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| View from my office window |
Yesterday, Bill and I did not attend church, which is quite unusual for us. Instead, we headed into the East Liberty section of Pittsburgh to a place called the Waffle Shop. It's a cool little place where they make amazing waffles (I had the pumpkin waffle with cream cheese ... yum), served by students from Carnegie Mellon University. Oh, and they have a small stage set up for talk shows. From 11-12 every Sunday, Chef Tom Totin hosts a show called Cookspeak. Tom contacted me several weeks ago and asked me to come on the show and talk about Vinegar Fridays. It was a delightful hour, although when I went back to watch the segment, I was wishing I had known the camera was running in the 4 minutes or so before the show started, and again, after the show ended. I really didn't want those moments aired. Oh well. And, I was disappointed in the quality of the video, which didn't seem to be an issue in other shows they've taped there. But for Tom's part, it was a nice interview and I would love to do it again.
After the show was over, Bill and I enjoyed chatting with Tom over coffee and (on our part) waffles. It's invigorating to me to talk with someone who's on the same page about BPA in cans, unhealthy foods in schools and deadly toxins in our cleaning products. As I said, it was an unusual, but enjoyable Sunday morning.
We stopped at Construction Junction before heading home, since we were in the area. I can't tell you how disappointed I was with the place. I hadn't been there in several months and was looking forward to introducing Bill to this wonderful warehouse of used building and household supplies. His first comment was about the amount of trash littered across the parking lot. And, I have to admit, it was appalling. Construction Junction has a whole line of recycling dumpsters for a variety of recyclables -- and they were filled to overflowing; thus, the reason for some of the litter, I'm sure.
We went inside and the first thing we looked at was a beat up and filthy claw foot tub. $425! We moved on. There was a beat up porch rail for $60, a nasty-looking kitchen cabinet for $40, some pegboard sheets for $7 each, ceiling fans for $15, and more disgusting-looking old tubs for $425 each. While some prices were reasonable, for the most part, the prices for this stuff was ridiculous. What happened to the Construction Junction I knew and loved?? All I can say is, I won't be going back. Which is too bad. I love the concept of the place. But ridiculous is ridiculous.
Bill wanted me to drive yesterday because I'm more familiar with that area of Pittsburgh. Even though we almost got hit twice (one man went right through a stop sign and a woman turned right in front of us), and I had to dodge quite a few potholes on Penn Avenue (the city ought to be ashamed of themselves!), I found the drive relaxing. Bill had a different take on it, but this is my blog and I simply enjoyed the drive. Why? Perhaps it was because it was the Sabbath and I wasn't in a hurry. Remember Sunday drives? Of course, when you think about Sunday drives, you generally think about peaceful drives in the country, but yesterday, I discovered there's more to it than that. It's about not being in a hurry. Period. It's about not having anywhere in particular to be. It's about having nothing on the agenda. It was Sunday and, other than the show at 11, I didn't have anything I needed to do.
But wasn't there a backlog of work waiting for me at home? Of course. But it was Sunday. Wasn't there cleaning to do? Yep. But it was Sunday. Aren't many of the Christmas decorations still up? Uh huh. But it was Sunday. And I chose to rest.
Admittedly, since it was a beautiful, sunny day, Bill did choose to go outside and take down the decorations that are getting on even his nerves. But he did it at a leisurely pace and got most of it done.
We decided to use some gift cards we got for Christmas and went to Applebee's for dinner. Bill wasn't really in the mood, but didn't tell me that until we were in the car. His mood quickly changed as we ate, talked, and spent time getting to know our waitress, a single mom in her 20s struggling through potty training and a little bit of the terrible twos. She was a delight and made us especially glad we'd gone there.
Once home, we sat done and played games for a couple of hours. We never turned on the television yesterday, which isn't unusual in our home, but I appreciated it nonetheless. I love being married to someone who isn't married to the TV or any other electronic device. Bill doesn't even have a cell phone. Yes, that's inconvenient at times. But, for the most part, it means I don't have to compete with anything when I want his attention. That, my friends, is the making of a good husband. And today, on the day after a restful Sabbath, I'm feeling incredibly blessed.
Sharing my Sabbath experience with you,
Hana
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