Surfbatical so far

As of today, I've been on sabbatical just over a week and while I'm writing a little, I haven't actually said much about what the days are like.

Memorial Day weekend was pretty much All E's Birthday All the Time.  Took a few of his pals to a glorified arcade, made some cupcakes for LOTR play practice (evidently, the mom on sabbatical makes Eye of Sauron cupcakes instead of writing a sermon on Saturday morning ),

Don't get used to the decorated cupcake thing, ok?  

and had our god-family over on Sunday.  There was also a sleepover in there somewhere.  

Last week, I took J to work.  In Seattle.  Which involved a long drive, a little helping of Jeff, a long nap, a little shopping and then another long drive.  

I'm also writing a little every day, doing some of that kind of  reservation-making you gotta do when you're getting ready to travel, watching Fringe and Doctor Who, and taking more naps.   I've done a little shopping, helped a frustrated child write a paper, cooked some meals, cleaned a bathroom, started a book and finished one, and spent an enjoyable hour on the phone with an old friend.

I've been exercising every day.  And on Sunday, I went to a neighborhood church and heard a terrific sermon, sang some familiar hymns and some new ones and received communion.  All of which reminded me how much I like just going to church sometimes.

Truthfully - except for the cupcake decorating  -  this isn't all that different than a regular week for me, except usually I work whole other job on top of this.  And yet, the days seem to be pretty full.  I can't quite figure it out, and last night it started to stress me out.  What my old spiritual director used to call the Committee weighed in unhelpfully:   I mean, what I am DOING with myself all day?  I've been on sabbatical A WHOLE WEEK already.  Shouldn't I have something to SHOW for it by now?  Shouldn't I feel more, you know, SPIRITUAL?

So in an unsettled mood I went to a bikram yoga class this morning.  The classes are ninety minutes long and the room is HOT.  If you are a person who might spend just a little too much time running hamster trails in your mind, it's a good way to remember that you have (that you are?) a body as well as a brain.  After  a lot (and I mean A LOT) of sweat, the Committee had slunk back around the corner.

OK.  So, I've been trying to write a pithy little ending to this post -  a little lesson perhaps on What I Have Learned On Sabbatical So Far.   I keep starting paragraphs and deleting them, so I guess there isn't one.  I don't have the lesson learned yet, because being on Sabbatical hasn't made me automatically more spiritual, less anxious, more present.  On Sabbatical, and all the time,  I'm just a work in progress.   And Sabbatical and all the time,  maybe that's lesson enough.