It was another normal (read: grinding) week and so come Friday night. Tress and I looked for a joint to go away for a Friday dinner to welcome the weekend, as we normally do (albeit more at home for that recently). We ended up in a ramen place in The Glen, where we sat at a bar of sorts. The food was good, and there was a constant queue at the entrance so the place was buzzing, as are most establishments in that mall anyway. We then did a bit of a walkabout and bought some milk and smoked salmon for brekky the next morning.

On Saturday morning, we slept in a little bit, took the little one for a longish walk, where we stopped at a cafe on Hawthorn Road to take away a coffee. It was a busy place and that coffee took some 15 mins but the staff were friendly and the coffee was very good. We were only taking a (more or less) leisurely walk anyway…

The whole of Mahoney Reserve, with the 3 public ovals and 1 semi private soccer pitch, were full that morning, as some form of kids’ soccer carnival was going on. Traffic on Mahoney’s Road was very congested as we walked home. Back home, we started on our usual chores – I mowed the lawns and swept and tidied up the outside while Tress vacuumed the house. I also trimmed (quite aggressively) the lemon tree, removing as much of the “bulby” sickly looking branches as I could. We then went to Brandon Park for lunch and did some grocery shopping. We then came home, walked the little guy again, and then went to Heathmont (all 3 of us) to pick up a used coffee grinder I picked up from FB marketplace.

On Sunday at St Alf’s Ben C continued the new Lent series. A new person lead the corporate prayer. Devi D did it beautifully – the prayers were relevant, touching and beautifully put together. She has been contributing heaps to life at St Alf’s and whenever I see someone like that, I wondered what I have to do to do more. There must be something that is hindering a deeper and more engaging involvement, but I’m not sure I’m ready to find out what that might be and what I need to do about it. Maybe it’s intended by Him that I should just bid “my” time. For now, at least.

After St Alf’s we went to Donvale for lunch, as we do. We then came home, and Nic dropped by with some very delicious looking pastries that she picked up from the city, where she had been with her beau. She then told us she’s not sure if she will continue going into the city for church, because she could not get involved in other activities as she lives and work this side of town (east, closer to us) and trekking into the city other than on a weekend can be taxing. She could not stay long as there were errands and chores she had to do; after she left, we continued the cooking and then did a bit more grocery shopping at the FHC, also stopping for a coffee and helping ourselves to a piece of the lovely pastries Nic brought us.

Tress then went and saw someone at the Peter James, while I finished up the cooking, packed the week’s lunches in the freezer and cleaned up. I then took the little fella to the oval, sat around and chatted with the regulars there, before Tress eventually joined us and we then came back to wind down the weekend.

As we sat watching a Taylor Swift doco, my mind turned to the weeks ahead. Kiddo and Mic would be heading to Sydney later today for the concert, we’d be heading up there for Abby’s birthday in a little over 2 weeks, and after Easter, Tress would be heading for Klang. It’d be a busy next couple of months. Again, we’re busy and blessed.