Sunday Morning

"Oh Happy Day" -- Edwin Hawkins(Summer of Love, 1968)

Sundays are my favorite day of the week. I typically try to have all of the household management work wrapped up on Saturdays so that Sunday can be all family pleasure, right up until the closing credits of whatever HBO show is currently running in the 10pm time slot. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday and it occurs to me that Thanksgiving is a lot like Sunday on steroids.

Sunday Music
I think when I was little, my parents had an album called "Jim Nabors sings the Entire Nazarene Hymnal; with No Rhythm and Certainly No Groove". Well, maybe not that one but I don't have any recollection of any specific recordings. But they had some. I think early in their marriage it was their parents' way of protecting them from the devil that certainly was everywhere in their not-much-fun-money-party-all-you-can-afford kind of life. I know that my affinity for either bluegrass or gospel on a Sunday morning certainly does not emerge from childhood Sunday's sitting in a pew wearing a pretty dress. I guess it will just be one of the mysteries of my psyche: Sunday mornings are happiest for me when they include either bluegrass or gospel music. Having married the man I have (sports, sports and more sports, TV and radio) and with kids now old enough to express their preferences for the prevailing mood of a moment, I don't get these kinds of mornings enough to suit me. It only sounds like I'm complaining. I'm just thankful for this morning, this coffee, this music.

Another factor is that when I finished grad school I moved to Tallahassee, FL home of not only Florida State University but also of Florida A&M University (FAMU) whose radio staion had the BEST gospel programming every single morning. I loved it. Not only for the music, which is certainly invigorating no matter what you believe, but I also think that women's universities, historically black universities, do a lot of good work and I have a special place in my heart for them. I support them all I can. Besides---have you ever seen the marching bands from those Universities---oh my god! I did NOT learn that at Radford High School!

Sunday meals
This one DOES come directly from the church tradition: Sunday meals are bigger and earlier than others. That's the way my parents were raised after all and with our busy lifestyle, Sundays are the one day that we guarantee enough time at home to pull it all together. This time of year I try to do a meal in tribute to both of my grandmothers, each great cooks, each Indianapolis girls: Breaded pork tenderloin, mashed potatoes, fresh corn, fresh sliced tomatoes, green beans and really sweet iced tea. Dessert: peanut butter pie. Seriously? Very few things in this world taste so good as egg/cracker crumb breaded pork fried in vegetable oil. And I've never been anywhere other than Indianapolis where people prepared it that way. Makes it easy for me to be superstar when cooking for non-Hoosiers.

Sunday Activity
See music and meals above. Not much else. Knitting, sitting (I can do both simultaneously---such a spectacle!), reading. Here's an easy way to know how much I love you: if I invite you over for dinner on Sunday, you can be sure that I love you enough and am comfortable enough with you to share the inner-sanctum of family life with you. And also that I have no problem telling you when its time to go if you're having a hard time knowing. There is no other evening as important as Sunday evening. It must be quiet and family/near-family only. I WILL tell you its time to grab your bag and hit the road.

But Saturday, though...
Last night Dave and Tuomo came over for dinner. They hadn't been here in quite a while and we loved loved loved having them here. They're the kind of friends that come in, make a drink, sprawl on the couch and adopt to the vibe of the moment. They love the girls and its reciprocal. Last night we celebrated lots of birthdays that had gone by in recent months (except mine ---EH HEM!). We had Chinese delivered, it was extraordinarily good this time. Then we all watched Sarah Silverman's Jesus is Magic. It has some of the funniest moments captured on video recently. It misses sometimes but it is really funny. She has such a cute persona and it really helps to advance her "oh-no-she-didn't-just-say-THAT" kind of humor. Tuomo's sense of humor is really quite different than mine, Rob's or Dave's so its unusual to find something that hits all of us. This did. I remember Lym saying he'd seen it in Manhattan this winter so it was a good tip.

And libations. Unfortunately Dave became very ill last weekend while overindulging in cocktails at home in Rhode Island. And while I felt terribly for him, I was glad to discover a new drink for me: Vodka, Ruby Red Grapefruit, Grand Marnier and a splash of lime. VERY nice, refreshing and (unfortunately for Dave) quite easily overindulged... I'm sure it also makes a great brunch drink. And what do you know? Its noon; church is over, right?

Knitting
I made some good progress on Anna's sweater. You can check out KHM Knits if you'd like to see.