the weekend - moving on

We had a great first weekend in Frederick. While the whole move is still bittersweet (and I do tend to tear up on random occasions, luckily not too often in public places) we had so much fun this weekend that it's been easier to be more excited than sad. I'm reading the book about moving and it talks about the difference of cherishing and clinging. This weekend was definitely about cherishing the things and people I've left behind.

Friday night we bought a bottle of wine, only to get home and realize we forgot our corkscrew/wine opener in Baton Rouge. We walked across the street to the corner market to see if he sold any - he did not, but let us borrow his own personal corkscrew (he's a really nice man!).

Saturday morning we woke up and walked to a nearby cafe and sat and drank coffee and read the newspaper. I wanted to check out the Farmer's market so we were debating whether to walk or drive (it was a mile away). Since the breeze was beautiful, the humidity low and the shaded sidewalks a plenty we decided to walk. After debating how long walking a mile would take, we showed up to a rather disappointing farmer's market. A small room - a meat stand, one woman selling produce and another selling breads and pies - made up the entire market. We bought a little bit of meat and a few tomatoes (so as to not make this a completely worthless walk). Frederick has another Farmer's market on Thursday evenings - I think that one is the "real" one, and I will check it out this week.

That afternoon we drove to Hagerstown to join Aunt Lucy and Sean for dinner at their house. It was a wonderful evening and we ate outside on their new deck (constructed by them, very impressive!). We talked and shared stories of our move and learned about some places to kayak, bike and hike (we're so excited!). After a great dinner we got back to Frederick for the "Dog Days of Summer" which was a huge dog fest where people dressed up their dogs and all the stores downtown stayed open late and allowed pets inside. It was fun watching all the pups and laughing at some of the ridiculous costumes (we saw a bulldog dressed as super man). It was so nice to be able to just walk from our apartment to this instead of having to drive.

Sunday we woke up and went to a different cafe (we're trying to find "good" ones) and had some coffee and read the newspaper. We then walked a block to St. John the Evangelist for mass. The church inside reminds me a lot of Our Lady of the Lake. The Parish is huge - with about 7 masses on Sunday alone - but the message was perfect. Every reading was about God taking care of us and not forsaking us and providing us with the things we need. We both really felt Him speaking to us - urging us to calm down, let go, and just remember that He's in control. After mass we walked back to the apartment and got in the car to explore the city. We found a few things we've been looking for - a video rental place, a self-service car wash (which happens to be near a Dairy Queen, kat!), a specialty wine shop.

We bought another bottle of wine, very happy with the fact that wine is sold on Sundays, and got back home only to realize we still didn't have a corkscrew! The corner store across from us was closed so we walked down Market Street and found a liquor store open where we bought a very cheap (and also dingy) corkscrew. Well, at least we can open bottles of wine now.

Overall the weekend was enjoyable and pleasant. We're having a lot of fun exploring and we're also enjoying being able to walk to most places instead of driving - it's just so different than what we're used to!