So one of my good friends, Becca (yes my friend is also named Becca - I'm not talking about myself in the 3rd person)from seminary came to visit this last week sort of last minute. So as a result I ended up taking my day off on Wednesday instead of my typical Friday.
On Tuesday I still went into the office with her but did not get much done - just a few phone calls basically. But we did explore the neighborhood a bit including going to MacDaddy's for lunch...ohh so good! I had a lovely vegetarian mac & cheese that had asparagus and sun-dried tomatoes in it and Becca had mac & cheese with stewed tomatoes. Wednesday we explored a bit of Connecticut, including going to New London and Niantic.
But because I didn't do much work on Tuesday and Wednesday I felt quiet rushed the rest of the week, but still had tons of time for visits. I ended up visiting three families on Thursday and Friday and boy did I get fed. Rolls and cake at one place, brownies at another and a full lunch with ice cream for dessert at the third.
On Saturday I helped a family say their final goodbyes to one of the patriarchs. He died in December, shortly before Christmas, so I never did meet him, but his wife, daughter and sister-in-law are members of Bethlehem and I have had a few conversations with them. After a brief service of prayer at the cemetery where his ashes were finally laid to rest, we returned to the house for a feast. The table was covered with food, and that was before they put out the desserts. Around a table talking to some of the grandkids I realized yet again how much of an honor it is to be invited into someone's family, especially when mourning a loved one. The laughter and stories reminded me so much of my family's holiday dinners growing up, which I haven't had in quite due to family moves and distances.
After the lunch, my husband and I explored Westport where there was both an art fair (every thing was too expensive for me to afford) and a used book sale at the library (SCORE!). I got a few travel books for places we hope to visit next summer and some audio books to listen to on our road trip to the Upper Midwest later this summer and my husband got multiple old history books include a three volume set published in 1911.
On Sunday was the church picnic to celebrate the 101st anniversary of the congregation. After a worship that went off with a few minor hitches (the wrong prayer/readings bulletins were passed out to some people) we made our way outside for some social gathering and a good old fashion pot luck. Ancona's Market provided the hot dogs, hamburgers (which I was told were delicious) and buns and everyone brought a salad or dessert. And yes we were Lutheran - there was Jello salad and there was enough desserts to feed 5000 (or close enough). The weather was gorgeous and our dog, Daisy, was able to play and gets lots of attention, including crumbs, from everyone gathered.
I'm going to try to post more often so I don't run into these super long catch up post, but for now Monday is my "office" day when I do a lot of reading preparing for next week's sermon, emails, and phone calls.
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