Well, I was right. Carolyn and I did have a blast while she was here. We did so many fun things - went to play Bingo at the VFW hall (where I won $120!); went to the Corral Theater - an outdoor, walk-in movie theater, where you sit in lawn chairs and a family of four can see a first run movie and get all their snacks for about twenty bucks; went to Wimberley Market Days and shopped 'til we dropped. We tried out several neat restaurants in the area, and went to farmer's markets both here and in Blanco, to get fabulous fresh stuff for our own little front-porch-feasts. In fact, we ate anything we wanted, took naps in the afternoon, and I still managed to lose a little weight at the end of the week! I was amazed - there must be something in the air here that agrees with me. It was very hard going back to Houston at the end of the week, even though I was quite anxious to see John after being apart for almost a month. I'm not a person who shifts gears and focus easily. I seem to really immerse myself in whatever I'm doing, and trying to transition to something else is about like trying to swim up from the bottom of the ocean. Thank goodness I have Mondays off. That gives me a little time to segue back into work mode.
Now that John has started a consulting business, the first adjustment will be getting used to having him work from the townhouse we have rented in Houston. I think I could grow to like it. It's certainly better than having him out of the country all of the time. I don't ever want to get used to that again - way too hard on a marriage! On Monday , we both finished up what we needed to do by mid-afternoon, so we decided to walk over to the hardware store together, then stopped at the gourmet deli next door to get a couple of things to go with our dinner. I started thinking, "Yeah, I could really get used to being right in the middle of things like this, being able to walk to grocery stores, the library, restaurants, ice cream or gelato parlors, or just about anything else I need, having a beautiful pool and park-like area right outside my front door, that someone else has to take care of. This is the life!" I worked Tuesday and Thursday at the nursery, and spent Wednesday meeting with a couple of people who wanted me to do garden designs for them. I got totally immersed in all of that, then suddenly it was Friday, we were on our way back to Wimberley, and I was fretting because I wasn't able to jump right in and start on those designs while everything the clients and I discussed was still fresh in my mind. Paula and Tim are arriving today, and I'm really looking forward to that. I'm sure we will have a wonderful weekend, but by Monday I will probably have forgotten everything the clients said, and will have to do that long swim back up to the surface again. Will I ever get accustomed to making these constant transitions? I'm beginning to wonder.
Now that John has started a consulting business, the first adjustment will be getting used to having him work from the townhouse we have rented in Houston. I think I could grow to like it. It's certainly better than having him out of the country all of the time. I don't ever want to get used to that again - way too hard on a marriage! On Monday , we both finished up what we needed to do by mid-afternoon, so we decided to walk over to the hardware store together, then stopped at the gourmet deli next door to get a couple of things to go with our dinner. I started thinking, "Yeah, I could really get used to being right in the middle of things like this, being able to walk to grocery stores, the library, restaurants, ice cream or gelato parlors, or just about anything else I need, having a beautiful pool and park-like area right outside my front door, that someone else has to take care of. This is the life!" I worked Tuesday and Thursday at the nursery, and spent Wednesday meeting with a couple of people who wanted me to do garden designs for them. I got totally immersed in all of that, then suddenly it was Friday, we were on our way back to Wimberley, and I was fretting because I wasn't able to jump right in and start on those designs while everything the clients and I discussed was still fresh in my mind. Paula and Tim are arriving today, and I'm really looking forward to that. I'm sure we will have a wonderful weekend, but by Monday I will probably have forgotten everything the clients said, and will have to do that long swim back up to the surface again. Will I ever get accustomed to making these constant transitions? I'm beginning to wonder.
* * * * *
Sundays just plain suck - trying to psyche myself up for going back to Houston and to work, when I feel like I've just barely arrived in Wimberley and started to settle in. There are so many projects here I'd like to do, people I'd like to get to know, places I'd like to explore. But I never seem to accomplish much of anything before it's time to head back. You spend the first day cleaning, then you have to go to the grocery store, the hardware store, the emergency room (more about that later). Thank goodness we've been able to have three-day weekends of late, so we can get most of that out of the way on Fridays. On Saturday, you have a tug-of-war with your conscience - do I do something from my list of chores and projects, or do I do something fun? Since I'm a firm believer in the "moderation in all things" policy, I try to keep a balance and do a little of both. In fact, I was reading something about Thomas Jefferson recently, where he was describing his life at Monticello, after he retired from politics. He said he had developed a routine where he spent the time from dawn until breakfast on writing and correspondence. The hours between breakfast and lunch were spent working about his property. Afternoons and early evenings were spent visiting and dining with friends. After that, he read until bedtime. Sounds like a brilliant plan to me, and one I hope to adopt when we finally move up here full-time.
But now it's Sunday morning, and time to pack up and head back to Houston. Again I'm torn in two. I don't actually have to work at the nursery on Mondays, so theoretically, I could stay here a day longer. But it's so hard to just jump directly from this life back into my other one. It helps, knowing I still have a day off when I get back, in which to do laundry, pick up around the townhouse, get groceries, and work on garden designs.
My life seems to be just full of transitions these days. I go back and forth between working as a merchandiser at the garden center, doing garden designs, and writing. I go from a townhouse in Houston to a country house in Wimberley. I swing back and forth from having a house full of kids in summer and on holidays, to being an empty nester the rest of the time. How did I get myself into this fix? What was I thinking? Probably this. Life at the townhouse is convenient, but Wimberley feeds my soul. It is now Friday, and normally I am off work from the nursery, but today I have a workshop to go to. The car is loaded though, and the minute I get out, we are heading for the hills. I can't wait. After all, seven days away from the Hill Country makes one weak! All joking aside, being there really does seem to feed and invigorate me. Not just physically, but creatively as well. When I'm up there, ideas are just popping into my head right and left, and I can't seem to get them down on paper fast enough. There's a bit of residual glow left when I first get back to Houston, but then it gradually fades away. I know it's completely gone when I can't think of anything better to do in the evenings than to sit in front of the television.
But now it's Sunday morning, and time to pack up and head back to Houston. Again I'm torn in two. I don't actually have to work at the nursery on Mondays, so theoretically, I could stay here a day longer. But it's so hard to just jump directly from this life back into my other one. It helps, knowing I still have a day off when I get back, in which to do laundry, pick up around the townhouse, get groceries, and work on garden designs.
* * * * *
My life seems to be just full of transitions these days. I go back and forth between working as a merchandiser at the garden center, doing garden designs, and writing. I go from a townhouse in Houston to a country house in Wimberley. I swing back and forth from having a house full of kids in summer and on holidays, to being an empty nester the rest of the time. How did I get myself into this fix? What was I thinking? Probably this. Life at the townhouse is convenient, but Wimberley feeds my soul. It is now Friday, and normally I am off work from the nursery, but today I have a workshop to go to. The car is loaded though, and the minute I get out, we are heading for the hills. I can't wait. After all, seven days away from the Hill Country makes one weak! All joking aside, being there really does seem to feed and invigorate me. Not just physically, but creatively as well. When I'm up there, ideas are just popping into my head right and left, and I can't seem to get them down on paper fast enough. There's a bit of residual glow left when I first get back to Houston, but then it gradually fades away. I know it's completely gone when I can't think of anything better to do in the evenings than to sit in front of the television.
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