WHAT A DAY!!!!

It has been quite a day. Graceson was well rested, so she woke up and was so pleasant. That ALWAYS makes for a better day for EVERYONE in the house and those around her!! :) (Gotta love her though...)
Today at school was an o.k. day for me, but it was certainly a stress filled one. You could cut the stress in the air. Tomorrow is the big "walk through" from all the powers that be. Yes, as long as you are doing what you are supposed to be doing, there is nothing to worry about. It still makes you nervous though, and I don't care how good you are. When someone is "critiquing you" they can always find things if they are looking for them. Does this make you better? Sure, if you embrace it and change it. Is it ever something you look FORWARD to? Not at ALL... SO... think of us tomorrow. I am pretty sure, that if you could cut the stress in the air today, tomorrow you'll be able to taste it!! Hopefully by Friday, the level will start to recede!!
THEN... I walk into church tonight, and it was SOOOOO "freeing", for lack of a better word. Tonight was the last night of revival, and it was certainly spirit filled. It was as if the Lord was saying, "I'll hold on to the stress for ya. If you need it back when you leave, it will be waiting outside". The evangelist focused more on the youth tonight, and one of our youth recited an AMAZING poem that she had written. It was EXXXXXCELLLLENTTTTT!!! GO ANTY!!
I think our message on Sunday that was delivered by our youth pastor, helped to prepare me for today's. He said, "I am going to help you figure out what kind of Christian you are. Are you a "get" Christian or a "got" Christian?" If your buddy says to you that he just got a new boat, it is supposed to be the perfect weather, and he wants you to go to the lake with him on Sunday, do you say, "I can't go, I've GOT to go to church, OR do you say, "I can't go, I "GET" to go to church." OMG!!! What a revelation THAT was... I would have answered the "got" but I AM going to do better, since it has been brought to my attention!!
You'll remember that a few days ago, we got the midnight hour call, that said that the bobcat driver had hit the end wall of one of the chicken houses. Well today, our flock supervisor told Shane that they were probably not going to pay for it, because they are worried that people are saying things happen, so that they can get their stuff repaired on the company's dime. HELLO? Their number is still on the caller ID at midnight!! WHAT?!?! I think they may have lost their mind a little. The flock supervisor said to one of the repair managers, "Shane may or may not be able to get through to the manager, and he may get a little loud, but they'd sure rather talk to him, than to Jerri". WHAT?!?! What is he trying to say? Have I ever yelled at him? Should I be offended?!!?!? Should I feel privileged that he thinks I won't let people walk all over us? I'm not too sure, but I am getting a script going on in my head... just in CASE I have to talk to the big dogs...
Mom got home today!! She is brown as a biscuit, and if she wants them published on the WWW, I will post some of her pictures of her fishing adventure!! Welcome home, Haze!!
Have a GREAT night and thanks for sharing a day in the life of the chicken farmer's wife!! Love to all!! Jerri

busy, busy, busy

Kristi asked where have I been? The better questions is, "Where do I START?" It has been a busy last several days, so I am going to give you a quickie run down, and then go to bed!! I guess the first thing I did Friday night was have a couples get together for a friend of mine who is having a baby in a month. Her name is Bev, and she INSISTED that we were to do NOTHING for her because this is her THIRD, but her ONLY boy!! OK Bev, I submit, whatever you say!!! HAHA I told her I was having everyone over for Shane's birthday, but VOILA, it was a couple's thing for HER!!! I think she was VERY surprised and I LOVE that she didn't know!! (Now, Shane really was having a birthday on Monday, but that had nothing to do with the dinner, other than to get her there!! We did play a game where I bought these little teeny babies in the cake section of Walmart. I then froze them all in water in small dixie cups.


The rules were simple, you wanted to be the first one to give birth to your baby, but you couldn't run it under hot water OR bite the ice off of it. It had to thaw. You wouldn't BELIEVE how aggressive the men were at trying to deliver their babies. QUITE a hoot!! This is what I made for the winner...
Now let's move on to Saturday. This weekend, the rest of the flock went out. Here are a few photos of the birds at 49 days old. They will weigh in right at 5 lbs. or a little over. If you'll look back at some of my previous posts, you'll see their growth from the day we get them, until the day they come and catch them back. One of the pictures, I thought was SOOO cute, because Shane was trying to take a picture of the bird while holding it. It made me think of all of the teenage girls, that had rather hold out the camera to take a picture of themselves and a buddy, that to simply have someone else take it!! I have succeeded in documenting the stages of our chicks to adulthood, so I guess my blog is complete!! I need to think about whether or not to keep on writing, since you now know all that goes into (well not ALL) the chicken's life cycle after hatching!!

By the way, we got a called at almost midnight from the catch crew manager. He was calling to let us know that one of the crew members was new and learning how to drive the forklift with the crates full of grown birds. It seems he should have had a bit more training before he went live on air. The man (I think his name was Vin?) was calling to let us know that he had ripped the end out of one of the houses. GREAT, just one more thing!!

Sunday revival started and we had a youth workers meeting. I am responsible for getting the food taken care of when we have these. I ended up feeding around 50ish people spaghetti. I was in need of a nap, but Garrett had to get back for a CORE meeting, and then revival started that night.

Monday, was Shane's birthday!! Happy birthday my little hottie!! I won't tell you how old he is, but I will let you know he's only 364 days away from the big 4-0!! We got home late that night too, because Graceson had softball, and of course Garrett had football.

Tonight, they both had games so it was my turn to go to the football game and Shane's turn to take Gra. We won, by the way, both kids!! After getting home, I had some embroidering to do. I put an initial on a dress for the girl that does my hair. She is getting her baby's one year old picture in it barefoot. Is that precious or what? I added that to, just so you could get a visual!! NOW, I'm beat!!

Cary... if you are reading this, scroll down, pause the music, and see if the you tube video will come up of the Browning Springs game, where the refs were in the other teams' pockets. It took FOREVER to upload it, and it is only about the last however many minutes. I have to do the whole thing in stages, and I didn't feel like doing it ALL today, but will try to do the rest for you later. I believe this is the very last though. I haven't watched it yet, but I am sure that the crowd is unruly as well, so beware!! Have a great night, and thanks for sharing a day in the life of the chicken farmer's wife!! love to all!! Jerri

CALGON>>> TAKE me AWAY!!!!!!!

Look at this! It is a post, and it is before midnight!! I am thinking that I probably should have stayed in bed this week, STILL!! Hopefully that feeling will pass soon!!
Of course, I get "off" when I don't get home in the FOURTEEN hours since I left it, and this week, that will happen EVERY SINGLE night!!! For the middle 3 days, I had things I had to stay for at school, so I didn't have time "midday" (after 3, to darken my door). You'll also remember my lovely "mishaps" on Tuesday. I think I have more to add to the list, but then again, I think you would call them blessings!
First of all, the reason that I am typing right now, is because I am at Mom's, waiting for Shane to get off of UPS, get some 7-Up and soup, and come here. Then, he'll take Gra home. She complained about her stomach hurting the whole way to school. I assured her she was fine, she probably had to use the bathroom, you know the drill... WELL, she didn't get through morning assembly before she started throwing up! I also have this feeling that Shane will not be nearly as accommodating as me, but we'll see!!
You remember my Tuesday (football game, arm, Jennie Stuart), and you know about my today so far. WELL, I haven't told you about my yesterday!! I was going to write last night, and I just didn't have the spirit to! I turned in pretty early for me! ANYWAY, Gra and I were going to meet the boys at church, because Garrett went on to football practice, even though he couldn't do to much but run... SOOOO, they take FOREVER to get there, but I finally see Garrett. He says "Hey" and goes to find himself a seat. NO biggie. I keep waiting to find Shane to make eye contact with, and he never comes in the door. I keep waiting and waiting, and finally ask Garrett where his dad is. I mouthed this across a few tables, as Bill had already started talking. NOW, THIS is how I know that Garrett is a MAN in training. He acted JUST LIKE ONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He takes his GOOD hand, balls it into a fist, and acts like he hits his bad hand. So I ask him "He HIT someone?" He said, "No, the car." I then say, "He hit the CAR?" He then says, "NO, he hit another car, he thinks ours is TOTALLED!" WTH? "WHAT?!?!?! Was this information that you may have needed to SHARE with your mother? Were you EVER going to tell me? Were you WAITING for me to ask if you'd had a wreck before feeling the need to even MENTION it to me? AND............. HOW did you get to church and WHERE is your father?" I am pretty sure that all of you mothers reading this right now know how that conversation went down exactly.

It seems that Shane called another dad that had just left practice to get him to run Garrett to church. He told him to be sure and tell me when he got there... My phone was on vibrate in my purse, and he also called Ted and Bill, but their phones were obviously silent too! I then leave and go over to where the wreck had occurred. It was on the street where the high school is where they practice. This woman pulled right out in front of them. I mean, she was stopped, looked both ways, and then proceeded. It seems that she called her husband/boyfriend whoever he was, and had him bring a carseat to put IN the car before the police arrived. A little too late, wouldn't you think? Everyone was fine, I just don't know about the car. Shane thinks that the insurance will total it out. I followed him home at running speed with our flashers on, with both front tires tilted in, and singing a high pitched tune. I get him to our road, turn and come back to church, to get the kids...
That's 3, right? We should be covered now, right?
Well, I just finished filling out some forms that I have to pass out when I get back to school, so I am going to put them into groups, so they'll be easier to handle! I hope all of you have a GREAT day, and I think tonight, I need to have Calgon take me away! love to all!! Jerri

4 mishaps and a blessing

OK, are any of you that are reading this old enough to remember the commercial, "If I don't get my American Ace coffee, then I'm going back to bed!"? OK, I think I missed out on the coffee this morning, and I probably should have just crawled back under the sheets. Let me start with my morning. I awakened in a GREAT mood, and excited about what I was going to wear to school. I had proudly planned to wear my "Colonels hoodie", because today was the big Homecoming and game day for the middle school. We played Hopkinsville Middle School, and as everyone knows, they are our big rivals. I am in my closet ready to put on my sweatshirt, but I hadn't gotten it down yet. I have 2 rows of closet shelves, and one is about waist high, and the other one is much higher. All of my winter clothes are on the top, and summer on the bottom, you get the idea. Knowing I needed something from the top, I simply grabbed the sleeve of the sweatshirt with intentions of it sliding happily off of the hanger, and me skipping along on my merry way. INSTEAD, I tug and tug until... KAPOW... the hoodie flies off of the hanger, the hanger spins, hits the wall, and then boomerangs into the bridge of my nose. This was a mishap...

So... after school FINALLY arrives, and I go to my mom's to change the fish bowl's water. (by the way, she caught a SHARK today, so if she sends photos, I will gladly post...) After I get everything done, it is time to take Gra to piano lessons. I get into the car and realize that I had forgotten the phone, and it was at Gram's. I go ahead and take Gra to piano, drop her off and head back to get my phone. When I "re"arrive at her house, I search the kitchen over and cannot find the phone. I decide to pick up the land line and call it for help. Guess wherer it was... IN THE POCKET OF MY HOODIE!! Mishap #2

So while there, I realize I need to take the Herbie Curbie to the road for garbage pick up. You see, I wouldn't have to take it, except that it was over half full of leaves, straw, and other debris from the swimming pool where the wind storm had filled the pool, and we tried and remove the worst of it. I was on the cell phone, and I had a small bag from inside. The lid was open, I held on to the small bag of trash, and I throw my keys into the herbie curbie bucket 'o fun. Have you ever SMELLED the stuff that comes out of a skimmer basket? NOW, imagine it in a typically unpleasant place, and think of getting to almost stand on your head, to reach the bottom of it, which is where they fell to. Mishap #3

Tonight at the football game, I got to hold sweet, baby Ella Kate. She was all decked out in her Tigers attire, all the way down to her orange and black hairbow, so essentially, I was holding the enemy, but it was SOOOO worth it!! She is PRECIOUS!! While holding her, a little boy in front of the wooden bleachers decides to start throwing rocks, well, one hit my ankle and came VERY close to EK's head. Obviously, if his mom was watching, she wasn't making him stop, so the teacher in me came out, and I fussed and fussed at him. Either mom agreed, thought I was crazy, or wasn't watching, because she never appeared, and he stopped throwing rocks! I sort of jumped/scooted when that happened, and guess what happened to me? Obviously, I have not been going to WOG long enough to have buns of steel, because my back side was well receiving of the splinter that I STILL have there. True story... I have never had a splinter in my butt before, and quite frankly, I am afraid it is going to have to live there, because I have no idea how I am going to get it out!! It typically takes me 2 hands to get out most splinters, and that is when they are somewhere on my FRONT side, so how I will hold a mirror, twist around, see, and then get it out, I have not figured out. Mishap #4

AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST>>> the BLESSING!! As you know, big game... town rivals... Homecoming crowd... you get the picture. We spanked them 30-ZERO by the way!! Right now, I want to shout out to my bud Theresa for coming to the game. I was a little nervous, so I am sure I wasn't great company, but at this time, I at least didn't have the splinter in my butt, which sort of affects your mood as well, but I digress... Garrett was playing both defense and offense. While on defense, there were these 2 boys that were double teaming him, that I would be willing to bet DROVE themselves to the game. (now remember, Garrett is in 7th grade). No kidding, this one kid was every bit as tall as Shane, and probably the width of both of us. He knocked him around pretty good. You've seen it on the NFL, the falls where the guys do a backward roll up over their helmets? THAT kind of hit. One time, either Garrett had knocked down, or been knocked down, but as he was pushing himself up with his fingers, a kid tackled him again. When he got up, I immediately knew he was hurt. He finished the play, until the next break, or time, or something, and the referee was over there. Not too long, and the coaches were too. Sooo, the 1/2 time horn blows, and I can see Garrett with the coach and then I see the coach looking up in the stands. We were in the top row, and I stand up. He motions me down. I go down there, and he insists he'll be fine, he wants to go back in. Butch, one of the coaches tapes his hand up, and he plays the ENTIRE REST of the GAME. By the end of the game, when the tape came off, the hand puffed out like bread rising. I made the call, and we headed to Convenient Care. I am thankful that we did, but the BLESSING is that it is not broken!! He said that he has a severe sprain (it is already blue palm side), and it has to be immobile for 3 days, no practicing for the rest of the week, no writing until Friday, at which time he can start moving it again. In the picture above, you can see his little hospital bracelet still on his arm. He rated his pain an "8" on the pain scale of 0-10, so I am pretty sure that I gave birth to one of the toughest 12 year olds I know. Another blessing that I saw tonight was when I came on the sidelines. The coach was calling me over, and when I went, boys circled all around us, the sweetest kid (and he was an older classman, big guy) told everyone "Ya'll need to get back, he needs to talk to his mama". I LOVE that boy, and I don't have any idea which one it even was!!

Soooo, if you have nothing to do, run on over, and you can help with this splinter... Otherwise, have a GREAT night, and thanks for sharing a day in the life... Blessings to all!! Jerri

Errrr... Richard Simmons?

I had no idea what I was going to post about tonight, and then it occurred to me like a vision!! Today was my third day of WOG (women of God) strength training. Now, I'm not sure that it is making me strong, but it is CERTAINLY making me sore!! Nikki throws in something new each time, so it is NEVER boring!! Back breaking, maybe, but NEVER boring!! Today, I felt a little like Billy Blanks, because we were doing a little kick boxing, or if you were to watch my technique, you may call it, "One legged flamingo having a seizure" moves. So somehow, Heather, another girl that comes each Mon/Fri and I got to talking about Richard Simmons, and would you believe that he was on Letterman tonight? I am still up, because I am waiting for my wash to get done. Garrett only gets to bring his jersey home the night before games, and I assure you, it is funk nasty. I am not sure where the coach keeps it when he strips it off of them after the game, but I feel certain it is in the armpit of a camel. GAG... And the pants and pads... OH don't get me started!! Can you not have hygiene AND play football???? So whenever Garrett gets the chance, he always wants to bring it home for a good Oxy Clean soaking, and a little Tide and Downy thrown in... but I digress.
Heather and I talk about Richard, and I confess that he and I used to share the same hair style. Yes, I had a permed 'fro in the SECOND GRADE!!! What was my mom THINKING? SURELY a 7 year old does not have enough discretion to make the decision to perm or not to perm. FYI, I have no intention to ever post those pix by the way!!
Today we added a few weight machines in the mix too and the Bow Flex was one of them!! I have seen the commercials for Bow Flex, and I am pretty sure in 6 weeks, at only 20 minutes 3x per week, I should weigh about 115, and have the body of goddess, according to the woman that is showing her results. Of course, the commercial didn't MENTION that she started OUT at 116 lbs, and she is a trainer for a living...
Tonight my S-I-L posted on her blog how she is a runner. Let me go on record by saying, "I am NOT". I tried it, I HATED it, I didn't feel invigorated, or liberated, I only felt as though I needed to throw up. It made me sneeze, it made my eyes water and nose run, and it was about as much fun as rolling in hay when you have hay fever. Unless a big dog, or a bad bad man is chasing me, I see no cause to run. EVER. PERIOD. It wouldn't matter if I ran with a runner, ran alone, or was running toward a big cheeseburger, the result would be the same... NO THANKS!!
Well, I need to go hang up the jersey and see if I can wash some of those retched pads! Tomorrow is the CCMS vs HMS game!! Gra won both softball games tonight, FYI!! Have a super night and thanks for sharing a day in the life of the chicken farmer's wife! love to all!! JA

Today has been a great and BUSY day!! We just got back from Clarksville. We went to the movies there to watch "Journey to the Center of the Earth". It was 3D, and we ALL loved it, but even *I* got dizzy a few times during it... Of course, our local theater didn't have anything that I'd let the kids watch, so that's why we went south!!
GUESS WHAT?!?! I actually went BACK to WOG!! In case you didn't read my previous post(s), that stands for Women of God strength training. It is every Monday and Friday, and after Monday, I thought I was going to DIE!! This time was SOOOO much better! She told us that this coming Monday she is going to start us on the machines, so I am a little "skeered"!!
Today I mowed for many, many hours!! I mowed every WEEK during the summer, but now that I am back in school, I just can't get myself motivated to commit to doing it on my regular schedule, because there are 400 other things I need to be doing. Well, I PAID for putting it off! I was SOOOO nasty from all of the things that flew in the air from it being so dry, and the grass/weeds being so high. Several years ago, I dug up some tiger lilies from the old house that were my grandmothers, (she's been deceased 12 years next month) and I replanted them around our propane tank. Well, they have now spread, and are HUGE! They haven't bloomed for over a month now, so I thought it was time to go ahead and take them down. Well, if you have these flowers, you know that the stems of them dry out while standing there and get rock hard. I didn't think anything about it until I started cutting down the foliage. As I did, it would hit the tank and start pummeling me. I thought I was just going to have to duck for cover, as it started hitting me like stray bullets. Dumb me never THOUGHT about mowing in the opposite direction of the tank, or pulling those bullets OUT of the plant before I ran them over!!
OK, I have SUCH a funny mowing story that this made me remember while I was ducking and dodging today. I'll share and then go to bed!!
This has been probably 6 years ago or so, but is a true story! I feel certain if someone had been filming me, we would have won the grand prize on America's Funniest Home Videos!! I was mowing and the kids were in the back on the trampolene. For whatever reason, I decided that I was going to mow the yard diagonally. Now, keep in mind, that NOONE, except for the deer and the antelope, would EVER see the directionality of my yard, but I figured, "If people in town do it because it looks better, then I will too!" So, I am mowing the yard, and at one turn, I notice that there is a rather large deer in the field beside our house. Now, to get to this field, you had to through an old fence row, and then a row of trees. Obviously, the dogs spotted it around the same time, and took off in that direction. At that moment, I was so happy to be living in the country, no one to bother us, the dogs to have a place to run, you get the idea...The dogs that went were Moe (our dog that died in July, and Rocky). Now Moe was a dog that was the "Alpha" dog on the farm. No one would mess with him, he was scared of no animal, and just a great, majestic looking dog. Rocky was a pure bred boxer. Shane got him out of a puppy mill/meth lab that was being run out of a local hotel room. When he made the bust, there were 10 puppies and 1 momma and male dog in the small hotel bathroom (and I assure you, it wasn't the Hilton). I LOVED Rocky from the moment we saw him (we got on the list to adopt as soon as they got to the pound, and had first dibs), but I am pretty sure, with the intelligence that he showed us, that his mom may have also been his sister... SOOOOO, the dogs are gone, I'm happy to be in the country, my kids are playing safely in the back yard (I zipped the guard up around the tramp so they couldn't fall off), and all is well. (Now remember, that I am going diagonally, and I am in the middle part of the yard by now, so I am staying in the same direction for a while). I see Rocky coming back from the field, and he is in a DEAD RUN.. I look around, and shortly behind him, I see the DEER!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHAT? Rocky runs around the front of the house, and around the garage. When the deer hit the pavement of our driveway, he slipped, regained his footing and took off. I was sure that the deer would get to the back, get frightened by the kids jumping on the tramp, and take off toward the goat pen, which is the field behind our house. NOOOOOOOO!! I am still on the same line I was on (remember, long and diagonal) and Rocky is rounding the other side of the house, with the deer on his heels! Rocky keeps looking back and keeps running. He runs around the house again, and then I guess in his little pea brain head, gets an idea. We have a large wrap around front porch, and he jumps up on it and cuts back across it. Be darned if that deer didn't do the same!!! I am not believing this, and just WISHING someone else would see it, so that they'd believe it when I told it. Around this time, Rocky sees ME. I guess he thinks that I can do something for him. You can almost SEE him get the thought, and he takes off running toward the mower!! I am screaming at him to go away, and waving my arms, and I guess he just starts thinking I am screaming "Run to Mamma" because he just runs faster. In my head, I am thinking that deer KILL people when they hit their cars, and I am not packing my gun, so unless he just lays down in front of the mower for me to mow him down, I have nothing to help either of us with... SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO..... *I* whip the mower around (it is one of those open ones, where you turn it with the handles, and it has a zero turn radius, which just means you can turn it pretty fast and accurately, and I head off in the opposite direction). Now picture this... I am on my mower going as fast as it will go, followed by a mentally challenged dog, followed by a big honkin' deer. I am screaming things, and none of them are nice. At this point, I was as scared as I can ever remember being, and I am wondering what I am going to do when I run out of yard and have to turn. THEN>>>> it happens. Moe gets back from the field, he sees the odd wagon train, he starts running toward us, the deer sees him, and darts off. (This is just one of the examples of the things that Moe did that made us/me love him so) I honestly gave him credit that day for saving both Rocky's and my life. So, as you can see, mowing is truly an adventure at my house, and I learned that you just never know what will happen here in the country. Someday I will share the copperhead in the house story!!
For now, I must go and brush my teeth and read my Sunday School lesson, even though I'm in youth!! have a GREAT night, and thanks for sharing a day in the life of the chicken farmer's wife! love and blessings to all!! Jerri