Well, it has been a while since my whining about the crappy weather on vacation last week and guess no one had an opinion on the CSAs :-)

We ended up coming home on Saturday. It rained on and off the entire way so I know we made the right decision. I was so glad that it wasn't sunny the whole way because I would have been upset that we left early. I am one of those people who always wants the weather to be perfect on vacation so I was already a little upset. It ended up working out though because when we got home the yard was yellow and orange and at least a million leaves were on the ground. We did yardwork for hours on Sunday and we never would have gotten it all done during the week because we have had some rain. I also started my compost pile out in the garden. It is far from the house so I don't have to worry about it smelling or anything and I just keep the stuff in a bag while I cook or if I eat an apple that day and then Craig takes it out in the yard at night. Not sure how it will all go but since we had a million leaves and the dirt in the garden isn't the best, we are trying it.

Other than that and work (where I am back to doing the part of my job that I hate and have to do once a quarter) I have been filling some of the orders from the festivals my mom and I did a few weeks ago. We did really well with our stuff and now that I am caught up on all my orders (well, almost, I need to make 6 more dresses) I am going to try to get ahead for next year. We had a lot of fun doing them so I think that we will try again next year. Dudley is coming to visit this weekend so I have some cleaning to do today (actually, it is just my weekly cleaning that I do on Sunday but since she will be here before then, I need to do it early).

Not too much exciting going on....

CSAs

Ok, I know, two posts in a matter of hours but if you read the last post you will understand.

The other night when the weather was crappy we watched Food 101. It is sort of a documentary about the food industry...it is partly done by the guy who wrote Fast Food Nation and partly by the guy who wrote In Defense of Food (which I posted about a while back here). It talks about how poorly they treat the animals and workers in the large farms for cattle, chickens, and hogs. It also talks about what big companies do to small individuals. It really made me sick. Even though I read those two books, seeing it on screen made it so much more real. You guys know that I have been trying for quite some time to cut out the processed food and eat healthier. This movie just reconfirmed all of that for me. So, all that to say that I am going to sign up for a CSA in the spring for us. I know it can be a bit of a pain to go and pick up our food and stuff but I do spend a large part of our food budget on fresh items so I think that it would actually benefit us...plus, we can eat what is in season and I can learn to make new things with veggies that we don't currently eat (or puree like Rebecca). I really enjoyed having a garden this summer and I think that I would love getting more fresh produce.

So, I found this website (I encourage you guys to check it out because you can search anywhere in the country) and have narrowed it down to two of them. I need a little help deciding. Craig will not entertain my craziness because he says I have 6 months to figure it out....which is true, but since I am stuck in a hotel now, I thought I would get suggestions from you guys.

Spring Run Farm and CSA:
Pros:
--you have to work 12 hrs throughout the season and will meet other people.
--there is a lunch after every working day and an end of season party.
--$300 for 20 weeks
--Close to us

Cons:
--You have to work so if I got busy (hopefully with photography) then it would be tough to get it all in.
--It only goes June-Oct
--no meat at this farm


Mulberry Farm CSA:
Pros:
-- June-Feb so only a few months we won't get stuff.
--you can get your own garden there for a nominal price (which is a good way to meet other people who have them there next to you because no one can work alone). Plus it will probably be full sun and my one at home is not so I could grow more stuff.
--You can work on the farm and then earn discounts in the future (and meet people).
--you can also get meat (though not beef and it is REALLY pricey, there is a local grocery store that only sells the free range chicken and it is cheaper).
--you can give back what you don't want
--you can get eggs

Cons:
--$250 for every other week or $500 for every week...more pricey but longer.
--further from home and pick up might be tougher
--no required work so you might not meet people.

I guess that the thing that appealed to me the most with the first one is that I might be able to meet people, do you guys have any opinions?

Weather

sucks here....ugh. It is about 34 degrees and about 30mph winds with pouring rain that blows sideways. YUCK. Yesterday when we looked up the weather it looked like it would be ok until about 4pm today so we were hoping to get a lot in before then but when we woke up it was already really windy and raining. We contemplated going home but couldn't cancel our hotel room which was about $200 so we decided that maybe it would move out early since it moved in early. So far, no such luck. Then to top it off we had a "weekend getaway" package at our hotel that was a $50 gift certificate to a local restaurant, a one hour bike rental and a lb of fudge. We obviously can't use the bike rental and the local restaurant is already closed for the season....so we got refunded $50 which might have been enough for me to say for us to just go home, had I known. I think that we are going to cut the trip short and go home tomorrow anyway. It is supposed to rain at our next destination and I was out of town for almost two weeks before being home for 12 hours and then leaving for vacation.

Don't get me wrong, I still love spending time with Craig but sitting in a hotel room all day with him is like trying to keep a golden retreiver in a crate the size of a shoebox...it just doesn't work. He likes to be out and about so it sort of puts a downer on things...plus, most of the places we have been close early and it got dark aroudn 5:30 so we were in the hotels for most of the evening anyway...we don't need to be there during the day too.

I guess I shouldn't complain too much, we normally have great luck with weather on vacation (other than being cold when we pick a place that is supposed to be cold to go to) but this cold front that is moving all over the country hit here too. It hasn't been this cold this week since the early 80s....what are the chances? It is probably worse because we are on an island (which involved a ferry that was like a speedboat and where the guy on the end of our row and a girl across the aisle seemed to not enjoy. The girl across the aisle had a bag ready and I was nervous because I didn't know what the chain reaction might be. We had 5-8ft waves but we weren't rocking side to side. I was really nervous and complained a bit and then felt bad about it.) Tomorrow there is a half marathon here and I can't imagine that many people will actually make it out for it....They are crazy if they do.

Oh, and the other thing that sucked about this trip was that my camera crashed to the ground in the Packers Hall of Fame when my strap came undone and now it will not turn off and I can't get it out of Apeture mode...that means I can't use it in my studio anymore (without getting into the technical aspects of it...it will not acknowledge the studio lights). That sucks, it was my backup camera and I just bought it a couple months ago for a bit of a hefty price tag....GRRRR. I do have insurance for my photography business and it should cover my equipment no matter where I am but I have read about photographers having problems actually get payments from insurance companies...not that I am surprised. We will see.

Ok, end of pity party....I am going to go crochet while Craig naps....very exciting!!

Wisconsin

I have a few minutes while Craig is doing gosh knows what so I thought I would catch everyone up on our trip.

Friday - We got to Milwaukee around 9:30pm and then met up with some of Craig's childhood friends who now own a pizza place there. It was sort of fun to know the owners and the place was pretty cool. They had a photographer there who photographed a lot of famous people in the 60's and it was sort of funny to meet him (he had on elf shoes...like not as a joke) and hear him talk about doing cocaine with some of the people he had photographed. I also met the one friend of Craig's for the first time, his wife, and Craig's other friend's girlfriend. They were all so nice and I wish that they lived in Dayton because they are the type of people who would actually invite me to hang out and stuff. It was a really long night though...we were on our feet from about 10pm until 3am...whew...I am not that young anymore!! Good times though.

Saturday - we went to the Milwaukee Museum of Art and took pictures...it is an awesome building and then we went back to the pizza place to actually eat. OMG, it was SO GOOD!!! I wish they had one in Dayton. They use ingredients from a local farm and have an awesome chef and it was so tasty. After that we went to the Harley Davidson Museum and then made our way up to Green Bay.

Sunday - PACKERS. We went to the game and Craig was seriously like a kid in a candy store. He doesn't get excited about much it seems, but boy was he excited about this. It was so cute.... It was also like nothing I have seen for pro football. I mean the falcons, seriously?? This was like a UGA tailgate....serious tailgating!! It was so cool. The stadium was PACKED even though they were playing one of the worst teams in the league (Lions) and our seats were awesome! When we originally got the tickets I was excited because I thought I would get to see Stafford play and even though I wanted the Packers to win, it would have been good to see Stafford do well. No such luck...he was hurt :-( He was dressed so I thought that there was a chance but then he was limping to and from the locker room and didn't get to play :-( I did watch him a bit on the sidelines and he just looked sad....especially after the second string QB got hurt and they had to put in the third string....

Monday - We went to do the Lambeau Field Tour and go to the Packers Hall of Fame. It was cool to learn all about the field and Craig loved it. We even got to go on the field and take pictures. Fun stuff and the funny thing that on our tour were two guys who were actually fans of other teams but just wanted to see the Packers stadium because the team is such a different team from other NFL teams (I mean Green Bay has a population of 102K and their stadium holds 71k.......) After that we drove up to Door County. Craig has talked a lot about Door County and how it is very much like New England...I have to agree. The leaves here are BEAUTIFUL. It is hard to capture it on camera cause I suck at it but they are just gorgeous and it is fun to ride around and just look at them.

Tuesday - More driving around Door County, seeing lighthouses, windy roads, and other things (like get some freshly picked HoneyCrisp Apples...YUM!!! (Drena, tell Adam he was right!)) We even went to a fish boil tonight...they put all this stuff in a pot and boil it and then at the end they make it boil over so all the fish oil and water go out...when they do it though there is a huge fire ball. It was awesome! I will write more about that when I have the pictures.

Tomorrow we might go and pick our own apples, hit up a winery or something.......it is supposed to rain tomorrow so that will determine what we do. It is very relaxing here. We are toward the end of the season so things are starting to close up. I could seriously retire here...the season is just May-Oct and then everyone closes up for the winter. I think that it would be awesome to own a little bed and breakfast (there are no large hotels here...20-30 room is huge here)......

I miss all the blogs but will catch up later.

facts

In an effort to not be negative, I am just going to state the facts of today. You can draw your own conclusions.
1. My car is not done being repaired and will not be until after tomorrow.
2. We leave for vacation tomorrow at 3 and were supposed to drive my car.
3. We now have to spend $300 to rent a car.
4. I got frustrated with Craig due to #3. I know it is beyond his control technically but he was being a pain about the type of car we would rent. 5. My flight is delayed by an hour and a half.
6. If the rental car places closes before my luggage arrives at baggage claim (and my plane) I have no way home and no car for our trip.
7. I still have 3 sessions to edit and to pack before I leave tomorrow.
8. I just had a corona and feel better.


Really #s 1-3 are what put me in a not so great mood, the rest is just icing on the cake. I just wanted to share!

Craftiness

This weekend my mom, sister, and I did a craft fair in Gainesville. It was actually a lot of fun to do and we did pretty well at it. Actually toward the end we were running out of hats and stuff so that was good. I had a great time hanging out with my mom, niece, sister and brother-in-law. Ariyana definitely wore me out!! We are doing another one in two weeks to I guess I better get to crafting....

Other than that, it is back to the grindstone for me today. Lots to do and not enough time to do it in...I feel like that is my life lately. It is good to be busy but I am looking forward to Friday when Craig and I leave for vacation.....I am hoping to get to a really good place today at work and then to have a nice break next week before the worst month of the year for me will start.

For those of you on FB...sorry about the outburst yesterday on there...I was just really pissed. I am not dwelling on it anymore and have learned that some people are just the way they are and they don't care and aren't going to change. Life goes on and I have enough wonderful people in my life that I am not going to worry about it.

Loser

Yeah, so I THOUGHT I was getting close to my 500th post until I realized that I have a bunch that are just drafts and if you really look at the published posts then I only have about 474 or so...that sucks. So, even though I posted that the last one was 499, it really wasn't. I am sort of glad because I had a cool contest to do for my 500th post but I just haven't been able to get it together yet so I have avoided posting at all. Now I can post and THEN get my contest together. I am sure that no one is really paying that close of attention but I feel like I started talking about the 500th post like 20 posts ago and for that I am a loser.

So, couple things from the weekend. I felt loved and then dissed on Saturday. First the love came when not one, but two people called me from Athens to tell me that it was just weird without me being there...grant it, both of these people might have been intoxicated but it was still a nice feeling to feel like I was missed.

Then the diss...she didn't do it on purpose but I totally got stood up. You remember the girl that I had drink with a while back...the DG. Well, Saturday was her birthday and we have tried a couple more times to have drinks but she is in school and I am out of town A LOT so we just never can get together. She sent me a text that morning that she was going to celebrate at a local bar on Saturday night. I am not normally the type to just show up at bars alone but since I have 0 friends (and was missing my Atlanta ones even more after the calls (but thanks :-) it was worth it) I decided I would go. The only catch was that we had a soccer game that night in Columbus so I wouldn't be back until 11pm. I texted her back and she said they would be out late (and she is only 24 so that actually means late, and not home by midnight). Well, when we got back Craig was in a foul mood so I was just ready to go and I didn't check with her first. Got to the bar and couldn't find her. Went to another bar nearby, couldn't find her there either. It was all kind of weird because I didn't know why she would invite me if she didn't want me to come (and she had texted me several times that day with "go bulldogs" and "do you want to know the score" and stuff). I tried calling her and texting her but nothing. I considered having a beer alone but then I remembered that it was late (midnight by now), I already had a boyfriend and I already had beer in the fridge at home and the second half of the UGA game to watch. So I left. I went home, grabbed a beer, was a little sad I didn't get to meet anyone new and watch the CRAPPIEST refs ever...I mean the UGA game. The next morning I got a text from her saying "so sorry, I was really drunk and have no idea when we left" Ah, to be 24 again :-) The good news is that at least she makes an effort, is super nice, and I had a good time with her the one time we hung out...maybe I will make a friend yet.

Other than that, we had a pretty eventful Saturday...we removed two couches and a chair and lots of really hideous sweaters that Craig had...I believe one even had sparkles....it was scary and I wish I had taken a picture of them before we gave them away. It was sweet though because he was making me closet space (plus he literally hasn't worn those sweaters in two decades...). We took a bunch of stuff to Goodwill (and I had to rent a truck since we had the couches) and then we had to take the rest to the dump, after that it was football, then soccer, and then my uneventful night out. We mostly had all my stuff moved in....good thing cause Dudley is going to come and visit in a few weeks :-) She will be up there for Halloween and the Florida game. It will be nice to see her a little more relaxed! I had dinner with her a couple weeks ago and she has finally realized that she doesn't need 110 in every class..it is a much more fun Jenn and I told her so :-) We have a friendship like that..more like sisters...where you annoy each other sometimes and don't want to be around each other but then you forget and no matter what, you would do anything for the other.

Craig and I are going on vacation in two weeks and I am excited just to get to spend some nonstressful time with him. We are doing the Wisconsin trip and going to where he grew up, to see a friend of his, to a Packers game and other assorted fun. We are going to drive so no flight drama :-)

Other than that..not much else. Work has been busy but that is good, just frustrating sometimes and I have been a bit sick. Not sure what it is but probably all the darn germs on planes and since I can't seem to stay off of one for more than a week, it just keeps getting me sick. Vitamin C is back in the routine! I am really ready to be home for an extended period of time but don't see that happening anytime soon...that sucks.

Long post...that is what happens when I am restricted!!

499 and Insurance Commercial

This is my last post before my big 500! I have a plan for what I want to do for it but since I think that I am sick again, it will probably be this weekend. Ugh, I hate being sick. I think that it is just a little cold that I probably caught from Craig when he was sick last week so hopefully it is over soon. I feel like poo and don't want to be sick...I was just sick 6 weeks ago...I really need to get back on the vitamin C. I also had a flu shot last week so I hope that I am not getting the flu ( you know how sometimes you can get it and I have been run down lately so my immune system is probably down).

So, I feel like I am in that insurance commercial where the wife backs into the husband's car. This morning while I was getting ready to take my cold medicine I hear a tap on the sliding glass door and go to see Craig standing there where he told me that he backed into my car. He has been backing out of that garage for 11 years and has only had my car sitting there for the last 6 months so he just forgot. He says that once a week he has to slam on the brakes...this time he didn't do it. It messed up his bumper a bit and dented in my door and the panel right behind it and took some paint off both of our cars. He felt so bad and was so upset with himself. I didn't really get mad. I was more upset that he was so mad at himself than I was that the car was messed up. Accidents happen so I didn't want him to feel too bad about it. We can fix the cars...they both still run and no one was hurt. Not sure we will turn it into insurance.....any advice?

It has been a rough couple days for us....last night I washed the mattress pad for our guest bed and I didn't know that they dryer was on high heat (I never use that except towels and Craig had just washed towels two loads ago) and it sort of melted the mattress pad...which then ruined some of his clothes that he put in afterward.

At least I am finally moved out of my apartment, and now I just have to find somewhere to put all the stuff here. That will be fun I am sure. It is that 80/20 rule....80% of my stuff is put away (guest bedroom, living room furniture, and craft room) but 20% of it still needs a home and we are out of room for extra stuff. There are a lot of things that I think that I will take back to my condo in Atlanta but we just need to find a place for those for now. This is when I wish that I just moved into here first and didn't have all the back and forth but oh well.

In other news, I am going to look at a space this weekend that I hope will house my photography business here in Dayton....very exciting!!