End of a Long Week

In a couple of minutes I'm going to roust the children out of bed so we can be on our way down to Landsdale, PA, for the funeral of my great aunt. I'm praying against ice and snow and all manner of catastrophe. And that I'll be able to extract Matt and the boys from bible study without trouble. I have still to buzz around gathering placatory snacks and amusements. I only got through half my list yesterday, having overestimated myself and underestimated the amount of dirt in the boys' room. It seems they had been carefully collecting garbage for many many weeks, lovelingly stashing chewed gum and candy wrappers, pieces of broken toys. It took all day, sorting, throwing, sorting some more, washing sheets and remaking beds. At the end of the day I sat down and carefully enumerated all the tasks for the week, for Matt, so he would definitely know how much work I had done, how clean everything is now. He nodded and smiled and tried to look deeply curious about exactly how many bags of trash had been thrown away, and how long it took me to scrape gum off the floor. Then he listed the number of sermons he had written and I called foul.

But for all that work, I did not make it to the school room and the office, which I hope I will have energy to cope with tomorrow, if I can face them. Today, though, is for grief and remembering.