Back in Control

There are several things that I enjoy on vacation, but one part of it that burns me every time are the closets.  Whoever thought it was a great idea to use mirrors for doors did not ask my opinion first.  Seriously!  Do I have to watch myself coming and going from room to room?  Do I really need to watch myself wake up in the morning?  DANG!  Give a girl a break!  

So now you probably won't be surprised to learn that I joined Weight Watchers on Monday.  $55 for three months.  Let's see what we can do.  My idea to just monitor myself has failed to the tune of 20 pounds, and the buck stops there!   I am signed up to walk the Indy Mini in about 4 weeks, so Miss Sadie and I are hitting the trail, weather permitting.  Her vet said she is a bit chubby too, so we get to do this together again.

It's so not about the diet, but getting back to taking in less bad things, more good things, and moving.  It can't be a diet; it had to be a way of life.  I'm a stress eater, and for some reason this winter has been stressful.  Not the OMG-horror-filled-kind of stress, but the sneaky kind that just hovers below the radar but builds with each incident.  My subliminal self senses it way before the outside me sees it.  Hence the extra pounds.

Here are some great questions to think about from my friend Patrice at Everyday Rurality.  Come join us down this lovely life path toward a healthier me/you/us.

Questions:

1. Is there something that triggers too much snacking for you?STRESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 
2. What kind of music do you like while you're exercising?I am so old school.  I listen to Jimmy Buffett and John Mellencamp.  Sometimes country, old rock, or nature if I am walking outside.  Then there are those voices in my head that never shut up! ;-)
3. What's your favorite thing about spring?FLOWERS and mowing the yard.  I love to mow the yard! 
4. Do you ever feel like you have to carefully weigh advice given in popular magazines?Yes!  It is so tempting to think one person's Fountain of Youth can be yours.  Losing weight is such a personal journey.  Good tips can be added, but short of limiting yourself to bread and water, we all have to find our own way that works in our world.  5. If you could invite 5 people you do not regularly see to visit with you, On a porch while drinking tea or coffee, who would they be?Jen, Beth, Carol, Joy, Karen, and my Grandma Phyllis, who I miss every day and talk to with my heart.

Wish I Was Still There Worless Wednesday

SUN STROKE! Rewind Back to Wednesday PLEASE for a Real Farmwives of American Joint Post

I'm such a goober! It must be too much sunshine and oceans breezes, but I published my post that was supposed to be for today on Wednesday!  UGH! 

Please click here to read my post for Real Farmwives of America's assignment: The Cycle of Life and then go visit the rest of my farm gal pals on Facebook to see how they define this process.

OK, I can't resist.  Here are a few pics of what we've been doing this week!

Don't even ask me how many pictures I took of dolphins to get ONE with a face!  The National Geographic people have nothing to fear from me!

Bear was on her way to the most strokes ever recorded in putt-putt history!

These guys kept us in the shallow part of the big pond for a few days.  They said only the adults would sting you, but how does a person from Indiana know SERIOUSLY!  We just avoided them all!

OK,  I MIGHT be home on Monday, but I hear it is only in the 30's there, and I consider that a bad trade!

Sarasoat 2007

Well the Spring Break Fever has hit here, so I am going back to share some beach pictures from vacations long ago.  Four years doesn't seem like too many years unless you have young children, and you watch them grow right before your eyes.  The week before we went down to Sarasota to stay with Tall Guy's parents, we had a heck of a snow, so the girls were thrilled to see white beaches and feel the sun on their faces.

We started a tradition of taking a toe/foot shot at every beach we visit.  It's become a fun sort of thing to do.  Now I make it a point to have my toes prettied up for their "mug shot."  Any excuse for a pedi.... (I have about two a year if I am lucky!)

We learned to make very cool sand castles with "drippy sand."  You fill your bucket half full with sand, then take it to the ocean and fill up the rest of the way with water.  Grab up a bunch of drippy sand and let it run out of your hand to drip into a pile.  It takes a while to make your castle, but it's fun, and the girls loved it!

One day we went to a fun marina that had the best water park, at least the best we had ever seen.  I LOVE this picture of the girls in their braided pig tails. 

Whoo whoo whoo whoo!  One of my favorite all-time pics, and wouldn't you know that Tall Guy Took it!  Bear LOVES the water, and on this day she really didn't care what she had on.  The wetter her shorts became, the lower they fell until you could see Tigger waving at you!  It still makes me smile one of those warm happy Mommy smiles.

Hope these pictures made you smile and think of warm sunny places.  Dang!  It might even be warm and sunny where you are today!  I hope so!

Real Farmwives of America: Cycle of Life

We have many cycles of life going on at our farm.
The calves are growing up

The ground is ready for growth.

I guess when you think of the cycle of life on a farm, living things come to mind right?

Well, in this day and age, every part of the farm is vital, and we take care of all our equipment to make sure each piece has a long life on the farm.  I'm not sure how many of my readers have priced tractors, implements, and combines, but if you have even glanced at the price of a riding lawn mower, you might have an idea at how much we have to pay for new equipment.  I remember when we bought our new combine a couple years ago, I told someone, "There goes my new house down the road."  I think the person thought I was joking, but I was dead serious.

If you go through our out buildings, you will see a mixture of old, kind of not old, and a few new things.  Then there is also the parts graveyard where usable pieces of equipment are saved to be used again one day.  We don't throw too much away around here; there is plenty of duct tape, bailing wire, and welding iron to help put parts back together.

I have heard so many kids say that they want to farm when they grow up, and I hope they get the chance, but I cannot imagine anyone getting into this business at a young age unless they either inherit ground or win the lottery.  The start up costs for a new farmer would involve more money than I can wrap my head around.  I don't mean to discourage anyone, but that is why each piece of machinery is valuabe to our farm, no matter what the age.  We clean every piece after it is used,a nd put them away ready for the next time.  Yes, we see the cycle of life or circle of life in our planing seasons and the calves that grow to market size, but behind it all is the old and new machinery that gets it all done. 

Click here to see how my pals describe the cycle of life in their worlds.

THE ROCK! No, NOT Dwayne Johnson

When some people hear "THE ROCK," they immediately picture this hot hunky actor who has raced to Witch Mountain, starred in The Game, and made a very awesome Tooth Fairy.  RIGHT???? ( I chose not to watch his more violent movies.)

I had been hearing about THE ROCK for about a year. "Honey, I have a Rock for you!"  Now what girl's ears wouldn't perk up to hear those words from her husband?  Tink even saw it and said, "Mommy!  You are going to love this!  But it's not as big as Daddy says it is."

Hmmmm................  What could it be????

Cut to a few months later, I am on the couch with a killer headache, and I hear a very big something pulling in to the drive.  Someone is knocking on my new front door, so I opened the window to see what was up. (This was before we actually framed the doorway of the living room to connect the new front door to the rest of the house.  Click here  for a visual.  We covered the entry with a hug piece of particle board until it was finished)

Out in my drive was a payloader.  Now that might not mean too much to some of my readers, but we have several buckets and ways and means to move big things on the farm, but this dude came from a business in town on loan.  It's used to move the uber-big things.  Tall Guy's cousin was at the door and wanted to know where I wanted it. 

Wanted it?  Wanted what?  Then I focused and looked at what was in the bucket of the payloader.....

THE ROCK!

Now you will hear horror stories about how farmers torment their children by making them walk the fields and pick up rocks. (wink wink!)  Every year rocks work their way up from Lord knows where and surface in our fields.  They may be from Tokyo or from the end of the glacier push.  Not quite sure about origins.  What I do know that is, while we do have our share of little rocks popping up, there are SEVERAL instances where what you see in the field is just the tip of the Titanic ice burg!  (Ice burg is two words?  REALLY SPELL CHECK?)

Here is THE ROCK that graces the side of our new entrance.  I think I probably had them put it in backwards, above is the view from the house, but it's stayin' right where it is!

Need some perspective?  Tink, Bear, and Sadie will help with that!

Bear says it weighs 115 pounds!  Tall Guy says it's over 7000 because we had some big piece of machinery try to move it first, unsuccessfully, and its capacity was 7000 pounds.  

We are going to replace the siding behind it, but as soon as that is done, I am going to figure out the best way to display this monster.  There is another such rock we will put in the front yard, and I will show you that when/as it happens.  Until then, ROCK ON!

Ah Savannah!

In 2006, we took our first trip to Hilton Head, SC.  What a beautiful place to rest and relax!  Because we were so close to Savannah, and it was a bit chilly those first days, AND we brought the history teacher along with us (Dad), we took a day trip to this beautiful and historic city, and it did not disappoint with it's glorious flowering bushes.  I believe most of these are azalea bushes.  Thought everyone north of the Mason-Dixon line might appreciate a bit of color as we still wait for our bulbs and bushes to shake off winter's chill.

Yep, that's Tink at the grand age of ...uhm...4 1/2!  Jeepers!    Bear was around somewhere, probably taking a nap or running off with Grandma and Grandpa in hot pursuit!

Hope these pretties made you smile and thing springy thoughts!