Little Bo Peep

This was my morning commute today... First I had to heard some random sheep out of the road. (I didn't even know anyone around here had sheep!) Then there was more surprise construction on the highway. I am glad they are fixing the road. It really needs it! Bit some warning so that you can work around it would be nice.

Maybe having an app for that will help...

I just found out that there is a Blogger app. Maybe being able to post right from my phone will get me back to blogging. Maybe. We will have to see.

Oh Well...

So much for blogging on a regular basis.  "The holidays were crazy... So much was going on..."  blah blah excuse excuse.  The honest truth is that I haven't trudged my butt up the stairs to my computer all that often in the last 2 months.  Oh well.  And I am not going to say "It's a new year, so lets make a fresh start" because I know I won't hold to it.  What I will say, it that when I have something blog worthy, I'll blog.

Today I am blogging because I am procrastinating other things.  Dishes, laundry, taking down Christmas (always so depressing), and finally emptying boxes into some cheap bookshelves.  (To be honest I REALLY want to do that last one, but I told myself I couldn't work on that one till some of the other things were done.  Especially the Christmas part.)

We are getting new neighbors.  The old neighbors moved out and in the process cleaned out their freezer.  Moving is always a good time to cleanse and purge.  Just make sure you are doing it in a responsible manner.  They did not.  If you put spoiled food out, be sure you bury it.  That way other animals won't find it and eat it.  Like my dogs who have had food poisoning for the last 2 days!!  It has been a yucky yucky mess over here.  I won't describe it, just use your imagination.  But I am excited to meet the new neighbors.  Maybe I will make some bread to take over to them tonight.

I got a new calling at church, Second Counselor in Primary.  I am really excited about it.  I will miss teaching Sunday School.  I was learning a lot doing that.  But Primary will be fun, and I LOVE kids.  Sunday was our first go at it as a new presidency.  It was a lot for the first day.  First Sunday of the new year, kids all changing classes, a new presidency and several new teachers.  But we survived Primary and Primary didn't implode!  I call that a great success!  And each week will get a little better.  Soon it'll be old hat and you will hear us say things like, "4 teachers are no-shows today, NO PROBLEM"  Well, maybe we won't say that exactly.  But I AM excited!

My sister is having a baby (probably next week) and then moving 1/2 way across the country the end of this month.  I don't think she knows how much I admire her strength.  When I heard all of that was happening all at the same time, I called her in a panic for her!!  I just knew she was going to be an emotional wreck.  (I would be.)  But she was calm and collected and almost excited.  She is a great mother and a strong strong woman.  Maybe one day I can be that strong.  I love you sister!

And on that note... I have dishes to do. (and laundry and Christmas and boxes.....)

I am wonder woman.

At least that is the general feeling I have today.  My dearest friend in the whole world called me today and said, "Come over for dinner!  It's chicken pot pie!"  How can you say no to that!!  Seriously.  But I remembered that Hubby wanted to go out in the woods tonight after work and put up deer feeders.  So I told her I would have to check with him and call her back.  Sadness.  So, I had a BRILLIANT idea.  I called hubby and told him that I would go out into the woods today and put up the feeders for him, IF we could have dinner with said dearest friend.  Needless to say we are having chicken pot pie for dinner tonight and I just spent the last 2 hours out in the woods strapping large PVC pipe feeders to trees.  Then lifting 40 lb bags of corn over my head to fill them.  But it is done and they are in clear view of the hunting blinds but still a fair distance from them.  I even knocked over 2 dead saplings (taller than me mind you) to make sure there were clear, unobstructed views.  I AM WONDER WOMAN.  Oh, and as an update to my last post.... the kitchen has been clean since that day and the new rule is that all dishes must be at least in the dishwasher and the kitchen clean before bed.  No excuses.  It has REALLY helped.  And I have managed to check one or two little house projects off the list.  Today life is good.  And I am happy.  Have a happy day and good hunting.

Spiralling

Have you ever had one of those days?  A day that just seems to keep spiralling down.  The house is a wreck.  Partly because I have been lazy and partly because I have been busy.  The laundry and ironing is piled up waiting to be done.  The kitchen is literally FULL of dirty dishes.  I am half finished working on the wood burning stove project and it NEEDS to be finished soon.  The bathrooms need to be cleaned the floors need to be cleaned.  And there are a ton of little household projects that need to be done. (Hang a coat rack, fix the washer/dryer closet, reroute the vent that blows under the dresser... etc)  And I haven't even gotten to the piles of boxes that still haven't been unpacked from moving in throughout the year.  And on top of that I have been procrastinating working on a big activity that I am supposed to be helping to plan for church next month.  (It is coming up way to quickly now!!)  I feel like there is this HUGE weight of to-do's pressing down and crushing me.  And my instinctive reaction when that happens........  ignore it all, curl up on the couch and play video games or watch TV.  I know that it doesn't make ANY sense.  It doesn't help the situation AT ALL, but that is where I go.  It just makes for one huge out of control downward spiral.  When the kitchen is a wreck, I don't want to cook... when the house is a wreck I don't even want to work on craft projects.  I just want to veg.  I guess it's my way of shutting it all out and escaping from it.  Or something.  And so I have to force myself to look at it all, organize it and decide where I am going to start.  But even that can seem SO overwhelming.  And another ridiculous quirk I have.... it is hard to be motivated by myself.  So when Hubby is away at work all day, I have to make myself do things.  Once I am working or crafting or DOING anything, it isn't too bad.  But getting moving and getting started seems to take SUCH an effort.  I don't understand WHY I am that way.  It's just the way it has always been.  And so, today, is a downward spiral day.  And I think it is starting to make me depressed.  I can't let that start either.  Come on me!  I can do this!!  Let's go load the dishwasher and the washing machine.  Then I can get the little saw out and finish the trim on the floor.  I CAN do this.... I WILL....  Wish me luck.  I am off to fight against the current.

I'm back.... and I WILL do better.

I know it's been ages since I posted last. And the closest thing I have to an excuse is.... I didn't want to blog while Roy was still in Africa and I was living in the country alone. But he's been home for almost 5 months now, so that excuse doesn't hold water anymore. ~~ SORRY ~~ I am going to try this again. But I make NO promises. I am going to try for at least a couple of postings a week and hopefully with pictures.

Anyway, I am definitely happy to be in the US. It's been almost a year since I left Africa. Time can sure fly sometimes. There have been a lot of adventures since I got back. Most of them involve buying our home and land and getting things settled and checked off our list of "to-do's" and "to-buy's". I really love the property we bought and we are slowly making it our own and getting it set up as a farm (maybe). We do officially own a 4 wheel drive pick up and a tractor! Neither of which are new! I will post more about those later. I never really thought I would be a country girl, but the more I am out here, the more I love it. It isn't the most convenient life, and it is a lot of work. There is always something that needs to be bought, or built, or torn down, or fixed, or looked after, or painted, etc. But it is definitely a satisfying life. One where you can step back at the end of the day and say, "Look what I accomplished today. With my own two hands." I LOVE IT! And hopefully next year we will have a garden in and maybe even some chickens! Who'd a thunk it, ME, owning chickens! HA!! I've done a lot in the last 4 years that I never thought I would do. Crazy how life has it's own idea of how it should go. And it hardly ever matches my original plans. LOL

Well, I have to get laundry going and do the dishes. (I really miss Grace, our old steward.) So until I post again... Love your life!

Is your pool ever supposed to resemble skim milk?

I couldn't see past the top step of the ladders! Who knows what could be lurking in the depths of this pool!! It is actually starting to look much better today and maybe by the end of the week I will feel that it is safe to venture back into its watery depths. We'll see.