My understanding was that July is one month long. I would like to know what happened to it! Surly there couldn't have already been 31 days of July pass and over half a week of August. There is something amiss! I am going to need to find the people running the calendar and ask them to slow it down a bit.
This week was a good work week. I made a schedule for my game development on Monday. So far I am still on schedule. The unfortunate part is that the schedule has development completing in November. I also know that I packed some parts of the schedule too tight. For example, next week has the baby delivery, helping my dad rebuild the front end of his tractor and building a shed all in the same week. I don't really think that will all fit, but I don't dare stretch other things out any more. When Lexie asked how I was going to do it, I thought for a bit and said well, "you have the baby, Dad can rebuild his tractor and I'll build a shed." I don't really think it will work out that way, but hopefully I'll be able to find time on weekends and evenings to get all of the non-game development stuff done that I want done.
My mind keeps going back and forth as to whether this baby will be the hardest or easiest baby we've had. Without needing to report to work or school at a specific hour, the sleep deprivation issue I normally associate with newborns may become a non-issue or at least a muted issue. Lexie is certainly excited to get the baby on the other side of her stomach. In testimony meeting yesterday she shared the thought that God's time is not always our time, if it was she wouldn't be there. When she sat down she wished she had explained herself a little better to mean that she would be in the hospital having a baby, so as not to leave people thinking that she didn't want to be in Idaho or at church. I'm sure anyone who has ever had a baby or been closely associated with anyone who has had a baby knew exactly what she meant.
This week was the week that the international folk dance festival came to Rexburg. This year, however, it was changed slightly to be called the international dance and music festival. We were delighted to get the kids enrolled in culture classes for Belgium, Greece and Mexico. The dancers taught the kids a little about their countries culture and then taught the kids a few dances.
Waving flags with the Belgians.
Ty Natalyn and Dallin with dancers from Greece.
Learning about Greece.
Dancers from Mexico.
The boys learning a mexican dance.
More Dancing
David found some buddies his size to play with.
Through the week I resolved my push vs. pace dilemma over getting a flock of broiler chickens and starting a garden to a balance of doing a small garden. My thinking being that I really don't know how much time and energy I am going to have available after the baby is born. So I don't want to get stretched to thin. However, I also believe that the proper life has a garden and chickens in it. Being one that desires a proper life, I decided that even if I didn't do a big garden, doing a little one would fill much of the spiritual and emotional need of a garden. Likewise, even if I can't have as many chickens as I might want having a few at least puts something in the "need's chickens" slot of my life.
Speaking, or rather typing of the chickens the sick chicken disappeared. I didn't have it in a very secure pen, so I am guessing a predator got it. It is also possible it wandered off, or also slightly less possible that it was translated to chicken heaven as a reward to some great deed of chickendom. I really doubt the last one because I never really saw it as a very noble bird, but being reasonably new to chickens I could be judging it against the wrong criteria. To be honest, whatever the cause I was a bit relieved to not have to bury the bird and put off conversations about death with the kids for a while.
My original idea for a garden was to do a container garden with some 5 gallon buckets which my parents have in plentiful supply because my dad can and does pick them up from his work for free. After some thinking about it, I got concerned that my garden would look messy in buckets. I then thought about putting my garden in the ground. My two concerns about putting the garden in the ground were first, I would be planting the garden on top of grass which would mean that even if I rotatilled I would be harvesting more grass than garden vegetables, and second, putting the garden in the ground would be too big a temptation to violate my disciplined idea of a small garden. There are over 3 acres of unused field here and my dad has an excellent rotatiller. Some more thinking got me to the idea I went with, which was to break up some pallets (also a freebie from my dad's work) and rebuild them into a waist high garden box.
Ripping apart pallets. Natalyn alternated between the role of helper and supervisor
I didn't ever measure the pallets but I think they are 42" square. Yes, you did just get some insight into the way I build :-) well at least when I am in a hurry. I completely broke apart two pallets and then filled in the gaps of the top of the third to work as my garden base. The two by fours from the pallets I split apart were used for legs and the one inch boards were used for siding. I was very pleased to get something that was very close to what I had pictured although it did take about twice as long to complete as I had anticipated. With that said a project only doubling in time seems to be about status quo so I don't think I even have a true complaint there.
Starting to look like a box!
Square? Yup four sides definitely square!
The finished product.
Little boys being big helpers.
The main back lash I got from the project was last night I got a very severe headache which I link to a tight shoulder, which I link to a lot of nail pulling and hammering on Saturday. The headache is one of those which you suspect you are going to live through because you have survived ones like it, however find that you would not be surprised, maybe relieved if you didn't. Fortunately, this morning I only have a tight shoulder and not a headache. The headache does present a challenge in my finding my push vs. pace balance in as much as I really want to shift the balance toward push, however I can't put up with too many headaches like that last one. I suppose the answer is to keep trying the edge and recover as quickly as possible when one hits it.
Oh yeah I don't think I have put it in the blog yet so just in case I haven't ... Our family has a new slogan. It is: "Small and steady steps in the right direction." I'm not sure if I ripped it off from somewhere but I like it and in as much as I don't have any plans on commercializing it, I am sure I'll be find using it. I think the words stand on their own, but to explain it a little anyway, the idea is to not get overly concerned with where you are or how fast you are going, but rather make sure you are moving and make sure that you are moving toward a proper goal. It is much easier to do one small thing successfully than to try to keep several large things going.
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