A Quiet Sunday

"It's 7:30, mom, and we have to be to church early for choir practice." I was still buried under my duvet this morning when my daughter decided to come get me. Did you know that a person can check the internet, shower and "do" the hair, dress and get make-up on, eat breakfast, feed the cats, make sure the children are on schedule, and stoke the stove in less than 45 minutes?

My mind was wandering too much in church this morning. I just couldn't seem to get it to settle on the task at hand. Perhaps I am tired; bedtime has been creeping back a little each night. My husband stayed at church to wait for my youngest's Sunday school class to be done since we drove separately, and my daugher drove the rest of us home. We are into the days of the driver's permit. Such bold parents we are!

Sunday dinner was chuck roast, baked potatoes, and cauliflower. I'd rather have had something other than white potatoes and white cauliflower on the plate, but the cauliflower needed to be used up. Does anyone else color coordinate meals? I have an angel food cake made, but it was not cool enough to turn over and cut, so we will have that served with strawberries a little later. I probably should not admit this, but I never made my daughter's birthday cake in August since she was at the Wisconsin State Fair on her birthday. I am just now getting one made for her. (She did get a birthday gift!).

Now I am sitting here typing, my husband is snoozing in the bedroom, and my children are scattering to various Sunday afternoon pleasures. If you were to drop by, you could enjoy the sunshine we are having. It has been way too long since that large orb shone in the Wisconsin skies! You could play with all the fuzzy cats that are spread out for a nap on the deck. Most likely you could get the pleasure of watching a large calf enjoying the grass in my backyard; her name is Toothberry (I could tell you the story of her name if you wanted to hear it), and she has learned that her small size allows her to go wandering for better grazing. Unless we lock her in a pen, there is no way to keep her from walking through the barbed wire fence. Since she is not weaned, she never strays far. The beautiful scene is marred, however, by the sound of the grain bin; we are drying down the corn that has just been harvested, and the burner and fan are loud. I always wish we could build a sound barrier so that it would not be so noisy. One year my husband put a row of round bales around it, and that helped, but it seems to bother me more than anyone else and is not much of a priority. I suppose I could learn how to drive the big tractor with the bail stabber, right?

I do not make an evening meal on Sunday. The family is responsible to get their own supper, so I am done with kitchen duty. I'll probably get a book and curl up in my big, green chair; I'll be able to doze in the chair but not sleep so soundly that it will affect tonight's sleep. Then I really ought to take a walk (but I probably won't). If I do, I'll throw an orange vest on so that the hunters can see me coming. Can you believe that someone shot a prize llama while deer hunting? Obviously, the rule that requires them to see what they are shooting prior to pulling the trigger was too difficult a concept.

Tonight we will look to see if there is something the family can watch together, or we might pull out the game of Clue or chess or dominoes. I'll get the advent wreath out of the Christmas box and we will read something, too. We are reading Isaiah together; which Christmas book should I choose? I always read The Twenty-four Days before Christmas by Madeleine L'Engle. Last year I read "The Chimes" by Charles Dickens. Any suggestions?

And I'll keep the fire stoked in case you stop by.

Blessings!