Sunday Morning 9/11/2022: Down & Out in Tennessee

I didn’t think I would be posting today, but we ended up having to cancel our getaway this weekend due to illness. Last Monday evening I came down with a very heavy cold. I was sure (and scared) I had caught Covid but daily tests all week have been negative. And, while I felt beyond miserable for a couple of days with a sore throat and stuffy head I never had a fever, headaches, or other aches and pains that might have been present with Covid. I did get to spend two full days though doing nothing but blowing my nose, sneezing, and feeling absolutely awful. We had pretty much decided we wouldn’t be able to go away this weekend but by Wednesday evening I thought maybe I was well enough to go ahead with our trip. However, just as I was feeling better M wasn’t, and on Thursday morning she came down with the same miserable cold and we ended up canceling and/or rescheduling everything for the end of October (her Covid tests have all been negative as well). Truth be told, all of us are feeling sort of grateful the trip didn’t happen as the weather this weekend has been very, very rainy and we most likely would have been miserable and not able to see and do as much as we had planned.

K stayed with us Thursday afternoon through Saturday so M could rest and get well enough to care for her. As always, we enjoyed having her with us. Yesterday morning we took her and M to the Morning Glory Orchard to pick up some treats, but it was pouring rain so we didn’t stay long. We were surprised by how many people were there in spite of the rain, and felt lucky to get some of their apple cider doughnuts before they sold out.

Anyway, the past week was mostly a full-on mess with either me or M sick and things having to be cancelled or changed at the last minute. Our Thursday night hotel reservations in Asheville were non-refundable, so that was a wash, but we were able to reschedule our Airbnb reservation for late October . . . for an additional cost (which we’ll split with M). It was either pay that or give up the amount we’d already paid, but October and November are peak leaf-viewing time and the weather should be better so we may come out ahead in the end. The Airbnb was almost booked solid for October and most of November, so I felt fortunate to be able to rebook at all. The Biltmore House tickets are thankfully open ended so all we have to do is call them later to change the date and time.

We also had a bit of momentary excitement when we received an unexpected box from Burrow (there was never any tracking notice) and thought the missing credenza parts had finally arrived. It was credenza parts all right, but for a completely different model than what we already had! So, now we have two big boxes of unusable furniture parts taking up space in our living room. The correct box is supposedly being shipped this week, and FedEx will pick up the box in the picture above tomorrow. I am trying to stay hopeful, and have received apology after apology from Burrow, but we are about at the end of our rope with whole mess.

Anyway, this morning I am thinking about:

• What we accomplished: 1) All the coffee giveaway packages were packed up and mailed off to the winners on Tuesday! Congratulations again to the winners. 2) Even though I was sick, I reorganized our pantry on Tuesday so that things are easier to find and access. We had been putting things in there somewhat randomly and it was getting near impossible to find and get things out, or even remember what we had in there at times. The pantry we have now is about 1/2 the size of the one we had on Kaua’i so it’s been challenging, but I’m grateful we have a pantry at all because there is so little overall storage space in the kitchen. 3) Although I now have to wait a couple of weeks because of my cold, I have an appointment to get my next Covid booster. Brett got his this past Tuesday.

• What we’re looking forward to this week: We’re expecting a somewhat quiet, normal week and are grateful for that. I plan to get my TN driver’s license, and we want to take Kai to the vet, but otherwise we have nothing on our calendar.

• What we ate and how we exercised: I didn’t get a lot of exercise this past week for obvious reasons. Other than Sonic burgers and shakes one evening, meals stayed small and healthy: teriyaki chicken along with corn, sautéed mushrooms, and broccoli that M prepared for us on Labor Day (so delicious!); a roasted pepper, onion, and Italian sausage pizza; Trader Joe’s Kalua pork spring rolls and coleslaw; beef Polish sausage sandwiches, tater tots, and cucumbers; and BLTs and chicken noodle soup soup. Brett and I agree one of the best things we did when we moved here was buy an air fryer – it has been making meal prep so easy for us.

• The ways we saved: This was not the best week for frugality because of the trip cancellations, but I’ll take the small wins we did have. 1) Brett bought allergy meds for me at Costco this week, some pumpkin streusel muffins for our trip and future desserts (they’re currently in the freezer), and we bought a few things at the orchard, but otherwise we had a no-spend week. 2) We didn’t put anything into the change/$1 jar. 3) No food was thrown out this week.

• Good things that happened: 1) The two Camille Izumi Page prints arrived from Kaua’i and were framed and hung. They are as beautiful as we hoped and it feels good to have something Hawaiian to look at every day. 2) The new chair pads I ordered on ETSY also finally arrived this week. We gave our old cushions to our DIL but then it turned out our new dining room chairs needed cushions as well. The seller’s work is impeccable but her shipping game left much to be desired. 3) My (delayed) high school 50th reunion was held this weekend, and a friend that attended sent me the link for the class book that was created so I could see where classmates were and what they’ve done over the years. We’ve sadly lost a few classmates, and there were several others who were missing from the book (including me), but I had fun looking back and remembering.

The death of Queen Elizabeth was always inevitable, but feels almost impossible and I’m still having trouble believing she is no longer with us. While Elizabeth was never my queen. she became queen the year I was born and was crowned the next year, and with her death a constant in my world has been lost. She was a remarkable woman who took her role seriously and led a truly admirable life of service right up until the end. My childhood career goal was to marry Prince Charles and follow Elizabeth as the Queen of England, but Camilla will now get to fill that role. SIGH. Talk about playing the long game.

It’s been a while since I’ve felt this glad about being done with a week, but both Brett and I are ready to get on to the next. Being laid up did allow me to finish two books, but otherwise it was time I’m mostly happy to have behind me. Here’s to a good, productive week full of good things coming up!