Thanks and Giving Days 2 and 3: Weekends Are For...

Soul Perspective.

Saturday I woke up three groggy, grumpy kids at 6 am to take them out into the cold for a little giving. Safe Haven is a wonderful program helping homeless families in the Nashville area.  A few weeks ago, I signed us up to volunteer for their annual Hike for the Homeless event.  I thought it would be a good way to get the sprites out into the volunteer community of our new town.  It took a solid hour (or two) for the grumpy to wear off.  We were assigned to the children's area, which meant we were moving between the craft table, the climbing wall, and the football toss.  As more people began to arrive, the sprites began to shake off the bad attitudes and have a little fun with it.  It helped that an awesome funk/reggae band started jamming on stage before the hike began.   The hike went smoothly, everyone had fun, and money was raised to help the program continue running through the cold winter months approaching.

After the event, we decided to explore the park where the hike took place.  The area was new to us.  It was a beautiful place to hike in, with tall tree lined hills that were splashed with autumn colors.  We will definitely go back for a family hike soon.  Some fresh, quiet air is almost as good for the soul as thankfulness.  I think I'll add that to the prescription for our perspective overhaul.

We ended the day with family and friends for what I'm calling "Halloween, Take Two".  Halloween night was rained out with harsh storms that kept us all inside in PJ's rather than costumes.  That night we had cuddled up on the couch and watched The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown and The Nightmare Before Christmas.  It was a nice night but the kids were definitely hoping to go trick or treating.  Luckily the rain held off long enough on Saturday to allow for a redo.  We decided to join family and a few new friends to explore a new (to us) neighborhood.  After some frights and some looting, we enjoyed a great dinner with some great people before coming home to crash into full sugar comas.

Sunday, we spent time together, just the four of us, cleaning house, making soup, and adding leaves to our Thanksgiving tree.  I'm thankful a lovely weekend filled with good people, good food, and good soul perspective.