Just Fine

These were taken a few weeks ago down Redart. I try to make it down there three or four times a year just to check on these boats and the docks to which they're moored.

They were all doing just fine.

Just fine is not exactly how I'd describe my temperament last evening, though.

My workdays begin early and are exacerbated by a 100-mile round-trip commute in a car with 182,000 miles on it. I get up at 5:30, leave the house by 6:15 and sit behind the wheel of a car I hope can last for a solid hour of driving before arriving at work at 7:30, where I sit at a desk in a tiny office staring at an even tinier computer screen.

All day.

Then I return behind the wheel of a car I hope can last just one more hour to get home.

When sporting events are added to that, the days, the miles, the sitting, the hoping, the worrying, the wondering, the not only is my son leaving for college but how will I pay for it moments, and the hours far from home where things need tending to are even longer.

Way, way, way longer.

So let's just say Monday was a very long day due to work and my daughter's soccer game. By the time Tuesday morning rolled around, it felt as if I'd been hit by a Mack truck it were already Friday.

Except it wasn't.

No matter what day I felt it should be, it was still only Tuesday morning, way too early.

The very long story short is Tuesday night when I arrived home from yet another brutally long day, wondering when my car is finally going to conk out from all the miles, to see the very same grass I had cut three days ago high enough for more cutting, and the very same ants I'd tamed on the kitchen counter swarming again, and the very same dirt and dust I'd swept the day before piled even higher on the floor, and the dog and cats begging for attention, and Son (who is leaving the nest soon and whose college tuition I have to figure out how to pay for) and Daughter (who will be leaving in a couple of years herself for another college I have to figure out how to pay for) simultaneously needing dinner....well.

Well.

I walked into the house and unbeknownst to me, the emotional whirlwind of exhaustion + fear + how am I ever going to do all this by myself created a spontaneous eruption of tears that couldn't be stopped no matter how hard I tried.

Later, when I explained to Son and Daughter that too many things were converging at once and that I was absolutely fine, just a little overwhelmed, Daughter hugged me and said, "We deserve to be a little crazy sometimes."

Crazy wasn't exactly what I was going for, but I so appreciate the empathy. And based on how hard we run during the school year, she's right. We do deserve it.

Whatever it is.

Son went out and cut the very grass I was worried about after helping me season the lackluster spaghetti sauce I was attempting to toss on the table as a token dinner, in between sniffles.

After all that, everything is back to status woe quo here at Casa de CBW. The ants are on the counter, and the Son is still leaving the nest bills still have to be paid, somehow.

But for now, all is good.

Tomorrow's another day.

Paula Does Merroir

Saturday, my blog friend BHE and Paula the Garden Gnome stopped by my house for a visit.

Since it was a gorgeous day and I had no intention of cooking after more than two plus weeks of serving three plus meals a day to my precious son while he recovered from surgery I needed a break, I suggested we drive over to the riverfront restaurant in Topping known as Merroir.

(Yes, it's true.  CBW is still talking about lawn ornaments as if they were people.)

(No, it's not at all true.  She really isn't entirely crazy. If she is, then BHE is too. And more than a few people at Merroir, thank you very much.) 

Safety first!
(The fact that Paula was standing vs. sitting in the back seat
is a major safety infraction minor technicality.)

The views from this outdoor restaurant are stunning.

Paula peruses the wine list.
(Sssshhhh. We won't tell her it's upside down.)

More than one person got the notion that it was a great night for Merroir, because the place was jam packed. BHE, Paula, and I waited patiently on the porch for a table. While there we met the most interesting people.

This photogenic couple is from Waynesboro.
They travel to the area frequently
to care for an ailing family member.

Eventually we were seated for dinner, Paula included. Imagine our surprise when a young mother (who happens to be an art teacher) jumped up and trotted over--clearly relieved to know she wasn't the only one with issues with a creative sense of humor.

You cannot make this stuff up, folks.
Someone else there had a Barbie doll.
Not a child--an art teacher.
(Creativity and craziness childishness 
are often easily confused.)

It was as if we had stepped into some parallel universe-- where not only was the food delicious and the views spectacular, but....everyone seemed a little touched quirky, uninhibited, happy, and fun.


We were seated next to friendly folks from Richmond who own a home in Mathews.  (I took pictures of them, but unfortunately they didn't turn out that well.) They were so much fun to talk to.


Our Waynesboro friends from the porch were seated with a young couple celebrating their first wedding anniversary.

Paula absolutely insisted on spending some time with them.

Waynesboro Couple and 1st Year Anniversary Celebrants
(And Paula, there on the right, in the midst of it all.)

I'm reasonably sure these young folks will never
forget their first anniversary dinner.

Everyone seemed to be happy and laughing.

Paula definitely enjoyed herself.

The moral of this blog post is: Have fun, live life to the fullest, cherish old friends, and embrace new ones.  Also, visit Merroir, where the patrons are as crazy as you are and will embrace garden gnomes with dignity, verve, and a healthy splash of humor.

The End.