Thankful Thursday

I've been a bit off my game this last week and haven't really posted, but here's what I'm thankful for this week.

1. My colonoscopy came out great and I don't have to have one for another 5 years.  
2. FarmBoy survived my colonoscopy and didn't hurt the nurses who couldn't seem to get my IV in.  ( I was a bit dehydrated even though I drank everything I was supposed to.)
3. Sprout's sheep are starting to walk nicely and we've started putting them on the stand for about 15 minutes each day. 
4. Tomorrow is my company picnic at a water park.
5. Sprout is starting to clean up more after herself.  ( She's home with Nanny1 most days now and actually cleans up before I get home without being prompted.)
6. Sprout survived 4H camp with no injuries and actually wants to go again.  
7. The barn is starting to take shape on what the final pen solution will be.  It's been a struggle to figure out the pen solutions since we are now keeping sheep for breeding and not just buying every year.
8. It's finally getting warm and sunny here.  At least for a few days.
9. We got the yard mowed.  It was getting to be a jungle.
10. I got most of my winter clothes packed away.  My closet isn't big enough to have summer and winter in it so I pack away things depending on the season, but this year has been so cool that I wasn't sure I what I was going to pack away or unpack.

Thankful Thursday

I'm trying to be more thankful for the blessings I receive daily and not just the month of November when it seems everyone posts things.  I know God blesses me everyday and I need to be more conscious of the little blessings as well as the big blessings. 

I have so many right now. 

1. We were blessed to get all of our crop in recently
2. It made the insurance deadline for full coverage on our crop  
3. Sprout is at 4H camp and we could easily afford it this year.  This hasn't always been the case in the past.
4. Sprout is in club swim and we have been able to afford it as well.  
5. The barn is holding all of Sprout's 4H animals and they aren't hanging out somewhere else (Our barn is not very big at the house)
6. We have a roof that is holding out until FarmBoy can get to it to replace it this summer.  
7. We have food to eat and a bed to sleep in
8. My car is still moving and getting me to work
9. Nanny1 is really helping get the cattle ready to go
10. Everyone is healthy  
11. My parents are all holding their own right now.  As with most aging parents this changes week to week.
12. I have a decent job and so does FarmBoy

I think that's enough for this week.  I could go on and on and on.  I'm trying to focus on the things that I overlook in the day to day rush.

She's off to camp!

Sprout is off to camp and Momma is praying for her safety.  I know she's with friends and will have fun and hopefully learn a ton, but it's just the next step to letting her go and grow up.  One of her BFFs is there with her and I'm sure they are having fun settling into their cabin.  I'm excited to see if she likes it.  In the meantime Momma gets to walk sheep by herself and contemplate cleaning her pit of a room while she's gone and most important have a date night with FarmBoy.

He asked me where I wanted to go for dinner and we can relax and enjoy ourselves not caring that there is a sitter at home.  It's nice to spend time as a couple and he's off today and starts nights tomorrow night so it's the last chance until his next four off.  The time we get is precious and I always look forward to it.  It doesn't have to be a complicated evening.  A simple dinner where we can talk and catch up is wonderful.  Tomorrow night I will go to bed about the time he's leaving for work.  He tries to get a nap in before his first night on so I usually plan a simple dinner and work on something quiet in the house.  It's the cycle of our life and I'm content with it.

Am I too old to change jobs?

I have an opportunity to maybe interview for another firm that is closer to the house.  I've been at the same place for 20 plus years and I'm no spring chicken as they say.  I'm maxed out on vacation here and I use most of it.  I've gotten comfortable in my work and maybe that is the problem.  I've been feeling for quite some time that God is slowly pushing me to get out of my comfort zone and try something new.  I always thought it was another line of work, but maybe it's just to go somewhere else. 

I"m a programmer, but a specialized one and I've had little opportunity to change that where I currently work.  I've wanted to broaden my skill set for quite sometime.  I had really in my mind given up on it.  The future looked like it was the same old same old and I had little power to change that until a couple of years ago and even then it was you are going to do the same things, but for a central department that is located somewhere else and you will be required to interview for your job again when we get to your division.  Sounds like fun huh?  I've been praying off and on since then for God to show me my next step. 

This week I was asked for my resume for another business that is close to my home.  I'm a little out of my comfort zone even doing a phone interview, but I feel God pushing me to at least take that first step.  I'm going to obey, but I still have the nagging question of how old is too old to switch companies???

Motivate me Monday

I"m hoping if I start posting what I need to get motivated to do around the house that I will actually do it.  Life is so chaotic that there are times I just want to sit and do nothing which then causes things to pile up.  Laundry rarely gets put away before the next weekend when I need the baskets to do laundry again.  I'm trying, but life just gets in the way.  FarmBoy got handed 2 days of mandatory overtime which totally threw the dynamics of the house off this weekend.  He had a errand to run that I ended up having to do for him so there went a chunk of my Sunday that I was hoping to get all the laundry folded and ready to start packing Sprout for camp.  It moved to tonight's list for after the sheep meeting. 

I'm hoping while she is gone to get a little more organized in the basement and ready to start pulling things out for a yard sale.  She's out grown so much in the last year and I'm trying to clean out things that we just don't use.  I'll be purging the cabinets in the kitchen and starting to try to tag things.  If I can get all I want done then I'll put an add out for the sale and start planning on where things are going to go.  I'm hoping to enlist Nanny1 to help out.  It's time to purge somethings.  I'm hoping to set up a storage tote for somethings I hope to list on Poshmark.  I've got several purses, etc. that would probably bring a little more on there than in a garage sale.  I just need to do a couple of quick snap and get them listed.

I think for now that's all I need to concentrate on getting done.  If I can get these things done then that will free up a ton of room in the basement and make things so much easier for me.

Camp time is coming

Sprout is leaving next week for 4H camp and I'm excited for her, but also a little apprehensive as well.  She hasn't really done a camp yet and I know she will be with friends, but it's just another piece of letting go and I'm not sure I'm ready for that to happen.  I'm the one who signed her up and I'll be the one to get her packed and ready, but there's still that little piece of me that wishes she weren't going.  It's only a 3 day camp so it's not all that long.  It's just another part of her growing up.

I pray that we are doing a good job raising her and so far I think we have been.  She's strong and doesn't put up with bullying or peer pressure.  I know that some of that is yet to come, but she doesn't really care what everyone else is wearing or has.  She's content with what she has.  If not then she's looking for chores to do to earn money for it.  There are many other things I could say about her as well.  She's just a slob.  I worry something won't come home from camp because Sprout just doesn't pick up after herself very well.  I've tried and tried to work on this with her and she tries for a short time, but life gets in the way and she has a hard time recovering.

It's on the list to keep working with her on.  Nanny1 was doing a good clean of her room with her today.  Hopefully that will help.  This weekend is packing for camp.  They have to take bedding and towels and I"m pretty sure that something of this group won't make it home.   It's teaching me to have more patience and to learn to not sweat the small stuff.  The most important thing is for her to have fun and hang with her friends.  I just have to pray that God keeps her safe and sound.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

Disadvantages of a small school

Sprout attends a small private christian school fairly close to where we live.  They have some summer sports camps and we signed her up for volleyball, but because of staff changes they have cancelled at the last minute.  For us it's a balancing act to get her to all the of the practices, etc. and this was a bit of a sigh of relief and a bit of annoyance.  She's still swimming so I know she's getting the exercise she needs, but we were hoping to improve her volleyball skills for this fall.  She's going to play this fall, but I don't see her playing when we send her to public school.  I see her focusing on swimming.  Our public school volleyball team is very competitive and she's just not that interested to put in the work to get better.  She's more into swimming and her livestock.

There are so many more advantages to her small school that we tend to overlook the disadvantages.  She's never had more than 20 kids in her class so she gets more individual teacher attention.  They still have art and music so I feel she's a well rounded student.  They start teaching Spanish in kindergarten as well.  It should give her a head start later on in public school when most kids don't start a language until high school.  Because it's a christian school she also has a really good foundation in the bible and her faith.  That was very important to us. Sports teams rarely cut kids either.  They may not play a bunch, but they do play and get to know the feeling of teamwork and cheering on their other team mates.

Sprout knows the teachers and staff at the school well.  So well that when the lunch lady's husband passed they kids all made cards.  She tells her thank you on a regular basis.  They are the often overlooked staff and I'm glad my kid sees them.  We talk quite frequently about the different jobs and roles people play in our society.  There is no shame in working any job and every job has it's importance.  We just need to take the time to think about it and be thankful for them even if no one else sees them.

Migraines are awful

Yesterday was another migraine day.  I had plans, since FarmBoy was in the fields, to help with 4H livestock.  We've got sheep moving and walking pretty well so we need to keep it up.  Unfortunately my body had other plans.  I made it most of the day at work, but not all day.  Sprout was at daycare since Nanny1 was helping FarmBoy work in the fields.  She was raised on a farm and knows how to run tillage tools so he was planting while she was tilling.  We only have one field left and it's still a bit wet.  He is waiting to see if it dries out more today then will make the decision on what he's putting in it.  We are not a big farm so if the conditions are right he can be done in around 4 days.  He got part of the planting done the last time the weather cleared and he's trying to finish today before the next round hits.

I get more frequent migraines when I don't sleep enough.  He's been out late and I wake up when he comes in.  Even that little disturbance is enough to up the chance of a headache.  I do take prescription medication when they hit, but it doesn't always work well and I still end up in a dark room and sleeping.  Recovery time is much less than before I started taking medication so that is a positive.  Before medication it would take several days to get over one.  Now it's several hours so that is a huge difference for me.  I also am allergic to dairy and accidental exposure will bring one on too.  I was sent to the emergency room (ER) when a famous coffee company mixed up my drink and gave me milk instead of coconut milk.  I now ask for a clean pitcher from the back and never go through the drive thru.

Dairy is not worth the ER trip because normal medication they give for migraines doesn't work on me.  If you don't know when you are sent to the ER for a migraine they tap and IV and give you liquid benadryl and then an anti nausea medicine.  The combination of the two usually break a migraine.  At least this is what I was told when I was there.  It did nothing for me.  I had two rounds of the anti nausea medication and was still vomiting.  The second medication for that did stop the vomiting, but the headache remained.  After a head CT I was given a very powerful and addictive pain medication to stop it.  It did and I was sent home after that and to a neurologist for a follow up the next day.  That was when I was given the prescription medication and told to expect a rebound headache when the pain medication was out of my system.  Sure enough I got one a day later, but the new medication helped tremendously.

Migraines are frustrating for me because there are times I just can't predict if I will come down with one.  Sometimes when I'm tired I don't get one and make sure I get good sleep that night and all is good.  Other times if I'm the least tired I get one.  My latest round is fatigue related, but also I had a pneumonia vaccine recently that has weakened me some.  Please know I'm not anti vaccine and willingly got it, but my body is just reacting not quite as I expected.  I know in the long run it's good for me, but right now it's just a bit frustrating trying to recover.  I just have to remind myself that God has this and I just need to take the time to rest sometimes.  I rely on him to get me through and give me direction on my treatment.  He has not let me down and has sent really great doctors and nurses that have cared for me.