First Garden Produce of 2009

I had a salad last night of lettuce and field greens picked from my garden. YUMMY! The leaves were so tender and delicious.

I think we'll be having turnip greens before the end of this week.

Catching up

I haven't posted much for so long, I almost don't know what to blog about. I have so much going on inside my head, but not much that's there is all that interesting. My world still feels a bit out of control and not settled into a routine just yet. So here are some random thoughts...

Only 3 more class periods for this semester....yippee! But there's a term paper due Tuesday and a chapter quiz. Then another chapter quiz and a final that must all happen in the next couple of weeks. I've worked pretty hard in this class and have a 95 average at this point. So just a little more and I can mark this one off the list.

Work has slowed down...but not really. Now we are working on all that got pushed aside for the deadline....and catching up on administrative duties.

Garden work....we purchased a tiller this spring and have managed to till up a fairly large garden spot. Got some planting done a few weeks ago. So I will be eating some fresh lettuce from my garden later today. It looks yummy! Hubby and I planted more seeds and some transplants yesterday afternoon. Forecast includes rain, so I'm hoping God will water it all and help it grow.

Pets are all doing great and bring pleasure to our days. Sam is such a sweet addition to our family.

Hubby continues to improve, but has good days and bad days.

I think I'm still in shock over my brother's death and then his expected grandchild was stillborn this week. My nephew had to bury his dad and child only 9 days apart. We don't know what caused either death. But thank you to all who have prayed for us during this time. God shows His love through friends and family.

I've been so tired lately that one evening I got home from work and laid down on my bed in my work clothes (just for a few minutes) around 7:00 PM. Next I knew, it was midnight. I changed into PJ's and climbed back into bed. Slept until 6:00 AM. I think I could have done it again the next night. But I didn't!! Maybe tonight!!

I'm Okay

My last several posts have been short and on the negative side. Sorry about that. Life has been rather hectic, stressful, and extremely busy lately.

Because of the seasonal nature of our CPA firm's work, we work overtime from January through April 15. Some people work more than others depending on a lot of factors including family situations. My family and financial situation is such that I work as much as I can during those few months. Then the remainder of the year, I work on average 35 - 40 hours per week. I gradually increase my work week from about 55 hours in mid January to around 80 hours those last few weeks. This year I added one college class to that schedule. I did not cut back on my work hours. As a matter of fact I worked about 6 hours more this Jan 1 - April 15 than I did last year. I'm really not complaining. I enjoy what I do and who I do it with. My co-workers are like family to me and I have several clients that I consider friends. There is lots of stress and challenge each year, but I always learn something new.

There have been many times during the last few years of tax season where something of a personal stressful nature has occurred during tax season. My mom had a stroke one tax season and then 3 years later died during tax season. Sometimes there's illness or other stressful situations with my kids. A couple of years ago, I had a hysterectomy on January 31. So this year, my brother died on April 13. He was only 51. We still do not know the cause of death. It was rather sudden; although he had been sick with a cough that just wouldn't go away. He woke his wife at something after 2:00 AM complaining that he was having a difficult time breathing. They were preparing to go to the Emergency Room, when he got worse and his wife ended up calling for an ambulance. They worked with him and transported him to the hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival. An autopsy was done, but we don't have the results yet. His funeral was delayed until April 16 because of the autopsy, so I ended up finishing out tax season before heading to my hometown where he still lived. It is only a couple hours away.

I'll post more about the service and perhaps a tribute to him soon.

But yesterday I was still pretty much just out of it. I was exhausted in every way possible-- physically, mentally, and emotionally.

But I am feeling much better today and starting to tackle some of the much needed cleaning projects around my house as a result of working so much.

My kids are all coming for lunch tomorrow and I want to have a clean house and good lunch for them.

Prayers Please

I just got a phone call that my brother died suddenly early this morning. Many of you know Butterfly Gardener. My brother is her dad. So pray for her and the rest of the family.

THREE!!

and Happy Easter!!

Christ is risen indeed!

FOUR!!!!

Only four more 13 + hour days!! Our office is closed on April 16th. On Thursday a co-worker who works even more hours than I do, walked by me and whispered, "What will you be doing at this time next week?" My first answer was sleeping, and then I changed it to, "No, I'll probably be blogging." She promised to be sitting outside enjoying her very lovely back porch. See you all soon!

FIVE

SIX

SEVEN

8 more days

Today was stressful, hectic and more work came into my office than I completed. I have class tomorrow night so I need to get to work extra early.

I've been through this enough to know it will be okay....but today was difficult....and there will be 8 more difficult days.

The countdown is on!

It's only nine more days until April 15th!

I have only 1 more Saturday to work. Yippee!!! But there's a whole lotta work to be done in these next 9 days.

We'll be working to finish up another 100 or so returns these next 9 days and file extensions for 200 or more.

I have missed all my blog friends so much. I can't wait to get caught up with everyone and start taking pictures for the photo challenges again.