October 5, 2008

• Soul Ketchup
  
  Besides the fact that I am hardly ever at home and at my leisure to apply bottom to chair and hands to keyboard, I have also put off blogging because it seems my life makes for dull reading.  Oh, it’s not that I’m not blowing through 1.5 tanks of gas in a week lately (that’s 30 gallons x 20 mpg = 600 miles a week for those mathy folks out there). It’s just that it’s awfully tedious to read about it.
  
  But, just for those who really are keen to know, I shall post a day. (And, I will be keen to remember later so I can shake my head in dismay.)  Let’s take yesterday, Saturday, October 4.
  
  6:55–Wake up and get ready to leave
  7:15–Out the door with Hunter and LibbyK
  7:45–Drop off Hunter at high school for SAT
  8:00–LibbyK and I have breakfast at The Waffle Shop (the most delicious blueberry Belgian waffles ever)
  9:00–Go to Kohl’s which just opened in State College so LibbyK could find clothes for her birthday on Wednesday
  9:45–I was sitting in front of the dressing room doors while LibbyK tries on clothes
  10:15–Still sitting in front of the dressing room doors while more clothes are rejected
  10:45–Now we are in the shoe department at Kohl’s
  11:30–Hooray! We made it to the checkout line at Kohl’s!
  11:45–No pick up call from Hunter, so we went to Target and wandered around
  12:15–Sure that Hunter will call any second, we head to Goodwill, which is near the school
  12:45–Confident that the SAT can not possibly be this long, we park at the school and consider our options
  1:20–Huzzah! Hunter has emerged from the school! We get Subway subs to celebrate.
  2:00–Arrived home, get a water bottle, leave to watch Little Miss’s cheerleading
  3:00–My squad begins to arrive for their game
  3:30–Left game to get apples for someone at church (we live near a fruit farm) and to take Wit into the church to catch a ride to the hay ride
  4:15–Arrived back at the football field where Gockle’s team is playing and LibbyK’s squad is cheering
  6:15–The game over, we rushed to my house to get changed
  6:35–We left for the Youth Group event at Camp Kanesatake, which actually started at 5:00
  7:00–We arrived at the camp to discover that everyone already left on the hay ride, but all the food and the bonfire were still out. Starving, we dug in, feeling an awful lot like raccoons.
  10:00–We left and drive to the church where parents awaited
  10:30–We arrived at the church, disperse children to their various cars
  10:35–I held the flashlight while Mr. B cleaned up half a container of chunky homemade salsa which spilled in between the side and the back seat of his van. Ick.
  10:50–Started for home, drop off a hayrider at her house
  11:10–Home again!
  
  And, the weekdays are just as wild.
  
  But, I’m not complaining. I don’t mind that my children and I have a lot to do. I need to be content that this is what my job is right now–chauffeur. There are great opportunities in the van for conversation, fun, and such. But, I keep thinking of the story I heard once.
  
  There was an explorer in Africa who wanted to make a journey under a tight time limit.  He hired a group of Africans as porters to carry his supplies.  The first few days, he made the men keep to a quick pace. The third day, he was dismayed to find the porters sitting around, refusing to move.  “Get up!” he demanded. “Don’t you know that I am on a tight schedule? We must press on!” But, the Africans refused to move. “Why? I don’t understand,” the explorer pleaded. One African gazed at him thoughtfully and answered, “We have moved too quickly these past days. Now we must rest here to give our souls a chance to catch up with us.”  
  
  I think I will need some time to let my soul catch up.

  Are you feeling caught up?
  

  • 9:32 pm
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