The Wednesday Wander: A Quiet Morning With Those

One Saturday a month, the Best Husband Ever has an all-day meeting with brothers from all over the Bay area for fellowship and training in the Word. Since Saturday is normally a family relaxing day for us (brunch at our favorite diner, listening to Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me, maybe a trip to the park, naps for everyone), the Bobber and I really miss spending the day with our favorite guy. Usually on weekday mornings we're all up before 7 and the BHE doesn't leave for work until after 8, so we almost always have a good 15 minutes or so to curl up on the couch together and watch Ax play, or play with him, before getting ready for the day. But on brother's meeting weekends, the BHE leaves before 6:30 a.m. By the time Ax and I wake up, he's already gone. :( 

So, to cure those "we-miss-Dada" blues, we've started a little tradition of going out first thing as soon as we wake up. I throw on something like clothes and maybe some tinted moisturizer if I'm feeling fancy, and change the Bobber into actual clothes, because we don't go out in pajamas (ahem). I'm a Southern girl, and we're civilized like that. ;)

Now for the adventure: whenever I'm down, lonely, or a little blue, there's one magical, fantastical, wonderful place I like to go.

Yep. I go to Chick-fil-A.

Southern biscuits. Chicken perfectly fried in the best secret blend of spices. Coin-sized hash browns all hot and crispy and ready to go swimming in a little boat of ketchup. Coffee or orange juice. YUM. They have high chairs on wheels with disposable child place mats that stick to the table, and they bring your order to you on a tray. The playscape even has a little toddler area, with sanitary hand wipes provided. I mean, be still my heart!

What could be better than one's favorite comfort fast food and watching the toddler happily run in circles on a playground while one quietly sips a heavily hazelnut creamer-ed coffee? Why, doing it with friends, of course.

As it turns out, the best way to compensate for missing one's spouse while he's away is not comfort food but the Comforter Himself, lived out in His members. I do enjoy a good chicken biscuit drizzled with honey. But by far the sweetest part of this quiet morning was the spontaneous prayer in the play area, while watching the toddlers earn their morning nap.

Wherever your journey takes you this week, I hope it brings you many opportunities to be "with those" (1 Tim. 2:22).

Wandering with you,

g.

The Wednesday Wander: Goodwill Hunting

This is my attempt to motivate myself to blog at least once a week (and also to get out of the house for more than just grocery shopping). I hereby institute “The Wednesday Wander,” in which I post (on a Wednesday, naturally) about the adventures of Mama + Ax (which may or may not take place on a Wednesday).

Side note: can I abbreviate Mama + Ax to M+Ax? Referring to myself as “Mama,” as if it’s my name, gives me a bit of an identity crisis. But it feels equally weird to say “Gloria + Ax,” because I am, after all, his mother. I know, I have issues. #mynameisgloriaok

Moving on. 

Come, join us on a grand adventure! In this first episode, we will be taking you on a tour of a place of wonder and enchantment; a place of secret lives and untold stories; a place of hopes, heartaches, and dreams.

 Oh yes I did.

I’ve long since shrugged off the stigma of frequenting thrift and consignment stores for clothes, quirky household items, and the odd paperback. These days, I revel in finding brand name items gently worn or sometimes with the tags still on for mere pennies to the dollar of their original price. My special weakness now, though, is glassware.

The only rub is that I currently live in a rented space with a kitchen only slightly larger than my closet, so my gorgeous, carefully curated collections of tableware, serving dishes, elegant glasses, and useful kitchen appliances exist only in my dream kitchen on Pinterest and Houzz. Also here. (So dreamy...)

In a place like the Bay area, however, thrift stores are the stuff dreams are made of! People don’t just donate junk. They donate genuinely lovely, vintage, and sometimes expensive things.

Pretty things.

Fancy things.

Shiny and sparkly things.

Right alongside ugly things.

And funny things. (Lush and mellow? I almost bought it just for that.)

Classic things.

Cult classic things. (Is there a VCR around here anywhere?!)

Useful things. (Have the baby one and loved it; snagged this gem for $4 thankyouverymuch.)

Playful things.

I somehow neglected to take a picture of the gorgeous and incredibly delicate champagne coupes that I scooped up for a dollar each. Good thing there were five of them, because only days later I found that the entire upper rim of one coupe had broken off in a perfect “O” — similar to the face I made when I found it neatly halved thus. I'm sorry to say I didn't get a picture of that either.

In all, I scored 3 books (including a Pulitzer prize-winner and a novel in French!), the 5 champagne coupes, 2 adorable sundae glasses, the wire bead toy Ax is clutching above, and a bag of wood blocks, all for the princely sum of $20. I call that a win!

I can't promise not to post about thrift stores every week. I also can't promise that I'll actually post every week. (Here's hoping!) But I can promise that my trusty sidekick and I are looking forward to sharing a wander or two with you in the near future.

Happy wandering,
g.