The Pastor's Wife Takes a Night Off

So, I emailed The Pastor and said, "Look, I need to get away. Friday night is a "purse party" at 7 p.m. Does that work out for you?"

Of course it did, him being a superior husband and all, so at 7 p.m., I picked up my purse-loving mother and went to said purse party. Although I adored seeing my friend's house (I know her from church) and I loved checking out her bookshelf (we seem to like the same books), I'm not much of a purse girl.

I have a purse that I picked out for myself last December as a gift from my husband. "My husband" did an excellent job of finding this Liz Claiborne purse on sale (original price $54.00, sale price $16.00). "He" knew that I needed something with a long strap for slinging across my body, a place for my cell phone and sunglasses, a zippered compartment for important stuff, and side pockets for stashing things (babies need a lot of crazy stuff when they travel). So, I have this black purse. Why would I need another?

The purse party featured tables covered with extremely expensive purses with designed names (Prada, Tod, Coach, etc.) and inflated prices. I would never in my wildest dreams pay $75.00 for a purse. Never. So, we milled around with a bunch of strangers (oddly featuring similar blond highlighted hair, making me think of "The Stepford Wives") and peeked into the kitchen and chatted with the hostess and after half an hour, we left.

What a strange "party" that was.

Anyway, I took my mom home, checked out her garbage disposal, determined I could not fix it and then left as quickly as I could. It was only 8:22 p.m., so I called my husband and told him I was going to a movie.

I saw the most ridiculous, yet surprisingly entertaining movie: Cellular. I wasn't sure if I was supposed to be afraid or if I was supposed to laugh. Mostly, I laughed in short bursts at improbable lines and situations. And I wondered what kind of lipstick Kim Basinger wears because her lips managed to look defined and plumply burgundy through the whole movie, despite weeping, being smacked around and facing certain death.

It's midnight now and I have way too much caffeine in my system (could those drinks be any larger?), but I need to sleep so that tomorrow I can handle going to a surprise dinner party for my 41-year old brother, followed by my twins' long-awaited and much anticipated sleepover with their twin friends at our house. They prepared for this exciting occasion today--the bought lots of sour candy and Cheese Puffs and movie-theater buttered microwave popcorn. They rented a video game and a movie. Oh joy. My husband, The Pastor, wisely has chosen to go to the church to study tomorrow night.

Now, if only the children will sleep past eight tomorrow morning, I will be the happiest woman on earth. Even if my lipstick does wear off in one hour.