Sunday Evening

I'm sitting at the dining room table, listening to a quiet CD, letting the day wind down. In about two hours, if all goes as planned, my wife will be home from a day-long trip to her mother's home, where she attended a bridal shower. I'm looking forward to having her back. I can make meals and such, though mine tend to be much more spartan and, lets say, slap dash than hers. I pointed out once that you can usually make a good guess toward who loaded the dishwasher by contemplating whether things like measuring spoons, scissors, and non-eating-items were in there -- if so, she likely did it. Same thing goes for 'who probably cooked dinner' -- one plate? One pot, maybe? Me. Today, breakfast was frozen breakfast burritos and french toast, dinner was chicken nuggets and honey, and I'm not actually sure we ever had lunch. Meals tend to be more organized than that, when she's around.

Even though I'm within a couple of years (and, on a bad day, a couple of minutes) of retiring, I still read articles aimed at people entering the work force. Partially, I do it for the same reason that adults ask kids what they want to do when they grow up: they're still looking for a decent idea. One comment, in the Career Track column of today's Post, caught my attention: 'For Bonnie Atwood, a lobbyist in Richmond, the perfect job is one with a mission. "I have to feel that the world is becoming a better place because I am doing this work. I don't have to be saving lives necessarily, but I have to be giving the world something that it needs. I don't want to invent and produce widgets and then convince people that they need them, for example. I want to create and protect beauty and civility. I want to feel each and every day that I have had a part in the positive evolution of the human race. I want to leave a mark of value."' The other comments are good, too; they can be found here.

Speaking of articles:I understand why the Washington Post printed an article about a woman,a judge in a small town in Montana, who is active in the fight against terrorists, using email chicanery to gain the trust of those evil people. Its novel, she's unusual, and its got terrorism -- wow, let's print it. But why did they need to point out that she lives in a small town 'not too far from the Canadian border', and alert the recipients of those emails that in order to seem like one of the brothers, she liberally sprinkles emails to terrorists with video clips of hostages getting beheaded? And, for that matter, why did they have her picture as part of the article? What fresh insanity drove that decision?

Apparently, Father's Day is coming. However, I have nothing to worry about, because from what I can see from the ads, all fathers are either significantly younger or older than me, and all of them are in much better shape. I should be able to slide through it without anyone even noticing. The same cannot, however, be said for my wife's birthday, which is coming soon. I always want to do something wonderful for it. Don't always hit the mark, but every so often, yes. Wonder where I can find a kid-sitter?