Early mornings....

The one drawback to working full time and owning animals, is that there are chores to do in the morning. So instead of stumbling out of bed, hopping in the shower and running off to work in the space of 45 minutes, one needs to build in time to do chores. And on days when we both have to be to work early, that means getting up earlier than we'd like.

Case in point: This morning, I had to be to work by 7:15. That means leaving the house by 6:30 to drop the kids at the grandparents so they can catch the school bus there instead of at our house. So if I need an hour to get myself ready and 30 minutes to get the goats milked, I need to get up at 5:00. But that just seems too early. So I set my alarm for 5:30. Not quite enough time. I got the goats milked and I think I let the chickens out but am not 100% positive on that one. P got the kids breakfast in between the two of us battling for space in our tiny bathroom trying to get ready. Seriously, the bathroom is so small that a tall man could hit his knees on the vanity while sitting on the toilet. I plugged my hair dryer in the bathroom but had to stand outside it while drying my hair so P could get in to shave, brush teeth, etc. P took the puppy out to potty and when she came in she decided she couldn't resist tormenting the cats. So I had to blockade the bathroom which now has the cat box in it so that the puppy couldn't get in to eat the cat poop and the cats could use it without her tormenting them. So there went my time to eat breakfast. Lucky for me I had a ton of catering arriving at work. But it was a challenge getting it all set up on an empty stomach!

Sometimes I wonder why we put ourselves through this. It would be so much easier to buy veggies, milk, eggs and cheese at the store and purchase processed/packaged foods. But then I remember all the nasty things in processed foods and think about the quality of life of the animals that we are getting dairy and eggs from. Yes it's more work,  we have to get up at the butt crack of dawn to do chores and we are up late doing the same thing. Not a lot of leisure time. But it's totally worth it knowing where our dairy, eggs and veggies are coming from. I wish I could do more but I'd have to not work full time. And in order to support the animals and pay rent, I have to work full time. So early mornings it is.

~T