‘Back in the saddle again…’
You know the song, and I’m thinking as you were reading this you might even have been humming it. But this is probably the most appropriate title that I could come up with for me this week. Yup, I got a job! Yea for me!!
Let me tell you how all of this went down. It started a couple of weeks ago when there was an ad in the local newspaper. I did check it out and thought that maybe I should apply. Then … I wasn’t just sure about the job. As the deadline was getting closer and closer, finally on the last day it was to be posted – I put in my resume and cover letter. Still not sure about it, but I knew that I wasn’t locked in or anything for just applying. Then they called. Weird. OK, so off to the business I went for the interview. During the interview they said that the job that I was applying for wasn’t really a challenging job and they weren’t sure that I would like it. That night Daryl asked how the interview went, and I said that even though it did go well, I’m not sure that they will hire me. So two days later the phone rings. When I answered it, I find out that it’s the CEO of the Company in Minneapolis and he wanted to know if I’d be interested in talking with him. I was SO GLAD that I didn’t hang up on him. Whew! You know how you can get a million calls around election time so you sometimes don’t answer the phone? OK, so up to Minneapolis I go and hang out with the CEO and the President of the company for a good part of the morning. At the end of this interview, it sounded a little bit more promising and with options of a possible job in the near future. Things looked a little bit better now. But then on Monday of this week the phone rang again. Someone just put in their two week notice in one of their facilities (8 miles from our farm) and they wanted to know if I was interested in seeing what that job was about. Sure. So yesterday morning I was working on getting some things cleaned up in the garage before I needed to leave. The weather was really cloudy and it had rained about an inch overnight so it was a perfect time to light the fire barrel. I had a couple of hours before my meeting, so I decided to light it. I knew it was probably going to smoke but again… how much can this junk really smoke? HOLY COW! At first not so much and like I said it was cloudy and no big deal. Then there was something in there that really brought out the big black billowing smoke. I watched it for awhile and then the sky started to clear up. Great timing. When the whole yard and even the field across the road had smoke in it, I knew that I had to do something. I thought if I didn’t, I’d be in the shower and someone would think our farm was on fire and the next thing I would know, there would be fire trucks showing up. Not cool. So I grabbed some pails of water and tried to put it out. Well now I had tons of steam just coming out and I did eventually get the fire out. I finally got into the shower and got dressed and back I went to talk about this open position for a job. I think I would really like the job that they were looking to fill. I did get an offer and …. I took it! I start this coming Monday. I think some things are just meant to be and this might be one of them. My new job title is Project Manager.
What a great ride I was on for the last : 1 year, 9 months, and 6 days! I hope that I didn’t take too much advantage of being home and do wish that I would have gotten more done around the farm. And even though this sounds pretty dumb, I also feel a little guilty for leaving the animals. So I signed the papers yesterday, and when I came home everyone was given a treat. I bought a new bag of kitty food and up into the barn loft that went for the cats, the dogs got about 6 dogs treats during the day, chickens had gotten two new bags of layer feed, and the cows each got 3 apples from our trees with an ear of fresh corn. You would swear that I’m going off to war wouldn’t you? But it is kind of a weird feeling and both the farm and I have really taken on a rhythm this past year. That rhythm is anything from the cows standing by the fence watching for me walk across the yard to let the dogs out in the morning because they know they’ll get fed next, to Grace the chicken that sits on my feet when I’m in the chicken house. I guess we’ll just have to work on starting a new farm rhythm.
Then the reality hit that I wont’ be able to get some things done during the day that I would have done before. So I made a new list and I tried to see if I can get it all done. I was able to get the basement scrubbed yesterday and that was good because it doesn’t smell so musty anymore. I put the large area rug from the basement outside to freshen up and didn’t see any real harm in letting it out there overnight. But when Daryl and I came home from a Celebration Supper, I saw that the dogs tore all the tassels off the sides of the rug and they drug it out into the yard. Some things never change do they?
I wasn’t planning on starting any job until October, but the person who’s job I will be filling is leaving after next week. So if I want to learn from her, this is the best time for me to start. I am also helping with my friends son’s Wedding Rehearsal supper next Friday. The last time that I talked to her she was expecting around 70 people for supper and I’m excited to help her out. I was a little worried about getting everything done with starting this job so soon, but I know what I’ll need to get made ahead of time and it sounds like my work hours can be flexible, so it’ll work out just perfect.
So what didn’t I get done?
- Finish garden canning. I am planning on getting a lot done on Friday
- Secret Project completed. I am getting closer to getting this done and need to have it completed by December
- Franzen Movie Night. Have date set and will have Thanksgiving, St.Nicks, and Picture night on Saturday after Thanksgiving at our house.
- Transferring pictures. Have most of them done but need to put together a plan to have them all done by the end of October.
- Old Milk House cleaned and spruced up. Not sure when, but still want to do this yet this year.
- Trap new gopher that’s living in ditch. I’m not too good at this but will need to try to trap him this fall.
- Revamp old camper. This probably won’t get done, but maybe next year?
- Loose 50 pounds. OK, whatever