Maybe I look down my nose at those options because when I was in high school, we had to do service, and Marybeth and I had a weekly appointment at a nursing home, where we helped with bingo, played the piano and sang hymns we didn't know, or just talked to the residents, and it was always awkward and a little uncomfortable. I think we did it for a semester. Come to think of it, I also did nursing home service when I was a pre-teen, at the request of my friend Nikki (or maybe her parents). One of the nursing home residents I met would sometimes call me up at home, to chat. Uncomfortable. I was 11, and she only barely knew me. She could kind-of ramble and I remember trying diligently to end the calls. I guess she needed someone, and now looking back, I hope I was at least a little bit of a comfort to her.
Anyway, since it's Alex's last year in Catholic school and he'll have to do even MORE service during his Confirmation year coming up, I have been thinking we need to progress beyond Safety Patrol. (I should say that he's also helped a couple of Eagle Scouts on their projects, but now he isn't in Scouts any more, so that's out.) There should probably be some kind of sacrificing involved, like a couple of hours on a weekend, don't you think? I'm not making him go to a nursing home, but I did sign us up, him and me, to work at the Parish Picnic this Saturday. They needed a lot of volunteers, so I picked the Putt Putt Challenge. Sounds pretty stress-free and hopefully we'll get the sense that we're serving the community in some way. (He has to turn in a form every quarter that asks, "How do you feel you benefited spiritually from this service?" That's hard to answer for school Safety Patrol, he's told me. Might be hard for putt-putt, too, but we'll see.)
I'd like to do something even more meaningful, like helping at the St. Vincent DePaul society store or a homeless ministry, but it takes a bit more effort to connect with those things. I'm going to try, though.
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Opposite of service: What I really want to do this weekend is N O T H I N G. Not that we've been doing a lot on the weekends, really, but Wednesday and Thursday nights, I've just come home exhausted. I guess having hurricane company drained me. And I think being bored at work doesn't help. Seriously, yesterday I had so few tasks and deadlines, I felt it physically (and mentally) by the end of the day. Restless, but seated at a desk. Anxious, but also unmotivated. You know when you lay around and do nothing all day but you feel extra tried by the end? It was like that. Awful. Today I made sure to have a couple of work tasks ready and waiting.
And then, I will look forward to:
- Cleaning my kitchen. Totally needs it after two weekends of company in a row.
- Going to the grocery store on a Friday night. No one will be there and it will be blissful!
- Switching my purse. Had to buy a new one yesterday at Target -- it had been SO long since I'd spent $100 at Target! (I also got new sponges, with which I'll clean the kitchen!)
- Decorating for fall? It could happen.
- Having my morning coffee on the back patio, and needing a sweatshirt if it's chilly.
- Finishing my book (The Glass Castle - really good!)
One other thing. I started daydreaming yesterday that I'd really love to rent a cabin in the mountains some fall weekend. Take an extra day off, even. I don't quite know why, except, well, I DO know that being outdoors makes me happy, and the woods seems to be my "happy place" more than the beach. Also, it's like being at home without having any chores that need doing. I wonder if we can make it happen this fall? Early Nov. or late Oct. maybe? I barely even care about seeing fall color -- I'd just like to have the getaway and the fresh air. Hmm.
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