Doll Clothes

I am long overdue for purging closets. So, I've begun sorting and piling. I'm trying to abide by the rule that if I have not worn it in more than a year, out it goes. It's embarrassing how many items I have hung onto for so many years. Many of my business clothes are left over from my corporate days. Hmmm .... I left that position in 1997.

Some donations are only worthy of the Goodwill box but many of the suits and jackets would work for someone who is interviewing or starting to establish a work wardrobe. I take those to a local women's shelter. I dropped several beautiful (and expensive) things off the other day and the volunteer made a snide crack about the sizes.

I didn't like the comment or her tone. It hurt my feelings and it made me second guess my choice of donation destinations. I could have made a crack right back but I'm trying to work on my passive-aggressive tendencies.

But I probably won't take more donations there for a while.

Volunteering for Others

Our minister has quite a sense of humor. I love it that he can make me laugh and still move me in a sermon. My mother once made the mistake of telling him that she does not enjoy the "meet and greet" during the service. She's done her meetin' and greetin' before entering the sanctuary or she will catch them afterwards. Yesterday he announced, "Just for Sandy, let's get up and greet our neighbors." He found this funny and so did I. Of course, she was the first person he walked toward.

She has a running joke with our pastor that she will do a lot for the church but she does not like to be front and center; she prefers to be behind the scenes. He's constantly threatening to call her during the week and assign her to be liturgist for the next Sunday.

We're in the season of Advent and like many churches, we light the appropriate candles each Sunday. It may be a single person, a couple, a family -- whomever. As we were leaving church yesterday morning, he said to the three of us, "We still need someone for the Advent candle next Sunday." Before she could kill me (and she would never do that in church) I said, "Sure, we'll do it."

Now I have been assigned the family duty of deciding who lights the candles and who recites which lines.

Later we went to an open house and I think our minister had a little smirk on his face. As usual, I'm in trouble.