First of October Faves

 

What a whirlwind of a week. We were away all last weekend until Monday evening and then my week just flew with many various church activities and groups. Who said retirement is boring? I have been so busy ever since last May....so...I'm pausing this morning to share FIVE of my FAVE blessings from the past week. Head over to Susanne's space to learn how to join! 

downtown Troy, NY
a non-profit our church helps support

We pulled up all the weeds here
and then J  raked up all the stones

• GRACE IN ACTION: Our church has 3 sites around the Capital Region of NY.  But we have one senior pastor and one ministry group called Grace in Action. Grace in Action is made up of all volunteers and they change often but the community agencies/non-profits we support do not change. There are 12 that we actively support, both financially and in practical ways.  Every Autumn and Spring we have "Serve as One" days where we partner with another church in the region and serve the agencies doing things they need done like weeding, sorting clothes, stocking the food pantries, building gardens, etc etc.  Dave and I have always either been on vacation or have family events to attend and have never served until this year. Grace in Action has been around for a little over 10 years. We signed up to work at this place and Dave helped to build a flower garden and I helped weed the area you see above plus the area to the left of that (not shown). We worked from 9-11:30 AM. It was a huge blessing to serve and I'm thankful we got to do it. And a bonus fave: one of the younger women (R) there  with her husband J used to teach at the same prek special ed agency where I just retired from. We didn't teach in the same classroom..she was down the hall my first 2 years there, but we bonded as we were the only Christians in the school that we knew of, and I knew she attended our church site to the north. I hadn't seen her since she took a new position in a public school about 3 years ago I'm so thankful for the unity we have in Christ. 
  

Leaves are almost at peak
in the 
Hoffman Notch Wilderness Area
Lower High Peaks, ADK

• DEEP WOODS HIKE:  Last Friday was the 11th SoulSteps Hike for the group I lead. It was just my friend Joan and I who signed up. We hiked a never before for us trail (Bailey Pond) in the very remote section of the Hoffman Notch Wilderness area. I'm talking remote. As in there are warnings about bear, moose, otters, and fishers.  We did see a fisher dart across the road but we saw no wildlife other than hawks, songbirds and a duck on the trail/pond. The hike was beautiful and I'm so thankful I finally had the chance to hike in this wilderness area of the Adirondack mountains. We plan on going back as there's another much longer trail there that is actually the "notch". I'm so thankful Joan and I were safe and had perfect early Autumn weather!

the trail into Bailey Pond
about 1 mile in from the trailhead

Bailey Pond
Hoffman Notch Wilderness Area
Friday 27 September

• NEW ENGLAND VISIT:  Dave and I took a rather spontaneous trip to his childhood hometown area to visit his mom/do some stuff for her; have dinner with his brother and wife; and then hike in the Blue Hills Reservation area south of Boston. We really enjoyed the time away. We left shortly after lunch on Saturday and made it to the hotel in good time. We had my mother in law's fave antipasto salad and pizza for dinner that night and then went with her to her Unitarian church the next morning. Sunday night, after spending the day with his mom doing some chores, etc for her, we went out to dinner at this place with Peter and Kathy (Dave's bro and sister in law) and we all had a blast. I ordered fish tacos and a refreshing cocktail with 3 different kinds of juices. SO good. The next morning after checking out of the hotel, Dave and I headed northeast to Boston and hiked the Abigail Adams trail up to the summit of the hill and climbed the Observatory.  We took the shorter route back to the car and drove back to NY. I'm so thankful we fit in all of these activities between Sat afternoon and Monday afternoon and that we had safe travels. 

a model of my mother in law's church
First Church of WB, MA

yummy cocktails

beginning of the Abigail Adams trail
Blue Hills Reservation
Milton, MA

Dave leads the way up...not as steep as it looks
only .8 miles one way on the Adams trail

Blue Hills Summit and Observation Tower
This is on the National Historic Landmark Registry

Boston from the summit of Blue Hills
30 September

• FOUND!  Some of you knew I had left my trendy black blazer and my cervical spine orthopedic pillow (it costs $80!!) behind in the hotel room. We called as soon as we realized we had left these items in our room and the night manager looked in lost and found, didn't see them, so told me to call back Tuesday. I called back and got the daytime manager who sent housekeeping to find them.  She was supposed to call me back when they found them. When I didn't hear from them by Wednesday afternoon, I called a third time and that manager said "yup, we have them at the front desk and can hold them for 90 days".  Praise God.....  We will be back for Thanksgiving week and that's less than 90 days! I highly recommend the Hampton Inn or any of the Hilton hotels...they always go above and beyond. I'm so thankful they found the items. Now...to figure out how to sleep well until I get my pillow back. 

image courtesy of R*nsselaer Co website

• VOLUNTEER WORK!  I applied for a position in Homebound, an organization begun by my church about 2 years ago, that supports people who are considered "homebound" (the term used to be "shut-ins") or  are in rehab, assisted living, nursing home care, or hospitals.  The people we visit must have some kind of connection to our church but they do not have to attend or be members of our church. I still have to attend a training session in a couple of weeks, but I was allowed to go with one of the members, who's been doing visitations for awhile, yesterday afternoon. We went to the place pictured above which happens to be behind the special ed Prek agency I worked at until June 2023. We visited the mother of a woman who was in my small group Bible study last year! She is from Brazil and we had a great time chatting and meeting her PT. We were supposed to visit a 2nd person but she was involved in rec  therapy so we left her to enjoy the game and we will visit her again next week. I'm thankful to have a chance to volunteer this year with an important group and the nice thing is I don't have to do it weekly unless I want to. Homebound has several volunteers so my next turn might not be until 2 weeks from now. 

That wraps up my faves. I'm thankful it's the weekend. If I don't get to your blog today, it's mainly because I have my monthly walking group this morning for an hour and I'm the one leading the meditation time before the walk.  Then I have to prepare for the book group I lead on Tuesday evenings because tomorrow is my Annual Autumn Girls Day Away with my sister Joy, and my 2 daughters. We are heading down to the Catskills. 

Who says retirement is boring??