To-Do List Update

It's been an exciting last several weeks, with lots of fun stuff and some not-so-great stuff.

Two weeks ago, Arlo and I had our first day working at the CSA. We worked off 8 of our 25 hours, planting onions and weeding. The farm was really neat, and Laura, who runs it, showed us around and gave us an idea of the fruits and veggies we can expect this summer. It was a nice day, complete with a stop at a local cheese place for about 16 samples of cheese and fresh icecream. I think Arlo jmay go up more often now that he knows that the cheese stop is on the way. That night we saw a play with his father. It was very good, but also sad, because Arlo's grandfather is slowly fading right now, and the play was about a grown son and his dying father. The next day, Arlo went down to Racine to visit and I stayed here to work on our yard and work on the cat feeder. It was an extremely productive and busy day, and at the end, I had half of a front yard finished, a small vegetable garden in the backyard, and one semi-finished cat feeder. Throughout the week, I worked on it so that it would be finished in time to be able use it for this last weekend. Why? Because Arlo and I were going to be staying in a cabin near LaCresent, Wisconsin, where his sister lives.

This past weekend was so much fun! I got out of work as early as possible on Friday, and we headed West. It took about 3 1/2 hours to get there, and we made it just in time to unpack and meet his sister, Sally, and her boyfriend, Jamie, for a fish fry. Awesome fish fry!!! All of it was fantastic, and I found out that fish dipped in butter, while incredibly unhealthy, is freaking deliciously amazing. After dinner, Arlo and I headed back to the cabin. We hung out playing games and drinking and went to bed in the loft. The next day we took a great hike/walk around the nature preserve and relaxed before the craziness would begin. At around 1:30, it struck in the form of Sally, Jamie, and their kids Garrick, Nolan, and Lauren. We ate, played baseball in the field, looked for frogs, got into lots of mischief, and had a couple of melt-downs (mostly the kids). Arlo's mom and Mary came as well, and we went on a tour of a Norwegian homestead circa 1890. After that, dinner at the cabin and a fire! The kids made it to about 9:00 and then the grown-ups stayed around the fire for another several hours. It was really nice. The next day, breakfast, crazing packing and Arlo and I were left, alone, again. We stayed for a bit longer, then headed to visit his mom and Mary for Mother's Day on the way back to our place. Arlo felt sick, so it's wasn't a fun drive for him. I was pretty miserable about having to start work the next day. Other than that, I think we were both happy about the weekend.

Now it's back to the work week, although the weekend's just around the corner. Unfortunately, the cat feeder isn't complete, as I found out pretty quickly that they can still sneak food out by sticking their paws up the auger. So, I've decided, though this cuts back on cost efficiency of getting the one feeder, to build a box to go around the entire thing. Of course, they'll still try to get food, I'm just hoping that this way they'll be less successful.

We still have much to look forward to the next few weeks. We will be working at the CSA more, coming to Baltimore for a visit the weekend of June 5, going canoing with his mom and Mary in July (I think), Winnipeg Folk Festival (Yes, Kevin, of course there has to be a music festival), and Summerfest (the biggest music festival in the U.S., it's several weeks long and held each year in Milwaukee) in July as well (Yes, Kevin, another music festival).

Can't wait to see you all in June!!! Can't wait to have a couple of days off of work!!! Can't wait to have some warmer weather!!!!

Peace out, y'all!