Yes, I am up past my bedtime again.
Serendipitously, this morning's daily lectionary readings were: Isaiah 61:1-7 and Romans 7:1-6.
I saw FCS-Ian last night 'cause there was Council after Rest and Bread. The copier's still broken, and he asked me if I still had the lectionary sheet* and I said yeah, not with me but at home, that I was planning to bring it to church and that I could also email him the Thursday daily lectionaries for the weeks until Lent. I got home and couldn't find it, so I typed up the Thursdays until Lent from my RCL book.
*Two Thursdays ago, he hadn't printed up slips, so I used his sheet of the month's daily lectionaries, and took it with me, thinking he had another copy, and the next week he didn't have a copy but I still had mine in my bag.
He replied later this morning:Thank you very much. It is so nice to see you on Thursday mornings.
Bless,
Ian
***
Today was really busy at work. I literally didn't get done all the things I had to get done. I didn't feel like I was dropping balls, though, and I did take various breathers (including a comfortable lunch -- outside! -- with Cate). Scott said he'd never seen me so busy. I pointed out that the day Sonia came to visit was really busy. He said that was the second busiest.
At one point, he complimented me on a phone call he had been present for, said I clearly work in the Negotiations unit. I said that was funny because when Jim had approached me and said, "A project for your diplomacy skills," I had mentally recoiled, thinking, "Least favorite part of my job -- diplomacy, politic, negotiation." Scott said be that as it may, it doesn't change the fact that I'm good at it. "In certain contexts," I insisted. (I feel like what Scott was present for wasn't much of a negotiation.)
I am good at being mad at people, and I am good at taking care of people -- these are modes I operate really well (comfortably) in. I debated going to Blue Shirt tonight, because I was feeling like I needed to recharge and being around people was going to drain me further. But I went anyway. I got a sandwich and a fruit&sorbet smoothie -- yay healthy food. It was just Kathy and Gianna, and Gianna was leaving. We talked about church and family and etc. (Laura Ruth greeted me with, "Doctor [surname].") Erica, and Jeff, came later.
Laura Ruth told the story of going to Scott Brown's office today -- she was at the State House to lobby for trans rights, and Scott Brown's office is right near her Senator's office (Sonia Chang-Díaz) -- and confessing that she had thought she didn't need to know anything about Scott Brown because she was so sure that Martha Coakley would be elected, and so she doesn't know anything about him, and she talked to his legislative liaison or somebody (I forget) and asked questions, including, "My congregation is really progressive, so what can we do to support you, given how different we are?" and the guy said, "Talk to us -- write to us, email us ... we have to represent the whole state, not just a part of it."
Around 7 (I got there around 6) Laura Ruth and Jeff had their meeting about re/New etc. Well, it started with Laura Ruth saying that she and Jeff needed to have their meeting, and I got up, and Jeff said, "It's an open meeting," and I sat back down.
I wasn't sure how helpful I would be, but I had some potentially useful thoughts, and I was really useful in practical matters of reminding them of things they had said they would talk about, asking Laura Ruth if she should input into her phone calendar a change they had agreed on verbally, etc. At point I said, "And people wonder why I'm never planning to quit my job -- this is what I do," and Laura Ruth said something about Calling (in a way which Affirmed that this is a gift of mine).
They talked about "Christian rockstar music," and she made a disgusted face. She said, "My nephew's a Christian rockstar. I love the boy, but it's nauseating," and she mimed preening flowing hair. I said, "Would you feel the same way if he were gay? I'm just thinking, with the [miming], that if he were gay, you would be like, 'Oh, that's so [mentally searches for a good word].' " She was appropriately abashed and said, "Point taken, you don't even need to finish the sentence."
At one point, Laura Ruth mentioned a couple in the church and referred to them as a straight couple and then said, "Well, I don't know -- [male name] might be trans." I said, "Trans people can be straight," and later, "If one person uses masculine pronouns and the other person uses female pronouns, they're an opposite-gender couple -- who may or may not identify as queer." Jeff asked, "When are we [First Church] gonna do queer theory 101?" and I got all excited. He said, "I probably sound like my grandma does on race," and Laura Ruth assured him that wasn't so, and she also said she wasn't sure she even knows what queer theory is. I said that "queer theory" in the academic sense contains a lot including a lot of stuff I don't necessarily understand, but that what Jeff meant, like GLBT Issues 300, is something I'm really excited about -- about the nuances of language and the difference between sex and gender and all that.
We finally departed around 8:30.
Other good things about today: The job candidate didn't mind my taking him outside, the glitches that there were seemed to be fine, my W-2 came in the mail so I can now file my taxes, the FCS prayer retreat is 5pm-5pm so I don't have to miss the teaching part of that workday.
Edit: Tiffany and I made a date for coffee before she leaves, and I asked if she wanted to meet at Mr. Crepe or somewhere else, and she said, "Why break with tradition? Mr. Crepe works for me." ♥
I saw FCS-Ian last night 'cause there was Council after Rest and Bread. The copier's still broken, and he asked me if I still had the lectionary sheet* and I said yeah, not with me but at home, that I was planning to bring it to church and that I could also email him the Thursday daily lectionaries for the weeks until Lent. I got home and couldn't find it, so I typed up the Thursdays until Lent from my RCL book.
*Two Thursdays ago, he hadn't printed up slips, so I used his sheet of the month's daily lectionaries, and took it with me, thinking he had another copy, and the next week he didn't have a copy but I still had mine in my bag.
He replied later this morning:Thank you very much. It is so nice to see you on Thursday mornings.
Bless,
Ian
***
Today was really busy at work. I literally didn't get done all the things I had to get done. I didn't feel like I was dropping balls, though, and I did take various breathers (including a comfortable lunch -- outside! -- with Cate). Scott said he'd never seen me so busy. I pointed out that the day Sonia came to visit was really busy. He said that was the second busiest.
At one point, he complimented me on a phone call he had been present for, said I clearly work in the Negotiations unit. I said that was funny because when Jim had approached me and said, "A project for your diplomacy skills," I had mentally recoiled, thinking, "Least favorite part of my job -- diplomacy, politic, negotiation." Scott said be that as it may, it doesn't change the fact that I'm good at it. "In certain contexts," I insisted. (I feel like what Scott was present for wasn't much of a negotiation.)
I am good at being mad at people, and I am good at taking care of people -- these are modes I operate really well (comfortably) in. I debated going to Blue Shirt tonight, because I was feeling like I needed to recharge and being around people was going to drain me further. But I went anyway. I got a sandwich and a fruit&sorbet smoothie -- yay healthy food. It was just Kathy and Gianna, and Gianna was leaving. We talked about church and family and etc. (Laura Ruth greeted me with, "Doctor [surname].") Erica, and Jeff, came later.
Laura Ruth told the story of going to Scott Brown's office today -- she was at the State House to lobby for trans rights, and Scott Brown's office is right near her Senator's office (Sonia Chang-Díaz) -- and confessing that she had thought she didn't need to know anything about Scott Brown because she was so sure that Martha Coakley would be elected, and so she doesn't know anything about him, and she talked to his legislative liaison or somebody (I forget) and asked questions, including, "My congregation is really progressive, so what can we do to support you, given how different we are?" and the guy said, "Talk to us -- write to us, email us ... we have to represent the whole state, not just a part of it."
Around 7 (I got there around 6) Laura Ruth and Jeff had their meeting about re/New etc. Well, it started with Laura Ruth saying that she and Jeff needed to have their meeting, and I got up, and Jeff said, "It's an open meeting," and I sat back down.
I wasn't sure how helpful I would be, but I had some potentially useful thoughts, and I was really useful in practical matters of reminding them of things they had said they would talk about, asking Laura Ruth if she should input into her phone calendar a change they had agreed on verbally, etc. At point I said, "And people wonder why I'm never planning to quit my job -- this is what I do," and Laura Ruth said something about Calling (in a way which Affirmed that this is a gift of mine).
They talked about "Christian rockstar music," and she made a disgusted face. She said, "My nephew's a Christian rockstar. I love the boy, but it's nauseating," and she mimed preening flowing hair. I said, "Would you feel the same way if he were gay? I'm just thinking, with the [miming], that if he were gay, you would be like, 'Oh, that's so [mentally searches for a good word].' " She was appropriately abashed and said, "Point taken, you don't even need to finish the sentence."
At one point, Laura Ruth mentioned a couple in the church and referred to them as a straight couple and then said, "Well, I don't know -- [male name] might be trans." I said, "Trans people can be straight," and later, "If one person uses masculine pronouns and the other person uses female pronouns, they're an opposite-gender couple -- who may or may not identify as queer." Jeff asked, "When are we [First Church] gonna do queer theory 101?" and I got all excited. He said, "I probably sound like my grandma does on race," and Laura Ruth assured him that wasn't so, and she also said she wasn't sure she even knows what queer theory is. I said that "queer theory" in the academic sense contains a lot including a lot of stuff I don't necessarily understand, but that what Jeff meant, like GLBT Issues 300, is something I'm really excited about -- about the nuances of language and the difference between sex and gender and all that.
We finally departed around 8:30.
Other good things about today: The job candidate didn't mind my taking him outside, the glitches that there were seemed to be fine, my W-2 came in the mail so I can now file my taxes, the FCS prayer retreat is 5pm-5pm so I don't have to miss the teaching part of that workday.
Edit: Tiffany and I made a date for coffee before she leaves, and I asked if she wanted to meet at Mr. Crepe or somewhere else, and she said, "Why break with tradition? Mr. Crepe works for me." ♥