Seriously, who nominated me to host Thanksgiving???
Ok, so it was really nice to not have to travel, but feeding and housing 11 people for 4 days is a lot of work. Granted, they were also a lot of help so I didn't have to spend 4 days stuck in the kitchen. We managed to have some fun too. Wednesday we went swimming and Tate tried to drown. Thursday we ate. Wait? What? You want to know more about Tate drowning? So here's the back story. Our local Y is nice. We aren't members, but do swimming lessons there. My sister is a Y member, so we headed there for a swim. Only open swim doesn't start until 4 on school days and we arrived around 2. The girl at the front desk claimed it was fine, but the lifeguard wasn't too happy about it. That and her replacement was apparently very late. So while crabby lifeguard was busy telling another boy and his grandfather that he couldn't go swimming, Tate decided to see how deep he could go to reach a ball, only most of us adults were too busy watching sad boy leave and not my 2 year old. So crabby lifeguard had to get wet and Tate was fine. This may sound cold, but frankly the kid could use a good scare once in a while to prove that he is not invincible like he thinks he is.
Anywhoodle, Friday we went and saw Tangled, my first 3-D movie. I could have done without the 3-D. It was a cute movie and guess what? *Spoiler alert* Everyone lives happily ever after, except the bad guy. Who knew?
Saturday everyone left and I slept all day. I managed to catch something and felt awful. I still have a sore throat but am able to eat again.
Yesterday was a much needed day of R&R. I didn't do much and I was fine with that. Today I am catching up on much needed laundry and cleaning. Fun times! Tomorrow, weather permitting, I find out my student teaching placement. I'm anxious and nervous. I've been putting off thinking about it, but it keeps creeping closer and closer and pretty soon I'll have to deal with the reality of having a full time job, even if it is temporary and without pay. Wish me luck!
Monday, November 29, 2010
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
The Wheels On The Bus
brought my baby boy home from school today. I was a nervous wreck all afternoon. I was a town kid who never rode the bus. In fact, the first time I rode the bus was to a friend's house for a birthday party. I have no idea how old I was, but I was so nervous I tripped and fell in front of the bus on the way off and got a bloody nose. That didn't help my nerves any.
We had been talking about Cole riding the bus home and last week I finally bit the bullet and had them line it up, starting today. He was excited about it, until this morning when he realized he was going to be by himself. I went and had lunch with him today and his teachers were phenomenal in talking up riding the bus. He was supposed to be dropped off at 3:40, so I drove the Ranger down to the end of the driveway to wait, and wait, and wait for what seemed like an eternity. I shouldn't have gone 10 minutes early :) When I finally saw it coming I almost cried. He handled it like a pro, and his driver was very patient with him, and didn't even mind that our dog was trying to get on the bus. What dog wouldn't love a bus full of kids? Cole said his bus was super fast and fun and he wants to ride every day. I think he'll start busing to school next week, but we'll see. I may not be able to handle it.
We had been talking about Cole riding the bus home and last week I finally bit the bullet and had them line it up, starting today. He was excited about it, until this morning when he realized he was going to be by himself. I went and had lunch with him today and his teachers were phenomenal in talking up riding the bus. He was supposed to be dropped off at 3:40, so I drove the Ranger down to the end of the driveway to wait, and wait, and wait for what seemed like an eternity. I shouldn't have gone 10 minutes early :) When I finally saw it coming I almost cried. He handled it like a pro, and his driver was very patient with him, and didn't even mind that our dog was trying to get on the bus. What dog wouldn't love a bus full of kids? Cole said his bus was super fast and fun and he wants to ride every day. I think he'll start busing to school next week, but we'll see. I may not be able to handle it.
Monday, November 15, 2010
Who's Paying For This?
Have you seen this add? So there has been a lot of media attention lately, because apparently these ads are paid for by you! Did you know? Only here's the thing, you aren't paying for it, I am. You see, while Dairy Management, who partnered with Domino's to promote cheese, does receive funding from the USDA, that money does not go to domestic marketing campaigns. The USDA does oversee how Dairy Management spends their money, and the money from the USDA goes toward promoting dairy products oversees. So don't fear, we dairy farmers are paying to promote our own products. Ironically, it's the government that decided that a certain amount be deducted from our paycheck to fund our own promotions. So go and eat cheese!
Saturday, November 13, 2010
My Love Hate Relationship With Legos
I loved Legos as a kid. I had one of those plastic file folder tote thingies full of Legos. (side note, why is thingies not underlined as a misspelled word?) Anywhoodle, I had a lot of them. I guess I still do, they are just at my parents. When my nephew started playing Legos, I was thrilled. It had been years since I had built something and it was a blast to play with them again.
I hate Legos.
Cole found Pat's popcorn tin full of Legos this summer. I despise Legos. They are everywhere. They are supposed to be kept downstairs in the playroom, but always end up upstairs in the carpet.
Boy Legos are vastly different than girl Legos. My Lego collection consists of lots of building blocks and people and accessories. Pat's Lego collection consists of Technic pieces to build robots and machinery and stuff I don't know how to build because they need some specialized little piece that is buried in my carpet.
I am glad that Cole is taking an interest in Legos. Today I took him to Target to spend his $11 and he picked out a Lego firetruck. That's a much better investment than something that will end up broken in 5 minutes. I just wish I had the patience for him that I had for my nephew. It's so much easier to just build it myself than have him help. I know that's something I really need to work on.
On that note, I used to babysit a lot. I babysat for one particular family, and the kids loved me. All I did was go over there and play with them. We'd play games, play in the yard, we just did stuff. I remember we'd race around the house. Their oldest boy was convinced he could beat me, so we'd race. The youngest was about 2 at the time, and he'd try his hardest to keep up and he'd run all the way around that house no matter how far behind he was. He went to state track in the high jump last year.
Anyway, I was a good babysitter because I'd play with them. We didn't just sit in front of the TV. We followed the rules about eating and bed time, but we had plenty of fun. When you become a parent, it's not so easy. If I am home I feel like there are a million other things I should be doing and the phrase "just a minute" gets used way too often. I'm horrible with time management, especially with 2 kids. They can just play with each other right?
There is a stereotype with stay-at-home moms. We stay at home and spend all this time with our children, but in reality, I feel like I spend very little time truly with them. I spend my mornings catching up on school work and house work, Tate naps in the afternoon, then it's chores, supper, and bed time. It leaves very little time for play. Everyone always tells you to enjoy them when they are little because they grow up so fast, but you can't ever appreciate it until one day you wake up and you are putting your baby on a big yellow school bus. You wonder "when did this happen?" and you truly don't know.
This really was not what I intended in writing this post. It was supposed to just be a light-hearted post on Legos. Maybe writing this will help me be more aware of how I spend my time and give me the motivation to be a little more patient and maybe, just maybe I'll find some time to just play Legos.
I hate Legos.
Cole found Pat's popcorn tin full of Legos this summer. I despise Legos. They are everywhere. They are supposed to be kept downstairs in the playroom, but always end up upstairs in the carpet.
Boy Legos are vastly different than girl Legos. My Lego collection consists of lots of building blocks and people and accessories. Pat's Lego collection consists of Technic pieces to build robots and machinery and stuff I don't know how to build because they need some specialized little piece that is buried in my carpet.
I am glad that Cole is taking an interest in Legos. Today I took him to Target to spend his $11 and he picked out a Lego firetruck. That's a much better investment than something that will end up broken in 5 minutes. I just wish I had the patience for him that I had for my nephew. It's so much easier to just build it myself than have him help. I know that's something I really need to work on.
On that note, I used to babysit a lot. I babysat for one particular family, and the kids loved me. All I did was go over there and play with them. We'd play games, play in the yard, we just did stuff. I remember we'd race around the house. Their oldest boy was convinced he could beat me, so we'd race. The youngest was about 2 at the time, and he'd try his hardest to keep up and he'd run all the way around that house no matter how far behind he was. He went to state track in the high jump last year.
Anyway, I was a good babysitter because I'd play with them. We didn't just sit in front of the TV. We followed the rules about eating and bed time, but we had plenty of fun. When you become a parent, it's not so easy. If I am home I feel like there are a million other things I should be doing and the phrase "just a minute" gets used way too often. I'm horrible with time management, especially with 2 kids. They can just play with each other right?
There is a stereotype with stay-at-home moms. We stay at home and spend all this time with our children, but in reality, I feel like I spend very little time truly with them. I spend my mornings catching up on school work and house work, Tate naps in the afternoon, then it's chores, supper, and bed time. It leaves very little time for play. Everyone always tells you to enjoy them when they are little because they grow up so fast, but you can't ever appreciate it until one day you wake up and you are putting your baby on a big yellow school bus. You wonder "when did this happen?" and you truly don't know.
This really was not what I intended in writing this post. It was supposed to just be a light-hearted post on Legos. Maybe writing this will help me be more aware of how I spend my time and give me the motivation to be a little more patient and maybe, just maybe I'll find some time to just play Legos.
Monday, November 8, 2010
Hard Headed
That is my new description of Tate. Not only does he have a stubborn streak, but he has one hard head! The most common phrase out of his mouth lately has been "Don't want to. Throw a fit!" along with the stomping of the foot. I love how he warns me first that he's going to throw a fit. The fit usually doesn't follow, maybe it's because I tell him "ok" and ignore him, maybe not. He throws his share of fits, which is where the hard head comes in. His favorite thing to do is buck and usually my face is in the way. I'm amazed I don't have more bruises. He caught me right on the cheek bone in church yesterday. The worst of it, he was mad at Pat, not me. My cheek is still sore.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Dairy Update
It's been crazy busy here lately. I'll put it to you this way. It's 8pm on Thursday and here I am blogging instead of watching The Office, because we just finished supper. It's been this way for weeks. The guys have been busy in the field. Our crops are out sans about 3 acres of corn. Pat is busy applying anhydrous ammonia (nitrogen fertilizer). His dad has been working on hauling out the manure pile. We stockpile during the summer when our crops are growing and haul it out in the fall after harvest. Since they are busy doing field work, that leaves the milking chores to me, Pat's mom, and our hired help. That's not out of the ordinary, but it means there is no getting done early!
If that isn't enough, we've also been calving heavily. Our cows calve year round but for some reason we always seem to calve heavier in the fall and spring. You'd think we could time that better! I'm currently at 25 calves, down from our peak of 30. We've had 5 sets of twins since the 13th of October! I've been pestering Pat for an actual calf barn instead of our hutches. We use wooden hutches with 5 or 7 pens in each hutch. A lot of people like the poly domes, but those didn't work well for us. The wooden ones keep our calves cool and shaded in the summer and insulated in the winter. I like our hutches, however, hauling milk to the 24 calves behind the barn gets to be a pain, especially in the mud and snow. My dream is to have some type of building (hoop barn or whatever) with 36-40 plastic stalls and an attached, heated, prep room. Funny, when did that become my dream...
At any rate, it's been busy on and off the farm. I have a 30 minute presentation to prepare fo school and so far all I've done is read the article I'm presenting on. I'm still searching for my motivation but it's not in the carpets that need to be cleaned, or the windows that need to be washed, or the piles of laundry that need to be folded, or the new blinds that need to be put up, or the mud room that's getting redone. I bet it's hiding in the dirty bathrooms or on the sticky kitchen floor. Someone remind me why I volunteered to host Thanksgiving this year???
If that isn't enough, we've also been calving heavily. Our cows calve year round but for some reason we always seem to calve heavier in the fall and spring. You'd think we could time that better! I'm currently at 25 calves, down from our peak of 30. We've had 5 sets of twins since the 13th of October! I've been pestering Pat for an actual calf barn instead of our hutches. We use wooden hutches with 5 or 7 pens in each hutch. A lot of people like the poly domes, but those didn't work well for us. The wooden ones keep our calves cool and shaded in the summer and insulated in the winter. I like our hutches, however, hauling milk to the 24 calves behind the barn gets to be a pain, especially in the mud and snow. My dream is to have some type of building (hoop barn or whatever) with 36-40 plastic stalls and an attached, heated, prep room. Funny, when did that become my dream...
At any rate, it's been busy on and off the farm. I have a 30 minute presentation to prepare fo school and so far all I've done is read the article I'm presenting on. I'm still searching for my motivation but it's not in the carpets that need to be cleaned, or the windows that need to be washed, or the piles of laundry that need to be folded, or the new blinds that need to be put up, or the mud room that's getting redone. I bet it's hiding in the dirty bathrooms or on the sticky kitchen floor. Someone remind me why I volunteered to host Thanksgiving this year???
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Election Day
It's election day. Did you vote? I did and in the political spirit, I am posting my favorite political joke, taken from the latest issue of Reader's Digest.
A woman in a hot-air balloon is lost, so she shouts to a man below, "Excuse me. I promised a friend I would meet him, but I don't know where I am."
"You're at 31 degrees, 14.57 minutes north latitude and 100 degrees, 49.09 minutes west longitude," he replies.
"You must be a Democrat."
"I am. How did you know?"
"Because everything you told me is technically correct, but the information is useless, and I'm still lost. Frankly, you've been no help."
"You must be a Republican."
"Yes. How did you know?"
"You've risen to where you are due to a lot of hot air, you made a promise you couldn't keep, and you expect me to solve your problem. You're in exactly the same position you were in before we met, but somehow, now it's my fault."
A woman in a hot-air balloon is lost, so she shouts to a man below, "Excuse me. I promised a friend I would meet him, but I don't know where I am."
"You're at 31 degrees, 14.57 minutes north latitude and 100 degrees, 49.09 minutes west longitude," he replies.
"You must be a Democrat."
"I am. How did you know?"
"Because everything you told me is technically correct, but the information is useless, and I'm still lost. Frankly, you've been no help."
"You must be a Republican."
"Yes. How did you know?"
"You've risen to where you are due to a lot of hot air, you made a promise you couldn't keep, and you expect me to solve your problem. You're in exactly the same position you were in before we met, but somehow, now it's my fault."
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