A thoroughly relaxing day...

Here we are in the middle of a week with no Brett. He is out in CA again for training. The good news is that he only has a couple more trainings left in the near future! Poor Nate has a terrible cold. Monday night was our first real experience with the croup. We were up much of the night, taking time to sit in the bathroom with the shower running and then going outside to look at the moon. Thankfully, though Nate was fairly miserable, it was never so severe that I was really scared and considering going to the ER. It actually worked out well that Brett was gone because then Nate got his whole side of the bed! Last night he still had a lot of mucous and bad cough but was a little better. I am enjoying the fact (at this present moment) that I have absolutely nothing planned for the rest of the week and therefore Nate and I can just focus on laying low and helping him recover. 

The overnight trip to NC last weekend was truly lovely. It provided Brett and I with some much-needed quality time, which is especially helpful to look back on now that he is gone this whole week. While he was working all day Friday, I wandered around the little town of Sylva, NC. First I sat in a quaint little coffee shop with live music and journaled and blogged and talked to some locals. Then I found a used bookstore, spent a while in there, and bought a couple books with some change. Whenever I am in a bookstore, I am humbled by the fact that I do not recognize the vast majority of the titles or authors. I feel as if my impression of myself as a reader and book-lover is a facade. How can I truly love books and there be so many that I know nothing about? Of course, many of them would probably be a waste of time, but still... 

Do you ever think that while flipping through Netflix? "How in the world are there this many ridiculously dumb movies that people actually designed and produced?" I suppose my incredulity reveals that I have too much faith in the human race. =)

After my bookstore ramblings, during which I talked to the owner and found out that he also used to live in Maryland, I went to procure lunch. As I sat in a cafe, awaiting my ordered reuben and sweet potato wedges, I realized that I could not remember ever eating in a sit-down restaurant by myself in my entire life! Eating out was an extremely rare event growing up, and always a social one. In fact, I usually look at people dining alone and feel sorry for them. Actually, it was pretty fun. I actually was observant of the people around me! Lunch was yummy, so I took a picture, after it was half-gone. 

After lunch I discovered an incredible little shop, filled with pottery and other hand-crafted art after my own heart. I could have bought almost everything in there. Oh.....the mugs! 

I am a mug-lover. Brett teases me about it and says that I don't have any room in the kitchen cabinets because they are overflowing with mugs. Of course, I disagree and actually think that my mug collection is far from desirable in size and quality. He has agreed that I can occasionally get a new mug, but I must get rid of an old one when I do. Either that, or build more cabinets. =) I bought large cream-colored mug with a brown horse etched on the side. The shape of it was not as appealing as some of the others, but I loved its rustic charm and just could not get away from the horse. For as much as I love horses, there are not very many horsey things in my house. The mug, I decided, would help remedy that. After chatting with the owner of the shop for a bit, I tore myself away before spending too much. 

All in all, it was a lovely day and I felt thoroughly spoiled. It was so fun to have a whole day with no obligations, all by myself. Growing up in a large family means that you are never alone. Even when I would run to the grocery store, I would take someone along...either an older sibling for fun or some younger ones to give mom a break. Even now, I consider going out by myself almost a waste, when it could be a social event. So while I do generally prefer to have company when out, I have discovered that I enjoy a day here and there of solitary adventure.