Kick It In the Sticks

Yes, it's been a long time since I updated. So sorry!! Shortly after I got home from the trip I told you about in my last post, my mom and little sister had the opportunity to attend the John Lyon's Lyon's Legacy Certification Program. So, of course, I was extremely happy for them and promised to do anything I could to help make that possible. Thus, I have been hired to manage our farm while mom is out of town, and dad and I are holding down the fort on our own. Now, to be fair, our friend Cheryl and two of her kids have been over nearly every day to help me. So, really, it's not just dad and I. But I'm responsible for whatever happens there. O.o  Yeah. That's the biggest reason I haven't updated in a while. Lol!

Anyway. Since mom left on Sept. 6th...obviously, I've been busy. That first week we worked long, hard days and didn't take any time off. My youth group, Campus Life, started the Monday night after mom left, but other than that, none of us took any time off. In fact, Margie works two 10+ hr shifts every week, and then came over and worked for several more hours at the farm, and stayed the night to help me with morning milking.

The next week, we were all a little burned out, but we were still cookin' along pretty good. I sliced and dehydrated over 50lbs of onions, and chopped and froze another 50lbs of onions in that week. By that weekend, I was feeling pretty dead. And we found out Thursday morning that we were going to get slammed by a freeze on Saturday night. We spent all day Thursday chopping up greens to freeze for stirfrys over the winter.

On Friday, we pulled all of our peppers and stored them in the garage, so that they could continue ripening. That night, I had the opportunity to go to a Reedsburg Beaver football game with some friends. One of my oldest friends was playing a home game, so I drove about an hour north of my house to cheer him on. As it turned out, I ended up staying the night there with some friends, so I was blessed with a wonderful break that night. After getting home, we picked over 500lbs of tomatoes in under 5hrs, and laid them out on our basement floor for ripening.

This past week, we've just been working to keep up with the ripening produce. Dad took the week off and went on a quick color-run to northern WI, which offered him a pretty peaceful break. I also found out that I made it to the top 5 with a short story I wrote in August, then submitted to a contest through Kingdom Pen!! If you want to read it, let me know!

Friday night, I went to another Reedsburg game, this time at Waunakee. It was a very hard game, and a painful loss, but the team played well. Waunakee is just...big. I spent the night again, and got to spend several hours the next day with the family, helping make breakfast, then ironing an outfit for a funeral the next day. Our families have been friends for years - like, almost 30 years. So, I just fit right in. Their oldest son, Coy, and I stayed up until *looks around then whispers* almost 3am... We're both kind of night owls, so...yeah. We had a great time talking and watching movies. :)

This morning, Margie and I got up and did chores, then dyed our hair using some temporary dye we got at Walmart. (Thanks, Halloween! :D)

The color isn't very good, but you get the idea. (I might be able to get a better picture later. :))

Any yes, I plan to attend the Beavers' game again this weekend!!