On Saturday morning I dragged myself up and over to church in the morning for my kindergarten friend's aunt's funeral. Although I hadn't known her aunt well, I did want to be there to support my friend. I got to see her briefly after the service and say hello to her adorable 3-year old, who seemed to be holding up pretty well amidst all of these upset adults. Although I felt bad about waving and smiling at her in church, when everyone around me was so upset, you could tell she was delighted to see a familiar face who would smile back at her.
A pity I couldn't spend more time with them, and my friend did invite me to join them all at a reception at the firehouse afterwards (being that the widower is a member of the St. James Fire Department, the firehouse is a frequent site of social activities), but I sort of felt that it might be best to leave that one to be family only. I do know that I've known her entire family for so long (since I was five-years old) that they easily consider me to be a part of the family, but still perhaps it was time for them to just be together and reminisce about their missing member.
So instead I joined my friend Michelle for a walk around the neighbourhood with her two cute little ones. Although some women would probably consider having two kids in two years a reasonable excuse for carrying a little extra weight around their middle, my friend Michelle is incredibly admirable in her determination to take the weight off. So going for walks is both an excuse to get the kids some fresh air and get some exercise for herself.
I walked over to Michelle's house (it sometimes seems silly to drive a car to go for a walk, particularly when she lives less than a mile from my parents' house), and we took an afternoon stroll around town, stopping at my parents' house for a visit. Although as soon as we arrived, I realised that might have been a less than stellar idea, as the 17-month old just went tearing around the house, amazingly making a bee-line for everything dangerous (I've never seen a kid figure out how to light a stove that quickly). In the end, I spent the entire visit chasing after the 17-month old and trying to keep him safe, while I hope at least my friend had a nice visit with my parents!
Soon enough we kept on walking back home, with the kids safely secure in their stroller again! We hung out at my friend's house for a little while, before she needed to get going to a block party, and I was keen to go home and get some overdue lunch.
I then went out in the evening to go try and find a bra at the local mall that I could wear with my dress that I bought in Australia. As always, bra shopping is a hugely frustrating experience, but I found one that I think will do the trick in the H&M. Glad to have done the local shopping mall, as I'm definitely not keen to go back any time soon!
Sunday morning I got myself up and out to church, because I wanted to see more of this crazy pastor. Although I think the church appreciates having someone permanently in the pulpit, this guy was definitely an odd choice. In his sermon, it became quickly apparent that he's what you would call a "born again" Christian, but unfortunately that's not really part of the Lutheran faith. We're quiet people who generally just grew up in the church and keep going, there aren't any real revelatory moments or spiritual conversations like this guy was looking for stories about among the congregation. I almost felt like yelling at one point, "Dude, we're Lutheran! We don't talk during sermons! That's your job!" Oh well, at some point hopefully both sides will figure out how it all works...
After church, I got the brilliant idea that I should mow the lawn. Mostly because the grass looked incredibly overgrown, and also because as a good child you realise that there are certain chores you should do for your parents, rather than forcing your rather elderly parents to do themselves. I managed to tackle the front yard and all three back yards (we live on an acre of property, so it's a lot to mow), although I was definitely tired of mowing by the end!
Once I was done mowing the lawn, my mother and I got the idea to go down to one of our local beaches, Short Beach.
We just went for a walk along the shoreline, and out to the sandbar as we watched the tide come in. The water on the sandbar was as warm as bathwater, it was so lovely out there! It was a shame I wasn't wearing my swimsuit, because if I had I would have jumped right in. In the end we had to settle for simply wading in our bare feet.
We collected a few pretty rocks (quartz) and some beach glass, and mostly just admired what a beautiful beach is mere minutes from our house. Definitely need to spend more time at the beach!
Once I came home, I found that my dad had found our tennis racquets in the attic, so we decided to go out and play for a bit. Unfortunately I discovered that my game has deteriorated significantly in the past few years without playing, and I couldn't even get my serve into the box! However I improved with some practice, although I found that my hand had turned all black by the end of the game, as the grip on my racquet was coming off!
After a good game, we found that the trash bin near the exit was filled with discarded tennis balls that were actually of a better quality than those we had been playing with, so we actually traded our balls for ones we found out of the trash can. I definitely learned my sense of thrift from my parents...getting my "new" tennis balls out of the trash can!
Finally came home and had dinner, after a lovely summer's day outside!
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