Anticipation Fulfilled

Anticipation is always so nerve-wracking. Whether it is an upcoming trip, a long-awaited purchase or something similar, anticipation moves in fairly early and, like the roller coaster car moving up the steep track, it seems to creep until it gets to the top, the moment when the event happens, or at least begins. When it comes to having company, there's the additional impetus of making sure the house is as clean as it can get (or as clean as I can get it, anyway), tidy (as tidy as it can be with four very hairy housemates) and stocked with whatever might be needed to make sure I keep up Mama's standards of hospitality. She might not have gone with feeding and housing any stranger that happened by the door like Abraham did, but if you showed up at her house, there was always plenty of food, a clean set of sheets (even if the kid had to sleep on the couch for a night or two) and plenty of toilet paper in stock.

This week I had the anticipation of meeting someone from the Internet. I'd read her blog long before I actually had any conversation with her, and when she showed up in an EfM class where I was a newly-minted mentor, it was somewhat akin to the feeling that I was meeting a legend. I mean, this lady really wrote good stuff, pertinent, articulate and had a lot of folks commenting on the things she said. Seeing her on the roster and finding out that she was indeed the person who wrote as Kirkepisactoid was sort of like the last-chair violinist sharing a stand with the concertmaster. I'm awed by her and still am. She's talented, multi-faceted, intelligent and the whole bit. And this week she was actually coming to my house to visit.

So, the anticipation of the visit really ramped up. The boys were really puzzled by seeing all the carefully-hidden loose confederations of hair they'd so effectively shed being sucked up in the noisy monster from the closet, and the smell of pine-sol was a bit disconcerting. It's not that they are unfamiliar activities; it was simply that I don't usually do them at 5am.

Anyway, when the red Explorer pulled into the driveway everybody was ready. For a dog person, she was definitely of interest to the boys, and within 5 minutes Sama had felt comfortable enough to jump in her lap, something he has never done with any other visitor. So what if she smelled vaguely of dog (not unpleasant, just something interesting and novel to the boys' noses), she had three cat-scans and was pronounced not only acceptable but comfortable to be around and who knew where to scratch (after an appropriate amount of introduction time).

Having her here was fun, but even more fun was having dinner with another classmate of ours, Carol. It's amazing how fast a couple of hours can pass and how many subjects can be covered in that amount of time. We talked theology, TRs, local and national news, travel, a tad about politics and just about everything else we could think of (well, we did pretty much eliminate music, stamp collecting, forensics and the weather) although there was a brief foray into canine anal gland impaction (before dinner, thank goodness!).  I know I had a good time, and I think Carol and Maria did too.

I was sorry to see her leave after breakfast this morning. I'd like to have talked with her for more hours than we had available but I'm grateful for the time we did have. And it's not like I don't read her blog (and I think she reads mine).  And, for the next year and three months, we'll still have EfM class together on Sunday nights during term. I am looking forward to more of her insights on TR topics as diverse as cartoons, matrices and the implications of the Apostle Paul on Christianity. Can't wait to see what she makes of all the various theologies of the 20th century that show up next year.

Oh, I think we'll manage to stay in touch from time to time, and the house is clean enough that I can take the weekend off from housework!

And the downhill side of the roller coaster ride is always worth the long slog to the top.