DARLINGS,
I am so sorry to have neglected you this week. My organizational skills have been missing in action and I am behind on everything: writing, pastoral calls, laundry, cleaning, correspondence, planning, and several other categories of life.
These are the times when ministry as a single gal feels ridiculous. I SO want to call my husband and say, “Look, I really must stay at the office through to the board meeting tonight, can you walk the dog and put away the dishes in the dishwasher, bring the folded laundry upstairs, change the sheets, drop off the dry cleaning and bring me some dinner?”
One serious problem that I run into during weeks like this is that I don’t eat at regular intervals and wind up with plummeting or skyrocketing blood sugar. Doc says that has to be TOP priority when I get busy. So with no Minister’s Wife to see to it that I have breakfast or dinner on the table, I must take time to prepare it for myself. I find commercially prepared foods unbearably salty now that I’m cooking more for myself, and there are very few healthy options very close to where I live.
I haven’t been on the treadmill for three days.
Doesn’t Self-Care sometimes feel like a team of wild horses that we have to drag onto the track with every bit of our strength?
Can you tell I’m a bit frantic?
Anyway, I am heading to New York City for a week of culture, diversity, and WALKING. City walking is my favorite past time and although it’s going to be danged cold, I very much look forward to my strolling and window shopping.
I will be staying in the Village. Call me if you want to have coffee or make a pilgrimage to the Times Square Sephora (cue heavenly angel music) with me.
Oh, PeaceBang, you speak the words right out of my mouth. Ridiculous is the word, yes, sometimes. I think this might be the reason they give residents (medical and chaplain) free meals at the hospital cafeteria, because they know we won’t eat if they don’t hand it to us already cooked.
But some days when I get home, especially when my poor pooch is hopping around with her stuffed fleecy toy and I have just pastored a family through whatever it was in the ICU or the ED and I’m about to pass out from the emotional and physical fatigue, all I can do is throw her out in the yard to do her own thing and give her an extra treat.
It seems ridiculous and crazy sometimes. And then I think about my single sisters (and brothers) who have children, too, and I’m in awe of what THAT must be like.
Team of wild horses? Yes. Enjoy your trip, and don’t forget to take some time for you! 🙂
Most soup freezes well in serving-size containers and with some bagged salad mix, purchased prepared salad, and/or some bread from the store, it can make a nice meal. Of course, I don’t always heed this advice, but do as I say, not as I do. Best wishes for a week or renewal!
Just so you don’t think the grass is really greener, if/when I ask my husband to do a laundry list like that because of “my job/vocation/call” he does NOT appreciate it! Sometimes I wonder if being single is better suited for being a minister. I have 3 full-time jobs and can’t do any of them well: wife, mother, priest….and caretaker of a dog with cancer and a new puppy. Life is full of blessings….but….
I hope that things turn around for you soon and that the cycle goes back to some more smooth downtime!
I just had to comment to say that I LOVE that pic of you at the bottom of the post! It is fabulous!
PB, try carrying a small shoulder cooler with you wherever you go. Contents: boiled egg(s), baked chicken breast, veggie you can stand to eat cold or lukewarm, slice apple, homemade protein bars or Larabars. Boil up 1/2 dozen eggs to grab as needed during the week, along with 2-3 chicken breasts that you’ve baked and sliced up, ready to go for multiple meals. Don’t forget your trusty ice water bottle.
This may seem like a pain but carrying food around in a small cooler is a lifesaver when you are out and about all the live long day. I’ve gotten used to it and never leave home without my cooler. I also keep trail mix and a jar of almonds in my car at all times. I’m not a minister but a mom with tons of errands to run and places to be, in addition to my part-time work schedule.
Enjoy NYC! My brother lives there (although, at the moment he is living temporarily in NOLA) and I love our vists, infrequent though they are.
*hugs*
Have a lovely time in NYC – I’m going myself for the first time*, in Feb – catching a bit of NY Fashion Week.
*Except for a two day trip in high school many years ago.
Welcome to NYC! I hope you have a great time here!
Another variant on the cooler idea: if you have some food that stands freezing, like chicken breasts, you can cook a batch, cut them into bite size pieces and freeze them in individual portion bags, then pop a bag in your briefcase/daypack/etc each day to defrost by lunch. I used to use this idea a lot to throw extra protein on a sandwich shop salad at lunchtimes.
Sounds like the good Pastor needs Pablo the house Steward! However, since that is probably not likely, I think that the restorative trip to NYC, with all the requried walking, is a great idea. Travelling mercies.