October 15 updates

 

Wow, did it get cool outside!! Just 4 days ago, it was 90, with overnights in the 60's. Today, is a whole other story - 43 at 10 am, with a high only getting to 55 for the day and into the 20's tonight. I'm actually cold for the first time in about 3 years. It's pretty wild. I am actually happy that it has cooled off. It feels like Fall now. Which leads to my favorite holidays. There is still a lot to do outside to prepare our farm for Winter, but a few days of cold; it's the universal push to get the lead out of our butts and get stuff done. 

 

So, after 3 months of lots of running and events, I began on my household lists yesterday. There have been a lot of things I let go the past few of years. Unfortunately, when I get overwhelmed...I tend to let a lot of the things that matter to me, just drift by. I focus on the "have-to items," and the smaller details get brushed to the side. It's been a whole lot of rushing from one thing to the next, just trying to get by, and everything became a chore. I mean everything. I took a short journey on the pity train, and turned off emotions that made me, well...me! It's a strange realization to see it, in hindsight. I'm attempting to push myself forward with those details, that matter to me, and stop making excises. I am exhausted and I let myself go pretty far down...but I am working to fix that too.  I've gotten myself into a pretty deep rut, so I have a lot more work to do. 

Those lists, are my saving grace. I think I have become notorious in all my lists. The to-do, to make, to get finished, to get accomplished, to work on, and so on. Sometimes, it's the simple details that make a lot of difference for me. Yesterday, while I was cleaning, it was knowing I was eliminating the darn cob webs. Those crazy things pop up overnight! It was watering plants, polishing my table, washing bedding, getting dishes done and counters cleaned. It was the simple act of lighting a candle again. It's the actual sight of seeing items on those lists being crossed off. It's having a cup of hot tea and hearing nothing but silence. It was my husband and daughter picking the apples and watermelon before the frost and watching them cut up the watermelon to freeze and eat - together. It was having a decent supper again, as a small family, at our dining room table. I think I had forgotten about many of the simple tasks, compounded, helped me to see progress. 

Last week, my daughter and I made a trip to our local Dollar General. It's not something we do often, but my husband is working a lot of hours...and I don't want to add more to his growing lists. Anyway, we were walking through the store and the Christmas stuff was there in the middle. For several years, she has been not real excited for Christmas overall...at least until Christmas Day. This year, she wanted to look at everything. I try not to get overly excited for much, because I would celebrate everything if it wasn't such a chore for everyone else in my family. Anyway, it truly made me happy to see her excited. She actually picked out a little mailbox tin and some hot cocoa mugs for us, that were Christmas themed. It made my day! Then, we had our annual gun show that we set up at to sell raffle tickets for our veteran hunt. This year, there was a booth across from us, that had none other than a local Santa Claus! One of the absolute best Santa helpers I have ever known. She was over the moon excited, and has made plans for us to visit a local business in December, where he will the Santa helper. She is so excited this year! She has even been talking about decorations we need to add, and where we need to put things. This is an excitement I haven't seen from her since before her Grandma passed away. 

So, this has brought me back to my lists. I have been working on remodeling projects for several years now. Her room is one of them. I just can't seem to get them all completed. One of the biggest projects I want to get finished is her room, before we start decorating for Christmas. She wants to decorate her room, and I am going to do everything I can to make sure she can...with it finished! I have walls and windows to get washed, shelving to build for the extra room turned pantry, and a whole lot of clutter to either find a home or be disposed of. I want to be able to stop chasing my tail, and finally be able to sit back and enjoy the simple things again...without seeing a bunch of chaos. I can make that happen. So, in the words of a great friend and relative(actually family) - "pick a spot, and start there." I'm a little stubborn sometimes, sorry!

So, I know it's not life changing for anyone else, but I plan to share my triumphs...and maybe a few set backs...but I am on a mission. I love to celebrate, I love my children, and the next 2 months are my favorite time of year. I am going to actually enjoy them this year...

Coffee Chat and always more

 

It's October and we are still in the 80's! That seems unbelievable to me. This has been a pretty dry year for precipitation, overall. I would bet that close to half of harvest is already done, with many of the farmers talking about issues with their crops. Between the moisture content, twisted bean pods, some low test areas, and none of this talks about how dry, dirty and fire prone this year's harvest has become. I can not account for personal experience in crops, but this year has been quite an enigma in many areas! I can't help but pray for our nation and her people. It's been a rough one.

For all the research I've done, I would have never guessed how insane the world would become. Common sense, wisdom and logic seem to be pretty rare. The more I have been interactive with people, the less I understand how some can still bury their heads to the state of our nation. I get that it is difficult to grasp things when you are not personally affected, but we are ALL affected by so much...and many are ignoring it, and carrying on as if everything is normal. The prices of everything have been stupidly high for 4 years, and those trying to make us believe the prices have come down...do not realize people have actual receipts to show what prices were just 5 years ago. I've shared one price different on my social media, that has made me sick! I purchase many items in bulk. My baking flour is one of them. My actual receipt from September 2019, the 50 lbs. bag of flour was $18.50. I just had to buy another one last week. The same 50 lbs. brand of flour is now $47.99. A loaf of Sara Lee bread, that was $1.99 in 2019, is now $3.59. A dozen eggs, that I actually bought in 2019, was $0.78 for the dozen, the price at Aldi on 10/5 was #3.25. None of this includes the prices for lumber, clothing, shoes, utilities, insurance, or even taxes. I am NOT better off now than I was in 2019. I have lost all hope for the current administration, and had zero hope to start with, from the installed democratic candidate. Which, by the way, stomped all over the entire democracy theory they spout, when they installed a candidate that NO ONE voted for! The choice in November, for me, is a very one. 

Now, before moving on, I am very unhappy with my state's politics too. I live in a "border" county. Many of us that live outside the main cities of Missouri, never have any candidates find out counties. I believe if you want to represent the people, you better know ALL the people. 2024 is a big election year for Missouri. We have several positions in the air, from Governor, to reps at the state and federal level. I believe that if you want to be elected, you should be required to visit every county's, county seat, and meet the people of the county. There is more to our state than the I-70 corridor, Springfield and the bootheel. The 3-4 times a year of getting a telephone call, at the time of a tele-town hall meeting, is pathetic. These people should be required to travel our roads, know our towns and villages, and actually work for ALL the people of Missouri. Maybe I need to speak to whomever becomes governor of my great state. I get tired of hearing about "Northeast Missouri," and they act like that ends at Hannibal or Kirksville, when there are several counties North of there that are completely forgotten. Our county is another one that needs to be addressed. We are expected to select people for positions within our county, yet NEVER see a single person out in the county finding out what the actual people want/need. It's time these people, from the bottom to the top, actually EARN our votes. 

Moving on. 

Yesterday, I was thrilled to be interviewed by Emily, at our local newspaper. To be honest...I was super nervous and a bit overwhelmed that she contacted me. As many know, my family began hosting a disable veteran deer hunt in 2019. The first couple of years, the only sponsor was the Wake Foundation, and we had some great guys from True Impact Outdoors that volunteered to help out. In 2021, I took over the hunt organization completely, we were sponsored by True Impact Outdoors, and I did most of fundraising, organizing and planning. We just finished the 6th annual hunt, and once again, we had both True Impact Outdoors and Wake Foundation, helping us to meet our goals. While having their support is a great thing, there is a lot of work that goes into an event like this. I am already getting everything moving for next year. One question I was asked, "is there anyone you would like to thank?" I was honest when I told her, there were so many, I could not single out just one. So, I thought I would share the list here, before I move on. To start, I need to thank the person and entity that gave me the start. Robert Wake, with the Wake Foundation. He and his foundation, gave me an outlet for my own love for helping the veterans. I spent 5 years helping and learning so many roles and working outside my comfort zone. True Impact Outdoors, another great organization. I met that amazing crew through the Wake Foundation, and their goals of helping veterans, just clicked for me. Matt, Nicole, and every single TIO crew member...work hard to help veterans too. Every land owner that has donated their land for the veterans to use, they do not know how much I appreciate each of them, and hope they are blessed ten-fold!! Every single business, individual and even our volunteers...each of you help us make a 4 day weekend possible for the veterans. Without the continued efforts, donations, volunteers, and encouragement; it would be so much harder to pull it all together. My biggest THANK YOU, is to our veterans themselves!! I don't know all veterans, but every single veteran I have had the privilege to meet, is beyond exceptional!! Our veterans are the true heroes!! From the bottom of our hearts, from my family to each of you, "Thank You for serving our country so selflessly." 

As my coffee chats go, here's some more. 

Our little farm is still in winter prep mode. We are seriously running behind, so it's kinda good that the weather has stayed good. Just when we knock out a few projects and are feeling pretty accomplished, BAM! Here's several more projects that need to be done. It's been a massive transition going from a household full of people, to just having 3 of us, for the most part. This mom is really struggling with that part. Having to relearn how my husband and I did things without all the kids in tow, and realizing we are more busy now than ever.  I've found that as we work hard to get everything accomplished, we have pretty well withdrawn from everything and everyone else. While I am a person that requires recovery time after interacting with a lot of people, I do enjoy being around people...mostly. My husband works with people everyday, so he tends to like to be a homebody when he's not at work. It's kind of a mixed up match. He is a lot less empathetic than I am, and getting more cantankerous as he gets older too. I don't blame him, he puts up with a lot, until he's had enough...then he's done, all together. Some days, I wish I could be that way...but I'm not. I tend to forgive too much, try to find reasons for things people do, and try to see the other side of every story. We are definitely 2 different types of people. We try to balance it out, it just doesn't always go smoothly. I usually withdraw from stuff...until I can find some level ground. Anyway, our farm is in prep mode, our sheep have entered the breeding time, we've lost a lot of our hens to predators so getting more is a high priority...just difficult to find any now. It's time to get logs ordered for our furnace, for the winter. Trying to empty the garden, since it will not be used again. We got a decent used grain cart to hold the bulk feed this year, since so much has changed with the family dynamics and the surrounding farms. That knocked a lot of wind from our sails, but I believe everything happens for a reason...even if none of it makes sense at the moment. Even with some big disagreements, I am keeping my promise to two very special people(to me), for now. 

As I head into a busy weekend again, I have a spark of hope. I know my hard work has paid off, and I have been blessed to meet some of the most amazing and interesting people. My small family is pretty incredible, if I do say so myself. We have our moments, like everyone else, but when push comes to shove, we pull together. I am truly blessed beyond words!