198/365 Altar Guild Part 3

Hildegard had us come in and offered us wine, or water. I chose the latter because I was driving to Cairo later and, while I probably wouldn't have enough to be over some limit, it would make me sleepy and that wouldn't fly.

Gary was already there. He'd helped out at Christmas decorating before with his fiance but I'd never really spoken with him. Susan came in soon after--a long-standing A&E member. And then we were joined by Gianna and her daughter Mary Kate. A few minutes into Hildegard's introduction, Anya came in, a new parishioner from Texas.

How I envisioned the meeting going was not how it went. I walked out of the meeting with fewer official jobs than I walked in with. Sort of. I have a definite list of jobs--Christmas and Easter, essentially. Advent, too. But there are others that creep in, and still others that I should be doing and I'm not, for a variety of reasons that start with S, M, and L and keep me busy at home.

I left with laundry on the third week of the month; season decorating; washing the altar dishes once a month in soapy water; and polishing the handrails (a job I like) every other month.

I left happy and hopeful. Hopeful that Gianna and her daughter will come through on what they volunteered for. Happy there were new people raising their hands. Happy that it wasn't just me, Hildegard, and Susan divvying up the list.

Lynn didn't make it.

And so she only has one job.

But I wasn't even mad about that. She's so caustic, it was better that she wasn't there at all.