Nature of The Beast

This was one of those weeks, at least the last several days were. Phew! I am physically and emotionally exhausted and looking forward to the weekend and getting grounded again. A clean house and a good walk or two in the woods should help tremendously. Where shall I begin? Oh , I know...

Saturday John and the girls came out to cut some firewood so Chip and I helped them load it. I knew there were some suspicious vines on the logs, but figured that it was cold enough now that any poison would be killed off. WRONG!! By Monday I was itching, but just on my arm so I wasnt really worried about it. By Monday night I was scratching all over and my eye was swelling shut. ( Have you ever tried to scratch your eye? ) This crud was all over me. My face, neck, ears, eyes, stomach and arms. Nothing on the nether regions though thank God. I had a seminar on Tuesday for the new retirement benefits so I wanted to go to work for at least that and then figured I would see what my boss wanted me to do. Well, she was mortified at how I looked and of course I was scared that I could possibly be contagious. ( did I tell you guys about the lady last Friday that came in with scabies?) So I told her I would make a doctor appointment and get it checked out. Went to the seminar ( we have great benefits guys! ) and then went on home since my appt wasnt until 3:45. Stopped at the grocery and got tons of stuff since I had the time to shop and figured that way it was done for the week. Then I stopped at Target to check out a new shower curtain and found one that was normally 25 dollars on sale for 6 dollars. Bargain! So I happily went to the doctor, who didnt know what exactly I had gotten myself into, but assured me that I wasnt contagious and gave me a perscription for some steroids. Yay! I love steroids. Usually I lose 10 pounds while on them. Doesnt seem like it is doing that this time, but i still have a few days and most importantly, the rash is healing well.

We have been working on getting the calves into the barn so we can sell them. So every night we go down and feed and pull a calf or two out of the bunch and get them in the paddock. Tonight some babies ran through the electric fence and got themselves in with the older calves, meaning that we had to get them out. What a fiasco. Really, just a normal day on Guinea Run Farm - crazy.

Last night I came home from work, already tired and sore and just wanting to relax after we got done with the cows, and going to the porce, there was Kiki laying in the pond. Sheesh! You know, she weighs 80 pounds and here I was in my work clothes desperately trying to pull her out. I did get her and dragged her to the ramp and into the house where I blow dried her. Of course my carpet soaked up most of the muddy murky water. And we all know what a fanatic I used to be about clean carpets. So then I realized that Whitey had piddled on the carpet as well. That sent me over the edge. All I wanted to do was get home, shower, fix dinner and relax. Yeah, that was gonna happen. So I made myself a little drink. And then I added a bit more Seagrams. And then I just felt like it didnt matter that the floor was dirty. Mission accomplished.

So this weekend I have a lot of cleaning to do and at this moment I am up for it. I hope I am feeling as encouraged about it tomorrow. I am beginning to feel nesty again now that winter is coming. Still not sure if I will decorate for Christmas much since the puppy is still in her "grab whatever you can and eat it" phase. But maybe I can turn the living room into a Christmas paradise, since we have the baby gate barricading the room from the rest of the house.

And today was a real winner at work. From first thing this morning it was crazy. People were rude and unreasonable. But really, the more comfortable I am with what I am doing and the more capable I get, the easier it is to deal with crazy days. Soon it will be old hat. Oh, and I was telling the gils about Kiki falling in the pond and my adventures and they were lauging and telling me how funny my stories are. And then Megan said I should write a book about my life cause it is so funny. Little does she know that that is one of the things I would love to do, so I was truly flattered. It really makes you feel good when someone likes to hear your stories.

So, Chip reminded me that I love animals and the farm and I love this life that we live and that all of this is just a part of that. Sure, the carpet will never be spotless, and the animals will be constantly getting into some kind of adventure and dragging their dirt into the house with them. Sure there will always be more chores than we can ever finish. But that my friends, is the nature of this beast. And I love it.