"It Takes The Time It Takes."

A "Farmer Don" (aka. my husband) quote which I have heard him repeat many times during his years farming - concerning hay-making, crop-raising, and livestock giving birth.  In fact, that's where we're at right now....

Tilly on Sunday.

The goats today.  No babies, yet.

Grace's goats, Tilly and Edna, look as if they might burst at any moment!  By the book and according to Grace's calculations, Tilly was due on Sunday.  While she has definitely been showing signs of imminent labor since Sunday afternoon, no kid, or kids as the case may be, as of this blog post. 


As I recall from our few years of dairy farming, "first-timers" tend to take longer...like twice as long!...as veteran mamas.  And, this is Tilly's first kidding. 


Edna, on the other hand, has done this before.  While she is, technically, due nearly two weeks after Tilly, she seems to be showing signs of early labor today!  Hmmm....things could get pretty exciting on the homestead by this weekend!

Switching gears completely now....

I am realizing how important it is for me to MOVE...  Move my body often and consistently and moderately.  Move big, move small and always stretch.  I am slowly grasping the concept of  what "well hydrated" actually means for me, too.  (My eyeballs were floating the first three day, lol!)

As I mentioned in my last post, I haven't been feeling so great...not my usual perky self.  While I don't think my physician assistant was wrong in her diagnosis of the TMJ, she did nothing to further assess the cause of my rather-sudden pain and tightness during my visit.  Given that I have been very fatigued with joint pain and stiffness that has moved down into my shoulders, elbows, wrists and hands, I will probably be heading back for a more thorough checkup very soon.

In the meantime, my two massages helped tremendously with my jaw and neck and upper back.  And, I began working with an acupuncturist last week.  Timothy's great - gave me lots of good "healthy living" advice, and introduced me slowly to the tiny needles used for treatment.  What an odd sensation!

One of his suggestions included "get moving".  I need to move the "congestion" out of my joints and tendons.  He suggested swimming or aqua-fitness for now, since bearing weight exhausts me lately, tempting me to lie on the couch every moment I am not at the salon or grocery shopping, and that only makes my joints ache even more. 

Perfect.  I love to swim laps!  Love the graceful, steady rhythm of it; love how you can leave the world behind when you are underwater. 

So, I found a gym with a pool.  Turns out its less than half a mile from the salon and only a ten-minute drive from our home!  Went four times in the last week already.  As soon as I feel up to it, I hope to add a yoga class and a ballet barre class, both weekly, that are offered at the same gym!






I have to admit, Timothy asked me a couple of questions that caused me some distress..."Have you considered seeing a rheumatologist?"  And, "Is there any history of RA, rheumatoid arthritis, in your family?"

Immediately, memories of my grandmother, crippled by RA during the latter years of her life, flooded my mind.  I watched, over her last 15 or so years, as this autoimmune disorder took my spunky, opinionated grandmom and turn her into someone quite dependent and rather difficult to be around.

I did my research.  Today, there are better treatments available for RA, if that even is, in fact, what I am looking at here.  I am struggling to make that next doctor's appointment... a big part of me doesn't want to deal with that possibility and how it could affect my life.

Many of you already heard our other news:  Don and I have a special trip coming up!

Years ago, when I was pregnant with Rosemary and we were trying to keep up with our toddler twins and Grace, I wondered what we may be missing out on by starting our family only a year into our marriage.  There were places I wanted to see and things I wanted to do....

...Don's response?

"We'll only be in our early forties when the kids are mostly grown up.  And, we'll probably have more money by then, too, so we'll still have plenty of opportunity for that sort of thing."

We talked about going away for our 20th anniversary, but that just couldn't work.  Too many other things going on in our lives that year.  So, I thought, "Well, maybe for our 25th?"

Don, being the impatient, somewhat impulsive man that he is, decided one day that THIS should be the year we take our first big trip together.  He surprised me by booking a trip to Sonoma Valley, California!  He did his research first and discovered that October is the best time of year to visit, as the weather in northern Cali will suit both of us - not too warm for him, not too cold for me.

Knowing what I enjoy, he planned a winery tour, zip-lining through the redwoods, and kayaking down the Russian River, as well as a drive along the coast in a convertible and a couple of nights in a hotel overlooking the ocean!  I am super excited!  I need to get a GoPro for some awesome footage of our adventure.  Hopefully, this will be the first of many!

Enjoy a couple of photos from our cousin, Sarah's wedding last weekend.  A fun, outdoorsy wedding that perfectly suited the personality of this pair!

It's back to school time, and Rosie begins her on-line classes next Monday.  Best wishes to all of you beginning a new school year, whether it be at home or elsewhere, public, private or homeschool!  And, I promise to post again when these kids are born!

I debated whether or not to write a post this week...I've been feeling pretty...BLAH, lately. 

I went to the doctor a few weeks ago and she diagnosed me with TMJ.  Here, I just thought I had an ear infection or sinus infection of some sort.  Or even some kind of virus because I'd been having pain all down my neck and even my arms.  The fatigue has been very challenging.

But, she says its TMJ and prescribed anti-inflammatory pills...which I promptly stopped taking after experiencing some nasty nausea...and told me to "rest my jaws".  Ummm, I talk...ALOT...in my profession. 

Plus, I love to eat; especially crunchy things!

To complicate matters, she also added a hormone pill to further address the PMDD... and my body is taking some time to adjust - Oye!!




So, I made an appointment at the Spine and Wellness Center.  My first therapeutic massage helped quite a bit.  Going for another next week, then probably a couple of session of acupuncture.  I'm hopeful that this treatment will work well for me, along with getting back into regular yoga practice. 

And let's not forget the dietary adjustments!  Yes, I am working on eating healthier - way less sugar, less caffeine, no dairy, no gluten.  Lots of water.  I have developed a taste for fish in recent months, too.  Salmon, mahi-mahi, opah....

Next week, I have the opportunity to take a mini-retreat.  A couple days by myself down at the bay.  I can rest my jaw, rest my body, rest my mind.  Peace.  Quiet.

Then, I gotta hunker down and get prepped - I am teaching two writing classes at our homeschool co-op this year!  When I agreed to do two classes, I was thinking I would only get about 6-7 students per class, like I had last year for my literature class.  However, at this point I have.....TWELVE...students in EACH class!

That's 12 middle schoolers in one, 12 high schoolers in the other.  Better bring my A-game!

Grace is doing superbly in her current higher education program!  She has straight A's on her weekly exam and her attendance is perfect.  She loves it.  She is now able to take clients at her school, and I got to be her first.  A delightful 60-minute facial.  The public can make appointments for services, too, so she also had a few additional clients this week.  She's very good! 

Contact us if you are interested in an appointment.  She must do at least 30 facials before her graduation!





The puppies are doing well.  Growing like weeds, of course.  Tig and Penny have accepted them into their "pack" after only a few days of grouchiness.


On the homefront, Grace is moving into her bedroom this weekend, for certain, and Rosie will be just a couple weeks later, by the end of August for sure. 

Woohoo! 

Then, I can transform the 2nd downstairs bedroom into my respite space.  For decompressing, and, apparently, grading many essays this school year!

Much to our surprise (not really!), when William informed his employers that he would be leaving to move back to PA in just a few more weeks, they decided to "let him go" immediately.  Oye!

So, Will moved down here this weekend.  No worries.  Don really needs another guy for his business, and he'd rather have his sons working with him than anyone else, so Will doesn't even need to job hunt.  He is already moved in with his brother, as well!

That's really all for now, Folks.  Hopefully, my next post will include the kids...baby goats, that is!  Just about two weeks until that fun happens!











Closing with one more adorable puppy pic:

Catch up with ya'll after my downtime at the bay!