Getting Autumn Ready at the Homestead

It’s been a lazy yet productive Sunday around the homestead after getting back from my road trip last night. I’ve been getting autumn ready for another couple crazy months of travel about to kick off soon.

I got up early and did a couple Uber drives (three rides, over $60, while I drank my morning caffeine) before doing a bit of autumn decorating on the front porch.

I don’t know about you, but in the middle of a busy travel period, which I’m getting ready to jump into, its comforting to come back to some cozy elements. I also do my morning blogging out there when it’s not too hot/cold so I like having some creature comforts.

Then it was a three hour break to watch my Green Bay Packers stomp on the Bears with some chores during commercial breaks – it’s amazing what little things pile up when I’m on the road and / or working late every night: mail, more mail, laundry, dishes. Where DOES it all come from if I’m not even here?! Lately I’ve been letting clutter pile up, something that tends to happen when I have several back-to-back trips.

After the game I turned on my phone for one more Uber ride and did chores while I waited. I lucked into a good one to drop two Cowboys fans and one Saints fan off at the stadium so my daily gross for four rides was over $100. My cut will be $70-75, important since all of my Uber money is going towards a couple of specific house projects that need to be tackled soon… a day of driving becomes a tangible “X square feet of kitchen tile” or “Y% of a new HVAC system” so I can justify the time by directing that money straight into the house account (yes, the house has her own bank account and card, too!)

Then a quick Whole Foods stop for some groceries to maximize my drive out to Arlington (since we *still* don’t have a location in Fort Worth!) and home for a Sunday night conference call.

And now it’s Pinterest/social media catch up time from the sofa with an adult beverage (or two) and football in the background. And of course, I’m online working through plans for my October trips – booking hotels, researching leisure stops, figuring out air travel routings.

If I’m lucky, I may peel myself off the sofa to make up a batch of protein balls for the week – preparation seems like it would be prudent even though I am home for an entire week now. A tiny bit of kitchen time is the icing on any weekend day at home, but at the moment I’m just savoring the stillness for a bit.

Sometimes it’s worthwhile to make the effort to enjoy calm at the homestead so that it becomes a place to recharge, not just a space where I stow my suitcase between trips, but a place where I can bake, relax on the porch with a cup of morning tea, or just watch football on a lazy Sunday night.