Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Saying Goodbye

Last night, George and I hosted our last Covenant Group with this particular group, which we've been with for several years. It just happened that our last meeting with the group was at our apartment, so I enjoyed fixing dinner for the group. When someone hosts the group, it's usually light snacks, but I decided to throw some chili fixings into the crockpots (one beef, one veggie), and it all turned out well. In fact, we ended up staying around the dinner table for the whole two hours, rather than moving into the living room. The fellowship was really nice, and the discussion, as usual, was interesting and insightful.

I must admit that I'll miss the discussions and fellowship of this group, which meets twice a month to discuss spiritual topics. The membership has changed a bit over the years that George and I have been members, but a core has stayed the same. I've really enjoyed getting to know the group members, and sharing good food and fellowship for several years. It's a little hard bowing out of the group, but I decided that I needed to free that time for my graduate studies, which start next month.

Meanwhile, George and I continue to look for a new Unitarian-Universalist church home, and it's going to be an interesting journey. We've decided to give ourselves plenty of time to visit, and not jump on the bandwagon too soon. The Covenant Group was our last connection to our last church, so it feels a little sad to be done with that. (Well, we are joining the group a couple more times, one for cookie baking and lunch, and another to fix dinner together at the local homeless shelter.) But the future looks interesting, between my grad school and our looking for another church home. George and I have enjoyed the churches we've been to so far, and have already been discussing how we might get involved.

What do you look for in a church or place of worship?

Clipart from Clipartheaven.com

Tuesday, July 05, 2011

Fried Pickles

Fried Pickles at Maxwell's Tavern
A couple of weekends ago, George and I stopped in Waxhaw, NC, to visit with some of our Lathem cousins before returning home. We ate an early dinner at a place called Maxwell's Tavern, and had a fun time there! One of the surprises for me was trying fried pickles! Now, I generally shy away from fried food these days (and usually leave pickles behind on my plate at restaurants), but it was ordered as an appetizer for the table, and I was compelled to try some. I was glad I did--I liked them! It was definitely a splurge of the "state fair food" variety, but it was fun to try something new around some of my favorite people.