Slovenly Saturday and Saintly Sunday

I've noticed that on Associated Content, writers submit articles based around a day theme. They might write News on Tuesday or Friday Findings, etc. I realized that I do this naturally at home. I bet many of you do. Perhaps it's left over from my childhood 40 years ago, when Monday was wash day, Tuesday was ironing, Wednesday was special projects, Thursday was shopping, Friday was cleaning, Saturday was baking and Sunday was church!

Perhaps your family had specific errands and tasks set aside for each day of the week, but as our modern culture has evolved and women work during the week, those daily tasks have faded into nostalgia. Perhaps we need to resurrect them. What do I do each day of the week as a writer, mother, wife, homemaker, teacher and gardener?

How would I label the days of the week?

Well, I know this for sure, Saturday is my favorite and it's Slovenly Saturday. That would be today! Or perhaps it should be called Saturday Sloth Day, because on Saturday, I try to just have fun!

I shop at fun places, no necessities. I might garden, but not hard, just fun things, like planting a favorite flower or going to a nursery or farmer's market just for fun. I don't cook. I don't clean. I don't even take a shower if I don't feel like it. I sleep later, (well till 5:30 instead of 4:30) I lay around the house drinking coffee till 8 or so, in my pajamas. I watch no news, (because the news always upsets me these days) I drink lots of good coffee and I eat muffins for breakfast with orange marmalade or blackberry jelly.

Slovenly Saturday is a time to hang out with friends, go out to lunch or dinner in jeans and a t-shirt, hair pulled back in a ponytail or clipped with a hair clip. No makeup! Unless I just feel like it for fun. I go to the movies or that trendy little boutique. I paint. I don't do dishes or sweep floors and I for sure don't clean out the litter box (only on this one day of the week!)

Like is grand on lazy, sloth filled, slovenly Saturday! But then I repent on Saturday night and prepare for...Saintly Sunday!

Which speaks for itself, doesn't it? I rise early, say prayers, read my devotions, make breakfast for my family, go to church, sing hymns of praise, and sit in the light of the stained glass windows. After my unmitigated day of "sin" and sloth the day before, I'm ready to turn over a new leaf for the week, embarking on yet another week of attempting to live my life according to the dictates of my faith. My personal faith and belief in a world of order, spirit, soul and good works. Which I find and reaffirm on Saintly Sunday.

After church, the rest of Saintly Sunday is spent with family and perhaps a few good friends, but mostly just family. We eat, we cook, we laugh, we love each other and we celebrate our shared and divergent beliefs. As in any large family, we rarely agree about politics or religion or even how the steak should be prepared, but we do agree that real spirituality is found only when based in love for each other.

I end Saintly Sunday in prayer and reflection, planning my work and writing week, my gardening projects looming, my theatre classes booming. Now what would I call Monday?

It's not maudlin, it's not exactly merry, it's not mythic, it could be melancholy, depending on the week and my mood...Ah. that's it. Moody Monday or perhaps Melange Monday..cause I never know for sure what the week is going to bring until it hits me on Monday!

Have a Slovenly Saturday of your own and I highly recommend a Saintly Sunday, even if you spend it outdoors in a grove of trees dancing around in the moonlight!