Two Week Vacation

I've been on vacation for two weeks -- and I have to admit that I have missed my blog. That makes me cringe a little. But, I gotta say that after being in DC with lots and lots of fellow bloggers just two weeks ago, I have missed my blog. Really, I have missed my friends. < < Hello friends!! > > (Is that a hug or a wave? Who cares?)

Last week, I took an art class on Cape Cod with an old, old friend. It was great to spend time with her. We haven't seen this much of each other in ten years. And we got to paint horrible color studies and pretend that we could still be artists. We had met in art school in high school. Then, we were gifted and talented. Now, we might be -- but only on a good day. And though I hate color studies, it was great to be playing with paint again. We got to embrace gay culture in P'town at Carnival. Though gay culture is never far from my life, I was urked that the queer community in P'town doesn't understand the indulgence of Carnival in relationship to the religious observance. Whatever. It was fun. And I got to spend time at the beach. Hooray!

I'm still at the beach visiting family in Long Island. It's raining. It's been raining for two days. This is bad beach weather. But, I got to go school shopping with my sister and be horrified by some of her 16-year-old sense of fashion (She's adorable, mind you).

And everyone wants to know how my new life is. How is it? they all want to know. And I can say that church is great. Church is great. I love what I do. I love it so much and I'm so relieved that I'm not constantly thinking about what I left behind or worrying about the ill members. Yeah! And my job is a little funky for folks that are not active in church... So, I constantly wonder how I should explain what I do.

I usually start with the job description. "I cover four areas of ministry: worship, mission, youth and education...." But, then I get stuck because I don't really know how to explain what I do in these areas. I don't really do any of these things (Thanks be to God). I get other people excited about them and help them to do it. I recruit where I needed. I support and hold hands. I grieve with them when it doesn't work. I celebrate when anyone has good news. I could explain all of this, and though I try the reply always comes back: "So, what do you do every day?"

Sigh. "Well, I start my day with a large cup of coffee. I check my messages. First on the phone and then e-mail. I talk to the church administrator and see how her dating life is going. I talk to the Senior Minister about stuff. And then, well, I don't know. It depends on the day... Sometimes I go to the hospital. Sometimes I take people out for ice cream or coffee. Sometimes I work for hours and hours to create curriculums. Or I talk on the phone..." All of this is met with blank stares. Does anyone else have this experience?

Being with family is great because they really care about your social life. And this side of my family all wants me to paint -- which I have fallen out of practice with. They are cute about it though. And I would love to get back into it but it hasn't been a need recently. Although, I'm thinking about the Manifesta. And I hear Stacey echoing in my head, "By all means, join a rock band." Like hell. But, I could take an art class. And maybe I should... Arg. Vacation should't make you feel bad about being lonely in your new home. Vacation should be about giggling and watching movies and being lazy. Right? Right. I'm going to go be lazy some more. I only have 5 more days to be lazy.