Chicken & Theology

Yesterday, I spent time looking up the syllabi & book lists for my Fall semester classes. I printed out a couple of pieces from the Nag Hammadi library & a copy of the Didache, the reading for the first day of my church history class. I read those to J at bedtime. I found one piece, The Thunder, Perfect Mind, to be particularly interesting & beautiful, with several references to the feminine divine. I also poked around the UCC & Covenant Network websites. There's a CN church about 1/2 hour from here, as well as 2 affirming UCC churches. I want to check the More Light & TAMFS websites today.

I also went shopping for a half-birthday gift for J & a 1st birthday gift for Garnet, whose party is tomorrow. I found a delightful little fairy, but decided that it might not be safe for her yet. When she is older & less likely to choke on small things, she shall have it. But, I did find a sweet gift for her. I also found a fossil with what looks like a tiny crescent moon for J's gift, along with a gorgeous fairy card. I left those on her pillow for her to discover upon arriving home. She loved them & was especially enchanted with the beautiful envelope. She loves fancy envelopes.

I got in a trip to the library, one of my favorite of holy places, as well. A couple of inter-library loans had come in, a book Brendan recommended I read before starting seminary about homosexuality in Christian community (written by one of his Princeton profs) and Bernadette Brooten's Love Between Women. I also picked up some kids' books on diverse families, a bunch of books for parenting teens, and a couple of cookbooks (Maya Angelou's & a new Cuban one). I just love it there.

J got stuck at work until quite late, so the boys & I went out to visit my grands without her. We picked up chicken on the way. That turned out to be a bit of an ordeal & I wished I'd just roasted a dang chicken. But, Pie's dinner request was for fried chicken & I wanted to honor that. At KFC, they couldn't figure out what I wanted so I had to go inside, where they informed me that they don't have any roast pieces, just sandwiches. So, we went to Lee's & they do sell roast pieces, but only had 2 thighs left. Luckily, that was just right for my grands. The boys wanted fried anyway & I would have preferred roast, but wasn't harmed by fried. We had a nice visit. My grandmom told me about the memorial service for their neighbor's son, who killed himself on Monday. Their neighbor is a very kind old man. His son was living with him. He said it's going to be awful lonesone without him around. The neighbor's wife died this year, too. Poor guy. I have been thinking about working with grieving people in ministry. That is probably going to be the toughest part of the job for me. Glad they'll deal with that topic in seminary! I also found out today that a college friend of my mom's, a wonderful woman whom I have gotten to be friends with as well, has died. She was so cool, very intelligent and a lot of fun to be around. The last time I saw her was when J & I, along with the boys, visited St. Pete. She lived there & we got a sitter one night to go out for Cuban food with her. We went to Habana Café in Gulfport & laughed ourselves silly. From making my first baby blanket before I was born to good friend in my 30s. Damn, Pam, you'll be missed!!!

Anyway, back to last night...my granddad gave Pie a printer to take apart, much to Pie's delight. He loves to take things apart. We took some Dole Caesar salad & some fresh pineapple to go with the chicken & my grandmom made baked potatoes & sweet corn. My granddad had stopped on the way home from table tennis at a roadside stand to pick it up. Yum! I love this time of year. After dinner, the boys watched cartoons & ate cookies while I helped my granddad round up the trash to take up to the road.

Then, we headed home to feed J, stopping only to drop the trash off at the top of the hill. She was ensconced on the couch in her pink pajamas, watching Without a Trace when we got home. The boys were allowed a few more minutes of t.v. time before bed. I fixed J a plate & sat with her while she ate. Then, we went up to bed to finish watching the show there.

My editor is on vacation next week, so I have agreed to send him my review early. I'd better hop to it.