I am writing this Saturday night with bags mostly packed, an ice chest staged, the furry children’s travel arrangements handled, coffee and road snacks accounted for, and Bubba cooking supper.
Notice I said mostly packed.
There are still things that could be done tonight. There are probably things I will remember tomorrow morning after we’re already five miles down the road. Work is not magically fixed. Your Bowl Connection did not get every little checkmark I intended to give it this week.
And tomorrow morning, we’re leaving anyway.
Maybe that’s the part of getting ready I needed to learn this week.
Because apparently I have spent the last seven days preparing for vacation while life repeatedly looked at my plans and said, “That’s cute.” 😂
When Days Off Aren’t Actually Days Off
I started the week already trying to get everything lined up before vacation. Work coverage was a concern, staffing was thin, and I was doing that thing I do where I’m mentally moving pieces around before I’ve even gotten through the day in front of me.
Then my newest manager came in.
She’s the one I’ve been thanking God for since she walked through my door and asked if we were hiring. She had stepped up, learned quickly and become one of those people who made me think maybe we were finally getting somewhere.
She handed me her key.
A family situation needed her more than AutoZone did.
She was crying. She was apologizing. And I understood completely.
Then she left, and I cried too.
Because understanding why somebody has to leave doesn’t make you any less short staffed when the door closes behind them.
Days that were supposed to be mine became workdays. Vacation coverage had to be figured out again. Reports still existed. Inventory management still existed. More work landed on the commercial side. There were moments when I genuinely wondered if I was letting my DM down because I couldn’t seem to get my arms around everything at once.
Monday evening, though, I did something deliberately.
I came home and left work outside.
Not solved.
Not caught up.
Not neatly tied with a bow so I could officially declare myself finished for the day.
I just left it outside.
Then I had one of those beautiful little moments that shows up when you’re finally quiet enough to notice it. I can’t explain it any better than I did that evening ~ it felt like God rewarded me for leaving work where it belonged.
Nothing at the store changed because I sat down.
But something in me did.
Apparently Coffee Counts as Emergency Preparedness
Of course, the week wasn’t finished having fun with me.
A storm rolled through Thursday night and took out the power around 1 in the morning.
I had to be at work at 9:30.
So at 6:30 that morning, Bubba got the generator running.
Now, there are many important reasons to have a generator during a Louisiana power outage.
Refrigerator.
Freezer.
Lights.
Necessary household equipment.
But let the record show that my Keurig worked. 😂
Coffee was made.
Civilization continued.
Before I even left home, though, I learned the scheduled AutoZoner hadn’t shown up.
Here we went again.
Except this time something else happened too.
Martin stepped up.
He’s still fairly new, but he’s learning. He’s paying attention. He’s getting our pledge down. And in a week when I kept seeing all the places where I didn’t have enough people, there was also this reminder standing right in front of me:
Good people are developing around me.
That didn’t magically fill the schedule.
It didn’t solve vacation coverage.
It didn’t erase the week.
But it mattered.
And Then I Missed Some Things
Meanwhile, over here at Your Bowl Connection, Thursday’s Text Kitchen message didn’t happen.
Friday’s email didn’t happen either.
I knew it.
I noticed it.
And I did not scramble around trying to make everything up just so I could say I had completed the week properly.
That may sound like a tiny thing.
For me, it wasn’t.
There was a time when missing something on my own content schedule would have made me feel like I needed to hurry up and compensate for it. Send something late. Squeeze something in. Get that checkmark back.
But real life had already filled those spaces.
So I let them stay missed.
The kitchen table was still here.
The Porch was still here.
Y’all were still here.
And I had a vacation to get ready for.
Which brings us to the $800 tires. 😂
Well, At Least the Kicks Was Ready
Before a road trip, you get the vehicle ready.
That’s what responsible adults do.
So we put about $800 worth of brand-new tires on my Nissan Kicks.
There.
Vacation ready.
Friday, Bubba took the Kicks for an oil change.
And came home with information that changed things.
One conversation led to another, and by Friday evening we were at Gerry Lane looking at vehicles.
Now here’s where life gets funny.
The day before, I had admired a customer’s Jeep Gladiator. I really liked that thing.
But when it came down to actually choosing one for us, I kept coming back to the Wrangler Unlimited.
And somewhere during all of this, while the Saints were busy beating Dallas 27–24 in their final preseason game, I was negotiating $2,000 on my trade because I would like the record to reflect that those $800 tires had traveled approximately from the tire shop to home, work and the dealership. 😂
I had gotten the Kicks perfectly ready for vacation.
Then traded it.
So tomorrow, we’re leaving in a Jeep.
You really can’t make this stuff up.
Meet Mabel
Saturday meant going back to Gerry Lane so the Jeep could get her system update and wash. Then we went to visit Mama and Daddy, who had just returned from their own road trip and surprised me by buying a new vehicle themselves.
We got to visit with Kris and Shane before Shane heads back to Roswell.
And Bubba made me drive most of the day.
Not because he was being particularly generous.
Nope.
That man wanted to see if I would get a speeding ticket on the Basin Bridge like he once did. 😂
For the record, I did not.
Somewhere along the way, the Wrangler got her name.
Mabel.
Mama’s mama was Mabel, although we called her Mom.
And Mom loved to rôder.
Ride around. Roam. Get out and go somewhere.
Mom also loved sitting on the porch, drinking coffee and visiting.
I didn’t buy a Jeep thinking about Your Bowl Connection. I certainly didn’t spend this week arranging my life so a vehicle purchase could turn into a business story.
But once we named her Mabel, I couldn’t help noticing the connection.
The Porch here at Your Bowl Connection has its own familiar invitation:
Come on in ~ coffee’s ready!
And now Mabel will eventually have that invitation riding around on her spare tire cover, along with:
Mabel ~ Born to Rôder
I think Mom would’ve gotten a kick out of that.
She probably would’ve wanted to know where we were going first.
Maybe This Is Ready
So now we’re back to Saturday night.
Bubba is cooking.
The furry children are ready.
Their travel setup is handled.
Coffee, snacks and smoking essentials are packed because apparently I do understand priorities.
The ice chest is staged.
Our bags are mostly packed.
Mabel is outside.
And there are still loose ends.
That’s what finally caught my attention.
I’ve spent so much of this week trying to get ready.
Get work ready for me to leave.
Get the schedule ready.
Get Your Bowl Connection ready.
Get the vehicle ready.
Get the house ready.
Get the dogs ready.
Get ourselves ready.
Some of it got done.
Some of it changed halfway through.
Some of it required somebody else’s help.
Some of it simply didn’t happen.
And maybe ready was never supposed to mean everything got done.
Maybe sometimes ready just means we’ve handled what needs handling enough to take the next step.
That’s a very different thing.
Because if I have to wait until there isn’t one more report, one more load of laundry, one more business task, one more household job, one more person who needs something, one more thing I could’ve done…
Friend, I ain’t ever going anywhere. 😂
And I don’t think I’m the only woman who does that.
We finish one thing and discover three more. We tell ourselves we’ll sit down when we’re done, rest when we’re caught up, enjoy something when everything else has been handled.
Except life doesn’t always give us a clean stopping place.
Sometimes we have to make one.
Not because everything stopped mattering.
Because we matter while some of it is still unfinished.
That may be the difference I’m taking with me tomorrow.
I don’t need to declare this week complete.
I just need to know it’s time to go.
Off the Apron
If you’ve been waiting until you have enough time, enough energy or enough of your kitchen figured out before making anything easier, wander over to the Chaos to Cozy Kitchen System™ next.
It isn’t about finally getting everything under control. It’s about looking at the life and kitchen you actually have and finding the next useful move from there.
Because sometimes the most helpful question isn’t, “How do I finish all of this?”
It’s simply, “What would make the next part easier?”
From the Porch
If you’d like to linger with this week’s thought a little longer, come sit with me on The Porch.
It’s where the stories, kitchen help, and those little reminders that life doesn’t have to be completely handled before we enjoy it all meet in one place.
Coffee’s ready. There’s always room for one more chair.
Come on up to The Porch → The Front Porch ~ Come On In, Coffee’s Ready
Closing
Tomorrow we’re heading out.
I’m sure I’ll remember something we forgot.
I’m reasonably certain something at work will happen while I’m gone.
There are business tasks waiting for me when I come back.
And if history tells me anything, our road trip itself will probably provide enough stories that you’ll hear about at least one of them. 😂
But tonight, Bubba is cooking supper.
The bags are mostly packed.
Mabel is waiting outside.
And for once, I’m not going to make finished the requirement for being ready.
Tomorrow…
we rôder anyway.
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