Tag: #breweries

Axes, Beer, Hiking, and Joyful Exhaustion

My husband had to wake me up this morning. Let me mention that I usually wake up a good thirty minutes before my actual alarm. So I am normally awake around 5am. But this morning, he came in at 5:29am and asked if I was going to work today. I was startled to say the least, one because he ran into the corner of the bed which kind of shook me awake, and two, because for me, I had effectively over slept.

The over sleeping part has been bothering me all day. I don’t over sleep and I certainly don’t sleep so soundly that I don’t hear my husband when he gets up in the morning. But I guess I was tired, really tired.

We have just come off of a weekend that jam packed with adventure and shenanigans. We began Friday evening with dinner at home, but soon decided to head to a local brewery, Dungeon Hollow, for a beer. Well, one beer turned into two which turned into a tour of brewery, which is in old home that was built in 1806. That turned into a sharing of ghost stories and other adventures. While we were not out all that late, anything after 8pm is late for me.

We returned home around 9pm and I fell asleep in front of the fire with my dog, Ruby, by my side. At some point, I finally got up and went to bed, leaving my husband abandoned in his recliner. He had also fallen asleep. Cue Saturday morning.

We were up fairly early to have breakfast with our 18-year-old son. His treat, he wanted to take us out. So we headed out for breakfast around 8am. That meant I missed morning mass, but I figured God understood and probably even approved of this time together with family.

It was delightful morning. We talked and laughed and really got to spend some meaningful time together. When we parted ways, our son headed to work (he works at a local hardware store) and we headed to Pittsburgh. We went with friends for a day of ax throwing and beer sampling (In that order). It was fantastic day, and I am grateful for the time that we got share with family and friends.

But once again, I was exhausted. We talked about going out that night; there was a band playing at Dungeon Hollow on Saturday evening, but it was raining and I was kind of done with beer for the day. I know that might sound profane to some you who know me well. But it was the truth. So we opted to stay in, order pizza and chill out for the night. Besides, we had another big day planned for Sunday.

We got up early Sunday morning and headed to mass at Holy Rosary. They have an 8:30am mass and we wanted to get an early start. We were headed to Coopers Rock to go leaf peepin’. The day began grey and rainy, and we weren’t entirely sure if the weather would cooperate with our plans to view the leaves and do a little hiking. Our original plans were to take the dogs with us, but the downpours the night before left the ground very wet and muddy. So the girls stayed home, much to their chagrin.

By the time we arrived, the sun had burst through the clouds and it was shaping up to be a gorgeous fall day. It was just about as perfect as you can get. We spent some time on the overlook then hiked a couple of different trails before heading back to the car.

What do we do after hiking, drink beer, of course! We headed to Mountain State Brewing for some beer and pizza (try the Yardsale) before heading back home.

While it was an exhausting weekend, it was quite honestly a perfect weekend. We did little, if any housework – except for a load of laundry here and there. We left the grass unmowed and leaves strewn about yard. We spent time together as a family, we spent time with friends, and we got to enjoy the beauty of God’s creation. It was the best possible way to become exhausted. I wasn’t tired from work, or chores, or errands. I was tired because I had a full weekend with family and friends.

We are all so busy that we don’t really ever seem to get enough quality time with family and friends. When we finally have the time we are usually too tired to do anything meaningful. But this weekend was different. This weekend we made spending time with others a priority. I will take that kind of tiredness, that joyful exhaustion from hanging with family, spending time with friends, going on crazy adventures, sharing stories and toasting beers, any day over the fatigue of work, chores, errands, and general mundane busyness.

Today I am grateful for family, friends, food, axes, beer, hiking, and exhaustion; the kind of joyful exhaustion that comes from living your best life. I hope you have the opportunity to experience joyful exhaustion and that kind of gratitude, too. Today, I hope you live your best life. Please pray for me and I will continue to pray for you.

Make Time for What’s Important

I travel quite a bit for work, not quite as much as I did 5 years ago, but still once or twice a month. I had an early flight this morning but not so early that I needed to be awake at 2:30am. But that is exactly what I was, wide awake at 2:30am.

It was raining this morning, so I laid quietly in bed listening to the rain and thinking about all that has transpired over the past several months.  It really has been a roller coaster and a lot has changed. You see, I left a job that I loved in May, began independent consulting in June and accepted a position July. My husband wrapped his 25th year teaching in May, did consulting and contract work throughout June, July and August, and began the new school year last week. And our son graduated from high school in May, worked full-time over the summer and just began his freshman year of college last week.

The last few months have been filled with changes, have been extremely busy and have flown by in what seems like a blink of an eye. September is just around the corner and I am trying to figure out where spring and summer have gone.

But as busy and as crazy as it has been, we have managed to make time for each other. My husband and I went fishing several times since June and visited a number of local breweries (we like beer). We have gone on family motorcycle rides to the lake or on winding country roads – each of us recording over 1,000 this summer, had several family dinners, barbecues and bonfires together, and even survived the 20 hour road trip to Florida without killing each other. I am truly grateful for all of the family time and I am happy that we make it a priority to make time for each other.

And as crazy as this summer has been with its ups and downs, uncertainties, concerns, changed plans, busyness and challenges, I have managed to keep God the central part of life. Except for those two weeks in May when I wasn’t speaking to him.  Fortunately we got through that trying time. Well, I guess He waited patiently for me to get through it.

My family was instrumental in making sure I made time for God. See, we all spend time with God in our own way. I like to begin my day with mass. While my husband often goes with me, he starts his day with God in other ways. But he encourages me to spend time with God in my own way. We often share reflections and thoughts with each other or talk about the saints (yes, crazy, I know).

So this morning, when I left the house before 5am to catch my early morning flight, although I missed mass, I did make time for God.  I prayed before I ate my road warrior breakfast (I love the Quest bars). And I will pray morning prayer on the plane and say a rosary, I will study the readings from today’s mass and read the reflections. And I will pray for each of you as I traveled to Savannah for a mere 36 hours.

So today make time for and support your family in the things that are important to them. Carve out a little time for God too, because you are important to Him. Please pray for me and I will continue to pray for you.