Less Hustle More Coffee

Friday I left work to get Mom in Lebanon and take her to the doctor In Hendersonville for her monthly eye injection (to save her only good eye), we got in and out fairly quickly but it’s about a 45 minute drive over there and 45 min back. We ate at the Cracker Barrel in Gallatin as we have to come through there to get back to Lebanon. I love eating there. I like their meat n 3 situation, but they have really good salads too. So often I will just get their salad. Mom and I both got the fried chicken salad this time.

Most every time I have been to Cracker Barrel we have had great service. There has only been two times in my entire life where we didn’t. One was during the pandemic where people were doing massive amounts of to go orders. We were inside but the to go order business trumped us and we waited and waited. Understandable, we were patient. The second time was with Mom on Friday.

First of all they sat us at a table that didn’t have any room on one side to sit so I had to move the table so we could fit. The woman behind us was looking at us like “this ain’t gonna work” but then she saw we were moving the table. It should have obvious to Cracker Barrel staff that seated us but you could tell the guy hostess was not in a good mood, probably overworked, and had no time to be friendly and greet or even wait to see if you could fit in your seat. lol

Anyway, we got the ONE waiter guy that couldn’t get us taken care of. All the other servers were attentive in our section. I watched and even heard others raving to their servers. Go figure. We had some guy with very large hair that hid behind his face and probably was the bussing service guy that was told to wait tables too and clearly didn’t want to. Other wait staff even noticed that he was disappearing and kept seeing us looking around for him. One even noticed and told the manager. Mom was paying and still left a normal tip but he was clearly not into wanting to wait the table. I would not have left a good tip because of the fact his service was not even half an effort. And he didn’t listen well to our drink orders. Mom wanted lemon and I said black coffee. He forgot our requests multiple times, we had to ask other servers twice for help. Mom asked for lemons twice. We had to ask for napkins and a straw. Oh and he brought a mountain of cream, when I said black coffee. I had to laugh lol. We had to wait for refills. We wanted biscuits for our dessert with jelly. No one removed the dirty plates. He’d already brought the ticket so we didn’t get asked if we were having dessert. So he had to take the ticket back when we asked for biscuits. Mom said “I guess they had to go make the biscuits!” We never saw him again 10 to 15 minutes later and had to ask a manager for the biscuits and jelly and ask for the receipt back so we could leave.

We got the biscuits free even though we said to charge us for them b/c they did not go with a meal we ordered. But they didn’t charge for it since the manager had to bring it. That was nice. We didn’t have clean plates to eat those biscuits on when they came (lol, but we were afraid to ask) so we just used the pile of napkins he finally brought. LOL And, those biscuits were probably some of the best I’ve ever had. That was so good. Worth the aggravated wait. Other than that, it was a nice dinner – just very long and exhaustive trying to get what you needed. It just turned into the Restaurant California, you can eat but you can never leave. lol.

Since Mom was with me I didn’t get to go shop. I didn’t want to ask her to wait any longer but my soul screamed out to shop. Oh well.

Afterwards, we got home and I stayed at Mom’s for a bit and then headed home. George and I watched a show and I headed for bed.

Saturday morning we had a few errands to run but we got up and out and did those early.

Frustrating Time at the Farmer’s Market Getting Fresh Veggies

We stopped at the Farmer’s Market to get veggies. They are very expensive. But you feel at least you are supporting a farmer and we truly need them. Especially with predictions of food shortages upcoming. George got a few things for us and I got Mom’s things. And it was quite the haul.

Mom wanted squash, a whole lot of green beans, some peas, 4 or 5 tomatoes, and a batch of okra which I got two small baskets. I had to get from two vendors and didn’t really know who was with what vendor. And I can never get those plastic sacks open b/c I refuse to lick my fingers in today’s world and it took me forever trying to get them open. It was kindof a frenzied fiasco with everyone buzzing around like flies and reaching around you.

I’m not the most coordinated person in the world trying to hold things in my hands while doing other things with my hands while at the same time digging for wallet and trying to make sure I have the right vendor. And of course George was as far away from me as he could be as if I were the dreaded skunk of Mount Juliet. I even asked a customer for help (for a bag, lol) as I thought she was a vendor since she was behind the counter. LOL LOL I guess she should have been on the correct side of the table, lol. So that one was on her.

I was trying to hold everything and stuff another bag with green beans too and they were falling everywhere. Finally George came over to help at that point. There was no where to set stuff so I had to hold stuff while trying to do other stuff lol lol. I get embarrassed so easily and I wanted to just slip away and get to the car. I finally got all the veggies picked and placed in bags by myself, both vendors paid and juggled the purses, and sacks amid the crowds. It was quite a bit more than I thought and spent Mom’s money and some of mine too. I think I bought $56 worth. George said the tomatoes were probably the culprit and I bought the heirloom ones George said were good.

So we will all enjoy the fresh veggies – yes- But, at Kroger you have a buggy, you don’t have people buzzing all in your space quite so closely, you have a place for your purse, and you can take your time, and pay in the end and know who you are paying, lol.

We ended up with only corn and tomatoes. I bought the watermelon and some black berries at Kroger b/c I was maxed out on hands, funds, and just flat done at the Farmer’s Market as I was maxed out with hand capabilities. So we finished our grocery shopping for us and for Mom at Kroger afterwards. A long morning of grocery shopping and we had two buggies and checked out separately. The lady at the bagger counter was nice enough to tie Mom’s bags so we’d not get them mixed up. We had to remember to get the ice cream in the freezer and also not forget that when we took them to her.

Dexter Watching Dogs on TV

Dexter was a bit unruly when we got home and so George found him some TV to watch. He started jumping up on the TV so we had to find a calmer show for him to watch so he didn’t knock the TV over. It is hilarious when he watches TV though. That was fun. He is being good for the most part. He is learning more and more. And loving us more and more – getting closer to us and trusting us, minding us more and more, generally trying to please – yet his love for shoes and socks persist, but usually he is good to “swap” with something else. He’s getting better about sitting but not perfect if he has an intention on his mind or it involves food. He is very expensive as far as pee pads go. I’ve already got another two boxes on order. The food is more expensive of course than our other dogs but it seems to be good for him. We mix with wet and dry and that works well. His poops are firm. No human food except I did let him have pop corn and we gave him a carrot once. He ate some watermelon when he jumped up on George and he dropped his plate, and I dropped a tortilla chip. We started eating at the table after the watermelon incident, lol.

Oh my goodness, I forgot to mention that we had a Kolache for breakfast at the donut shop Saturday morning. Yum.

And for lunch I fixed a ham sandwich with chips, because I like the crunch. These were the chips from the BBQ platter the other night. I normally ONLY keep tortilla chips in the house b/c I can’t keep away from regular chips if they are around me.

So I got most of the laundry and cleaning done yesterday and vacuuming. George got the mowing done. I read some in my book which is a huge one. And I worked on getting the next video set up for editing. This will be the Jan 2022 one. Finally.

George made enchiladas for dinner.

Dexter and I hung out some. He is so sweet and laid his head in my lap. We watched some shows.

Sunday Morning Frustrations and Busy Month Ahead

And that was our Saturday…..So this morning, we were in a rush to leave. I slept til 6 but had to take a shower, so I only got started on the blog post and didn’t get finished as we had to leave to drop off Mom’s fresh veggies and her grocery items she asked for.

Immediately when walking in the door she began rattling off another list for me to get at the grocery and we just went yesterday. I had her wait b/c I have write things down. I can’t remember in my head. I hadn’t even set down the things we bought yesterday before she was rattling off another list for us to stop at the store and get. We are going to eat dinner with her after work on Wednesday but now it will be much later b/c I have to stop at the store first and get more items and then also go get George and the dog and then head to her house to eat. My guess is that we’ll be out past my bedtime that night. I’m kinda getting old for that. But at least George will be driving home.

Yes Yes, I know we can use instacart and go on line and order for pick up later. But I don’t have time to go in online either. That takes time too. I don’t mind a grocery run once a week but twice – I don’t even do that for myself. I think she will just need to get better at inventorying what she needs. It’s just not that easy to run in and get stuff all the time. Especially if you are on a timeline and a schedule.

I have been frustrated today. I just want to hang my head and cry over so many things. I won’t list them all but here’s a few. Quarter end is not finished, now it’s month end again, just trying to keep up with Mom’s needs when I can’t hardly keep up with my own, not getting enough down time and the next 3 Saturday’s are pretty much booked now as well as the Sunday’s. I start to get freaked out when the time starts booking up. Because I know life will be much harder in those weeks. I have appointments out the ying yang b/w my own and Mom’s. I am so behind in my personal life, work life, family life, and feeling crunched again.

In addition, Mom wants more shoes that fit better, she wants to go furniture shopping as she doesn’t like the chair she bought for her to sit in, she wants to get her toes done, she is not happy with her internet streaming service (but I can’t help her with that one), and she wants to look at switching to iPhone instead of her Samsung – which will mean also switching out her digital watch to match, and she wants some more pants to lounge around in. Things build up faster than I can possibly get them taken care of.

My life is like trying to be a CEO and manage a full blown business, trying to fit in all the pieces and trying to be fair with time for all between work, commute, and having two households of people to get places and care for and stock. I don’t mind any of it so there is no problem with that. I just get freaked out when I realize how the time gets away.

Here’s August – All of this is on top of or overriding my work schedule where I leave by 6:45 in the mornings and return by 5:30 or 6 in the evenings. School is starting up this week and will be adding 20 to 30 minutes or longer for each day to come and go with school zones etc. Sometimes I cook dinner during the week and then we have the dog which takes time. I like to begin winding down by 8:30 so I have time to get ready for bed and get in bed by 9:00. Often I’m having to check messages and return responses at the time I’m getting in bed because there has been no other time to do so (friends, Mom, family, news alerts, weather etc.). And I’m not including church every Sunday but probably should as we are trying to go.

August 1 – I get a crown fitted for in the morning at 7 a.m.

August 3 – Wednesday I have my physical at 7:00 a.m. Have to leave around 4 to get Mom’s groceries, and get George and the dog and back over to Mom’s for dinner and hopefully back to my bed by 9:00.

August 5 – Friday morning at 8:15 Mom has her echo cardiogram.

Never mind that quarter end still not finished and payroll needs to be done and how much time will I have to work on quarter end with all of our appointments? Probably not much. I will try to work over on days that George is not working over. We don’t have a lot of time to do that now with the dog. We have to take turns.

August 6th Saturday, we are doing George’s birthday celebration with his sister and spouse and will be going to Cookeville but not for the night. He wants to take the dog but I think it will be too hot but I think he wants us to suck it up for his birthday as I was told I didn’t have to go for his birthday dinner if I didn’t want to. Hmmm. I told him I would try to accommodate him but not to be offended if we got up and stood inside in the a/c with paper towels around our necks. As not everyone can endure the heat like he can. I can’t endure the heat and it’s not really a choice of mine. The meds I’m on say to avoid it. So yay, we can all look forward to that and yes I’m being sarcastic. I mean am I the only one that ever thinks about the comfort of people? Is it wrong to think ahead like that? I was told I was being negative when I brought that up. And that he could sit all alone and eat with the dog if he had to ::sigh:: I am looking forward to seeing family but not to the heat if we take the dog but we don’t want to leave the dog at home. ::sigh:: And I’m also now wondering if my spouse has narcissistic trends after that conversation LOL LOL. He is quick to spin that one on me and others but I wonder if he has ever taken the test. LOL LOL

Aug 8th – Monday – Mom’s Heart Doc appt at 8:00

August 9th – Tuesday 5:30 p.m. – My hair cut appointment

August 12 – George’s actual birthday – pizza at home

August 13 –Saturday 10:00 Fancy gets shots so she can get groomed, then Mom wants to take George out for his birthday. So we have to drop Fancy off in Lebanon and then come back to Oscar Taco where George wants to eat and then take Mom back home in Lebanon. Then he wants he and I to go eat Greek that night for dinner.

August 14 Sunday- George wants to go for Smiley Thai for dinner for his birthday weekend. We eat out a lot for our birthdays.

August 19 Friday – Get my REAL ID so I can fly – trying to beat the crowds before next year when it is required. Also have a 4 p.m. baby shower for someone at work

August 20 Saturday – Fancy Trim 8:00 a.m.

August 26 Friday – Mom’s Eye appt at 1:45

Also this month there is a lot to do a lot to figure out and a lot to work on. So I’m feeling like I’m getting squashed right now and most of my personal time is shrinking away again.

It’ll be ok though. We’ve gone through busy times before and we will continue to go through them. I just got used to having some time temporarily. I think I will go have a good cry and not make any decisions over what to get rid of out of my schedule. It’ll just do what it always did before, “rob Peter to pay Paul with time”. Everything just gets rolled over into the next cycle until it is all done.

Sometimes I just get tired and withered and have to figure out how to perk myself up. I’ll give it to God (again) and he will work it all out as he has in the past.

These dang blog posts get so big and long when I have to do them fewer in the week and there is more to say. It’s taken me along time to even get my words out today. I can’t even think straight and I’ve read over and rewritten my words so many times. We ran errands yesterday so I lost half a day. And today I’ve spent three hours trying to get this dang post finished.

Still today, I have to:

• Take my car to get fixed and drop it off as the a/c is not working correctly (Mom is already asking for her car back – at least she asked if we left it for her today and she knows mine is not fixed yet as I told her so Friday and that they were not open on weekends) and I guess we should look into a rental then b/c I’m not driving the RAV4.
• Take my BP meds and vitamins
• Finish two more loads of laundry
• Change my sheets
• Iron for next week
• Change purses
• Sign and address a card and gift card and get that in the mail
• All the other things on the list (about 8 more things) can wait til later

::sigh:: But thanks for being here, if you are!