Early June Weekending.

Hello and Happy Monday! Thank you for all the great feedback on last Friday's post, especially about mixing up our workouts. I added in weights and Pilates after this morning's walk ... and it feels sore in that good sort of way 😉. Now let me tell you a little about our weekend.

Marc played in the club's Member Member tournament. I have no photos. He did share that after Saturday's round they were in 2nd place and yesterday they played the team that won.

I think my weekend was a lot more fun!

The tournament actually kicked off Friday evening (players only), so I enjoyed Friday night snacks on my own.

I got an early start Saturday morning (with a speed-limit drive!) to meet Katie and the boys back at Ponce City Market and the Beltline. We had a ball ...  coffee and donuts (for the boys), a one-mile walk to Piedmont Park to the playground, then back to the market for a picnic lunch. After lunch, we walked another mile to Krog Street Market, where the boys enjoyed Jeni's ice cream, and then back again. Charlie fell asleep on the walk back so we walked around Ponce City Market to see if Sam would nap. And he did ... finally! 

at Jeni's

Katie and I both agreed it was the kind of day our husbands would hate, but we're definitely going to try it again ... soon!

Sunday morning, Holly and I walked down to the lake. She actually walked the whole way there (it's about 1-1/2 miles); I carried her home.

Then church and that big meeting I'd been planning for weeks. We installed the new team and took a photo.

In spite of that continuing open spot, I'm feeling optimistic about this upcoming year - because this is a great group of ladies!

Marc and I watched two more episodes of The Americans (we're now well into Season 5) and then we went to bed. This last photo is time-stamped just after 8 pm... and this morning my bookmark was on page 25!

I'm glad it's Monday ... I need to rest.

Hope your week is off to a great start!

Early March Weekending.

In spite of the chilly wet weather, both Marc and I were out and about.  Marc played golf. I took a very cool field trip and spent a wonderful (but long) morning at church to celebrate Gifts of Women Sunday. 

The field trip was to a Hindu temple, specifically the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, with our spring confirmation class (I am fortunate to be a mentor to one of the confirmands). Ten teens and 13 adults visited on Saturday afternoon.

Most of us had no idea what to expect; all of us were blown away. We learned not only about the Hindu religion, but also about the amazing construction process that follows traditions thousands of years old. ...and the Atlanta temple is one of only five in the US (six in North America counting the one in Toronto). 

The temple website is definitely work a click-through - even if just to see the beautiful photography! You can also learn more about that construction process - which took only 17 months and used 1.3 million volunteer hours. All the carving was done by hand, in India and then the pieces were shipped here for assembly. My mind is still boggled!

I hope to have photos from the services to share next week (relying on others' iPhones is sometimes tricky business for Monday blog posts ;-), but it was 100% written and celebrated by women. Our congregation is blessed to have two wonderful female pastors, a beautiful women's choral ensemble, a female guest organist and a host of other females of all ages - acolytes, greeters and ushers - to lead and celebrate worship. I had a very small speaking part to recognize the Presbyterian Women in our congregation; it was inspiring to see about half of the congregation stand for that!

We also spent a good bit of time together at home. We started the second season of Sneaky Pete, cheered the awesome showing of the ACC in the upcoming NCAA tournament and FaceTimed with our favorite boys. I love that I can now take photos from FaceTime (even if they're blurry!).

That's Sam hugging Charlie in the bath and Sam completely and utterly despondent when his dad left the house. The boys fight over who gets to hold the phone ... I think Charlie sometimes lets Sam win. and I think Marc's favorite thing about all of it is that Sam can say Poppa. Katie says that's his first two-syllable word. (yep, just a little jealous).

And in between all of that, I also kept close tabs on the latest (last?) amaryllis bloom. Here it is yesterday afternoon.

Hard to tell it was pouring rain outside, isn't it?!

Photos really do help to tell the stories! I hope you captured something good this weekend, too!

Happy Monday!

Mid-February Weekending.

...was filled with good things:

Early signs of spring.

Knitting with a friend.

A beautiful Sunday morning, with tears of sadness (those backpacks on the chancel steps were placed by 17 high school students and teachers at the beginning of the service) and happiness (we celebrated the baptism of the grandson - another Charlie! - of one of my small group friends).

And another amaryllis bud - this is #7 from the basket of three bulbs!

Not pictured - more salads (we leave for Mexico on Friday), nine (?!) episodes of Longmire and a finished tank.

Hope your weekend was full of good things, too! Happy Monday!

Weekending.

late Sunday afternoon

My entire weekend looked a lot like that photo I shared Friday afternoon. I finished the body of the sweater and by yesterday evening was well into the first sleeve. Most of that knitting was accompanied by Small Great Things, which I really liked (except for the first 100 or so pages when I was completely regretting telling my girlfriend this would be the Jodi Picoult I'd read if she'd choose it for bookclub, which she did). But it also saw a little of the ACC tournament - sadly, despite my Carolina blue, Duke won. (but that's ok, Carolina still got the #1 seed.)

this shade of blue is especially hard to capture in my house - I promise - it really does look a lot more like the sky two photos down!

Besides knitting and reading and college basketball, there was also pilates. This 21-day challenge has completely hooked me.

it's not too late to join!

And one chilly walk in the sunshine.  This is the tree that was covered in pink blossoms last month. It is wonderful to see green on the branches again!

But the real highlight was church yesterday morning - our annual "Gifts of Women" service. This is an annual event sponsored by the Presbyterian Church U.S.A. (which has ordained women as elders since 1930 and as pastors since 1956). Our congregation is blessed with two women pastors and a host of fantastic women leaders and congregants. This year's worship theme is gratitude and the prayers, hymns, music and sermon left me light-hearted and thankful.

I was honored to be a liturgist for the first part of the service that includes the Prayer of Adoration. These lines especially spoke to me and it was even more meaningful to be the one to read them aloud:

O God,
you richly bless us with all that we need.
With all your creatures, great and small
we sing of your goodness,
for in the cycles of the seasons,
and the wonders of each creature,
you reveal your generosity.
Grant us one thing more:
grateful hearts to sing your praise... Amen.

Wishing each of you a wonderful week!