Update

There are so many things going on, including the non-stop whirring of my brain.

• My sister-in-law is in labor and I need to figure out when/how I'm going to stay with her and take care of my niece, plus finish knitting the baby's present.
  
• My sister's birthday is very soon, and I've not sent her a card or present yet.
  
• My car is drivable once again, after a brand new rear shock snapped (fortunately in my driveway after I drove almost 100 miles round-trip to work and back and had dropped off my three carpool passengers). The tow truck driver said he'd never seen such a thing and neither had my mechanic in thirty years at his shop.
  
• I have to finish editing a glossary for the commentary a retired professor is writing. He has a Mac and does not use e-mail.
  
• I feel like I'm getting free, private tutoring from the professor while I work on his project. He's very passionate about Hebrew Bible scholarship. I'm learning so much, including how meager my thinking and scholarly efforts are thus far.
  
• I am very late writing a short book note/review for my advisor.
  
• My paper sits waiting for substantial revisions and additions, untouched.
  
• Major changes are brewing/in the wind/in the offing/waiting in the wings—whatever other cliché you can think of—at work.
  
• Change could force me to focus on hurrying up my degree, but then I worry about finding other income to pay rent, etc. Even if I find a cheaper place, I now have two cats and a piano to accommodate.
  
• Taxes are done.
  
• Last Wednesday, our church invited the Quakers who meet next door to join us for dinner at our church, and then we had dessert at their meeting house. One of their members performed a magic show for the children (and adults). It was such a simple way to spend an evening but significant somehow. One of the best parts was watching a little five-year-old from our church, who has cerebral palsy, sitting on the floor with all the other children, laughing in utter delight at the magician's antics.
  
• Then on Saturday I played the piano at the funeral of long-time church member. Again, two churches came together—ours and the AME church, where the man's children attend and where he was well-known also. The remembrances people offered were profound and reflected a life well-lived. Afterwards I helped with the setup of the church hall where a meal was served.