Sorry – No Avocado Toast For You!! (Today)

Today, I am taking the day off. Yesterday was a record breaker for us. In a weird way. It was never crazy busy like it is on Wednesdays, with people jostling for position in front of the food truck and holding out cash through the window. It started at 8am and it never let up, one table at a time. Just the way I like it. The business is growing and growing every day. I think Google reviews and word of mouth are taking hold. But I knew I needed a day off when getting out of bed yesterday at 5:30 was way harder than it needed to be.

Our normal hours are 7-2. I always open earlier, just because I want to. But by 2pm most pilgrims are already on their way to Melide, Boente, or Arzua. But that is changing as we head toward autumn. I don’t need to be open at 6am because the heat isn’t an issue and Pilgrims are leaving Palas much later in the morning. The big crowds don’t reach me now until 9-11am. Yesterday we noticed that we had more and more people until as late as 8pm passing by. And we did much more business after 12 than usual. I finally closed up after 3pm but I had Pilgrims still sitting at tables and told them they could stay as long as they like, but we were closing for food.

And today I am tired. Bone tired. I haven’t had a day off in quite some time. I need to take a beat to gather myself and meet other commitments. But when I went out to turn on the coffee machine in the food truck to make myself a coffee this morning, I had a Pilgrim at the gate.

‘Why aren’t you open yet? It says you open at 7.’

I assumed he was referring to Google Maps.

‘We normally are. But I need a day off. It’s been awhile.’ I told him.

‘Well, if you’re going to do that you should update your hours in Google.’

I apologized but he stood there quite literally hanging on the gate.

‘So, I guess I can’t get a coffee and some avocado toast.’

I laughed, but then realized he was serious. He had a wild-eyed look of an addict. Come on, baby. Just a dime bag of avocado toast. I need a hit of garlic and cilantro and that green gold! I didn’t want to go all Seinfeld-Avocado-Toast-Soup-Nazi on him. No Avocado Toast for You!!! If I had some made up already in the fridge, I would have made it for him. But he was going to be disappointed today.

My Pilgrim avocado-toast-junkie is not wrong, of course, about updating my hours online. But, for a random day off this seems a little overkill. And, besides, Jeff runs our Google reviews account and he’s in Pamplona picking up something from a guy on Wallapop (the Craigslist of Spain), in preparation for his Catrike Camino next Spring. I can’t change the hours online without his credentials.

I guess I need to have Jeff create a sign for the gate that says something like – Lo Siento. Sometimes, even Kelli needs a day off every once in a while. And so do the avocados!! Move along down the road. Ok, maybe it will read a little nicer, but I think I do need something.

Stuff to Do

And I have things to do today. So, not so restful. But I can do some of them sitting down and I love getting organized. First off, I will clean my house which has been sorely neglected. A good vacuuming, mopping, dusting. A good scrub down.

Then, I will get all my facturas (invoices) for the business sorted out and logged in my business expense spreadsheet. My revenue side is looking great, but my start up expenses will bring me back down to earth. I am happy to report that we have stopped bleeding and are now adding more money to the account than we are subtracting. This crazy business might just work! And that is before the cabins are built, bringing in additional income.

And finally, I need to get the first installment of my book out to all of you who agreed to be beta readers. You’ll see that in your inboxes before I go to bed tonight. I am very excited for your feedback. Since you read this blog you already know my writing style, so that shouldn’t be a distraction for getting into the story. I await your brutal edits and suggestions (hopefully cloaked in a bit of velvet) with bated breath.

As further confirmation that I needed to take a day for myself was this morning when I got out of bed, padded to the bathroom to brush my teeth and comb my hair, then promptly put on my overalls, backwards, and it took me until I tried to latch them over my shoulder to figure out that this was why they fit so weird. They say that we are all just humans who put their pants on one leg at a time. But I will submit that some of us are so different we put them on two at a time and backwards. So, sadly, we’re not all the same, after all.

With all I have to do today I think a nap will be on the list, too. Time to recharge the batteries just a bit, in preparation for the final two month push towards the end of the walking season. Crisp, end of summer evenings are here. Still sunny. Mornings that require a jacket. Perfect walking weather. In two months time I will be missing these Pilgrims. Hunkering down to write and paint over the dark winter months, secure in the knowledge that March isn’t really that far away. I’ll even miss that guy at the gate demanding avocado toast.