I have always loved my weekends somethin’ fierce, but I’m treasuring them now more than ever. Â It’s getting harder and harder these days to make it through the work week. Â By Friday, I’m running on empty. Â Thank goodness for a two-day chance to recharge. Â Does a pregnant body good.
Shane and I have started a new kind of pre-baby “to-do” list, filled with the fun outings we want to do before baby Schnell arrives. Â Topping that list was a nice dinner out with the gang, so we gathered at Hunger in Fremont on Friday night with the Chens and the Rusts for drinks and seafood and dessert. Â I’ll miss these three-hour meals where we eat until we’re stuffed and laugh until we cry. Â Then again, parenthood hasn’t kept our friends from a night out on the town, so perhaps we just need to start looking for babysitters now. Â Oh, and they’re all pointing my way as an attempt to “include” me in the picture (always the photographer, never the photographee…).
Saturday was another gloriously sunny day, so we hopped in the car and headed north to Magnusson Park. Â Despite the fact that this is one of Seattle’s largest parks, we had yet to check it out, so we spent an hour walking along the water and wandering among the trails.
Saturday afternoon was lazy – reading and naps and back porch lounging. Â We packed a picnic dinner that evening and spread out a blanket on the lawn of Jefferson Park to eat olives and cheese and cherries and listen to the Giants game. Â The perfection of a Seattle summer evening is not lost on us.
Saturday’s lounge-fest left me with some energy to burn today, so we went to the gym after church for a swim, and hooray! Â I have found my new pregnancy work out! Â Got my heart rate up and fired up my muscles, but without the achy hips and swollen hands and feet that come with long walks. Â I have recently started longing for the days back when movement was easy and painless – my exhilarating runs along the lake are a distant, distant memory. Â But in the pool, all this extra weight I’m carrying isn’t a burden. Â And I’m more buoyant than ever!
It was another quiet afternoon at home – I spent some time in the nursery, arranging trinkets on shelves and reorganizing the closet for the umpteenth time. Â This is the fun part of nesting. Â The not-so-fun part comes next weekend, when we wash windows and scrub the kitchen cabinets (brace yourself, Shane!).
We caught the last of the day’s rays on our back porch, toasting to a perfect weekend with sparkling lemonade and frozen grapes. Â Hallelujah – I’m refreshed, recharged, ready for the week ahead. Â Realistically, I suspect I’ll be itching for another weekend by about 3 pm tomorrow, but whatever. Â I’ll enjoy this Vitamin D high while it lasts.
