Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Bits and Pieces

No, there's no real reason why I posted a picture of a Polish rooster, I just thought he was funny looking. Someone recently told me that he likes my chicken pictures. I'm praying that someday I'll post pictures of MY chickens.

Well, the mid-west is in the midst of its annual winter Arctic blast. We got about two inches of snow overnight and the temp is supposed to drop to -1 tonight with windchill as low as -25. Now that's cold. Crazy cold. Did I ever mention that I hate winter?

If you've been following my blog, you may recall reading that I had thought about asking a man at church to mentor me a bit in terms of fathering, etc. (read it here). Well, I asked him about it in a very 'no pressure' way a few weeks before Thanksgiving. We decided to pray and think about it. Then the holidays came... He was finally able to catch up with me about two Sunday's ago and told me he'd be happy to meet with me. We made no concrete plans for what our time would be like or how often or anything. We'll play it by ear. So yesterday morning, I drove the half-hour to his farm, ate spelt biscuits and real butter (he's the guy with the grass fed dairy operation - go check it out here). We then went to his basement and sat in front of the wood stove and talked for quite a while.

Come to find out, not only does he have three kids, but they are about the same ages apart as our kids, daughter first, then two sons, just like us. Their third was a surprise, as was ours. And their second was, umm, a challenge, as is ours. Hmmm, coincidence? I think not. Needless to say, I think this will be a good thing for me. As Spring approaches, his work will increase as the cows freshen and he starts milking again, but he said I'm welcome to come any time, pull up a stool and talk while he works, or join in and help! Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Clause. Well, ok, I don't want to sound sacrilegious. It's all a God thing. Truly.

My wife has been given a pretty cool opportunity. She's going to be teaching 5 clinical students for ISU, beginning next week. She'll work with them one day a week on the med-surge unit at her hospital. Now, teaching a clinical, working full-time (36 hrs), and working on her MA is going to keep her busy. But I'm ok with it. The extra income will help us get our house ready this year as we hope to move in the next 12 to 14 months. The experience will look very good on a resume, and it gives her a foot in the door at ISU, should she apply for a job there. Plus it's only for 11 or so weeks.

I think that's about it for now. Oh, I'm working on knitting a sweater. Still haven't finished the throw I started back months ago, but that's ok, it's not too great anyway.

Is it too early to plant some lettuce? Just kidding.

3 comments:

Keetha Broyles said...

Not too early to plant lettuce if you get one of those little indoor kitchen gardens - - - - I think you'd enjoy that!

Keetha Broyles said...

I left you quite an answer over in the comments on my blog about your dissing of my off-roading experience.

Keetha Broyles said...

Here it is - - - this is the LAST post my "following" will show me.

What's up with THIS!?!?

Didn't you WONDER why I'd been so QUIET for sl LONG???