Life in the Slow Lane

Wow, I can't believe that today is the first of July. This year feels like it's been set to warp speed and I can't say that I'm happy about it; I still have so much to do for the wedding next month (gulp! Next MONTH!)! I want to soak in as much joy as I can because I do realize that this time, right now, will never happen again. I want to savor it!

The shower the weekend before last was a wake-up call for me about how I need to make myself present for the events surrounding this wedding. I need to focus on being in the moment, which is hard when you are responsible for the details, you know what I mean? But the details won't mean a thing if I don't slow down enough to notice and appreciate them.

Anyway, I'm going to do my best. 

I did get to spend some time with the soon-to-be Mr. and Mrs., outside of wedding planning, which is a gift that I am grateful for. 

Shanti and I were the only ones in our group who could make it to golf clinic last week (my coworkers each had somewhere else that they needed to be), so, after we kicked around in the sand trap (the golf pro says it's a bunker, not a sand trap, but my Dad called it a sand trap so, sand trap it shall forever be) and learned how to chip out of the tall grass onto the green, we met up with the Man-Cub at the clubhouse for dinner.

Hugh was working his Wednesday overnight shift at the fire station, so he totally missed out on both the company and the food, which, was ah-may-zing.

I had the chicken pot pie, which came with a salad. The Cub had the lobster mac'n'cheese, and Shanti had a Ceasar salad with baked salmon. None of us was disappointed.

The waitress sold us on the Wine Wednesday Special: we bought a half bottle of wine and got a dessert for free. We chose the flourless chocolate torte and were wowed. Since Shanti's mom is living gluten-free, we may consider a dessert of this type for the rehearsal dinner.

Dinner service was a bit on the leisurely side, but we didn't have anywhere else to be and the view was spectacular, so we enjoyed the evening. As I said above; I need to do more of that and less rushing the moment.

This weekend, I purposely slowed down again. One of my coworkers has cherry trees on her property and she gifted me with a large bucket of fruit.

I quite fondly remember summers when I was a child and my Grandma Molly would can cherries that she and Grandpa Nick got from this area while they were visiting Grandma's sister, who lived in Pixler with her family.

I knew I wanted to preserve the cherries from my friend, but didn't necessarily want to can them. Instead, I invited Mom over to the house to help me pit and prepare them for freezing.    

It was incredibly messy. And, a lot of fun, actually. We sat on the porch and chatted away the afternoon while we worked and, it occurs to me that a lot of the world's problems could be solved if more people chatted away an afternoon on the porch with the people they love. Or, on the golf course. Or on a long Sunday drive...

...slow doesn't have to be a four letter word, y'all.