spent several hours at the church cleaning out old stuff and organizing the admin office with a woman who I’ve decided is the [name redacted] of Tiny Church. Such a hoot… And the psychic lift that comes with getting rid of junk and making things tidy is HUGE.

18 things on the to-do list today. Sadly, watching more LOST isn’t one of them.

Jim LaFleur = Sawyer with a larger library and regular access to a shower? That’s an upgrade I can get behind.

Keeping a large inventory of kid hairbrushes is one of the better parenting decisions I have made.

I could sit and watch [C write, M dance, J play with his trains] all day.

“It’s not that the Democrats are playing checkers and the Republicans are playing chess. It’s that the Republicans are playing chess, and the Democrats are in the nurse’s office because, once again, they glued their balls to their thighs.” -Jon Stewart

Just realized that it’s been several weeks that the entire family has been healthy. And if after saying this, someone wakes up sick tomorrow, I will have proof on facebook that the universe likes to screw with me.

Homemade pizza tonight, followed by Pixar animated short films. Good Sunday.

We ran out of bulletins.

Company party: ready for some tasty victuals at the Oval Room, then R and I are spending the night downtown. The fact that I preach in the morning reins in the debauchery somewhat.

J is so stubborn that he’s asleep sitting upright on his bed, leaning from side to side and catching himself, rather than lying down in the bed because that’s what *I’ve* been trying to get him to do.

I love the new way of being presbytery, if it means listening to incredible people like Serene Jones.

Despite some 50 degree days, I am so tired of being cold that I actually googled the Great Wolf Lodge and indoor water park to see if they had any good deals for this three-day weekend. The answer was No. Oh wait, it was $569 a night; the answer was Hell No.

Someone at the church suggested a banner out front that somehow indicates that we have a new pastor. There is a huge amount of traffic on our road—who knows, maybe it might interest a person or two? What does the Facebook hive mind think? And can you think of wording that’s not dorky? [there were some great suggestions, from “It’s a Girl!” to “New Sheriff in Town” and on and on]

On a big writing deadline, and am approaching the point of being a bit screwed if I don’t get serious about it. So of course I spent the last 15 minutes getting the hot chocolate just right–perfect number of marshmallows, correct temperature…

listening to the dulcet sounds of a Sunday bulletin being photocopied by someone other than me.

Our life is crazy and getting crazier by the minute. (Best FB response: my brother-in-law said “that happens with tile.”)

I received an Epiphany letter from a friend today, bursting with love and pride about her daughter, her daughter’s husband and their new baby, and her son, his partner and the child they are raising. Love makes a family.

I was recently told by a non-churchy person how much he liked me and how different I was from most pastors. “You’re so nice and genuine,” he gushed, apparently grateful I wasn’t damning him to hell. It makes me uncomfortable to be praised so effusively for simply being a halfway decent human being, but I would like to thank Pat Robertson and others for setting the bar so low. I’m happy to surpass people’s low expectations without even trying. [reference: his remarks about the Haiti earthquake]

J enjoyed the big-boy bed for its jumping-up-and-down qualities, and is not enjoying its sleeping qualities.

Thought for the day: If everything depended on our own plans, Sweet Baby J would not exist.

Did I mention that we had 11 visitors on Sunday?

My maternal superpowers are considerable, but I cannot control other people’s eyeballs.

Today was one of those days that makes it all worthwhile. But man, the stuff that people endure.

Pocahontas in Space!! James Cameron is a genius, simply for being able to cram that many James Cameron tropes into a single flick. Was really rooting for Jake Sully to cap his speech with, “This is our independence day…”

You know you’re a PK when you’re at swim practice and all the other parents are in sweats but your mom is in a suit, because she’s doing a funeral right after this.

One thing I miss about Suburban Church is receiving a word for the year. Printed on paper stars, these would be picked up on epiphany Sunday. The idea is that you “live with” the word for an entire year, meditating on it, etc. Last year’s word (from another source, actually) was FREEDOM. Feel free to suggest my 2010 word in comments–silly or serious.

I am holding in my hands Volume 1, Number 1 of the Tiny Church newsletter, published in 1959, which I found in one of my recent excavations. This was a funny, quirky little church back then too.

Was awakened four times by kids last nite, two hour school delay for an amount of snow that’s not enough to play in (though they will nag me to), lots of little dumb things to do today… Bleah.

We’re hosting a memorial service on Saturday in which the family wants no scripture, no message, one perfunctory prayer, and to call it “A Celebration of the Life of…” Which all sounds perfectly nice, but maybe I’ll sleep in that day.

Playing Wii Fit Plus with C, which isn’t as good as what I should be doing (treadmill) but better than what I want to he doing (sitting).

It’s a sad sign of adulthood when you hear about an impending snow and think about how much it will inconvenience various aspects of your life. I’m not quite wishing for *no* snow, but close.