Hellooooooo...

I'm coming to you live from CC's Coffee House on Coursey, though I suppose that it is actully officially Community Coffee House, now. CC's is a local coffee house chain. They have a higher market share here than Starbucks, which is a rarity. The are so dominant around here, that Starbucks is actually closing all but two of their freestanding stores in Baton Rouge (9 total) because they can't compete with CC's. Just thought you should know all that.



In other news, I made an appointment for a manicure and pedicure. That's about as adventurous as I could get. But it is a step outside my comfort zone, and it is something totally frivolous and just for me.



I've also decided to buy a new bed. I've been putting it off because of the looming "they're-tearing-down-my-building-to-build-more-overpriced-condos", but it seems like the guy who owns the property is giving up on that plan since the existing overpriced condos aren't selling very fast. I've been sleeping on the sofa for three years because my mattress (a hand-me-down) kept giving me staph infections, despite having several layers between me an the mattress (a fitted sheet, a mattress cover, a comforter, and another fitted sheet) and repeated sprayings with Lysol. So it's time.



The only problem with the plan is that I have been using the bed as storage for the past three years, so I have to find a place for all that crap. That is my big adventure this week.



Tonight, for my stepping-outside-my-comfort-zone adventure, I went someplace to eat all by myself - and it wasn't a drive through window. Granted, it was only the local Chinese buffet, but I still went all alone. Also, I never want to eat again.



What else...made it to church for the third week in a row. It was a close call, though, because I woke up at 9 a.m. (service is at 9:30). I honestly probably would have skipped this week, if it weren't for the fact that I had school supplies to drop off. My church sponsors a local public elementary school. That is pretty common around here because the public schools are horribly underfunded. They need churches and businesses to make up the slack. We buy school supplies for their students (98% at that school receive free or reduced price lunches), make repairs to the school, tutor students in reading and math, and generally do what we can to make the school a better place.



We had a supply pastor again this week. We still haven't hired an interim. It's hard to get a Lutheran pastor to move to south Louisiana to be with a small congregation for a year or so. Go figure. There are three Lutheran pastors in South LA who don't currently have congregations. Two are special assistants to the bishop who are working with Katrina/Rita recovery, and the other is CEO of a hospice organization here. Between them, they provide supply pastor serivces for ever congregation from the Mississippi border to the Texas boarder. Granted, that is only about...1o congregations total, but still. The woman who presided today (one of the special assistants) is a good preacher, but a little weak liturgically. The woman we had the previous two weeks (the hospice CEO) is a fantastic preacher and and pretty good liturgically. I've enjoyed the change of pace they have provided.



The only other people currently in the coffee house are a group of teenage girls. They are really loud, really giggly, and flirting like mad with the barista. I'm pretty sure he is gay, but as we have established, my gaydar sucks. Just thought you all should know.



Anyway, I wonder where I congregation will be going in the future. We don't have that many kids. I may find myself teaching middle school Sunday School this fall, and in grades 6 and 7 (8th grade is confirmation which is traditionally taught by the pastor) there are a total of 8 kids. That makes me sad for a lot of reasons. I really wish more people around here knew what the Lutheran denomination is about. There are a lot of non-practicing Catholics around here who I think could find a home with us (the big issues around here are women not having a big enough role and the overly political role the Church takes around here). But down here, a lot of people have never heard of Lutherans. You are either Catholic, Baptist, or (maybe) Methodist. I've kind of spread the word, but I don't know if it has meant anything.

Oh, and I learned how to make a motif in crochet this weekend. That is a major victory for me. I've been avoiding them because of some bad experiences with granny squares, but I learned how to make a simple, really pretty hexagon this weekend. it's exciting.

Well, I'm going to get kicked out of the coffee house in about 5 minutes as it is close to 10 p.m. I will, however, be sitting in my car for about 30 minutes because I am downloading the second to last episode of Torchwood.

This has been the official report for the first day of my vacation. Tune in tomorrow for the laundromat report. We now return you to your regularly scheduled internet, already in progress.