What Was I Thinking?

I asked myself that question several times yesterday.  First, as I headed off to church, I forgot to allow extra time due to the closures created by the Capitol 10,000.  As anyone who has ever ventured downtown during that time, multiple streets were closed, parking was non-existant and I drove, sheep-like, in whatever direction the traffic cops pointed me.  What was I thinking?

Actually, let me back up a little.  Several weeks ago, I decided to volunteer in the baby nursery during the 9:00 service.  I had recently been convicted by the "service to others" idea.  Sometimes I think my default position is "taker," and maybe it was time to sacrifice a little.  Serve the parents by allowing them some time off, serve the babies by taking good care of them (OMG, they are so adorable) while they anxiously await their parents' return.  But what I thought, when I signed up, was a roughly one-hour commitment, is actually a three-hour commitment.  You have to be there at 8:00 (8:00!!! On a Sunday morning!) to set up the room and sterilize all the toys.  The service usually goes an hour and 15 minutes, lots of the parents don't come in til they've socialized for 15 minutes, and the new shift doesn't arrive til 11:00, so you're there with the early arrivals until your relief arrives.  What was I thinking?

I finally found parking a mile and a half from the church and set out on foot.  Unfortunately, I was wearing non-foot-friendly sandals, the type that force you to walk a little unnaturally in order to keep your foot from sliding around.  Not only did that stress my knees, but one of the straps was seriously digging into my ankle.  On the way back, I got a little smarter -- the sidewalks were largely smooth, not cobblestone-y, and I simply took my sandals in hand and walked barefoot most of the way. 

So that was three miles (the traffic had died down by the time I was finished, and I measured it by my car's odometer), and later that night I walked Banks two.  Even though my knees were hurting, I wanted to walk, because I thought that walking normally, in good shoes, would correct things.  After my sandals walk, my knees felt sort of.....askew.

After Banks and I walked the St. Edward's neighborhood, I stretched a little more purposefully than usual, but my knees today still feel a little funny.  I'm going to stretch some more, and let this be my day off.