Cash(ew) and Yogaville

The last few weeks have been quite all over the place. To begin with, we have a new member of the household-Cashew (Cash for short). He is a four year old spaniel terrier mutt that we picked up from the humane society on columbus day. (I saw we picked him, but, really, he picked us. And although he picked us, he is Robin's dog). He is such a sweetheart and has just slipped into our life quite easily. He reminds us a lot of Peppy-the dog we grew up with. He is quite low-key and could care less about the cats. Which is great. His biggest fault is that he is a nervous pooper and can't seem to poop while on a walk which means he's taken up to going on the back porch whenever we put him out there...but it is easy to clean up and is at least outside. We are working on remedying the situation. Besides that, he is a total lover. I will hopefully get to loading a few pictures up to the blog after writing this post.

Besides the dog, it has been a wonderfully warm (and dry) fall. The leaves are putting on a show, although not as crazy a show as other years (so we hear). Work has been crazy busy again--even more so than in the middle of July, which has been good, but sort of exhausting. Robin and I have managed to get out some despite all the work. The dog has helped us get out and head to the park for a walk a couple of times and we have wondered why it took us so long to get there on our own. One afternoon we went up to Craggie peak on the Blue Ridge Parkway for a short walk and some panoramic views. It was crazy windy but beautiful and invigorating. That evening we went at watched Eat Pray Love at the Asheville Pizza and Brewing (Brew and View) which was a wonderful experience. Movies are $3, pizza and beer and other food is available if you so desire, but is not mandatory. It reminded us a little of an indoor drive in experience.

Besides the dog, perhaps the biggest news is that I have decided to take the next three weeks off and return to Yogaville in central Virginia for a personal retreat and catch up. I have been feeling so drained and exhausted by everything the last few weeks and I can't think of anything else that I really want. It just so happened to work out that we have a temporary fill-in at the restaurant through November and that nothing in my life was too scheduled up, so I was free to go. I leave tomorrow morning and am greatly looking forward to my time there. It will be a good experience in so many ways to return and I am curious to see where I find myself at the end of the three weeks.

With that, I need to keep moving on and finish packing but will try to get a few pictures up first!

The Beach

Last weekend Robin and I headed southeast to Charleston, SC for a late-season beach trip. It was fabulous! We didn't actually go swimming due to some windy conditions and slightly cooler temps, but sure did enjoy beach lounging! The trip was brief, we got there Sunday evening and left early Tuesday morning, but managed to feel like we were on vacation. We stayed at a hostel near downtown and walked down through the main drag to the water Monday morning. That afternoon we drove out to Foley beach and stopped at a Goodwill on the way back and shopped our second hand hearts out. We had dinner at this restaurant on the water called Fleet's Landing (on recommend of a friend from work) and enjoyed ourselves immensely.

It was also neat to drive out of the mountains on our way down and definitely be able to tell that we were driving back into them on the way home. Although different from the mountains at home, it is nice to come home to mountains. (Although, I will say that I for one quite enjoyed the flat, bike friendly terrain of Charleston. Sometimes all the little hills here in Asheville are exhausting!).

Back here in Asheville, I am enjoying one of the most beautiful fall seasons in my memory. The leaves are still not all turned (there are so many!) and peak leaf week won't be here until the end of October, but the weather is cool and crisp in the evenings and mornings and is warming up to the 70s during the day. The air has cleared up compared to the summer and the weather just makes me want to be outside when at all possible.

The restaurant is treating both Robin and I well, although I do have moments where I tire of the job. All in all though, I like the people I work with and continue to make good money there, which is a security I am grateful for immensely! And, speaking of work...it is time for me to go get ready for my Saturday night shift.