Interesting weekend. Started off sort of gross and then turned fun.
Saturday morning I joined the others on the Kitchen Committee to the on some cleaning and repairs in the community kitchen, wearing old jeans and a denim shirt. Not very femme of me! I offered to clean the refrigerator. Yow... Bear in mind that I was one of the few folks in my Navy days small enough to be lowered into a sanitary tank to do inspections and repair closeouts. This was worse.
I completely emptied the huge commercial fridge, and sorted stuff into "unexpired and looks OK", "expired or looks nasty", and unlabeled repackaged leftovers. The latter two groups got turned into compost and recyclables. I removed the interior shelving for washing, scraped the mysterious glop out of the bottom (pretty thick mix of spilled 'stuff' left to age for a while), scrubbed the entire interior and door seals out, cleaned the shelving, and reassembled the thing in about 2.5 hours. I washed and sanitized the recovered kitchen bowls and storage containers that were salvageable, then cleaned up the wash area.
This left me smelly and tired. When I got home, I cleaned myself up, shower and whatnot, and put on leggings and a dress I really liked. I did my makeup, and felt human finally. I thought I'd reward myself that night by going out to dinner, and had a fun thought. I put a little blurb out for 'friends' on Facebook offering to buy them dinner if they'd like to join me. I was prepared to dine alone, what I usually do, but thought it might be fun to see if anyone else at loose ends would like to join me.
Yes! One person, possibly my favorite friend, was available. We get along really well, and often wind up making each other laugh repeatedly with slightly silly antics. So, a little later we met up at the restaurant, and wound up spending a couple of hours together, commiserating, laughing, and sharing secrets. Oh, but we both had a grand time!
I walked my friend back to their car and headed back to my apartment, stopping at a Peet's for a little cappuccino on the way. I had a wonderful evening.
This morning I woke early, and finished some graphics tasks, little things for a committee project. It was still early, and I hadn't eaten yet. I knew I wouldn't get back from the UU church activities until mid-afternoon, so I needed to do some sort of brunch to hold me till evening. Ah, a local bistro I like had just opened its doors for the Sunday crowd and would not be too busy yet, so I headed over for breakfast. Veggie egg white omelet, fresh fruit, and a small bowl of oatmeal hit the spot, along with coffee and complementary coffee cake. Afterward I stopped to buy some flowers and headed to church.
The UU service today featured their Flower Communion ceremony, which was really nice, a pretty and uplifting thing. The coffee klatch went well, and I distributed some of the new LGBTQ group name tags we did up. After a coffee break we went into a Congregational Assembly to handle business and recognize some folks. They'd read out some info on a person's activities, what was award-worthy, and then name the person and have them come forward for the award. That's when I got a surprise.
They started reading off activities that sounded familiar, and I started trying to guess which of the people I worked with was getting the award. Nancy? No, they mentioned the coffee service. Melissa? No, they mentioned grilling at the BBQ. Um. That was me! I had my name called out and I walked up to the sanctuary in front of everyone, and was given an award for outstanding volunteer service from a new member. Wow.
After the meeting and socializing, I headed home, tidied up, then went out (with 3 days of hair on my face, BTW. Electrolysis in the morning.) to take care of a few things. First, I had promised myself summer-weight walking shoes, and I had something in mind. Off to a shoe store, where I picked up the samples and asked if they had those in a 42 (my size in this particular line; the shoes run narrow and small; I usually take a 10 to 9 1/2 US). They did! Score one-oh. Next, I wanted a couple of midi to maxi skirts, in a lighter shade, for casual summer wear. I find them much more comfortable than tight jeans on hot days. Again, I found two at pretty good prices. Score 3-0.
Back home, fixed dinner, spend an hour on the phone doing planning and yakking for an upcoming event, and finally got on line to catch up.
I've learned some things recently. One very important thing is to shut up and listen. Just listen. Don't interrupt the other person, just let them talk, and make affirming gestures. But really listen! That's particularly important.
It seems that many people don't listen to others, and feel a need to comment on, or worse, correct what another person is saying, no matter how important what they are saying is to them. Really listening helps them to communicate, and helps you to really understand them. It fosters a deeper connection. And that's important, too.
