Last week I gave you an intimate look at quirky life inside the pastor’s home.  It seemed to be well received (who doesn’t like the inside scoop?), so I decided to write a “second edition” of ordinary events at the preacher’s house this past week …

 Just Helping Out

Cheryl took Michael out Monday to run some errands, most importantly getting him something nice to wear to Libby’s college graduation this Saturday.  While she was out, she called and asked (I should emphasize that!) if she could buy a second rocking chair for our front porch – they were on sale at Stine.  It was either a really good time to call, or a really bad time, because in my current state I didn’t care; I said “sure”.  Later she told me that while she was loading the rocker into her car, one of our church members was driving by and kindly asked if she needed help with the chair.  Cheryl told him: “I am trying to keep Shawn’s blood pressure up by going out and spending all his money!” 😉

 Our Little Visitor

On her way home Monday, Cheryl picked up our sweet FBCA student and church member, 5^th-grader Abby Tarver, and brought her to stay at our house for a few minutes after school.  Abby was all smiles – I wanted to believe it was because we were so entertaining, but I am more inclined to chalk it up to her sweet spirit and good nature.

I was feeling particularly poorly that afternoon, and did not budge off of the couch for some time after she came in.  (Cheryl thought it was funny that, from the kitchen where she was making cookies and Abby was doing her homework, all they could see of me was my feet where they were propped up on the back of the couch.)  When I did get up, Abby had a grin as wide as her face.  “What is it?”, I queried.  “You have a bed-head!”, she giggled.  (So much for that surfer-boy look I was shooting for … )

After she finished her homework, Cheryl asked Abby what she wanted to do.  “I could do some chores for you”, Abby sweetly suggested.  (I could just see the headlines: “Modern Cinderella Forced To Clean Pastor’s House.”)  Instead, Cheryl took Abby back to her craft room and helped her make a scrapbook page for the front of her school notebook.    

Cheryl (as all women seem to do) apologized for how messy the house was.  “That’s ok; our house is messy too”, Abby said.  To which Cheryl replied: “I think you’re supposed to say, ‘Oh, no, this is not messy at all!’”

 Pugnacious?  Who Me?

In the midst of our difficulties, life still goes on, doesn’t it?  My illness didn’t stop the parish mechanical system inspections from going on – and OF COURSE ours failed  We found out when they left a little red tag hung on our door, with all of the infractions checked.  Later Cheryl & I were talking about what all the inspector had checked on the tag.  I said something about the motor needing fixed, and she said no, it was the aerator.  I told her that I knew it was the motor, and not just the aerator.  We had a little … well, “disagreement” over it (yes, even here in Paradise!) and at one point I told Cheryl not to be so pugnacious about it.  She finally went to the bedroom to get cleaned up for my doctor’s visit.  But she just couldn’t resist coming back out for one more jab: “And I don’t know WHAT pugnacious means, but I KNOW I’m right about that aerator ….!”. 

 Doesn’t Seem Like …

On the way back from the doctor’s office Tuesday, we stopped to pick up the CD of our pictures Cheryl wanted taken of us for our 30^th anniversary.  As I loaded them on my computer tonight, I labeled the file, “30^th Anniversary Pictures” and said to Cheryl: “30^th anniversary.  It doesn’t seem like 30 years does it; it only seems like …. what, 28?”  (Just kidding! 😉

 It’s About To Rain

Tuesday afternoon, as a front began to move through Moss Bluff, and rain approached, our son Michael wrote the following and posted it on Facebook:

“The blue sky, broken and separated, retreats far to the north. Hemmed by ominous storm clouds, it moves in defeat, conquered by a coming storm. Heralds of rain boom in the background, as if sounding the charge of lightning. And then, slowly, the massive grey shadow crawls, consuming all in its wake.”
One of his friends saw the post on Facebook and asked: “What does that mean?”  Michael answered: “It’s about to rain.”  I guess that was the Readers Digest version!

 Do WHAT?!

Tuesday, for a good bit of the day, I had felt mentally and emotionally “brighter”, for want of a better term.  I still got faint when I stood up, but I just felt a bit better.  But after a doctor’s appointment that afternoon, as I was just sitting in my chair, I began to feel the worst I have this whole season.  I told Cheryl: I need to write this down – that I am feeling bad, and what time it is – maybe it will help us figure something out.  She said: “Yes, that would be a good idea.  You should write down what time it is, and when you feel bad – and everything else: what time you took your medication, and what time you ate dinner, and what hours you slept, and make a chart of how all of the different elements interact, and color parts of it in red, and see where they overlap …”.  Overwhelmed, I said; “If I could do all that, I could go back to work!”  

Sympathy in Action:

Going to the hospital Thursday for some tests, I had to begin the day fasting.  But that didn’t faze Cheryl.  Grabbing a snack in the kitchen on the way out, I could hear her say, “No reason for BOTH of us to go hungry …”.  (Later she told me she didn’t know I could hear her say that!)

 Well, that will conclude “This Week In Paradise” for this edition.  I am going to try to attend Libby’s graduation Saturday, so perhaps we will have an update on those goings-on later.  I hope you have a blessed weekend. 

(P.S.: Cheryl has screened and approved every one of these stories in advance. No marriages were harmed in the writing of this project! 😉  After all, this is … Paradise! 🙂