What do a pig roast, a dance recital, premarital counseling and my father-in-law have in common?

Last updated on: May 22, 2012 at 6:46 am by Amy Julia Becker

What do a pig roast, a dance recital, premarital counseling and my father-in-law have in common? 2012-05-21T21:43:27-04:00 Amy Julia Becker

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

On Friday night, Peter was on duty in our dorm of thirty boys. As we sat down to dinner with a dear old friend who had flown in from Denver earlier in the day, there was a knock on the door. The knocks continued throughout our meal, with Peter popping up to answer a question or adjudicate an absence. At some point, he said, “Oh, by the way, I need to go get the pig from the Amish market tomorrow morning.”

“Excuse me?”

“The pig. We’re having a pig roast tomorrow.”

“Whose idea was that?”

“Um, mine. Anyway, I need to pick up the pig and the roaster. I got a truck from B&G.” (B&G: Buildings and Grounds)

“I have to take Penny to her dress rehearsal for dance tomorrow morning, so you’re responsible for William and Marilee.”

“Right. I figured I’d just put them in the truck with me.”

I’m not sure I said anything before he said, “Not a good idea?”

Our friend left in the morning with the words, “I can’t wait to see the blog post about this one.” Peter found some boys to babysit while he went to the Amish market and I took Penny to dress rehearsal.

The rest of the day included an on-campus water slide for Penny and William, Penny picking strawberries with her best friend Zoey, spending the day with a couple who also happens to be from Denver who had flown in for my first attempt ever at premarital counseling, roasting a pig with 70 pounds of charcoal (thankfully, the farmer agreed to chop off the pig’s legs when Peter admitted he doesn’t own a hacksaw), and, at 10:00 that evening, the arrival of Peter’s father.

Sunday was more of the same: premarital counseling, grandparents, and Penny’s recital. Here I need to pause for just a moment to say that the past few weeks of rehearsal have been a bit rough. They’ve gone over the routines (one for ballet and one for jazz) over and over again. And they are tough routines for 6 year olds. They involve arabesques and running to different parts of the stage and a lot of timing and coordination. Recently, Penny just hasn’t wanted to do it. So after a few run throughs, she’ll decide to sit down in the middle of the dance and refuse to continue. Or she’ll decide to do the whole routine on her knees. Which caused some degree of consternation not only for me and the teacher, but also for the other kids and especially the other moms.

But there she was on Sunday afternoon, hands on her hips in her black and hot pink costume, remembering every move, smiling like a champ, and proving her dad right from the night before when he said, “Don’t worry. She’s a gamer.” In Penny’s own words, it was awesome.

But back to our weekend. We got home from the recital, and Peter said, “I have to get on the bus with the boys in a few minutes.” Oh right, the pool party. And then book club at our place that evening.

24 hours later, I said to Peter, “I’m trying to figure out how to write a blog post that combines needing to buy a pig from the Amish, premarital counseling, inlaws, a dance recital, and various aquatic activities.”

We almost got into a philosophical conversation about actually listening to ourselves and trying to set better limits on our lives. More on that when I set better limits and can write a more profound post.

For now, with gratitude and exhaustion from all the good things, Peter said, “Maybe it’s just, yes, you can have too much of a good thing?”

family

Previous Post

May 21, 2012

If Your True Love Suffered a Brain Injury, What Would You Do?

Next Post

May 23, 2012 Some Thoughts on Marriage

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Articles Books Disability Down Syndrome Faith family Perfectly Human Uncategorized

Select a Month February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 September 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz