Identity Crisis

A strange transformation is happening at Chez Podkayne. We are listening to farm reports, reading Hobby Farmer for ideas and getting excited about them instead of bitter, we are gearing up for winter in a way that is actually different than what we'd do in the city, we are collecting winter wear of a different grade (LOL Ha! I told you, Dearest, that we'd need all those gloves and hats that I've horded over the years!), and we are preparing for the move in more than just physical ways.

This is a blessing that we've hoped, planned, studied, and worked for over the last 10 years. This is it. I'll no longer be the Mistress of Hatton House, but a farmer and a farmer's wife. We'll have land to tell people, "Get off of." Sorry, that's the joke around here. We'll raise our kids as Southern Iowans, which is appearently different than just Iowan. There will be less diversity close to home, even less than now, and that worries be a bit.

The transformation is more than just rural to urban though. I'm rethinking how I'll keep home, what role I'll play on the farm (we've discussed that I would teach full time (possibly on campus) for our off farm income once the kids are older), we've discussed having more kids, we've grown closer to our family and continue to foster relationships in healthy ways, and we've discussed finding a church community.

This move is about so much more than putting down roots, it's about growing and thriving as a family, and lifting each other up.

Blog Layout and Linky Love

I am working on some basic layout things, updating bloglinks, favorites, etc. I'm only including those who I have read for a while, but I may miss some. Gah. It is tedious. I'll write a real post later.

*Update. Still adding links. May take a few days.

CAKE!

I know, I've been a bad blogger or rather a really busy mother! This week Lil'Bug turned FOUR! Yikes.

My sister has started a tradition of making her nieces' birthday cakes. This year she asked Lil'Bug what she wanted and the response was, "A pirate ship with my family as the pirates!" Ha ha, I thought. Bake that Aunt Bee.

Well, she did.

She is so cool.

Argh, Matey.
Captain Lil'Bug, pirate captain princess.

First mate, Blueberry.

Blowing out the cannons. Way to go Lil"Bug. Happy birthday my sweet love.

Oven Magic and My Superhero

So this week was busy and frantic. Why frantic? My oven broke. It broke in a difficult to fix way, the part was expensive, time consuming way.

Not so terrible but for the fact that my cousins were coming and I wanted to show off my new found cooking skills paired with our local produce and farm fresh meats. Bake an apple pie or two, you know, be all domestic and such. But no oven = no pie. I think I did O.K. with our fresh pasta sauce, and local bakery bread but still. It wasn't what I had planned.

We had a great time with cousins, but that gets its own post. :)

So then the dog and cat get a vet visit for rechecking thyroid levels and 1 year vaccinations and we load them up on Friday and get it done. No big deal. Except that it was and now the cat is having a likely vax reaction and the dog is strangely ill as well. Yeah, let's add to the birthday party on Saturday chaos dog and cat vomit, shall we? Um, no. Right.

Then 3 hours before party time, the low temperature alarm in the fridge goes off and we realize it ain't (isn't doesn't sound right here) coolin' the grub no more. Holy moly people. My fridge too? My appliances are all 3-7 years old, they should not be pooping out on me and why now? Right, because 25 people are about to arrive at my house.

Then, Lil'Bug says quietly that she has a headache and doesn't want to wear a costume to her dress up party. Oh no. She is almost always "in costume" in some manner and she is NEVER quiet about anything. No, she's sick. Oh no.

Dearest leaves to get the last bit of food for the party, I clean up more of the dog and cat "issue", feed baby, change poopsplosionalooza, give Lil'Bug a snuggle and some children's Tylenol and a cough drop and hope for the best.

When my sister arrives with the fabulous cake I have not even brushed my hair.

Dearest returns with food, fixes fridge, and party guests arrive. Lil'Bug is sick, chaos ensues, fun is had, kids are all fried from week long Halloween events that Des Moines insists on hosting plus birthday part extravaganza, and before it was all over tears were shed, drums were played at full volume, and parents were, well, awesome. And.....then it was over.

Somehow my house was cleaner after than before (thank you Nana!). My BIL found out we are moving to a farm, and I had to awkwardly address that.

Oh, and as I was closing the door for the night I saw on our realtor sign "Open House 1-3". OMG. No. No. No. I call our agent, sign stickers were a mix up. Thank God.

I crash.

Dearest FIXES oven.

All is well with the world. Until the dog and cat start (continue) their misery and we end back up at the vet Monday AM, sick kids in tote. And then I get sick. So is life.

The point of this woe is me ramble is that through it all my Dearest just plugged away, got things resolved, cleaned up messes, and made things work. My hero.