Good Monday Morning 2.12.24

Welcome to Monday!  I’m always excited for Mondays.  I love the clean slate feel they give as a new week begins.  Today, I am especially ready for a new day.  A new week.  And a fresh start.  It is still dripping rain, grey and there’s a damp chill in the air.  The weekend was hard for one of my loved ones which makes for a heavy heart of my own.  For several other reasons, general and boring reasons, it is nice to have a “fresh” Monday morning.  Not that the weekend was actually bad.  In fact, it was peppered with several routine but sweet moments (often the sweetest times are found in the routine times).  Let’s see:

The Farmer’s Market.  We don’t typically go to many markets during the winter months.  Truth be told, there are not that many markets being held.  However, there is at least one small one not too far from us and we went on Saturday morning.  So many bread and baked good vendors!  And some of the cutest Valentine inspired treats.  We picked up the cutest Valentine cake for two from a gluten-free bakery for my son.  He was working so we ran the errand for him.  His girlfriend is going to love that special treat!  It was just nice to wander around a bit….and to remember that full market season is just around the corner!  I am ready.

Sourdough bread.  My first loaf of sourdough bread was a tasty success…in my humble opinion.  My family has asked for more and I have already been looking into other ways to use my starter.  Cinnamon rolls.  Coffee cake. And, well you get the idea.  I think I will try a sweet treat for Wednesday morning.  Of course, I see plenty more artisan loaves of bread as well:)

The local coffee shop.  New coffee shops seem to be opening around every corner lately.  They are quite trendy and I think the competition is really working towards making better and better cups of coffee.  We have tried several and have not been disappointed.  There is actually a cute one within walking distance of our house but we had almost forgotten about it.  We stopped in on Saturday morning and, ah, what a nice way to start a day of running errands.

Hot food bars.  Does your grocery store have hot food bars?  (A fancy way of saying buffets, I believe).  If you have Wegmans in your area, you will know what I am referring to….not only do they have several stations with a variety of hot foods but they have two stories of eating areas where you can eat after you purchase.  Of course, all of this went away during the pandemic.  Food carts were replaced with more piles of packaged goods and eating areas were closed off or awkwardly reconfigured.  But the “return to normal” seems to come even to Wegmans.  Maybe it has been there awhile (we don’t go there that often) but many of the food bars were back in place and the eating areas were, once again, full of people.  My husband had missed lunch while we were running the afore-mentioned errand, so he had visited the Asian bar.  Just like old times:)

Decorated doors.  Yesterday, the Junior Church kiddos made crafts that included their photos which we used to decorate the pastor’s office door.  We have done this for several years now.  One year it was bees.  One year it was puppies.  Last year, it was fish but I was not there for that one.  I was still recovering from surgery.  This year, I thought maybe that fun idea had run its course and/or they were tired of it.  I was wrong.  They started asking about it weeks ago.  They remembered every year and gave me all the details from last year.  And they were so excited and quite cute making our snail crafts this morning.  I am very glad I did not decide “to skip it” this year.  It is always interesting (and fun) to see what little ones remember…and think is important.

Of course, there was also the spilled salt.  I picked up the salt shaker to put it away…and somehow (I honestly have no idea how!) the bottom stopper had fallen out.  How??  I swished salt (lots of salt!) all over the counter and across the floor.  That was NOT a highlight, or sweet moment, but is just an example of the true mix of the weekend.  The good with the annoying.  The light-hearted with the challenging.  That is the true definition of life.  We take the good with the not that great.  But we choose to focus on makes a huge difference!

My week ahead includes:  scripture assembly this morning, three (yes, three!) different breakfast get togethers, BUNCO night with friends, and helping my husband practice for his “bake off” entry at church this coming weekend!!  I hope your Monday is the beginning of a fresh new week!  Thanks for stopping by!