Friday was an exceptionally busy day at my desk, all day! I started my day at 5.00am while Tam went to the gym on her own at 6.30am. After some writing (my blog), I spent the day on a cornucopia of tasks and e-mails. Since the car had to be out for the day having the brakes repaired, I was confined to my desk for the bulk of the day.
I organized some actions to be taken with the Dickens Heath Village Hall, a charity with Directors and management team of a half-dozen volunteers which I chair, and filed accounts and the annual report with the Charity Commission. Communication with our Dickens Heath Village Church leadership team and work on an embryonic group to explore how to meet some of the hidden and behind the scenes need in the village took a couple of hours. Before meeting with thethirdplace in the evening at Phil and Elaine’s, I completed a draft budget and worked on some scheduling for a team of 11 University students coming to England at the end of December and beginning of January on a visit to England. Finally, I finished the day with 75 minutes of ice time playing hockey (after 20 minutes of kip in the rink car park!)
All in all, I didn’t spend much time during the day with Tam. I was otherwise focused on tasks that had some deadlines, virtually ignoring her most of the day even though we both worked from home. But there she was when I got home at 12.15am, sitting on the settee waiting for me to return. Tired, yes. Eager to go to bed, yes. But willing to stay up another hour while I had a bowl of ice cream and wound down from the day.
Today I am thankful for my my best friend, Tammy. For almost 30 years she has been patient, long-suffering, chuckled at my stupid jokes and puns, and enduringly loved me. I wrote in the dedication of my DMin dissertation, “To Tam, who believes in me even at my weakest moments, my greatest encourager and best friend.” Thank you, God, for pairing me with this woman.
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