Farm Days

This last weekend we took the 3 hour trip to one of Travis' old coworker's family farm. He was begging for us to join him. It was good to get away, for a bit.

Is it mandatory for all farms to have 1 red barn? I'm not complaining, I love the color red!

The farm didn’t have animals, but they did have a lot of old things to look at, history, and squash to pick. 

If you lived on a farm what animals would you wish you could have? I'd love horses, goats, chickens, alpacas, a few farm cats, and a few farm dogs. Mrs Allergy sufferer can have animals if they are outside. Right?

I did ask Tom, our friend if he had his wife and son hidden in his trunk. I was bummed that they didn’t come along. His wife is from Russia. Since she wasn’t there to define herself I made jokes about how he’s really married to a spy. I’ve watched too many episodes of The Americans. We made Tom watch the first episode during breakfast. Not typically a show one would watch with children, but hey it's given us more reasons to talk about sex more openly. Really Tom's wife was back home with their dog and their son is only 11. He had a friend thing to do. 

I guess these go unused on their farm:

I think this is my favorite shot:

It was in Iowa, and one thing is for sure, all farms in Nebraska and Iowa are usually full of corn. 

What made this farm special is that it was owned by the same family, for many generations, they had relatives that owned areas all around it, and that it was right by the lake. What water hobbies would you take up if you lived there? I'd like to fish, and go paddle boating. 

 

They rent out their land for other farmers to grow things. At this time pumpkins and other squashes were there. Tom said after Halloween they sit there and rot. We could take what we wanted. I took too much. Fully intending on canning pumpkin puree, but I found out that it's not a good idea to do that. Ya learn something new everyday. Reason? Every squash has a different water content. Pumpkin puree in the store has all the water content removed practically. It's best to cook, puree, and put it in ice cube trays to freeze. 

Tom drove us around to show us all his family's property, and let Travis take Mica and Isaak down to see a special spot I never did see. Mica's driving. I'd like to say he learned how to drive a stick shift, but I don't think he drove it long enough to learn the standard H. 

Isaak's big about wearing these coveralls. Funny because he hated them when I bought him a one when he was about the age of 5. He thinks they are artsy. Kids say he looks like Michael Meyers or a farmer. I think he looks like one in the Blue Man Group (without the make-up), or an auto mechanic. 

Travis with Mica. They took one of me, but I look so out of it and I'm not posting it. 

We found a few of these caterpillars. I heard they mean either we have a long winter ahead, or a short one. I don't know that I believe such tales, but if you do we found them. 

We got to stay in their old farm house. Lots of cool things, but I like the door handles the most. 

Have you been to a farm lately? 

Job to Job

I know it's been forever, since I posted. Sorry! I've been stressed, tired, and busy. 

I started yet another job, and stopped that job. I'd laugh if it wasn't sad. 

It went like this: I was let go of my job as a design instructor for nearly 20 years because the school was going to close their doors, when Covid started up - May 2020. 

I got a job at Fresh Thyme as a front end supervisor because unemployment thought I'd go back to teaching in the fall, so they weren't going to cover me, and I had to get something fast! Right as I was getting good at what I did there I found out they were closing their doors in October of 2020. 

Marketing and design jobs still were not opening up, so I got a job at Williams Sonoma as a key manager and merchandiser.

I started one class, one night a week at Midland College. 

All along I had been applying for design and marketing jobs, so AIM a tech non profit fell into my lap. I loved the work I did there, but the turn over is high, and there are a lot of bosses that can't form final decisions. I wanted their look to be as powerful as their mission. They loved my work, but didn't want to jump outside that box. I quit knowing that the HR lady that had been there for years was leaving, and they weren't getting a replacement. I was worried I wouldn't get a pay check. 

I kept doing some freelance with AIM, but the person that gave it to me gave me too much along with my full time job, and my one class. Bosses kept changing things, so I stopped doing freelance for them. 

I started working for Schemmer an engineering and architecture firm. My boss knew my lack of experience in that field. He kind of just went over folders, but didn't go over proposals, which I would have to work on. I found out what I don't like doing there. 

I got a job at RD Industries as a marketing coordinator | designer. They didn't know my password to my computer, wanted me to have a phone, but didn't know how to get into that, didn't know usernames or passwords to social media accounts, and had two Adobe Creative accounts, but only one me. My training existed of: Files you need are on SharePoint. I had never used SharePoint, but figured that out. All the files were flattened, so I couldn't use any of them. My supervisor kept signing off on projects. Then a few days later I'd have to redo the same project. It was nerve racking. He had me do 40 sales sheets, and found out the patent numbers were wrong that he gave me on nearly all of them. They had the role as needing someone that's highly creative, but the job wasn't all that creative. I enjoyed some of it. I really think as much as the owner is picky about their branding (as she should be), she should have had a few meetings with me to talk about it. 

I handed in my notice because I got a job at Mosaic as a graphic designer. My supervisor at RD Industries said I could stay on as a consultant. Once the owner found out I was leaving she told me to leave. No going back to my desk, no goodbyes, and no backing up my files. I think they thought I'd mess with the files. I for certain didn't want to make who comes in after me - their life difficult. I'm not that kind of person. 

Mosaic is a non profit that helps individuals that have special needs transition into group homes. The position is new. I applied there three times over the pandemic. Third time is a charm. The role is much more me. I like design over marketing. 

Medical anything must have been on my radar because I also applied to Children's Hospital as a designer, and Clarkson College as a brand | graphic designer. I would have been excited with those places as well. My family has 10 people in the medical field. I'd like to merge design with that. 

Here I am, 2 1/2 weeks without pay. I would have called Mosaic to see if I could have started early, but the computer they ordered for me hadn't come in yet, and I made a dentist appointment for the boys in between jobs. 

I still am teaching one class for Midland. That's almost up. I'm not going back. They just have very little organization. I taught a Design and Illustration course, yet they've had no design, illustration, typography... at all. I have students that didn't even have Adobe. Midland is not a design college, and the students take those classes because they think they will be easy. I'm just more than done with extras in my life. 

Isaak happened to bring me a gift of a head cold between Schemmer and RD Industries, and now again between RD Industries and Mosaic. 

Hey each job has been a step up in pay, I'm here, not sick with covid, so I have a lot to be thankful for.