Milestones

In a few short days, my second child will graduate and I will have completed that difficult first year in my new job.  For some reason, I think I am more aware of this graduation being a milestone than I was for my first child - I think I was as relieved as she was that she was getting out of the school she complained relentlessly about for the two years she was there (in spite of nearly all of her friends being from this school 2 years later).  Maybe it is because this is the halfway point as far as graduating kids goes - next year, I will only have two kids at home. 

School breaks mean time to switch hats, to put on the farmer hat.  I do have an actual farmer hat - it's a straw hat with a string and a little bead you can push up and down to keep it on - but I'm, of course, talking more metaphorically.  I have to stop thinking about assessments and learning goals and what to do for that kid who is lagging behind, and start thinking about garden plans, hoof trimming schedules, weeding, talking my husband into busting out the tractor to make me a BIGGER garden, you know - stuff like that. 

This summer is complicated by the fact that half of June will be spent on Professional Development stuff and the fact that I need to do a lot of curriculum work to prepare for next year - more than usual, but I am game to get back into things. 

Chicken notes:  I started throwing the little darlings a little more crumble and they rewarded me with a few more eggs - or at least laying them where I can find them.  We are back to the first remote nest (under the cat door to the basement - baffles me) and there were several eggs there yesterday.  I have been selling most of my eggs, so it was nice to have a two eggs for my breakfast this morning.   Judging by how much time they spend out in the pasture and the forest, I am sure there are more eggs to be found - but it's a big pasture and a complicated tangled forest.  I guess the pigs will get those eggs before I find them.