Gaming?

My girls have never really gotten into gaming.

Neither Steve nor myself are really into it, so it's not like it's a huge surprise. 

My kids love all things screens and TVs and all that jazz, so I guess I figured they'd like video games as well.

They've played our Wii a handful of times and they appear to enjoy it. 

Ava is still too little and her coordination isn't quite there so she gets frustrated easily and quickly if she loses. 

Mila does pretty well considering she doesn't have much practice. She really loves it, but it's easy to love something when you win all the time (and ergo, Ava is pissed a lot).

So they came to me the other day and asked to play a video game I had never heard of. Steve mentioned that it was a game our nieces play. It's called "Among Us" - I looked into it a bit and it seemed innocent enough. Honestly, if my nieces are playing and my SIL is cool with it, I'd likely be cool with it too. I may do a little investigating to see if there's anything to be concerned about. 

Anyway.

We got them hooked up so they could play alongside their cousins!

I don't mind if they are playing video games like this. I can't recall the name, but it appeared that they had to make their way out of a room somehow.

Hand-eye coordination skillz people!

FaceTiming and playing with cousins! When they live across the country, we make do with what we can! 

My SIL and her family usually visit a couple times a year. 

Obviously with fucking COVID that stopped the entire world, so we haven't seen them since Christmas 2019. So sad. 

But, thank goodness for technology! Now that the girls are getting more into it, we will make sure they can play with their cousins more frequently. 

Outdoor Chores In Winter

It's been a MINUTE since I've posted anything "farm" related.

My blog is slowly turning into a "lifestyle/fitness" blog? 

I dunno.

Winter months can be brutal when you're taking care of animals who live outside.

Each year we have to prep for the winter months.

It's not something I was accustomed to doing prior to living out here.

Our chicken coop is not heated - there's a risk of fire with keeping a lamp out there - basically, the inside of their actual chicken coop is dry and warm. That's how they can make it through winter. If we put a heat lamp in there, if it fell or whatever, it could easily start a fire and the coop is far away enough from the house we likely wouldn't notice it right away.

Plus, the chickens have down feathers and are able to stay warm 

We DID put in a heat lamp for a few days either last year or the year before due to FRIGID temps. Wind chills at NEGATIVE 25. 

So yeah, we opted to put a lamp in there during those few days - but kept a really good eye on it.

But, our regular chores still need to get done, even if it's freezing outside.

Food scraps need to be taken out to them, the few eggs they are laying need to be gathered. 

We have a heated water system out there for them, it's a metal waterer that sits on a metal pan that is warmed (we run a cord from the coop to our basement). So it keeps the water just warm enough not to freeze.

They are going through more food because of the cold. They spend energy trying to stay warm. 

So I have to make sure their food is full and water is good about every 3 days. Again, not the worst in the world, but when it's freezing or raining, lugging water back and forth isn't the most fun.

I also have to carry 50lb bags of feed from the house to the coop. It's probably a couple hundred feet. 

When there's two feet of snow on the ground? Not that easy! 

Have to bundle up this time of year

I'm glad I have my tall Muck Boots

Steve made a path with the plow from our garage to the coop.

It's kind of a far walk.

Getting closer...

Here's the short cut from our fenced-in area and sliding doors. I asked Steve to plow this path for me so I can make the shorter trek. 

Heavy ass water needs to be carried all the way to the coop.

Through 2 feet of snow.

That wasn't all that fun. It wasn't bad by any means.

But it was cold. And I was a sweaty mess.

I didn't get pics of the successful journey - I had splashed water on my pants and my gloves were wet. I wanted to get inside, washed up and in new clothes ASAP. Ugh.

Another thing I didn't capture is that after I carried the water bucket over, I then had to come back and grab the 50lb bag of chicken feed, threw that son-of-a-bitch over my shoulder, and hoofed it back to the coop, in two feet of snow. 

At least it's done. I'll need to check on them again in about 2-3 days. 

And I only got two eggs. 

WTF. 

Steve's Taking His Temperature Every Day

It's no secret that Steve has not stopped working during the entire pandemic. 

Well, except for that one time he had back surgery.

Anyway.

He's considered "essential" since you know, he keeps trucks and other vehicles on the roads safely. 

People need their cars.

Organizations and businesses need their vehicles.

Hours were shortened during the "worst" of it (April/May) although we've seen worse numbers and they've been operating under normal work hours for months now.

Masks are required for anyone going into the shop.

We were super strict in the beginning.

Steve changed his clothes outside and then ran to the shower before he'd hug any of us.

But then as things went on, we relaxed. 

We kept up with mask-wearing of course, we're not stupid.

We wash our hands all the time.

I sanitize everything.

I rarely take the girls grocery shopping with me.

We only visit with our "quarantine circle" which includes my mom and sister and Steve's parents. 

And then today we got a call from Steve's work.

A guy he'd been working with (Thursday, Friday, and Saturday) tested positive.

Ok.

I wouldn't be super concerned, except for the fact that I brought the girls to the shop to visit on Saturday. 

Because it was so dead there. 

FUCK FUCK FUCK.

Obviously now I regret it.

We weren't around him for more than 5-10 minutes...maybe. We were there in totality for about an hour. He came around our area a couple of times. 

We wore masks the entire time.

BUT.

I'm all freaked out and not sure what we should do.

Steve says there's nothing to do because the Health Department would call us if we need to be contacted for contact tracing. We haven't been contacted yet.

We are going to stay away from our elderly parents for 10 days just to be safe.

But do I have to contact school? I haven't been told one way or another. 

I don't want to panic. But hello! 3 out of the 4 of us have some form of asthma/allergies and really can't afford to have any sort of respiratory issues. And my SISTER? Who is MEDICALLY FRAGILE?

Nope, nope, nope.

What I Miss

A friend posted something recently on Facebook asking friends what they missed the most since everything with the Pandemic happened.

That got me thinking.

I haven't spent a lot of time thinking about the things we're missing out on. I'm not sure why. 

We have been distracted by a few major, life-changing events. 

Regardless it got me thinking.

And Steve said it to me just the other day when we were driving.

"I miss going out to dinner and a movie"

YEP. 

ME TOO, BUDDY. ME TOO.

We realized that as soon as my mom moved home (and ergo had a free babysitter), everything in the world (seriously) shut down.

So while the girls spend quite a bit of time with my mom, it's not like me and Steve have anywhere to go.

Here's a short list of things I'm missing, now that we're approaching the 1 year mark of when Life Stopped Being Normal. 

1. Going out to restaurants
2. Going to the movies
3. Going out shopping without fear or anxiety of touching things and/or catching things
4. Taking my kids out in a care-free kind of way without being a freak about hand sanitizer and masks
5. Being around my friends and all of our kids playing together (the last time was Halloween, right before numbers sky-rocketed and we hunkered down, even from our friends in our 'bubble')
6. TRAVELING - MISSING OUT ON OUR 10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY TRIP. FOR FUCK'S SAKE. THIS BROKE MY HEART. However, I do realize this is "first world problems" so don't bash me for being super disappointed. It still sucks. We lost all our money on it. 
7. Kids being in school full time and having the "experience" for my Kindergartner. 

Those are just a FEW things of life "before" and we're just not really sure when life will be normal again. Or what that new normal will be like. 

All I know - as soon as we're able and eligible, we are getting our vaccines. 

Can I Be Done With This Week, Please?

Have you ever felt like you're just failing at life?

You know, those days, weeks, months, YEARS when things just don't seem to be going well? 

I'm having one of those weeks.

Every single day is getting worse than the day before.

Don't panic. 

Everyone is fine.

But man.

I'm having a fucking week.

I just feel like I'm not working at 100% of my capacity.

I had a couple of moments during work this week that were forehead-slapping, WTF moments.

Like, CAN I DO MY JOB, PLEASE?

I just couldn't get a grasp on my to-do list.

I accidentally threw my team under the bus - and feel terrible about it. 

Ugh. 

I'd normally just be like "GET ME THROUGH THIS WEEK" but I have a pretty big meeting on MONDAY that I'm DREADING.

So yeah.

Until Monday's meeting is over, my buttcheeks are going to stay clenched. 

I know, it's all a part of the job. Things happen. It will be ok.

It wasn't anything too major - it could've been worse.

But WAH. 

And then I just felt like the kids were home with snow days, so no real school to do...Steve was maxin' and relaxin' since they didn't have real instruction and so yeah and I'm upstairs in my office wallowing in my own pity because I can't get my shit together.

It definitely didn't help that as I was in the middle of drafting a rather important email, Ava comes bursting through my office door and announces that she's hungry. 

Where's dad? Oh, outside on the ATV clearing our driveway and come to find out later, our neighbor's (they were attempting to shovel it).

So he was outside longer than I expected.

I told her to wait a few minutes until he got back inside to make lunch but it took him a while. 

Poor girl waited for almost 45 minutes before I decided to make her lunch.

That didn't help my resentment nor my feeling of not having my shit together. 

Then I felt worse about myself because I was resentful about making my kid lunch (I thoroughly expect Steve to handle all things kids/dogs/house when he's home and I'm working). And then I felt guilty about it because I NEED TO MAKE MY KID FOOD. LIKE LITERALLY MY ONLY REAL JOB IN THE WORLD IS TO KEEP HER AND HER SISTER ALIVE.

MOTHER OF THE YEAR. 

Next week will be better, right? 

Right. 

Time Is Fleeting

We all know time is fleeting.

And even more so when you become parents and you start to watch this tiny human grow up....so quickly right before your eyes. 

What's funny though...is that it feels like even a few short years ago winter felt like it lasted 2,597 months. It would just draggggg on and on and on...

And here I am today, February 3 (HOLY SHIT HOW IS IT FEBRUARY ALREADY) and I'm amazed that it's literally February.

What happened to all of 2020? 

I know, it was a fucked up year. 

But still. 

How did I lose an entire year of my life?

Ok, so I didn't lose the year. I actually used it to get into the best shape of my life. 

But dang. Time flies doesn't it.

The girls enjoyed the first couple days of February having a snow day. 

I woke up early as usual and noticed I had a missed call and VM (I set my phone to silent during the night because apparently I get spam calls in the middle of the night and since I sleep really heavily, Steve wakes up to it). Anyway. 

It was from the school saying school was closed. For everyone.

Even the remote learners (which includes my kids).

Ok.

I mean, cool. But. Why and how does this affect my kids?

Not sure.

But the kids and Steve sure did enjoy having the day off.

And it snowed, let me tell ya.

The kind of snow we always want to get when Steve's home, but we never get. 

It snowed pretty much all day Monday, Tuesday and today is Wednesday and it was snowing this morning at 6:30. 

Now, according to Punxsutawney Phil we will in fact have 6 more weeks of winter. Which isn't bad at all if you think about it.

If he doesn't see his shadow, apparently that means Spring will come early. I can't imagine Spring coming any earlier than 6 weeks from now!

We usually have a pretty snowy March. 

Anyway. 

There's no signs of Spring this week! 

We are buried. 

February is a short month so before we know it, it'll be March! 

And then my baby turns 9 in April. Sweet Jesus. 

A Day Off

I have taken PTO on my birthday for maybe the past 5 years. 

But then I got laid off from a job and it destroyed a little piece of me inside.

So at my new job, I take very few PTO days just for the heck of it. 

I've used them for doctor's appointments, for the entire family. 

And that's about it.

I mean. Working from home does make it 100% easier.

And my flexible job makes it even better. 

But to take a day to do...nothing?

It's been a while. 

So instead of taking my birthday off - it fell on a Wednesday and that would not be convenient for my team at work - I took the following Friday (Jan. 29) off. 

It was a rest day for me, so I knew I could be super lazy...

Anyway, took the girls to school.

And then I laid on the couch for like the next 4.5 hours.

I finished watching the 3rd Season of Cobra Kai.

I had seen on my FB group AOS that they had these rugs for sale. For a very reasonable price. $80! I knew we needed a rug for our bedroom, but c'mon, we all know they are hundreds of dollars for a nice one. So I grabbed it, knowing it would be a little too small. And I love how it turned out! 

I splurged and picked up a coffee for myself since I knew I'd be sitting in school pick up line for a bit. I got there early, which is fine. I don't mind sitting in the car listening to music and sippin' my drink. 

They day does go by quickly, since I was sitting in the school pick up line around 2:30. 

But, those few hours? 

They are great for some quiet me time.