This morning I am watching my wife hustle around. She's getting ready for a temp gig in a nearby office. She's not in a show and we could use the dough. It's been a good stretch of 9 months or so. She has been getting some paid gigs (and some not paid) that have kept her busy and satisfied. We've made the shift to living on less without too much trouble. We're still trying to scale back.
One little shift we tried to make was to drink commercial coffee. I say "was" because it did not stick. We tried some Trader Joe's blends. Not bad, but not satisfying either. We tried Starbucks. Yes, The Buck is commercial. Again, no. We tried The Cheap Stuff and it made me ill to my stomach. So, fearful that coffee was no longer an option we went to our local roaster, Alchemy, and picked up a pound of Ethiopian Harrar. God is good. We're going to have to drink it forever.
"Good God this is good" said my wife.
"Yeah. We can never go back, can we?" I responded.
"No. I guess we'll just have to eat Ramen and drink really good coffee from now on."
"Yeah."
We actually went to the roaster and confessed our sins. He forgave us.
In other news we had two really wonderful outings this weekend. On Friday night we had a "first date" with another couple. Jess and Alex are quite cool and I really enjoyed our meal and the conversation. Jess is a graphic designer and entrepreneur. Alex is an engineer and works for a local megacorp. They are both active members of a local Vineyard congregation and are involved in Navigators. It was a great time. They are bright, creative and charming. Really. I think we're smitten. We'll certainly see them again.
On Sunday afternoon after a great church picnic, we went to a friend's birthday party. It was the big Five-oh for Michael. His partner, Tim, threw a great party for him. Theater folk, work folk, musicians and family all mingled together well. At one point there were four or five of us hanging in a corner talking about the socio-historical dynamics or American religious life. The barriers are continuing to shift and move. More denominations, for example, are welcoming and affirming homosexuals. Others are becoming increasingly sectarian. Some are doing both simultaneously...and there are historical pressures behind all of it. It's the kind of conversation you have when two actors, a concert pianist, a college professor (Early American History) and a mouthy baptist pastor stand near one another long enough.
I would have to say it was a great weekend.
