Friday!! The end of the first full week of school here in New York State, and also almost the end of the Summer season! I'm ready for autumn although I'm not super keen with getting up in the dark.
However, I AM thankful for times to pause and give thanks for all the blessings in our lives....I'm sharing FIVE of those FAVE BLESSINGS this week and linking up at Susanne's site with other like-minded folks.
 |
| Moreau Lake State Park South Glens Falls, NY 11 September |
- AFTERNOON AT THE LAKE! Claire had the day off Saturday, from her job at St*rbucks, and since all of my housework was basically done before noon, we decided rather spontaneously to take advantage of the perfect late summer weather and head north 35 miles to our fave state park. The air was chilly but the water was warm. It was so nice to spend a couple of hours reading, eating some snacks, and chatting about all kinds of things. Just resting. And then we spied my good friend Gerri with her 7 yr old granddaughter so we got to chat for a bit which was fun. I'm thankful for beautiful summer days and time at the lake.
 |
| praying mantis at work |
- A SYMBOL: On the way in to work/the classroom Tuesday morning, a fellow teacher said "look, I think this is a praying mantis". Sure enough! My phone didn't take a great pic as I didn't want to spook the thing so I didn't get too close. BUT...I knew there was some kind of meaning to this insect so I looked it up and they are supposed to give a person a sense of calm and a meditative stillness. I told everyone in the building we would have a quiet, calm day and guess what?? WE DID!! Now, I know that my prayers(God) for the students and the 3 classrooms are really what bring peace but not everyone I work with is a Christ follower so I just loved that this insect...created by God and placed in Nature, has this symbolism. It really was a calm day for only the 6th day of school! (we have eleven 3 and 4 yr olds this year and out of the 11, 5 are non-verbal so it is exhausting with all that we have to do to make them successful and grow).
 |
| Backyard brush burning |
- FELLOWSHIP AROUND THE FIRE: On Saturday evening, our oldest daughter wanted to come over to grab some more of her stuff she had in the basement, and I invited her to join us for s'mores around the firepit as we had a lot of brush to burn. Dave had trimmed a few trees in our backyard and front yard on Saturday after he did the lawn work, so we decided to sit out by the fire. It was the perfect evening for it. In fact, it was COLD away from the fire. It was very peaceful, and seeing my oldest "back at home" made me smile. One of my greatest blessings is my family all sitting around the backyard fire.
 |
| Mug from my dear friend Anita |
- COFFEE: This week, with getting back into the work routine of the alarm going off at 5:30 and getting in the shower, doing my yoga stretches for my back, doing my morning devotional and getting ready for teaching, I'm finding I just savor each mug of coffee I pour. And Wednesday was exhausting, mentally and physically, from these darling students plus an hour long intense meeting so I made a treat of Maple Pecan Coffee when I got home around 3:30. It was a grey, rainy afternoon after a hot, sunny and humid morning so with the AC on at home, the coffee felt great and it gave me an extra boost of energy to do my housework and prep dinner, pay bills, etc. If you've never tried the St*rbucks Maple Pecan, I highly recommend it. It's a limited edition so I'm savoring every mugful.
- SINGING AND LAUGHING: Dave and I have dinner together almost every night during the week and last evening when he was helping me load the dishwasher and put leftovers away, he played some fave songs via YouTube from one of my fave 1970s secular music groups. This one of course being our very fave to sing and harmonize with. and yes we know all of the lyrics. We also had fun reminiscing about music we've enjoyed in the past. It was a something that just brought a smile to my face because so many nights he just disappears to go relax with his computer games.
I hope you all have a wonderful weekend full of rest and relaxation.
5 comments:
Hi Faith. I love that you were able to spend time at the lake with Claire, then have a bonfire with both daughters. Sounds like you had a good week, with some simply wonderful moments to be grateful for. Hope you have a good Friday and a good weekend. :-)
Central New Yorker here...my son Jon and daughter Evelyn just went on an Adirondack hike yesterday, now Jon is going back up to Keene Valley tonight with some friends to hike some more tomorrow. We live in a beautiful state. I think I need one more beach day. Our warmth goes by too fast here though! We're Queen fans here too, and there's nothing like sitting around a fire with family!
Della
You had a great week spending time with family, which is the best. Relaxing by the lake and having a fire sound so nice.
I didn't know that about praying mantis. That's a good talisman for your school.
Enjoy your weekend!
I did not know that about the praying mantis! How interesting!
The maple pecan coffee sounds good. I'm not really into pumpkin stuff so this might be more to my liking.
Glad you had a great afternoon at the lake! I do love spending time lakeside. So peaceful!
Glad you had some time relaxing and visiting with both girls. I know what you mean--I love when mine are here, either by themselves or all together. I'm glad you had a calm class day and hope you have many more.
Post a Comment