Sundays in our Neighborhood

Saturday is a special day, it's a day we get ready for Sunday! That's what I think of when I think of Sundays. Yesterday was different. This Saturday I had a full schedule...

1. family pics in the a.m. (goodbye David, sorry I didn't hear your talk)
2. then out to the in-laws in the afternoon to see off the rest of the fam for a Mariner's Game (they surprised great grandma with tickets - they got some hats, saw a homer & won!),
3. little shopping for jeans for me (turning out not for me since I was out of luck; I originally put "little jeans shopping" then realized that denotes that the jeans are little),
4. purchasing maybe outfits for the family pictures for the kids,
5. a nap because my body ordered one (last week I saw a doctor and did a blood test so hopefully this week we'll have the results and I'll quit having to crash during the day),
6. pick up girlfriends for Women's Conference,
7. Volterra Restaurant with four fun Twilight book friends for dinner (Wild Boar for the first time, with beet greens, parsnips and a delicious Gorgonzola demi-glaze)
8. then pick up Ryan (feels like a brother) so we could hang out with Colin (looks like he could be my brother) who was from out of town here shooting a wedding (sushi at Umi in Seattle - hibachi style yellow fin tuna)
9. and home just after 1am.

At my age, getting to bed after 11pm isn't a good idea, but sometimes it's gotta be done. I told myself that it'd be nice if I could wake up at 7am to call my favorite camera store (they open at 10am EST, so 7am my time) and adjust my order before it shipped. But seeing that I was hitting the hay sooo late, I also told myself that it will all work out if I didn't wake up, so I didn't set an alarm. Go figure, my body wakes me up at 6:58am to potty and just in time to call the store. I decided to check my email in case they got my change (didn't yet) and talked to customer service (already shipped - dangit - just refuse pkg when it arrives and they'll take care of it - YAY i heart them). While checking email, I noticed a Facebook invitation notification and decided to check it out before getting back to bed (normally I don't fall back to sleep very easily but I was BEAT and ready to hit the hay).

The invitation was to join an "In Memory Of" group for this young man, Tyler Bleyl, a senior in high school.

WHAT?!? He's my sushi pal? I just saw him in July (when I took this pic with my PnS). WHAT?!?

I laid back down in shock. When I woke up a couple hours later, I was exhausted still. That emotional, groggy, I slept-but-not-really kind of feeling. All I could think about was him, his family, his friends and this sweet girl who would miss her friend. My stomach was in knots and my body was tense. I thought about my own kids as I thought about his mother, my friend, in complete shock and denial.

Church would be the place you'd want to be to reconcile this news, normally. But for me, I wanted to stay home that day around my family... soak it up and ponder about this boy, my friend.

Our church is organized to have a certain geographical area attend at the same time at the same building so that you know your neighbors, can help one another and share the good stuff without having to travel all over the dadgum place. Because of that, when you're not at church, people notice. They notice then they call to make sure everything is okay.

I received a few phone calls asking where I was. "I didn't feel like going to church, so I didn't," was my reply, trying to be discrete. One friend joked, "I didn't either but I went anyway." Usually when I don't feel like going is exactly when I should be going :)

The last call of the day I changed my answer and explained why I didn't feel like it... that was nice. Talking about it seemed to purge some of that icky feeling. This friend understood and talked about how sweet life is and how precious we should make every moment.

The other thing that was nice was that people cared. Having a foundation of people who care where I am, wonder if I'm okay and are willing to do something about it if I need it... that's another good thing about the church I attend. We lift each other up and take turns doing so. Living so close makes it more possible than if we're spread out.

Going to sleep last night, well, that's another story and another after 1am one. As I laid there, I couldn't help but think of the news. Over and over and over until I finally drifted off to sleep.

P.S. Thanks Lyn + kids for stopping by on your walk Friday. It was nice to see your cute faces and visit for a spell. Spell. Isn't it nice to start using Fall words already? :)