Saturday Stuff

• When is a retreat not a retreat? When it's for work and about work. It's "in" I guess to call what are extended staff meetings "retreats." We had one today at my boss' home. I'd been dreading it--mostly just because of the time it would take up. But it really was fine. We all had done a Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and talked about what the results meant for how we interact as a staff and how we see ourselves in our jobs. My type (INFP) hasn't changed since the first time I did the MBTI 20 years ago, but where I fall on each scale has moved a bit. This is the first time I've ever had any E points (I"ve always been off the scale I but this time I had 5 E points--out of 28 so still not many) and I had no J points at all for the first time. Not sure that is a really good thing, but there it is.
• One good thing is that ever since our really tense exchange last Sunday, my boss has been making an effort to communicate better. And that makes me a whole lot easier to get along with. It's been a pretty hectic week with a fair share of crises to deal with so I am grateful for any improvement in the work atmosphere.
  
• I don't know how to break the habit of writing sermons at the last minute. I try to start them sooner, but somehow the words never gel until I am under some time pressure. I've always worked that way, and I plan things accordingly, but sometimes I think it would be really nice to be able to say on Thursday or Friday that I was finished with the sermon. At least I only preach every other week--that I like.
• Not sure what we're doing for Thanksgiving yet. I'm not stressed about not being sure, but every once in a while I realize that most of the world doesn't wait until the very last minute to make decisions about things like this.
• From now til January I will hate more than usual having to go into stores. Too much Christmas way too early. I quickly turn into Scrooge. I hate the secularization and commercialism of Christmas.
• After 10 days of NaBloPoMo I realize I like the discipline of knowing I am committed to writing something (anything?) everyday. I don't know that the quality of what I write has improved any, but there is still over half a month to go. It will be interesting to see how things change at the end of the month.
• The Kid will be 15 next week. November through January is birthday time at chez Rev. Dr. Mom--LD#2, the Kid, me, and LD#1 spaced out over that time. We're not big celebrators, and I feel badly about that sometimes. My kids definitely got the short end of the stick when it came to birthday parties. So did I for that matter.
  
• The Kid turning 15 makes me feel old. And it means that in a year we have to deal with the whole driving thing. And I am NOT GOOD with the whole driving thing.
  
• Monday we (the staff) are painting the church office. Which means another week with insufficient time off. Of course I can take compensatory time, but finding a way to work that in proves to be VERY difficult. I didn't volunteer for this job and it's a bit annoying that I'm expected to show up for it. Plus I'm a crappy painter.
  
• It's been interesting watching how things have unfolded since the election. On the Diane Rehm show Friday they were talking about how Bush had already decided to ditch Rumsfeld when he made that big statement about keeping him around til the end of this administration. Some have argued that it would've helped the Republicans if Bush had ditched him sooner; I don't know but I find Bush's prevarication interesting.
• Nancy Pelosi for President? I could get behind that . Or a Pelosi/Obama ticket--in either order.