The Sabbath Experience -- week 47 and another chance to win

If ever there was a day I embraced my Sabbath Experiment, it was yesterday! By the time I got home from church and lunch out with the family, I was exhausted. There were loads of chores awaiting me: a kitchen to clean up, beds to strip, guest towels to wash, a patio to clean up, vacuuming to be done, mounds of recycling to put out for pickup (I'll explain later), etc. So what did we do? We napped. And it was glorious.

After sleeping for 2 1/2 hours, we still faced the same mess. So what did we do? We played Banagrams. And watched an episode of Beauty and the Beast. And chatted with a neighbor whose wife and 4 kids headed to Bethany Beach that morning, leaving him home alone with the dog.

When I went to bed last night, I knew I had to wake up a seemingly endless To-Do list, but I went to sleep happy. Oh, and relaxed, as my husband tried out our new hot stone massage kit on me. Ahhh.

If someone stopped over this morning, I'd be slightly embarrassed by the condition of my house. But at least I'd be relaxed about it. The only thing we did work wise yesterday was gather the little bit of trash we had to put out, take stuff to the compost pile in the woods, and deal with the massive amount of recycling we had.

The birthday boy with my mom and me

You see, Saturday was our grandson's 1st birthday celebration, complete with 73 guests! Since the park my daughter rented for the party didn't have a recycling receptacle, we gathered it ourselves and brought it all home. And, let me tell you, there was a massive amount of it! Bill crushed all the cans and by the time he was done, we had our normal recycling bin filled, along with 2 bushel baskets and a huge box. I'd say we did our part for the environment on this particular trash day!!

The preparations for this party started out joyful enough. However, on Lincoln's actual birthday, his great-grandfather died. Uh oh. Suddenly, in addition to having out-of-town company coming and food to prepare and pick-up, we had to all make adjustments, as my son-in-law's family was focusing on viewings and a funeral, which was on the same day as the party. Not to mention the emotional impact of a death in the family. Oh, and my daughter ended up getting sick on Friday night and felt lousy all weekend. Not fun.

In the end, everyone seemed to enjoy a party that got off to a rocky start. I met my daughter's new group of friends from her mom's group, all of which were delightful young women with lovely families. I must admit, that was a perk of the day. Lincoln got to be the center of attention of friends, family and church family. And I was able to spend 3 days with my mom and cousin, Kelly, who traveled across the state to celebrate Linc's birthday. Kelly is the cousin I mentioned in my first post who encouraged me to start this Green Grandma blog. I will always be grateful to her for that.

By the time we got home from the party on Saturday, we were beat. Which is why the house is still a mess. Our guests went home yesterday afternoon, which is why there are beds to strip and towels to wash. But a need for Sabbath rest took precedence yesterday and I'm so glad I honored my commitment to it.

Now, the workweek has begun and I'm a bit overwhelmed with all I have to do. But it will get done, even if the laundry has to wait another day or two. In the end, none of this will matter. No one's keeping tabs on my housekeeping duties. Let's face it -- there are more important things in life than always having a clean house. But let me tell you, when it's time to get it done, I'll be counting on Norwex, Eco Nuts and vinegar to make it simpler and non-toxic. Oh ... the sun just came out. Maybe I'll throw the sheets in the wash afterall. It looks going to be a great day to hang out laundry.

Sharing my Sabbath Experience with you,

Hana

Oh wait, I promised another chance to win the awesome prize package that's being awarded on Wednesday, didn't I? Well, how about if you simply post a comment on your FB wall saying, "I want to win the Green Grandma giveaway!" That will earn you 5 extra entries! If you link to the GG FB page, you'll get 3 more! You have until midnight on Monday night (EST) to get the extra entries.