Adventures in Bath & Body Works, and looks like I'm still a parish catechist...

This past Saturday, Henry and I traveled to our local Bath & Body Works for a little Mommy/Son bonding time. As Henry gets older, he wants to do so many things with Mike. You know, "boy stuff." He looks up to his Daddy. But one thing that he really enjoys doing with me is going to Bath & Body Works. He isn't into lotions or body scrubs, which I'm sure is no surprise. He just really likes scented candles and hand soap. He's also a fan of the little anti-bacterial gels they have there. He has a good time going around and smelling everything, and then bringing me the ones he likes for me sample as well. And it makes hand washing following bathroom duties much more pleasant for him if he likes the soap.

So Saturday we went just he and I, so that we could take our time (shopping with Anne, especially in any store that carries items made of glass, is not so fun) and enjoy ourselves. I sniffed all the new fall scented body products while Henry darted around admiring the Halloween scents.

"What's that you have, Honey? Ah, a soap called 'Vampire Blood,' nice."

I ended up getting myself some of the seasonal "Dreamy Vanilla Woods" scent. It's very nice, and I'm picky about my lotion/body spray scents. I do NOT like florals, and I don't like musky scents. I love vanilla, but not all vanillas are created equal. This one is a deeper vanilla, not foody, but very creamy. Anyway, that was a long description for body lotion. In the mean time, Henry had a load of the fall scented anti-bacterial hand sanitizers for me to smell, as well as a slew of candles. The little hand sanitizers were 5 for $5, so we picked out some of those, plus 2 small candles, which were on sale. I also got Wallflowers for both Henry and Anne's rooms. Anne really needs it, what with her diaper pail nearly requiring a gas mask to empty. All of the scents that we chose were fall-themed. :) Pumpkin Cupcake, Orchard Walk, Candy Corn, Vanilla Buttercream. If I want to eat it, I'll buy it. We had a great time.

On Sunday I wanted to take Anne to Mass again, but she was napping, so it was just Henry and I. And I was dwelling on the fact that I really dragged my feet this summer deciding what to do about Children's Liturgy of the Word. You may remember that late last spring, as we finished up the program for the summer, I was toying with discontinuing my participation and perhaps becoming a lector instead. I just didn't feel like I was enjoying it, and it seemed so much like babysitting to me because people tend to send their kids that are really young and can't sit still.

Well. I did think and pray about it over the summer, and I still felt undecided about what to do so I did nothing. Typical. Sunday, as Henry and I sit down in our pew, I open the bulletin to see my name in the list of catechists to be "commissioned" next Sunday in honor of the religious education season beginning again. Uh oh.

I figured that was my sign. Maybe I should continue to participate for another year. That was confirmed today when I received an email from the director of religious education. One of the most dedicated volunteers to the program is away for an entire month, and it's just me and another woman that they have to cover Children's Liturgy of the Word until late October, and they'd like to start the program up again the weekend after next. I couldn't exactly tell her *now* that I don't want to do it this year. If I really felt strongly about it, I should have spoken to her this summer so they could have recruited somebody else.

So, I'm signed up for 2 dates coming up. I don't think God speaks to us using big signs or anything, it's just subtle, everyday stuff. And so I figured this was my nudge. Hopefully, it'll go well this year. If not, then I really need to completely plan out what I want to do instead, and let the program coordinator know right away.

Wish me luck. :)