Transitions

Well, it's been 13 months since I have transitioned from the city to the country. It has been an interesting year that's for sure! I used to have such a hectic schedule and no personal time (other than to and from work) that I was wore out and highly stressed all the time. I was putting in 18 to 20 hour days and had no time for the kids. Now, I have very little structure and spend ALL DAY with the kids! Obviously, that's the biggest transition. So, what happened? Well, I married my best friend of 16 years. However, I lived in Denver, CO and he lived in Grand Rapids, MI. When we married, we both wanted to live in the country, so we found an old farmhouse to rent. Right in the middle of farm operations. We are surrounded by tractors, apple trees (acres and acres), corn and soybean fields, and farm hands. We call our landlord "Farmer Tom" and the kids follow him around quite a bit. Naturally, I wanted to become a country girl real fast. So, I begged for and got my very first garden. I planted lots of veggies that I had no idea what to do with, flowers and probably some "weeds". I cleaned out to old flowerbeds then waited to see what was actually in them! Oh, so much fun! Of course there was also the 5 hours of mowing and hanging clothes on the line! This year, I even learned to can and preserve real, downhome, out-of-the-garden veggies. Can you imagine 42 quarts of pickles? Uffda! My poor mother has been deluged in phone calls all summer about all my canning. Don't worry mom, after I catch on to how all this stuff is done and the excitement dies down, I'll stop bugging you!