This was the first “full” weekend I’ve had in a while – no work, and didn’t focus on home projects! I hardly took any pictures this weekend, but we had a great couple of days!

Saturday Erin was off to school in the morning, and I headed into the district as well to volunteer with an organization called “Hands-on DC”. DC public schools are in rough shape, and Hands on DC is an organization of volunteers that works to improve the physical condition of DC public schools. They do this through painting the schools, creating murals, and planting gardens, etc. Here is some more info about the organization: http://handsondc.org/about-us/. I spent the morning weeding, digging and mulching the front gardens of Jefferson Middle School near L’Enfant Plaza.

Later in the day I headed to the AVEDA salon to get my haircut! Since Erin has started there, I learned that they offer discounted services by students. Works for me – you get cheaper haircuts, etc, and you also get to help students get the practice and experience they need to finish the program. Finally, Erin and I met up with her new friend Genevieve from school. We had a couple of beers and some greasy bar food to round off a good day!

Sunday morning we got up and headed to Great Falls park for a half day hike with my Peace Corps friend Natasha and a couple of her college friends. The trail was aptly named “Billy Goat Trail” as we were climbing over and up rocks for nearly three hours! But – the views were beautiful and it was great to be outside! I’ve been struggling with my weight a bit since working from home and spending most of my day at a desk – so it felt really good to be expending lots of energy.

“Billy goating!”

I spent a couple of hours in the garden Sunday evening (yard work is ENDLESS!!) and then we grabbed dinner out before calling it an evening. A great weekend! One of the best in my recent memories. Apparently I needed it!