Day of Rest

Having been raised in an Old World Roman Catholic family, my parents took very seriously the admonition of Sunday being a day of rest.

There were things that we could not do on Sundays, such as use scissors, because using them was considered to be "work."

I distinctly remember talking my mother into allowing me to use scissors and the sewing machine because I considered sewing a blouse that I wanted to wear to school the next day as something "fun" ~ not "work." (Did I really enjoy sewing then?)

Now that I have grown much older, I have come to value maintaining Sunday as a day of rest.

While I do not strictly adhere to devoting the entire day to "rest," Sunday is THE day that I have determined to be a guilt-free day for non-productivity.

Like any other day, Sunday starts off with my feeding the critters and reading the newspaper. What kind of morning would it be without my newspaper? I am simply wired to read. There's no way around that!

However, what comes next is not something that is common to the rest of the week.

After reading the paper (which I may not often finish), I head out to do my usual Sunday routine.

Once I shower and get dressed, I am out the door on my way to church.

But first I stop at the local CVS to drop off the presciptions that need to be filled and to pick up a copy of the Sunday Providence Journal-Bulletin. (Hey! It may have been 26 years since I've lived in Providence; but I am still a Providence girl!)

They all know me by name at the CVS. In fact, the pharmacy techs notice when I miss a Sunday visit or if I show up on a day other than Sunday. They all know the routine: pick up the paper, drop off the meds, and be back after church.

Next stop is the Church of the Good Shepherd ~ my spiritual home.

I make sure I get there early ~ especially on the Sundays when I am scheduled to serve wine as a lay Eucharistic minister.

Pre-church fellowship is just as important as the fellowship that follows the service. Usually one of my fellow parishioners (whom I call "Grumpy" and who calls me "Grouch") and I will share a butt in the boiler room on days when it's cold and outside when days are nice.

If there's a church that's welcoming and affirming, Good Shepherd is it!

After church there's fellowship, where I am one of the last to leave.

Then it's a trip back to the CVS to pick up the paper and meds, and onto Shaw's Supermarket to do my grocery shopping.

Shaw's has these great sales on the weekend ~ lots of "buy one get one free" and "10 for $10."

While I am not one to get suckered into buying things just because they are on sale, Shaw's weekend specials have many of the things that I would normally buy.

Once I am done with Shaw's, I usually go home, unless I need to stop at Denise's Pet Care (where they also know me) to pick up pet food and supplies.

Then ~ homeward bound! Yippee!

Once I get the groceries put away, that's when the serious "Sunday-is-a-day-of-rest" business starts!

At that point, nothing will tear me away from the newspaper!

I will spend the next few hours savoring the pages of the paper, and then playing Zuma on my cell phone until it is time to feed the beasts.

Once everyone's been satiated, it's back to goofing off.

However, after that comes the part that I really need to attend to before I can continue in my blissful and guilt-free goofing off ~ and that is doling out the meds for the following week. With my husband being disabled, there are a lot of pharmaceuticals that need to be doled out.

Because of the foot traffic in our house due to the many friends that Ariana brings into the house, it has become a prudent idea to store all the medications in a safe. And each Sunday night, I need to get to the safe and tap in the combination before I can continue to fulfill my responsibility in making sure that all medication doses are available for the coming week.

It really does not take all that long to do. In fact, I could probably do it in my sleep.

But it's one of those things that I need to make sure that get done.

And I cannot continue in my goofing-off until it is done.

But when it's done, it's clear goof-off sailing ahead!

The rest of the evening and night is mine!

What do I do now?

Oooooh!

Wait a minute!

I think I hear Ben and Jerry's Crème Brûlée ice cream calling to me. (It was on sale, you know.)

Hold on, Ben and Jerry!

I'm coming!