Soakin' in the Sunshine

I should maybe re-title this soaked by the sunshine. This past weekend Daniel and I went to his family farm to help out, which is the closest thing you'll have on most farms to a Father's Day celebration in late June. In the afternoon Daniel and I raked and bailed hay. I got the job of raking in an open air tractor, thus meaning the amount of air conditioning was determined by how quickly I drove against the wind. It actually wasn't all that bad, but somehow my clothes were stuck to my body like a leather jumpsuit. Daniel showed me the ropes the first couple times around and I had moments of roller coaster like screaming. Those pesky hills seem huge even if we were only going 10 mph. I got the hang of things pretty quickly except that while trying to not re-rake some hay I got too close to a brush area and hit the outside rake wheel on a tree. It bent the frame holding the wheel a little and as a result the wheel wasn't spinning like it should. Luckily Daniel and I switched it with the back wheels and things were good to go. Lynn (Daniel's dad) said it was no big deal...I just had to heat it and beat it back into shape the next time I came...I considered the day a success because we helped accomplish something, my pores were fully purified, I'm on a hydration kick (it's amazing how far I'm from getting the recommended amount of water/day), and I didn't get sunburned.

In other news, our women's church league softball team is 2-0. Our first win came by default of another team's forfeit, which left me wondering how good we actually would be, but last night we rallied to win 5-4. I had a great time and forgot how much fun it is to play on a team, especially a team who is humbled by the passing of time since playing in high school, but still puts together some respectable fielding and needed hitting.

Dipstick is into chasing his (we're 90% positive it's a he) tail. I guess when something is the opposite color from the rest of your body it only seems natural to not realize it's yours. He is becoming very playful and loves to jump and tackle things. Don't worry, Dipstick is still able to find plenty of time to sleep.

Finally, am I the only one who can't believe next Sunday is the 4th of July?!?! Seriously, it doesn't seem possible that almost a year ago I was about to get married. I still distinctly remember last year's 4th since it marked the one week to go point and I assure you that memory is too fresh to be essentially a year old. Point being, I'm fascinated with the passing of time right now, something I imagine only increases with age, and I need to get on my teaching and scrapbooking projects before I find myself wondering how it's already August!!!

Dipstick

Last week Daniel and I made an addition to our family. The story is as follows...

A delightful thunderstorm was rolling through as Daniel was leaving for work. I say delightful because I knew that the dark sky and rumbles of thunder would make it easy to sleep in. Little did I know how much a little meow could disrupt this. I heard something outside my window, but I thought it was just a bird, but after a little while I knew it had to be a cat. "No big deal," I thought, "the cat will move along if I ignore it." Didn't happen. Finally I knew there would be no sleeping in and I ventured to see what was out there. I was expecting a cat, but what I found was a little fluff ball that was getting rained on. I tell you God made no mistakes when giving animals survival skills. I couldn't help but bring it in. I gave it a little milk and thought about what to do with it (keep in mind this was after I called my parents to see what to do.) I was completely ready to give the kitten to the animal shelter if need be and there was a momma cat running around outside our house. Either option seemed smart, but an unfortunate/fortunate attachment had formed on my part. So I told Daniel that if after leaving the kitten outside the whole night and the mom hadn't claimed it we could keep the kitten. Daniel thought about it as we watched the kitten through an open window. Suddenly the kitten was halfway inside the window after it had climbed the brick on the side of our house and jumped through the window. This was the only convincing Daniel needed to agree that the kitten was worth keeping. Well the kitten was still here in the morning...

So we became the proud parents of a wall climbing, cute kitten. Still, this cute kitten had fleas and since most flea medicines can't be used on cats under 12 weeks, Dawn, which kills fleas immediately, is the best alternative. I didn't know that fleas took blood from their victim, but apparently anemia to the point of death is a leading cause of death for kittens. Let's see if you can do a problem solution scenario...Fleas, possible anemia, no flea medicine (problem), solution? You guessed it, a bath with Dawn soap. Daniel was great enough to wear tube socks (so his arms didn't get scratched) and help me bath the kitten in the kitchen sink. Keeping a cat in suds for 5 minutes is not for the faint of heart and it's true that there's nothing sadder than a wet cat.

Prior to the bath, Daniel had been insistent that the kitten be named Dipstick because of the tail coloring (see picture). I tried to come up with an alternative, but it seemed to be a losing battle, and after I considered Daniel's willingness to give the kitten a bath, it seemed as though there was no choice, so Dipstick it is. Once dried and flea free, Dipstick is a fluffy kitten and an enjoyable companion. We are still working on whether it's a boy or girl, but all in good time.

Dipstick made a trip to Hutchinson this past weekend as Daniel and I traveled there for a wedding. My parents got to be kitten sitters for a while and I'm concerned/excited to see what they will be like when we bring a human baby. My dad has Dipstick as the photo background for his phone, and when talking to my mom on the phone yesterday, she asked me how Dipstick was doing before showing the slightest concern for my well being. It seems as though they are the proud grandparents of a kitten.

Productive(ish)

Well after a total disaster as far as productivity yesterday, I vowed to use my time better today. While I enjoyed my naps and book reading I knew that I was just avoiding tasks that weren't as easy to start. Unfortunately or fortunately, avoiding my to-do list only makes me feel worse. The challenge is to take the blah feeling I get from avoiding and being lazy and translate it into action. So today has been full of small steps. I haven't completely whipped myself into shape, but I have done the laundry, unpacked from our long weekend, cleaned the kitchen, and mopped the kitchen floors. It makes me feel so good to be a good steward to my time. So here's the question of the day, why do I, and I'm guessing a few others out there, resist doing things that have intrinsic and extrinsic benefits (exercising, tackling a to do list, etc.)?

In other news....

1. Daniel and I got to enjoy our family and friends this weekend. I saw some Kappas at a wedding in the KC area. I love the opportunities life is presenting right now, but man oh man I miss being around the people who I had an established college career with. There's vitality and realness I experience when I catch up with those who were part of my K-State and Kappa story. We experienced some of life's most exciting times together and opened ourselves up to each other when we were little more than strangers and ended up finding a genuine friendship. I know I will make friends throughout my life, but the bond I have with my friends from K-State is very strong and I feel a sadness when I realize weddings and occasional phone calls have replaced day to day interactions. For everything there is a season and I'm grateful for wedding season!

2. Caroline made is safely to Indonesia. It's a little crazy that's she's thousands of miles away for two months, but I'm so proud of her. It takes confidence in a vision to set off on a trek to a new culture and country to share life with strangers.

3. I'm not meant to be a rodeo clown. While working cattle this weekend a little stampede occurred. Two bulls started fighting in the pen we had corralled the cows into. When one of them got beat he decided to move along at a forceful pace. This caused all the other cows in front of him to do the same. When I heard Lynn, Daniel's dad, yelling I thought he wanted us to move with the cows closer to where we would load them. No, no he wanted us to get out of the way. I have an odd tendency to have a deer in the headlights look when I see large animals coming my way (this oddly means I have been in enough situations to pick up on this tendency). Luckily Daniel yelled at me to jump on the fence and I listened thus avoiding being knocked down by very large and very fast moving cattle. I only have a couple bruises on my shins to show for my life saving jump to the fence. Better than the broken body that would have been the result had I not gotten out of the way. Moral of the story, appreciate the beef you eat because working and herding cattle is not an easy job.

4. I am in the process of reviewing textbooks for my class next year. Below are the two different samples I got. If I had to choose just on packaging the job would be done, but I should probably look through the books. I'll let you know which one I choose.