Last weekend was an adventurous weekend. In some senses it wasn’t the big things that made it different, but rather the small spontaneous components, which caused it to make me feel more free, or maybe freer is the correct word to use.
On Saturday, after we’d done our routine shopping trip to Walmart, one of my housemates and I decided to go to a bookstore. Actually, I asked her if she’d come with me (or rather, I go with her as she’s the one with the car and walking wouldn’t be a very viable option). She was up for it and we decided to also get ice cream as part of our outing.
We got to Borders and spent a while perusing the shelves. Resisting he urge to buy many books, I ended up buying only one, which seemed very interesting. Then we headed off towards the ice cream place. The choice was between Coldstone and Baskin-Robbins, and I got very excited about the latter. For some reason it reminded me of the film “Rain Man” and I seem to remember the ice cream featuring in the film in some way. I mentioned it to my housemate only to discover she’d never even heard of the film. I suppose it mostly shows my age rather then a lack of film knowledge on her part. As we’re driving along I suddenly see a “Goodwill” shop on our right. I ask if we can go by it, and some quick manoeuvring of the car park us nicely in the parking lot. It was so cool to go in there. Lots of things; junk to some and treasures to others, filled the shelves. My eyes were drawn immediately to a white, wicker, rocking chair at the entrance. A quick sit-down in it was enough to start me thinking. I’ve lived here for 6 months and have talked about wanting a chair for my room as long as that. Of course I’d pictured a nice comfy type chair, but I was open to shifting from that to a nice comfy, wicker, rocking chair. I looked at it again and decided to leave it and we went off to see if we could find some more 2nd hand shops (or thrift stores as they call them here).
We went into one other one before getting our ice cream and while I was enjoying my fudge-chocolate Baskin-Robbins ice cream in a cone, I kept thinking about the rocking chair. It was comfy, nice, would fit in my room (and in the car to take it back) and so I decided to go for it. So we returned to the “Goodwill” shop, and after an unsuccessful attempt at bargaining to get a better price, the chair was in the car and we were on our way home.
Monday morning as I got up at 4:30 am I had my cup of Earl Grey, not perched on a stool in the kitchen, but gently rocking in my new rocking chair. The colour is a bit manky and I need a new cushion, but it’s nothing a bit of khaki satin spray paint and some fabric won’t fix.
After a great time in the prayer room Saturday night I dragged myself out of bed at 6:45 am on Sunday morning to bake some scones for our Easter breakfast. We had a lovely breakfast with fruit salad, croissants, scones and of course eggs. Then after church Melissa, my housemate (the same one who was part of the adventure on Saturday), and I wanted to go for a hike and drove to trail nearby. The weather was a bit ominous, grey sky and even a few drops of rain, but we decided that wasn’t going to stop us. It was lovely to get some fresh air and exercise, and get out a bit amidst a day of eating lots of food. The greatest thrill of it all was that we saw 7 deer leaping through the forest. It was breathtaking! Wow. What a privilege to see these magnificent creatures passing by us so closely. I wish I’d had my camera (which I’d left in the car so it wouldn’t get wet).
Coming back from my hike, I quickly threw together a Caribbean Jerk Salad and set of to a potluck with some people from Exodus Cry. It was so nice to fellowship with lovely people eating lovely food and talking about stuff that is important to God.
When that was done I rushed home to see that the chicken Melissa had put in the crock pot that morning was just about done. Now, if you don’t’ know what a crock pot is, don’t feel bad- I didn’t either. Basically it’s this device/pot that you plug into the wall and put your food in and it cooks it really slowly. Very strange, as cooking to me means using a stove, but then I’m Norwegian. Anyways, after a while we sat down to eat that chicken, fresh asparagus, and some really cool mashed potatoes with eggs and spinach. It was really good, although I couldn’t eat tons.
Finishing that we had a wee break before eating blueberry cream cake with ice cream and then it was 9 pm and time to go to bed (for me anyway).
On Saturday, after we’d done our routine shopping trip to Walmart, one of my housemates and I decided to go to a bookstore. Actually, I asked her if she’d come with me (or rather, I go with her as she’s the one with the car and walking wouldn’t be a very viable option). She was up for it and we decided to also get ice cream as part of our outing.
We got to Borders and spent a while perusing the shelves. Resisting he urge to buy many books, I ended up buying only one, which seemed very interesting. Then we headed off towards the ice cream place. The choice was between Coldstone and Baskin-Robbins, and I got very excited about the latter. For some reason it reminded me of the film “Rain Man” and I seem to remember the ice cream featuring in the film in some way. I mentioned it to my housemate only to discover she’d never even heard of the film. I suppose it mostly shows my age rather then a lack of film knowledge on her part. As we’re driving along I suddenly see a “Goodwill” shop on our right. I ask if we can go by it, and some quick manoeuvring of the car park us nicely in the parking lot. It was so cool to go in there. Lots of things; junk to some and treasures to others, filled the shelves. My eyes were drawn immediately to a white, wicker, rocking chair at the entrance. A quick sit-down in it was enough to start me thinking. I’ve lived here for 6 months and have talked about wanting a chair for my room as long as that. Of course I’d pictured a nice comfy type chair, but I was open to shifting from that to a nice comfy, wicker, rocking chair. I looked at it again and decided to leave it and we went off to see if we could find some more 2nd hand shops (or thrift stores as they call them here).
We went into one other one before getting our ice cream and while I was enjoying my fudge-chocolate Baskin-Robbins ice cream in a cone, I kept thinking about the rocking chair. It was comfy, nice, would fit in my room (and in the car to take it back) and so I decided to go for it. So we returned to the “Goodwill” shop, and after an unsuccessful attempt at bargaining to get a better price, the chair was in the car and we were on our way home.
Monday morning as I got up at 4:30 am I had my cup of Earl Grey, not perched on a stool in the kitchen, but gently rocking in my new rocking chair. The colour is a bit manky and I need a new cushion, but it’s nothing a bit of khaki satin spray paint and some fabric won’t fix.
After a great time in the prayer room Saturday night I dragged myself out of bed at 6:45 am on Sunday morning to bake some scones for our Easter breakfast. We had a lovely breakfast with fruit salad, croissants, scones and of course eggs. Then after church Melissa, my housemate (the same one who was part of the adventure on Saturday), and I wanted to go for a hike and drove to trail nearby. The weather was a bit ominous, grey sky and even a few drops of rain, but we decided that wasn’t going to stop us. It was lovely to get some fresh air and exercise, and get out a bit amidst a day of eating lots of food. The greatest thrill of it all was that we saw 7 deer leaping through the forest. It was breathtaking! Wow. What a privilege to see these magnificent creatures passing by us so closely. I wish I’d had my camera (which I’d left in the car so it wouldn’t get wet).
Coming back from my hike, I quickly threw together a Caribbean Jerk Salad and set of to a potluck with some people from Exodus Cry. It was so nice to fellowship with lovely people eating lovely food and talking about stuff that is important to God.
When that was done I rushed home to see that the chicken Melissa had put in the crock pot that morning was just about done. Now, if you don’t’ know what a crock pot is, don’t feel bad- I didn’t either. Basically it’s this device/pot that you plug into the wall and put your food in and it cooks it really slowly. Very strange, as cooking to me means using a stove, but then I’m Norwegian. Anyways, after a while we sat down to eat that chicken, fresh asparagus, and some really cool mashed potatoes with eggs and spinach. It was really good, although I couldn’t eat tons.
Finishing that we had a wee break before eating blueberry cream cake with ice cream and then it was 9 pm and time to go to bed (for me anyway).
So that was my eventful weekend and I think the note to self is: always keep your camera handy. You never know when you’ll see a deer or seven.