Apologies to All

Posted on June 14, 2011 by wagfarms

I am apologizing to all of you. I’ve spent the last week, wanting to post, but not knowing how to go about it. I’ve had a lot of things going on in my life. And I was feeling overwhelmed, stressed, frustrated and everything else in between.

I didn’t want to write about it, but knew that whatever I DID write, my feelings would taint it, and it would not be the light-hearted, tongue-in-cheek type of posts that I like to write. So I wrote nothing. And I shouldn’t have taken that route.

I’m trying to make changes in my life. I’m trying to better myself. I’m trying to do things that will improve the future for my children and, hopefully, in some small way, will improve the future of agriculture as a whole.

I’m trying, but…well, let’s just say that it’s become a lot more difficult than I anticipated.

But, it’s time for me to shake it off, and get back to my grand plan and get to work. Just minus some of the support I was expecting. In my life, though, I’ve come to expect the unexpected. Nothing goes as planned, and that’s what makes life interesting.

Well, thank you for still being here, and thank you for still reading. I promise, no more of this fuddy-duddy stuff. It’s time for some serious writing, some serious laughing and some serious living.

Hope you’re ready for it! 🙂

It’s All in the Name

Posted on June 6, 2011 by wagfarms

I spent the weekend helping out my Mom and Dad do a few projects around their house…like replacing a hot water heater. It was tons of fun…really.

Actually, I don’t mind helping them one bit. They’ve always done so much for us and since I was always the one physically closest to them, I’ve been part of many projects. Like replacing a porch floor, repainting the entry way, residing part of the house…little things like that.

I was thinking back on my days in school. You know, those days that you are forced to take classes like shop and home-ec. (I think they call it industrial arts and consumer science now. Ha!)

I remember one shop project in particular. We were supposed to make name plates for our homes. You know, those fancy routered slabs of wood that have the last name engraved on them and look so great outside your house? Well, that’s what it was “supposed” to look like.

I finished the project, but I had a bone to pick with the shop teacher. First of all, I was a girl, and if I got married, my last name was changing. So what was the point of the project? I wasn’t keeping it forever.

Second, we had to pay for the wood by the inch. Which to me, wasn’t fair. I mean, some people had really choice last names, like “Rall” and “Hafey.” I mean, even “Beringer” was bearable and wasn’t going to break the bank. My last name? Are you ready?

B R A N D E N B U R G E R

Yep. My expensive piece of wood was supposed to hold all those letters.

I was going to need a week, just to get the router through all that. And then paint. And then send it through the planer. It was a grueling project. And not all that cheap.

And here we are, some 20 years later. And guess what?

Anyone have an extra-large doorway? It needs a bit of TLC and a new coat of varnish, but it's all there!

My Mom and Dad still have it on the front steps in front of the house.

I think they just want to make sure they get their money’s worth.

The Non-Joys of Parenting

Posted on June 4, 2011 by wagfarms

I was about ready to head to bed tonight, completely satisfied with the way the day went. I had a wonderful morning with my oldest sister, had a great afternoon taking care of the garden and yard with my boys. And had a great evening, having Scooter help me replant tomatoes, put cans around them and water everything down.

Everyone had taken a bath and we were all getting ready for bed.

And then it happened.

My day was ruined.

Scooter decided at that moment to reveal that he had taken some things that weren’t his. They were his cousins, they were expensive and he had been asked about them earlier in the day. He had lied.

To make a long story short, Scooter will call his aunt in the morning and apologize, he will write his cousins a letter and he will spend the next two days working on cleaning his room, minus TV, radio, DS, games, etc. His source of entertainment will be reading a book for 10 minutes and he will be taking care of his dog and cat chores when he goes outside.

We talked tonight about why he said the things he did, we discussed why I was disappointed and I explained to him that we had such a great, fun day…and those memories were tarnished because he had acted pretty selfishly. I didn’t yell (amazingly) and I tried not to over-react…but it was more important to me to not under-react.

It is very important to me that my children understand that they don’t “deserve” certain things just because others have them. There is way too much of that in the world already.

So, although I will have to change my plans…and the weekend would be a perfect one for fishing, playing outside and having a GREAT time…we won’t all be enjoying it. There is a lesson to be taught, and it will serve him well through the rest of his life…and I owe him that.

Why don’t the parenting books ever tell you about the days it sucks to be a parent? Oh well, summer should last for more than one weekend in North Dakota, right?

Wordless Wednesday – Crazy Week

Posted on June 1, 2011 by wagfarms

It’s been one of those weeks…and to top it off, we got a puppy! We have 300 acres planted and many more to go. I finally got the garden planted, but the wind has taken care of some of it. Life has been interesting, that’s for sure. Now softball and VBS tonight, more VBS tomorrow night and perhaps a quiet weekend at home. Whew! I can’t wait!