Back in the groove

School is back in session, and I just came back from dropping Boss Jr off.  It's nice to get back into a routine of sorts- seems more productive or something.  To-do's checked off lately:

• First half-time cheer/dance routine of the season- a glowing success!!  The girls TOTALLY rocked it!  I did not get any pictures, as I was more concerned with worry that they'd flub it, and Boss Jr would be dropped from her impressive perch.  No flubbing, many smiling proud girls, much thunderous applause from the crowd.  (I promise pics from the next game.)
• Thanksgiving "Save the Date" ecard made & sent.  We're locked in now! 
• One third of our holiday weekend traveling party already departed.  2 more (plus kitten) to go.

The weather this morning is very fall'ish.  I should be knitting...

Applesauce Oatmeal Muffins

Super crazy yummy! Eggs, apples, oats- that's breakfasty, right?




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Farming Ain't Pretty AKA Why So Much Shit? AKA What Happened to My "Glamorous" Life?

One of my key morning duties is feeding the birds.  Sounds easy, right?  Imagine Laura Ingalls in her barefeet & braids, smiling in the sun, fat & happy chickens swarming around her to scratch at feed.  Yeah... not so much.

1. Fill turkey's feed pan- the turkeys start freaking out, clawing at the coop fencing, trying to get out/get at the feed.  The chickens scatter & screech like crazy.
2. Let the turkeys out.  Be sure you pick up the feed bucket, or the turkeys will rush to it/dump it. Also don't let any chickens out.
3. Go inside the coop & fill the chicken feed pan.  You may first (more often than not, lately) have to wash turkey crap off of the pan.  This is a very frustrating & disgusting (and frankly, unnecessary!!)addition to the process.
4. Fill the water containers. Again, you might have to add time to your task by having to scrub/spray turkey shit from the chicken's water container.  Seriously, nasty disgusting animals.

Later in the day, when letting the chickens out for free range time, I will have to put all the food pans up on top of the coop, lest the turkeys continue on the "eat & crap on everything" rampage.  It's really unpleasant.

Thanks for the food- I think I'll crap on your car later.  Is that ok?  Or right outside the front door?

No practice day!!!

Today is Friday, and while that day of the week has always held particular fondness, it's now even more so- NO CHEER PRACTICE!!  Wha-hoo!!  We are loving practice, and looking forward to the official kick-off of the season, but this week has been pretty intense & we're glad to have the day off.  To keep ourselves busy, we will:
- Take the cat to get neutered, drop off at 7am.  Pick up emasculated cat after 2pm.
- Schedule firewood delivery.  Receive firewood delivery.  Begin stacking process.  (Boss Jr had AlmostDaughter stay over last night, so I'm gonna tap that slave-labor before I take her home.  :)
- Catch up on laundry.  36 loads should do it.
- Buy chicken feed.  I'm tired of getting the stink-eye when I go out to the coops with a less than full bucket.

Bathroom scrubbing, and floor sweeping & mopping should also be on that list, but I'll save that for tomorrow.

More (weird) pet news

Ok, so we have fish.  We have always had fish.  We always have a few going.  One dies, we get another- it's not a big deal, and it supports our instant-gratification & "embrace change" thing we've got going.  So... since before we left for Thailand, we only had one fish.  No biggie, we enjoy it- and while I'm not sure the snails provide it much companionship, I wasn't it a big hurry to fill the tank back up.
Yesterday, Boss Jr says, "Hey Mom, we have 2 fish now."  And sure as shit, there was a tiny clone of the big one in there, zipping around!!  I'm so confused.  Really, how does that happen?

Blurry.  But it's SO tiny!

And by the end of the day, there were 2 babies.  The second one is just as freakish as the first one.  The big fish keeps huddling under the bubble machine, like it's a nest.  I'm not sure that I'll ever get the answer of how/why this is happening, but it'll be interesting to see how many wee ones we end up with.

The story of Lewis

Here at the Nest, we've been thinking about, obsessing over, planning for, dreaming of, talking about getting a pet for a long time.  This pet would be the inside kind.  The "sleep on MY bed" kind.  This weekend we got serious.
After a formal proposal was written, then accepted- we made a phone call, then a short drive to pick up our new family member.  We found Lewis down a dirt road, surrounded by what Boss Jr called a "hillbilly camp".  He was napping with 4 other kittens, 2 of which may have been dead (I never saw a single movement from these 2, but it was a "hot" afternoon, and they were in a blanket-lined cage.)  Boss Jr took one look at this scraggly, dirty older kitten & fell in love.  I lobbied VERY hard, talking of all the other, nicer kittens we'd seen on Craigslist- she would not be swayed.  I was cringing, thinking of the grime & bugs this cat was harboring, and we'd be putting in Bossman's car.

We gave him a name (he is the namesake of the favorite male character from Boss Jr's favorite show.  An Australian teen soap opera featuring mermaids.  Yeah.), then I gave him a bath while Boss Jr set up his room.  As we sat in the sun, combing him out & letting him dry, Bossman wondered on his age & general health.  Lewis was so docile & weak.  As you know, a kitten should be zipping around, over, under & through.  After the bath, eating, then sleeping for a couple hours... our kitten was in full force!!  He's great fun, and very sweet.

The little prince

Lewis!!

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Boss Jr lures another innocent victim

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Wow!! Long time...

No post! Must mean we're busy. Indeed we are. All but one of us are here in the nest, busy busy at cheer practice, and getting the house ready for a visit from the World's Best BIL. We're excited for him to get here & see our place!
There has been a little free-time enjoyed...



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Bowlorama!

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A-TT-A-C-K, the panthers are back!

It's August, so that means it's cheer season!  And man, are we in the thick of it!  Because last year was such a horrible cheer season, I had mentioned to a previous coach that I would volunteer (really, I had NO dreams of being a coach, but I KNOW I can do a better job than what was provided to the girls last year!!)  So... here I am, coaching the AA White team.  We have many girls that are returning, and the newbies seem to be energetic & smart cookies.  Should be a great year!