Maxxed out

The last two to three weeks have been a blur for me. I think the blur may begin to diminish during this upcoming week. Here's what I've been up to:

1. The father of two Quaker friends of mine who are siblings took a turn for the worse about two weeks ago and passed away shortly after that. I have been supporting my friends as they and their partners--also friends of mine--were supporting their parents. The memorial Meeting for Worship was this afternoon.

2. The meetinghouse is needing to close down, literally, for at least two months to begin major repairs, including mold abatement, replacing a portion of the roof, and a number of other things. I've been on the periphery of preparations, helping get the word out, communicating with the smaller of the three Meetings for Worship that we have, etc. Of course, lots of us have been doing these things, and a sizeable committee has been carrying the lion's share, including relocating all major Meeting activities. But still.

3. I've been working on all things Ministry & Counsel. Not just the memorial, for which I had little logistical work to do, and not just the additional support in preparation for the building's closing, but also continuing to address the nitty gritty of the committee. Hmm: Committy nitty gritty. (Oh boy, I'm tired.)

4. I'm continuing to work on the Quaker blog reader. Here's a progress report:

I continue to work on pulling together the book by compiling blogposts about our Quaker experience, faith, and practice. I now think of it as a "Quaker blog reader" rather than a Convergent Friends reader, in part because of comments that many Friends have shared with me through phone conversations, email correspondence, and survey responses.

Chris M has been a supportive sidekick and has helped me think through a number of challenges along the way. He and I have also been comparing notes about what blog posts might be included in the final publication, and those decisions are likely to be made in the upcoming week or two. There are about 150 blog posts from nearly 40 bloggers to consider, based on survey responses, personal recommendations, and a few Del.icio.us tags. w00t!

I anticipate that the book will have a 5-8 sections or chapters, with each section having 4-5 blog essays. I suspect the whole thing will total 35-40 entries, and I'm excited to be at this part of the process!

5. I've been connecting with my partner from time to time at a big international film festival that's in town. She goes to about 45-50 films in a two-and-a-half-week period. I go to about eight. That's a lot of time apart. If I want to see her, I have to see her at a movie house until after the festival is over. Thankfully, there are some films that I've enjoyed going with her to see.

6. I pulled together a large book sale of Quaker books. It was supposed to run over the course of a few weeks but given the somewhat accelerated pace of dealing with the Meeting's repairs, the book sale got cut short. Still, I had over 120 titles available--all Quaker books--and Friends seemed really jazz by it. The book sale was held between the two largest Meetings for Worship on First Day, and I put out a much smaller selection for the Midweek worship later that week. If anyone wants a copy of the book list I put together, let me know and I'll send it to you.

Okay, now it's off to bed at a reasonable hour so I can attend worship tomorrow!

Blessings,
Liz