Less Hustle More Coffee

Sometimes instead of buying things, I just take pictures. But this mountain community of Waynesville, NC is so fun to shop. It’s the perfect amount of stores and filled with several restaurants and even the Boojum Brewery, and a little convenience store or market. The Mast General store is there and filled with goodness and the most interesting squeaking wooden floors that amused me with the sounds. It made me smile really big! I cannot remember all the names of all the stores and I will not laboriously look them all up and list them here. No need. Just know it’s a wonderful place to go and browse and especially to Christmas shop. We always find some different things there that you don’t see in all the chains! Let’s re-live some of our day last Friday. Here we go!

We bought quite a bit here from this store. I’d say we mostly bought “unique” gifts. And no we did not buy any Sasquatch shirts, but for some reason Sasquatch gifts were popular. Sas used to be in Washington and Canada border line at least when I was kid. But apparently he has been seen in these parts. I think he is even seen in our neighborhood at last report in the woods behind us. One day George and I will go on a video Sasquatch hunt – just for you guys and show you.

There’s so much that sometimes it’s hard to take everything in.

Then of course there is the furniture store which has it’s cabin type furniture for sale and I love the decor and especially the animals.

This decor was neat above. I mean – who would have thought of this way to decorate a plate for table setting. George held up the piece so you could see how it worked.

There are lots of local crafts and things you don’t see anywhere else.

I might have bought some Ginger snaps to much on. 😉

Look how much the 3 vanilla beans cost! $23??? Wow! There was a spice, olive oil, cooking shop. George bought some spice mixes. Of course he did. lol

And there were lots of Christmas decorations! Some handmade. Some not. And most of the time they were very reasonable in price. I remember last time it was hard to contain myself. But I did.

Since I’ve been watch Cecelia’s Vlog in Svalbard up close to the North Pole, I took special interest in the Polar Bears. So cute to behold as a stuff animal but they are curious and can be very very dangerous at times. There have been several incidents in Svalbard as Cecelia mentions – even an attack close to her house and they have to have rifles with them just to go outside their cabin.

Then there was the Blue Ridge Beer Hub which had a little tap area too but George just bought some of the local brews. George thoroughly enjoys looking for craft brewing that we don’t have in our area. Well he likes our area too, but he enjoyed the “hunt” for other things. I told him to go crazy with it b/c his father always bought him a fridge full of beer for Christmas – especially in his last able days. He would take George and have him “go wild” buying whatever he wanted. I told him to go ahead b/c likely I’d not get out and do any beer shopping for him this year. This is it. I can’t top that. lol

And of course there was a book store which George loves. I enjoy them too but I just don’t buy many any more. I have more than I will ever read in the rest of my lifetime. And I have to pretty much do audio books while I work. And with Mom as an added responsibility (and another full time job almost) I just don’t have time to sit and enjoy a read anymore. One day.

Isn’t this a charming place? I realize I’m not even half way through our day in Waynesville so I’ll have to come back tomorrow and finish. Just way too many pics.

Midweek Update

So, the last two nights we have eaten at Mom’s. She fixed chili and hot dogs, but last night we supplemented with pizza and a salad from a nearby Italian sub and pizza place, Bellacino’s. We had gone to get Mom and she spent the night so she could be here for the dishwasher install while we worked. We appreciated this so much so we didn’t have to take off work. (It was a payroll day for me and would have been difficult to work in and of course George works almost an hour away.). So the dishwasher was installed and while we were at Mom’s George did or tried to do a few things. He put the bed together in the guest room I think and then tried to get Mom’s mirror on her dresser but didn’t have the right screw/bolt so has to go to Lowe’s.

Mom gave me a list of things she needs for company coming (Aunt Martha and Uncle Ken) as they arrive this weekend. The room is not ready for them in any shape or form, so we are scrambling. Well not really. We don’t have time to scramble even. My first impression is to panic. But the second reaction was also George’s reaction “yay, they can help us with this project”. lol. More hands!

So I will be going to Target tonight after work to buy sheets and a shower rod and shower rings and Christmas cards and also hopefully get a few things for my list as well. Although I haven’t had time to update our lists and don’t really know what is left to even people up. So I’ll be in a Frenzy this weekend and next to finish and get wrapped.

I knew these days would be hard. They are very challenging and each day’s list just sits there unworked. I mean by the time we get off work, deal with “life at hand”, do one or two chores – the day is over. But I have prayed and God is giving me this Friday off which I didn’t ask for. But by default will really be kinda half working and half not. We will all be “on call” or “working from home”. If I’m going to be checking email and taking calls then I’m not turning in a PTO day. I will if I have to but at least I can get a few things done to give me an edge up as our offices are closed that day but we still have to be “available”. Although there is not much I can do from home for that one day – no files and I’m not setting up an office for one day with a keyboard, monitor, mouse and ethernet to a pop up desk of sorts. Nah. Not gonna. I have the laptop and can try to connect if needed but….I don’t do well with the touch screens on our company system which is not mouse click oriented but a series of PF keys and arrows. It’s different on a laptop than connected with keyboard and mouse. So nah. But it gives me some unexpected time to —-probably not catch up or get ahead but at least maybe keep from drowning.

So Mom said last night that her Security Install was yesterday and she thought it was today. So they were able to move it to today. I wish I could be there to “hear” how the things work with it. We will get it second hand through Mom. I’m sure I’ll end up setting off the alarm, lol. So I dread that. Mom will have that place so secure that even she won’t be able to get in and out.

The more we try to do at her new place, the more I see that assisted living would have been the better choice for Mom. I think she is frustrated and exasperated. At least I get that impression. She says she will like it eventually and I’m sure would like to have us working over there 24/7 but it’s not possible. As it is this week we have already been over there two evenings and will be shopping for her tonight and then tomorrow night taking her to get groceries for her upcoming company. So at some point we also have to live for ourselves too.

The jumble of responsibility on top of a move and a Christmas season is pretty overwhelming. We are in the thrust of it all. Add an office move on top of that. Which is helping me not to go in sane by an extra day “sort of” being off. I keep reminding myself to just breathe. So grocery night (Thurs) I guess I’ll be putting the guest bed and shower together after Wed night which is Target night where I buy the things needed. And just so you know, Mom is NOT pushing us. None of this is a fault on her. Except for perhaps assisted living might have been a better option but she chose house instead. So we are trying to accommodate her wishes. But she is a woman that likes things done and done now and we know that and so it’s requiring a little patience on everyone’s part and we all know that both she and I have a shortage of patience. But it can’t be helped. We can’t quit our jobs. It took months to move her out and close out the other house and it’s going to take months to get this one up and going like she wants. We’ll get there at a snails pace.

And it’s these times when I wish my sister was part of the family so she could help with her mother too, the lady that bore her and gave her life and being. Mom is just not able to move around much or do much at this point. And we can’t live there 24/7 to work there on things every day – although one could argue we have pretty much except for the travel days. We could really use the help and George could too if my BIL could pitch in with some muscle and a screw driver. But it’s not to be. It’s clearly been established by the sibling that it is our job and our job alone and were left with a “good luck with that”- but there have been offers that if Mom left the house they would gladly come over. Hmmm not so sure but they are welcome to “send groceries” or drop things off on her stoop or send some hired help.

So yeah, we are on our own here to try and take care of two households. And we are ok with doing that except for the fact there is not much time to do it. And everything is so needy right now on top of the holidays. I’m freaking about to lose my mind.

But this too shall pass. Soon Christmas will be over. We will travel to Texas. It’ll be Year End and I’ll be slammed with work. We’ll have to find time to put up Christmas and then hibernate in February and come out on the other side in spring with a new energy. One can only hope. I don’t want to wish my life away though. I’m trying to enjoy each day. Trying not to complain. But as I type here I type the reality. My hopes of having time to accomplish all that everyone needs me to. It is why we work so hard. To keep ourselves and others happy, to enjoy the days we have, and to toil and sweat to be able to look around and have a neat and put together house and have a little bit of 30 minutes to an hour to call our own to do whatever it is we want to do in “said house”. That is what we do. Keep or put houses together, eat, and try to keep us all happy. That is our job. We fail every day. LOL