Good weekend.

I had a brief moment yesterday evening when the post-pilgrimage bliss dissipated—I’m not even sure why—but I am better today.

One of the people on the pilgrimage was a lovely quiet man who works for the government as some kind of statistician/analyst. The morning we left Iona, he said to me, “I couldn’t sleep last night, thinking about all the connections.” I thought about the in-depth conversation R & I had had the night before about life and values and said, “Yes, this place really works on you, doesn’t it?” Turns out he’d been up thinking about our upcoming travel connections—all the ferries and trains and such. Oh, yeah. Those.

But this morning at church he said that his blood pressure, which he checks daily on doctor’s orders, has remained low ever since the trip, much lower than before we left. So, I suppose the place does work on a person, just not always in the ways we might expect.

I now have a lovely little office “nook” in the basement. I was tired of the books and paper scattered everywhere and no place to park the computer, so I bought a small bookshelf, a white board, lamp, and a cute sturdy box for files. I hung a poster or two and created a small “worship space” with a candle, my three Iona rocks, and a postcard of the nunnery (my favorite place on the island) next to a low rocking chair thingy I’ve literally had since high school. It’s all quite pleasant.

I am not as obsessive about clutter as I used to be, simply because you can’t be with kids or you’ll go crazy. But my compromise is that I need places of refuge in my house where clutter cannot accumulate, where I can live in denial of it for just a little while. Those places are the living room and (to a lesser extent) the bedroom. Hopefully this corner will be a third place. (Hmm, the first is a place of relaxation and conversation, the second a place of rest and refuge, the third a place to work. Seems about right!)

I preached today, and after doing Harry Potter for three weeks in July, having only a communion meditation (and no video) seemed like a vacation in comparison.

This week I am attending a conference for clergywomen under the age of 40 at Downtown Cathedral. My Professor/Mentor is leading the conference and it will be wonderful to see her, as well as some other blog friends whom I’ll not “out” by naming. It is in some ways a very inconvenient time; I am the pastor on call as Senior Pastor is on her own Iona pilgrimage at the moment, so I need to be responsive to churchy stuff that comes up. On the other hand, the office manager and I are literally the only two members of the staff who are in town, so it should be pretty quiet. And it’s a nice way to ease back into life post-pilgrimage—work for a few days, then be gone from the office again!

Can I say again how awesome it is to have a grandparent in town? MaDear spent last night (as she usually does on weekends I preach) and helped with the girls today while R worked on the garage door, I did a little gardening and other random items.

Actually the transition has gone pretty smoothly with the girls. There have been a few flare-ups but I cannot complain. They’re entitled. But it’s a testament to the skill and care of the grandmothers that this week has gone as well as it has.

Well, that’s all the news that’s fit to print—in 15 minutes, that is.