Buzzy Weekend!

It's Monday morning and I'm hustling to recover from a weekend away with Shelby in Pennsylvania. We were only away for three days, and Kaitlyn did a great job of taking care of the kids and keeping up on house chores. So, a little bit of laundry to catch up on and some other odds and ends, including a trip to the grocery, is all I need to get back in gear. The weekend was awesome, once we got past the suck traffic jam on I-70, which added three hours to our trip because everyone was detoured off of the highway (eastbound and westbound) around some sort of an accident. The source of our trip was a work event of Shelby's with Duquesne Light. We were able to help with a bulb giveaway at Home Depot on Saturday, which was a lot of fun and happened to coincide with some beautiful weather. Besides the event, we were able to visit  with the Duqquesne and surrounding Pa. ECOS teams for pizza, a cookout, and drinks - everyone was awesome :) We also were able to  have a little "shop talk" on to the future of the company and Shelby's potential, which was very satisfying and exciting, pacifying us a little bit while we sit in our limbo.  
On Sunday, Shelby and I drove to Seven Springs to attend the second day of the Mother Earth News Fair, which was amazing. Our favorite speakers were Wanda Urbanska (Simple Living) and James Zitting (Beekeeping), who were inspirational and very informational. We also enjoyed the abundance of vendors and informational stands that filled both the inside and outside of the resort. Although there was plenty that we would have liked to buy, we narrowed our purchases down to a spearmint plant, a lavender plant, and the book "Rural Renaissance" by John Ivanko and Lisa Kivirist. The fair was very well executed and so much fun, especially for the two of us on our quest to our new future. What we did realize over this trip is that we have a pretty good idea of what we want and basically how we want to do it. We are also seeing, especially through events like this, that we are part of a revolution that continues to grow and gain momentum. I've got to say thanks to The Unusually Unusual Farmchick again for giving us the opportunity to attend this spectacular event! Wish we would have been able to meet our benefactor...perhaps another day!

Farm Season

Now, where was I? Oh, right - I was on a rant about my neighbors...snapped a little... Since then, the guy next door (same apartment of said rant) drop kicked a kitten into the yard after fighting with his girlfriend. My boys happened to see the kitten hit the ground, or it may have been just after it hit the ground, twitching and dying. He did it in an angry moment, and he apologized to me and my wife, who upsettingly let him now how horrible his action was. The kids were upset, and so was Shelby. The police were called, but of course the neighbor fled before they got here and the sister's baby daddy refused to help - he is now (legally) banned from the apartment. The guy next door eventually came home, and he is in jail. Lesson: killing is killing, and death is death, animal or human, angry or not. The abandoned apartment next to theirs is squatter free, for the most part, except I know that people have been in there, to sleep or hang or whatever. Animal control will be in to gather the cats that are left there (neighbors gave a few of them a home), and hopefully the lock will be changed soon. Also, hopefully, the rest of the people in 2A will leave, also - eviction or otherwise. There is a point where you have to say "enough is enough", and this is it. The line is drawn...either they leave or we do. Either that apartment empties and I spend some time working to cleanup the mess others have left behind (because apparently people think it's ok to leave their trash, unwanted furniture, and nastiness behind when they flee), or we spend that time finding some temporary apartment to live in until other things get rolling. I was going to say "until fate kicks in", but maybe that's what this is. I don't want to move right now, but we will. I can't stand being uncomfortable in our own yard and being afraid to leave our windows open, especially with the beautiful fall weather is here. So that is where we are at. If nothing else, we have plans for the immediate future :)

Now for more positive stuff. I love this time of year! The weather is awesome and there are so many things to do that fit our family. We drove to Kidron, Ohio yesterday, at the crack of dawn, to visit Lehman's sale and festival and to drive through Amish country. We had the six of us packed into our van, enjoying the great weather and beautiful scenery of rural Wayne county. Totally worth the drive, and a great experience for everyone. If I can relate to any religion, it would be the Amish (and Native American, but that's a different story) - so in touch with nature and family. Very simple living and very kind, generous people. Today we are going to the Wool Gathering event at Young's Dairy, to learn about sheep and eat ice cream, of course! I think we will have at least one sheep on our farm, so that we can gather our own wool and make our own yarn. Sounds tedious, but winter can be long and we'll need something to do :) Next weekend is date weekend...well, really a work weekend for Shelby in Pittsburgh, but I'll be going along and Kait took off work to be with the kids, so...date weekend! AND I won tickets to the Mother Earth News Fair very near Pittsburgh, thanks to The Unusually Unusual Farmchick! There will be so many things for us to see and visit to get ready for our farm - we're both SO excited! This week we will narrow down the seminars we want to see, and make a plan for the weekend. I love these kinds of events that keep our dream of farm living alive. I get excited thinking about buying oil lamps, wood stoves, and farm tools. The idea of growing with our family on a farm that sustains us is such a fulfilling and exciting dream that I can't imagine how we went this long without it. I guess that part of the reason that these events are so rewarding is that we get to meet the people who are living our dream. Canning, farming, gardening, raising animals, sewing, some untethered from others' supply of electricity and/or water, and very happily doing so. From these people, along with the blogs, articles, and books that people write, I know that our dream will be a reality someday. That community is now part of our family because they are giving us knowledge, walking the walk, and helping us to get ready to live our dream.

Cora's many hats!

Trash

Unbelievable how some "parents" can behave and treat their kids. The neighbors next door have taken over the bottom floor, using an abandoned apartment across the hall from theirs as a boarding house/party room. There are any number of people staying there or hanging out with them, their sister, their sister's kid and baby daddy, the brother, random drunken strangers. This morning I got to hear them teach a two-year-old to say f@ck you...and it's not the first time that has happened. Feel free to join my 1901 Hazel fb page for more interesting info about the ghetto! Can't wait to get out of here! In the meantime, any ideas or contacts that might be able to resolve this situation will be greatly appreciated!

Hello from the Future

Dusk is approaching on our farm. Cool weather settles in on the clear evening, revealing a bright full moon and, already, the sparkle of many stars. I carry our coffee out onto the deck, where Shelby thanks me with a smile over her laptop. She finishes up her work as I tend to the fire in the pit, and settle into my chair. Blue runs around the yard, dodging chickens, and keeps Drake busy with the ball. Occasionally Drake stops to pick up something off the ground - his discoveries have not lessened since we moved here last year. Cora is tending to her garden and gives Rusty the attention he craves by petting his fat, feline belly. Gage sits under the apple tree, drawing the landscape of the land from his perspective, and Kaitlyn studies for her test by reading to Henrietta, one of our goats. Henrietta listens intently to Kait, making eye contact and occasionally bleating her comments. It's a strange relationship that has developed on the farm. Shelby closes her laptop, places it under her chair, and takes a sip of coffee. We look at each other and smile, as we soak in the cool evening, the smell of soil and plants, and the sounds of our kids and animals. We peck a kiss and admire where we are, grab marshmallows and call for the kids. Light from the fire illuminates the faces of our family, and the smell of toasted marshmallows fills the air. We finish round two of toasty treats, house the animals, and head inside. Showered and ready for bed, the kids say good night and head up the stairs to their rooms. Blue follows Cora into her room, where she'll stay until sometime in the middle of the night, when she makes her security rounds through the house. Shelby and I get our things in order for the morning, give the kids hugs and kisses goodnight, and sit back outside. The sounds of the night are music to our ears: the crackling of the fire, crickets and toads chirping and croaking, the breeze through the trees, and even the coyotes off in the distance. Our talks now include things that we want to add to our lives, canning days, Shelby's program, and my school work. We still plan for the future, but now those plans are more immediate and exist to enhance the life we have here. We made it. We're here, and it feels so right - the past seems so far away. We put out the fire, turn out the lights, and settle into bed, dreaming of new adventures in this place that destiny so perfectly picked for us.

I believe we'll have this weekend to relax and chill. The weather calls for rain later today, hopefully, because the plants need it desperately. Shelby is still feeling bad after a week of this bronchial infection, even with the meds that we got from urgent care last Sunday. Besides the cough, sore throat, exhaustion, and occasional fever, her back ache and sciatic nerve issues have gotten worse. We have a doctor's appointment set up for Tuesday, so hopefully we can get things squared away.

Work-wise, it looks like gears may be turning at Ecos, which will hopefully bring about some changes for us. I feel like a broken record with the "hope something happens soon", and "waiting, waiting, waiting"...but our next steps are so hinged on making home in that new place, away from this apartment and hopefully Dayton. I have ideas in my head about ideal locations for home, but it's really all about the hand of fate. And, as far as locations go, I only know what I know. I'm sure there are some awesome places out there that we just haven't seen or experienced. Destiny is a very narrow road at the moment, very different from when we moved to Florida in 2006. Shelby was looking for a job, and I was preparing to quit mine to become a full-time student. Any place was fair game. We picked the area that we wanted to live in. But ultimately, we ended up in Tampa Bay, which was south of our dream zone. It was an awesome relocation! So, what does it all mean? There's a road that's paved for us, and although we're not afraid to clear our own path, life seems to have us where it wants us, and has given us enough hope that it will lead us to bigger and better things on this road. So we wait, we clean, we prepare for that time when life gives us the opportunity to grow, to farm, to teach, to make a future. In the meantime, the house is getting in shape, the "honey do" list is getting shorter, and we're getting all of our ducks in a row. We're chugging along, making the best of our time here and dreaming a lot of dreams.

Back on Track

Well, I am sitting in the lobby of the dentist office waiting for Shelby to get her teeth filled/refilled by our amazing friends at the Dayton Dental Collaborative. This will wrap up visits from me, Gage, Drake, Cora, Kait, and now Shelby...yay! This office is awesome and has made every experience very pleasant – SO glad we found them :) Anyway, I figure it is a good time to catch up after a brief time away from my blog. School has started for the kids. Today they are ending their second week and I've got to say that they've been doing very well getting up and going in the mornings, and doing their homework at night. So far, so great. Kait starts back to Wright State after Labor Day, and the fall routine will fully kick in at our household. Looking backward, we had an incredible week-long working vacation a few weeks ago in Philadelphia. The kids and I tagged along with Shelby to do many, many store visits, and we somehow managed to fit in visits to Hershey World, Historic Philadelphia, New York City, Atlantic City, and Crate & Barrel! A wonderful last minute vaca for the summer :) Since then, we've been working on getting the house in order (and getting ready for school). Our biggest accomplishment: the kids' room. Twelve hours last Saturday, several hours on Sunday, and tack on the laundry of stripped beds and found dirty clothes! The Goodwill boxes are still waiting in the van for their trip, but the laundry is caught up and beds are remade. The living room will be the task of this weekend, though it should go much smoother and quicker!

As far as life goes: Adam (Shelby's boss) had his interview in Portland on Tuesday, so we're waiting on word from that, and the resulting movement created by the outcome. Shelby had a meeting at DP&L yesterday, and may be getting office space there to spend a day each week to work. The apartment building is the same, about. Paul and Crazy Beautiful are leaving 4D after an eviction; Shawn/Sean(?) and Shannon are in the middle of a bad relationship, which is effecting their kids; Midnight is staying at David's apartment(?) while David and Chelsea are working from his sister's house (fishy); Perry is home for a couple weeks; and we're FB friends with our neighbor in building one, who happens to have been one of Tiff's friends :) I'm losing faith in the building, but will continue to do my part to try and keep it nice, AFTER making our apartment nice (priority). We want the sanctuary that we need, and want to be prepared for the winter. If nothing else transpires, our plan is to move at the end of the school year...some way, somehow. I believe that I will not offer to show any apartments unless they are in showable shape – fix-me-up offers brings in the less desirable crowd, for the most part, and repairs do not get done properly anyways, which continues the ghetto. Whatever. Either the people who own the place fix it up, or the ghetto will get too bad to do anything about. One example: our door frame is shifting daily so that the doorknob and deadbolt lose alignment, which can't be a good sign!

On a more positive note, we were able to get a new car on Shelby's credit! Our new red Yaris is awesome, and I can't wait to road trip in it when Shelby and I go to Pittsburgh later this month (weekend work trip). So, 1) New Car! and 2)Better Credit towards our dream of getting our farm :) We are giving Kait the Accord, if the repairs don't outweigh the value of the car. The Accord (brown car) is at Muffler Brother's awaiting its destiny. So there's that.

It is definitely fall, and we've shifted our expectations to remain here for the remainder of the school year, unless something happens to change that. I still have expectations and that feeling that we're on the brink of something, on the doorstep of our next chapter, feeling the breath of destiny on our necks. But we're placing our expectations to June, and our preparations to now, just in case :) The house is getting back on track and downsized, our family affairs are getting in order, and I will focus on more educator training after that. We are working on credit, finances, and savings. We have also declared North Carolina as our dream state, if we find out in the end that we need to take matters into our own hands, with Tennessee and Florida following closely. This makes waiting easier to bear :) I believe I'm mostly up to date now, although I'm sure I've left out something(s). But I should be back on track :) Until next time...

Hershey World!

Shelby and I at the Liberty Bell

Historic Philly

Central Park

Times Square

Atlantic City - Taj Mahal

Our new Ruby

First Day of School