Wednesday is still the middle of the week for me. When I used to work it was changeover day as I worked as a voluntary unpaid Lay Assistant in a parish two days a week and as a public servant the last three days. I used to share a position with another girl called Sandra. She was an expert in accounting, I in administration and filing so the caller often rudely asked "Which S are you?" to which we replied:"It depends on what you want?" and it did. Happily for a while we both worked on Wednesday so that is when we gave the in-tray our full attention and brought each other up to speed. After six years I still miss working, the office friendships, the fun, THE PAY!!!! I miss Sandra and a lot of my cheerful, harrassed often blasphemous (sorry Sue) co-workers. Sadly few have kept in touch but I sure appreciate the effort of the ones who do even send a card at Christmas. It means my working days are gone but not forgotten.

Ray worked as a carpenter at a mental facility. The clients there (mostly with a mental illness but some with Down's sydrome)were very hard on the furniture and fittings and the office staff moved buildings regularly so his job was maintenance, renovation and repair. He loved the people he worked with, the regular clients as well as the staff. Sadly none of them have kept in contact with him. It was as if when he had the stroke he swapped from staff to something close to client, so they stopped calling, and now he has only a few memories of that 14 years of his life.

Wednesday now is usually shopping day and craft afternoon. Today was a mixed up day as we had a delay with shopping and got to craft late. The power didn't seem to be working, we had lights but no fans and it was 40 degrees celcius, 105 degrees fahrenheit, so we really needed the fans. Luckily they did come on but everyone sat and fanned themselves and no work got done. I think we are getting that end of year feeling and maybe next week we will talk about going into summer recess. It is too hot to knit and sweat from hands gets onto tapestry etc so we usual have a couple of months off. I know for some of the widows this will be a hardship as they really look forward to Wednesdays. For them it is the highpoint of the week.

I am wondering what Wednesdays will be like next year? If our church closes, if we change parishes then Wednesday may have a different purpose. If Ray keeps well we will still go on doing as much as we can but if the TIAs etc continue to influence his progress then maybe Wednesday will become a mid-week rest-day, a stay-at-home-catching-up-with-the-housework day. I hope Wednesdays will still have a pivotal function. I do like Wednesdays.