Taking Stock

We've apparently entered a quiet period here @ chez Madrone.

Editors note: I love when I write stuff like that and then proceed to write a blog post that could be its own book.....what I mean is I'm kinda Winnie the Pooh in his thotful spot this week.

I guess it makes sense...lots of farming blogs get quiet this time of year because they're so busy, and I'm a farming blogger wannabe. Of course, my quiet has nothing to do with planting and everything to do with.......yea, I'm still working that out.

We traveled last week. We brought the cat, which was more of a trial than I let myself believe initially. She's a good enough sport once she settles in, but it brought home how we want to update her shots so that boarding her is an option next time. This was a 6-day, away-from-home trip, and it's just not fair to leave her to her own devices that long, even with someone checking in on her. My brother would've done so if I'd asked, but I really didn't want to leave her. The biggest issue, I think, was the amount of "other animal" smells at Les's folks' house (3 cats, 1 dog), but we kept her sequestered and she survived (and by some miracle, our niece didn't get scratched or bit.....that child thinks all animals are on this earth to tolerate her love).

We visited his family first. They're sad, struggling a bit with Dad J. gone, and Husby is on the outs with one of his sisters, which meant there was a large elephant in the room sometimes. Mom J. managed to catch the shingles recently, so she's feeling lousy on top of the grief. We were there from Wednesday night to Saturday midday, and then we traveled to Charlotte to visit my mom and sis. We took the scenic route via Spartanburg, because I was determined to see that city and sniff it out; and I'm so glad we did, because there are elements of that town that don't exactly blow my skirt up.

So I got to Charlotte wishing we had time to hit Asheville, since we were up there, and Lil Sis (gods bless her!) was open to the idea, even though it meant waiting til afternoon to head up there, cuz Mom had to work in the morning. We got on the road about 3PM on Sunday, got into town right at dinnertime, had a nice meal, walked just a bit, saw some amazing views from the Grove Park Inn (LS has been there before for a conference), and then headed back to Charlotte.

That trip was intimidating on several levels, that I'm still trying to sort out in my head. Yes, I idealize the heck out of Asheville, and thankfully, it didn't exactly crash to Earth following my visit...I adore it more now, if that's possible; it's still amazingly beautiful up there, and it's obvious that we'd be comfortable around the types of people that live there. If Asheville opened a Birkenstock and broomstick skirt factory up there, people would lose their freakin' minds......it's blatantly granola, so much so that I'm surprised the tourists aren't more wigged out by it. But they probably stick to the Grove Park and Biltmore areas and leave downtown to the locals.

So I think my main apprehensions are twofold.

• It finally made the move real...I realized that if I moved us up there, instead of using Columbia or Charlotte or Spartanburg as a stepping stone, then maybe I'd have to learn to live in the present and settle down a bit, instead of always wantingwantingwanting to be elsewhere. And that's a notion that requires more thought, meditation, etc....because I think Asheville/Hendersonville is nudging its way to the top of the list, and this year ain't slowing down any.
• The second point was the realization of how my weight affects my life. I've been s...l...o...w...l...y...getting that clue more and more this year; but between LS's 3-story walk-up and the hilly expanse of Asheville's downtown, my knees took a beating...we've been back 2 days and I'm still using the Aspercreme. It was very, VERY sobering. I do not want to be taking meds for joint pain my whole life. I hate needing 5 minutes to catch my breath after 2 friggin' flights of stairs. I do not want my arthritis to get worse. And I don't want to shorten my life.

So I'm a little pensive this week, as we get back to normal after all that travel. We drove home Tuesday and have been stumbling around a bit ever since.

Outside: Florida...I did NOT miss the humidity while we were gone. We ate outside in Charlotte; it was ridiculously pleasant while we were there.

Inside: Had my panel interview yesterday for the supervisor position...I have no idea how I feel about that.

Wearing: jeans, polo, frankenstein shoes...

Creating: ROFLMAO...but I will be trolling the web for a nice vest pattern to cast on with the nifty yarn Mom and LS brought back from Ireland....

Reading: Dr. Ornish's Spectrum, old issues of Real Simple and Our State (thanks Mom!)

Going: nowhere.....too much to do at home.

Hoping...
I can clean the crap out of the house this weekend and plant something.

Image from here.