Circus Weekend

Friday night, we took the kids to dinner at The Shuckin' Shack for some seafood. You know your kids are too sheltered (and watch too much t.v.) when they get into an urban area & ask, "Mom, are we in the 'hood?" Oy vey! Must remedy that! Pie was ecstatic over his crab, Boot liked his shrimp gumbo but not his fried shrimp, J liked her scallops fine, but liked my blackened catfish much better. We went to bed fairly early since J had to work Saturday.

While she was at work, I did housework & some writing & errands. I picked up Pie's new bike & some groceries. I finished listening to Bee Season & moved on to something much lighter, a Mitford book. When J got home, we watched the third Matrix movie (me with one eye, the other being on my book) & had dinner. J made a pizza for Boot & spaghetti with vodka sauce & Italian sausage for the rest of us. It was really good. Then, the boys were allowed to go back to their much-enjoyed flopping in their bedrooms doing nothing in particular. We watched Meet The Fockers, which was a fun movie. Before bed, I whipped up some cheesecake dip for coffee hour. We had already delivered a bunch of salad to the church fridge.

Sunday morning, I got up early to cube the poundcake. We got that & the fruit trays settled in the church kitchen before going to Sunday School. In Sunday school, we watched a couple of "Hashing It Out" episodes with Tony Campolo & another guy (Steve Brown, maybe?). They talked about the Devil, about how evangelicals are trying to look outside & blame things on the "gay agenda" rather than looking at their own families, and about whether advertising is corrupting society. We had an interesting discussion. I was bold enough to bring up gay issues twice. Once was talking about how some fundies are blaming the hurricane on the gay pride festival that was coming up & the other time was about how my "gay agenda" includes things like packing the kids' lunches, meeting pastors to talk about contextual education placements, & attending my Old Testament class. Church was fine, with a sermon on wading through the mud & water. Brendan connected the exodus with the hurricane. He also suggested that we be open to change, trusting that the waters will not fall upon us. I wonder what he's up to, if anything.

The kids were hideous during church, especially Boot, who was tapping his feet & incessantly writing notes to his mother. I finally took his paper. Pie was mostly just not paying attention: getting out crayons when he should have been in prayer, sitting when we stood. I heard from their Sunday School teacher that they were fairly disruptive in class as well. Argh. So, I was relieved when we ducked out of the service just after the offertory to help with coffee hour. It being Rally Day, Program & Worship was hosting a light lunch. I hung out in the kitchen with the guys, opening buns, and by the food with the girls, trading compliments & jokes. I am so conflicted about the idea of leaving this church. I hate that I can't be ordained in the Presbyterian church. This is home. I am excited about the opportunities for growth at the UCC, but so sad that the Presby church just isn't stepping up to the plate on social justice. I don't think I can cut ties to my church altogether, even when I am pastoring another. I will have to visit.

After lunch, the kids went over to Jason & Mark's house, happy to avoid a trip to the circus. They hate the circus. So, J & I went by ourselves & had a marvelous time! I can't possibly describe everything we saw. We had good seats, right in front of the center ring. The acrobatics were fantastic, the dogs riding horses were great, the tigers were gorgeous, the elephants were delightful, the costumes were dazzling, the percussion act was exciting, and the clowns weren't at all scary. Most of the circus folks were South or Central American, so the music was stuff like Ricky Martin & Enrique Iglesias, which I enjoyed.

We walked out of the bigtop into the bright sunlight & stopped to pet goats & an Indian cow. The llamas were back farther, in the deep shade, so we didn't get to pet them. But, they were fun to look at. J didn't want to ride an elephant & the line was kind of long, so I didn't ride, either. Maybe I can talk her into it next time they come to town. Instead, we went to Nick's for a snack, nachos & soda. Then, we picked the bitties up from their friends' house & rented some videos. We let the kids get games (at $7.99 a pop!) & ice cream. J got an animated vampire movie called, I think, Vampire Hunter D, which she watched while I fixed dinner. The boys played their games & I hummed as I spread lemon curd on a tart shell. Pie adores the game he rented, Amazing Island, & wants to get straight As so that we'll buy it for him. We had dinner together (oven-fried chicken, 4-cheese pasta, salad, & plum tart), then went to bed. I stayed up studying & doing laundry for awhile, then headed to bed, too.