Exhausted but Feeling Better

Farming Fun

Yesterday I spent my usual five hours at the farm. It flew by as I met new people and got to know a little about each of there lives. I dug holes for herbs in two long beds and now my hole digging arm is killing me. I have a raw spot on my thumb but no blisters this time. City life has done little to prepare me for the life of a farmer.

I also found a tick on me at the cook out at my moms house. I freaked out a little bit when I saw it and and threw it but that is the first tick I have ever seen. I was not so crazy when I went looking for it. Somehow it got on my hubby's knee when he bent down to look for it. So now I know that I need to have my hubby check me in the spots that I can't see for ticks each time I come home.

Loosing Weight
All this work has left me with little time to worry about what to snack on next or working out. That combination has brought me to a place where I have lost about five pounds in about 3 weeks. So I am pretty happy about the results. I am thinking the first side effect of farming is sore muscles and the second is weight loss. It doesn't seem to be a quick weight lose program but it seems to be rather effective. Not only am I loosing weight but I feel stronger and I can do more each time I go.

While I am tired today I feel much better than I have the last 11 days and that really helps me to see all the good in my life. I love my life right now and I am happy to be alive.

Writing, Reading and Coughing....

Rocks and Lemons
Well when life throws rocks at your head and just won't let up what do you do? I am not sure but I have been feeling like I just can't catch a break the last week and a half or so. I know the old saying is about lemons but I would take lemons over the mucus in my lungs that won't come up and the green snot when I wake up. I might even take a few rocks to the head if it would end this thing sooner.

I don't like going to the doctor but I have no idea what kind of natural remedy will work so I am switching between Sudafed and Mucinex as the symptoms change. I don't want to go get some other pill that will just mask the symptoms until the things plays out.

I feel like a zombie half the time and I just want my life back. I am crabby and I don't want to be. I am having trouble enjoying the things I love to do and that is making me angry. My life is great right now but I feel like poo and can't enjoy it.

The Good Things
I have a lot of great things going on in my life one is that my hubby is home and he is on a much earlier schedule now. I get to spend a lot of time with him and as soon as I feel like a human again it will be the highlight of my day. Right now I am having trouble with that because he wants me to do things with him and as soon as I start I have a coughing fit.

Then the chickens are growing at astronomical rates and they just love to run around the yard and eat the massive amounts of mosquitoes we have. It would be really fun watching them if the weather would cooperate which I think it will today. Sitting out in the damp cold probably isn't good for my condition...whatever this condition is.

My dog is healthy and on the nice days I would love to go for a walk with her but again the coughing thing is killing me. I go to the farm two days a week and I feel like death for the next day or two.

I am having trouble mustering up the positive outlook I had just two weeks ago but I know it will come back if I can just shake this respiratory thing.

Any ideas on natural remedies would be greatly appreciated as well as prayers.

When Life is Good Why Must I Get Sick

Where Does All the Snot Come From?

I started feeling bad on Thursday of last week. I was helping my mom clean and I thought my throat was on fire and it was hard to swallow with all the sinus drainage. My mom was preparing for my aunt and uncle who were coming from Florida.

The next day was worse but I went and worked on the farm despite the fiery throat and nasty snot. Again the next day worse but I went to plant a garden and my moms because the plants were started and it needed to be done before it rained again. Then I had to finish planting and go to a family function on Sunday but I did get to rest in the evening.
 I woke up Monday with more snot than a human should be able to produce with an inability to stop blowing my noes. I skipped farm work on Monday and made it up Tuesday because I felt better. Unfortunately working yesterday seems to have made today worse.

Today I don't plan to do any physical labor. I need to recover because I have to be back at the farm by Friday. I am working for food so it needs to be done. With my hubby laid off the only way I cam afford to make the switch to organic foods is to work for them. Once harvesting begins I will be earning a significant portion of our grocery bill so I must keep going.

Writing

I have such a wide variety of things going on in my life that I am finding it hard to give a good update here. I have a lot of little writing things going on and possibly some grant writing. I did a test article on Examiner.com about chickens(http://www.examiner.com/urban-farming-in-toledo/city-chickens-toledo-ohio-1) and I earned a bit of money. I believe it could generate a good side income if I were to work on more articles. I just have not found the time to work on it yet. That is not entirely true I have had time I just have not felt like a human most of the time. Either I push myself too much with the labor or I am sick and then there are just days where I can't seem to organize my time.

Chickens and Dogs

My dog has started to get used to the chickens and we let them out a lot more. They are getting big and they can't get out unless they fly out. Thus far they have not tried to fly up very high unless they are attempting to get back into their coop. Asuka, my German shepherd, has decided the chickens are less important than playing with her toys in the yard. We don't leave her out alone with the chickens but as long as we are out there she does great. Sometimes she can't seem to help chasing them but she has not tried to bite them in quite some time.

 Farm and Garden

Well as I said before I am working on the farm for food. I work two days a week and it takes me at least an hour and a half to travel there 2x a week. So it takes up a large portion of those days. I would like to work up to getting more hours in on those days but that will have to wait until I am feeling better.

I also have some plants on my porch and in my yard that need tending. I have a few nice boxes with salad greens, a tomato plant and and some onions and herbs on the porch. We have strawberries under the roses in the back and on the side of the house. This is the third year on the strawberries and they are looking great! We found a spot for two pablano pepper plants and a roma tomato plant outside as well.

Then there is the huge garden at my moms with carrots, three types of onions, two types of radishes, garlic, green beans, spinach, at least 5 types of peppers, 5 types of tomatoes, cucumbers and zucchini. With all the veggies we are growing and the ones I am getting from working I should be able to freeze and can some of it for the winter. I am really excited and hope that everything grows well.

Long Days

Busy Bee That's Me
Well I have to go get ready for an all day grant writing seminar today. I am excited to go but I am rather tired. We spent a large part of yesterday building a chicken coop with my hubby's grandpa. I felt like an idiot because I was not able to help much. I was able to hold stuff and hand them stuff but I failed miserably at the building part. I don't know how to use power tools that are not designed for the kitchen.

After the seminar I may have to go directly to my moms to work in the garden area. Friday is free at this point and I will have to use that time to work on my many writing assignments and catch up on my blogs and maybe some reading as well. I will also need to get some yard work done and I have chickens to care for.

I am just moving a lot lately and I have a bunch to write about but can't seem to find the right amount of time to sit and write. Hopefully since I am glued to the chair on Saturday I will come up with something and just edit it during the week.

Social Service Burn Out

Answering Phones and Providing Resources

I will be finished with my current job in about two weeks. I work from home a 12.5 hour shift answering calls from people with needs and connecting them with resources to meet those needs. The crisis calls are intense and they pushed me to putting in my notice about two months ago. I can see how people in social services get suffer from burn out. It is not just the crisis calls it is also the people who feel they deserve help and they want you to give it to them now.

I am probably the worst social worker on the planet because a large percentage of these callers were getting on my nerves. I am really good at keeping a pleasant voice while thinking "why don't you have a job" but some people want everything for free while my husband and I work to provide for their needs. Please don't get me wrong there are plenty of nice callers and plenty of people who just want a little help or have a really good reason for needing help.

I realize the job market in Toledo is beyond bad and there are a lot of people out of work. I am not talking about people who are trying in any way shape, fashion or form to improve their lives. I am talking about the caller that got evicted for non-payment of rent and couldn't get anyone to move him or her so they just left their stuff there and now they want free furniture. Not only do they want free furniture but they want it at 3am and they want it delivered.

I thought I had a high tolerance for this but in my opinion there are a lot of people out there that are in need and can't get help because they are not needy enough. The people who get the most help seem to be the ones who just want others to give things to them. I guess what I am saying is there is a huge flaw in the system and you can't help people avoid a crisis. Most of the help is not available until they loose almost everything.


Help People Help Themselves
I wish I had the business knowledge to start a program that was able to help people that wanted to help themselves. I am so sick of the just give it to me mentality I could just pull my hair out on some of these calls. I don't see why it is so hard to help someone who had an emergency car repair and now they can't pay their bills this month yet we can help someone who has not paid their bill in 3 months and now they are getting things shut off.

The government system perpetuates dependence on it and that really bothers me. I am not a particularly political person but I do believe that we as a people have become entirely to dependent on the governmental support. Just so your clear I don't just mean the people who receive food stamps, cash assistance and other common welfare services. I am talking about all the entitlement programs including Social Security and Medicare.

I don't have a solution for the problems but if the government can spend our tax dollars on what ever they want why are more people not fighting for the wise use of their money. I am really glad I don't have television because I would just be angry all the time. I am very good at budgeting and when needed we make sacrifices if the government is not willing to do that I don't believe we will keep our status as a great and powerful nation.

I went to church yesterday and the people who went to Haiti on a mission trip said over and over how much it impacted them. One of the recurring themes was how grateful these people were for such small things. Maybe people in the USA need to learn a lesson from the people in Haiti who truly are needy.

My stance on what a needy person is not a popular one in my given line of work or the current political climate. No one needs a land line and a cell phone and they really don't need a phone plan with all the bells and whistles. No one needs cable television (I don't have it) or even a television set for that matter but they really don't need the 250 package they are paying for while receiving food stamps and cash assistance. You don't need a boat or a new car or........well you see where I am going with this.

There are things you do need I am not going to argue that. There are wonderful people out there who live on the bare necessities and when they call and ask for help I think they should get it. I don't think we should be supporting people who are always going to live beyond their means. People who want someone else to pay their way and have no intentions of becoming self sufficient.

Okay I will get off my soap box now.