mommas night job

With private lesson enrollment down (I don't think I need to tell any readers that the economy stinks!) I decided I needed to get a part time job. To avoid paying a sitter everything that I make, I decided to look for a second shift job. Apparently I'm not alone in looking for shift work, because it wasn't as easy to come by as I thought (and yeah, I don't need to tell any readers how tight the job market is) Well, I got a part time, second shift job at Robin Hill Farm- a residential facility for brain injured adults. The hours are 3-11pm, perfect, as I only need a sitter for a few hours until Aaron gets home.

I thought this would just be an in and out summer job, but actually, I LOVE working there! It's great to work with adults rather then kids all day (hey, I love my students, it's just nice to be able to curse every now and then should I choose to!) I enjoy the residents, and my co workers. I thought I would dread any job outside of the teaching field- as I've NEVER had a job outside of music and or teaching my entire life- but I'm really enjoying working there.

Now, I've realized for some time now, that I've enabled Aaron in the cooking department. I've cooked every breakfast lunch and dinner he's eaten in our home for eleven years now. Granted, I enjoy cooking, but Aaron's gotten to the point that if I'm going during a meal, and don't leave something out for him, he'll just go hungry till I get back (when did we turn into my grandparents?)

Not only is this job good for me, and good for finances, but it's been great for Aaron and the boys. They were all definitly grumpy about me leaving at first (ok, mostly Aaron) but last Friday night was the first time I didn't leave a "heat and serve" dinner, for them. I left Aaron all the ingredients for American Chop Suey. He was sooooo pissy about having to make dinner (and really, we're talking about three ingredients. Doesn't get much easier) But when I got home from work later on that night, I peaked into the fridge to taste the leftover Chop Suey- it was GREAT! The next morning Aaron went on and on and on about what a great meal he made (yeah, he was kinda a pain in the ass about it, but I let him brag because he earned it)

So we're all learning lessons about living in a difficult economy. I have learned I can stay up past my bedtime. The kids have learned that it's possible o go to sleep without Momma tucking them in. And Aaron has learned that the pots and pans in the kitchen actually won't self destruct if anyone other then me uses them :)

throwing in the towel. . er. . .post hole digger

From day one, Aaron and I have been all about building our farm by hand. Our motto has been "why do with machine what hard word can do by hand?" The paddock is a great example. Each post hole was dug down three feet by hand. We stand back and look at the paddock with a good ol farmer "ahhhhhh" on our breaths. It's beautiful- and we did it ourselves, with kids pulling at our pant legs.

T O T A L L Y overrated. This is BEYOND hard work, it's near impossible. At this pace, we'll be bringing our alpaca home by 2011. Being the queen of savings, I hadn't even though of hiring someone to put these post in. What kind of weenie farmer does this? um. . .smart ones?

The biggest hurdle with our fencing (with any fencing) is driving in all those posts. Well, I sucked up my pride, and found out what it costs to rent a post hole driver. Yes, they make such a wonderful piece of equipment.

I've been a compete chump. We can rent a post hole driver to FINISH our project in less then a day. So yes everyone, sometimes you can work smart, not hard, and not sell your soul.

congratulations Uncle John!

This past Friday, Aaron's youngest brother John, graduated basic training from the US Army. We are all so proud of him :) He's off to AIT, then has some time off to come home before airborne training. In celebration of this big day in his life, I gave all the boys a good military haircut.

We love you, and are SO proud of you Uncle John!

digging post holes

Seriously, how did New Hampshire settlers dig post holes for their livestock fence by hand without power tools? Oh, I know, they DIDN'T. They built stone walls, because building walls out of granite was easier then digging three feet into New Hampshire soil.

We're slowly plugging away at all the fence posts needed to build the paddock and fencing in the field, Generally, the auger only gets us 18 inches or so down, then the rest is hand digging, as rocks and hard packed clay bind up the auger easily.

We tried to focus on one fence post at a time, but it's easy to get overwhelmed at the total number of posts that need to go in. There is no doubt about it, this is hard work. But you know what they say, anything worth having isn't easy to come by.

my alpaca inspired truck

So, I decided I was annoyed at asking Aaron to use his truck for picking up fencing/chicken feed/alpaca related stuff. My van was up for inspection next month, and it would cost us (once again) nearly as much as it was worth to have it pass inspection. As lovely as it was to live car payment free, we decided to take the plunge and get a new (to us) truck for me. A quick "we're thinking about getting another truck" phone call to my brother resulted in an immediate trip to Maine auto to see this truck. I'm in mad truck love :)

lots o' work!

So we're busy preparing for the alpaca. . . which translates into LOTS of work. We finished the pen inside the bar, and got an excavator for the weekend, to grade the driveway around the barn (hey, a dry alpaca is a happy alpaca!) I am amazed at how much work Aaron and I are able to do together, when we're working with two boys tugging at our pants, asking us for things. ( not to mention chickens getting in the way!) I once saw a statistic about farmers having a lower divorce rate then non farmer couples. I'm sure it's because farmers have to learn how to work together :)

tee ball

In two weeks, Cooper starts tee ball, and he and I are both very excited. After a nice chat with his new coach, she told me that she still needed an assistant coach. So yeah, I took the job :)

Cooper's comment to me working with his team:

"Wait Mom, you're the assistant coach? But you are a girl"

"Even better Cooper, the coach is also a girl"

"Oh. Well, girls can be truck drivers, so I guess they can also be tee ball coaches"

Very PC of my son, eh?