Charlottesville, I made the final leg to August, Georgia without any difficulties. Lizzie picked me up at the airport, which always amazes me in that it looks more like a villa than an airport (probably it was at one time) and brought me to her house. I unpacked. Oh, oh! No clothes for work the next day. Ah! I remember putting them next to the suitcase but not in it, and Donnie had apparently zipped the suitcase, as it was, and put it int the car. So, the day had an inauspicious finish to match its start. I borrowed some university-professor-style clothes from Lizzie, not at all like my normal business attire, and somewhat oversized for me, and deciding that it was the best I could do, went to bed.

6. Thursday. What a lovely day! After leaving Lizzie's country home in South Carolina (see photo), I headed for the Georgia border and our office, where I made several presentations to the people in our Georgia office, met with clients, and spent some time with our director and assistant director. I only come once a year, so people are always happy to see me. It is like a reunion. Everyone had brought in their specialties for lunch, and we had a buffet together in the office. Yummy! Too yummy! So much for not eathing this week! I will stop eating next week!

7. Thursday again. For dinner, the director and assistant director took Lizzie and me to dinner at the Bonefish Grill, a local chain restaurant with yummy seafood. Oops! Too much food again! I checked my weight as bedtime neared. Yep, weight gain in lieu of the weight loss hoped for this week. Well, let's see, there is always next week...

Wishing you a great next week! (I won't be eating, but I hope you will be!)