I did it

As I said on Twitter, I found out today I CAN preside over an entire church service (prayer, reading, sermon, offertory meditation, invitation to the table, benediction, and the little things like announcing the hymn). Not that I want to ever again - it was fairly nerve-wracking and I kept feeling concerned I was forgetting something. I almost stepped too far back and fell off the v. short "step" up into the pulpit (apparently a past minister was short, and a step was built up into the pulpit. It's covered with the same carpet that is in the rest of the area so you don't have a good visual cue. If I were going to be in the pulpit regularly, I think I'd ask for duct tape or something to be put around the edge of the step so I can see it and it will remind me)

I *really* had something like performance anxiety for the thing - people tell me I did well and the sermon was good and delivered well, but I barely remember it, which is par for the course when I have bad performance anxiety.

Which is strange, I know - I get up every day of my life and teach fairly complicated stuff and have notes less-extensive than what I was working from. But I think it was, as I said elsewhere "because God" and I wanted to do a particularly good job because of that. (Though a friend pointed out, "God would be more forgiving of any little errors you might make than your students would, and would recognize and celebrate your intention here")

I'm glad it's over. I hope the message was useful to someone.

I can tell I was really nervous about it despite not shaking or my voice being uncertain or anything because when I got home I was really exhausted and needed to just sit for a while before I did anything else. I didn't do much, really, today other than change the sheets on my bed and do a couple loads of laundry.

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I finished a simple sock today. Started its mate. This is from a Kaffe Fasset designed line, the color is purples and some grey and teal. I forget the name of the colorway, it was a couple-years-ago Stitches N Stuff purchase.

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I'm glad PBS has ended its "Augustfest" (which seemed to mainly be infomercialy medical shows and "classic" rock groups that are long in the tooth) and is showing Father Brown again on Sunday nights. This has kind of become my ritual and it does feel like a nice way to ease back into the week. (Kind of like, 20+ years ago, I used to watch "Murder, She Wrote" on Sunday nights before going back to grad school the next day....)

There's not a lot on television I consider "appointment tv" in the sense of "I will set aside time to watch it" - Ponies, of course, is one thing, Father Brown is another. NCIS used to be a third though I admit I'm apprehensive that it's maybe outlived its usefulness (and also they are replacing Tony DiNozzo with, apparently, the guy who was Fez on "That 70s Show" and I'm not sure I can quite get past that. I hope they don't do cross-references and slip stoner jokes in there or something....)

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I'm not going to do a "followup" on this week's Ponies. It was a cute episode but didn't seem to have a whole lot deep going on (and that's perfectly okay - this is, after all, a show aimed at 7 year olds). I will say that Gabby the griffon isn't getting a lot of love from some fans who say she's a Mary Sue. Eh, meh. I thought her character design was super-cute and I have known people (shoot, I live with one myself...) who are good at a lot of things and YES it does make settling on what your "special talent" is harder. (I have often thought: would I trade for being kinda-sorta good at a lot of things for being really super extra-good, like Olympian-level good, at one thing? And a lot of the times my answer is "yes." Even though I know personality wise I am probably more suited to be a dilettante (or polymath, if you want to be more positive) because I would get bored with doing the same thing all the time.

I will say the "solution to the problem" (Gabby wants a cutie mark, but apparently griffon's can't sprout 'em) was simple and sweet and I liked it a lot better than "oh, now magically cutie marks are a thing for a griffon, too" - because I don't like rules being broken just to make a particular character a bit happier.

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This coming week I need to write an exam and finish up my faculty development report (essentially: an annual review) and finish the last chapter of the book and all that. But if I get that done I AM going "big grocery shopping" (to Sherman) either Friday afternoon or Saturday, and I am going to do more cooking next weekend. I think I am happier when I can take the time to cook ahead (and bake ahead - and probably home baked things like gingerbread are better, in the way of sweets, than commercially produced things).

I might get a chicken and do roast chicken again. I also still want to try that salmon crustless quiche I was talking about. And I found a recipe for a very simple sour-cherry cake (it is more like one of those "baked pudding" things and I have some canned sour cherries on the shelf (and ones without Red 40 in them at that, though I now question whether I am truly sensitive to it, as I *think* have been exposed to it without issues lately)

I do find I feel a lot better when I am getting more protein in my diet. And I can't do soy (mild sensitivity to it), so strict vegetarian is kind of out for me.

I also want to get back into a little more savory baking again. I pulled out my copy of the Farm Journal bread book and made a half-batch of the simple baking-powder biscuits in there, and added a bunch of garlic powder and some grated cheddar cheese - and they were enough like the Red Lobster cheddar biscuits (which are too salty and probably too fatty for me) to please me. Actually, that simple biscuit recipe is about the best I've tried, and I could see also adding dried fruit to it for a scone-like kind of thing, or maybe doing those "pinwheel" things with cinnamon sugar....