Off we go...

Thought maybe I should post today as we are leaving in the morning for the Upper Midwest Organic Farming Conference in LaCrosse. The books are all either on their way or alread at the conference center just waiting for me to get there! Everything went fairly smooth this year and no major 'stress-outs' so far. Yesterday there was a small panic - I had ordered the movie "The Future of Food", have you seen this?? If not, go now to lilyfilms.com and order a copy. Big deal, it is $25.00 - pay it, it will be worth it, I swear. Debra Coons-Garcia did this film and she was a speaker at our conference last year. Anyway, ordered the movies back on February 2nd - so I called yesterday just to check and make sure all was well with the world - to which they replied, "we have no idea what you are talking about". Great. We are showing this film as a feature and now we have no copies to sell. Luckily, Eva from the Lily Films office was on her game yesterday and figured the whole mess out and 2-day'd the movies to the conference center! Thank you, Eva.

Only one 'freak-out' is a very good thing - usually there are a lot more than that. Maybe I'm just getting better at this after 4 years. Probably not.

In other news, middle daughter, Maddie won the local 4H talent show this weekend. Of course, she couldn't only win the talent show, she had to be chosen as the overall winner and for that, you get to perform at the Wisconsin State Fair (in Milwaukee - 6 hours south) and represent our 4H group. This, of course, is the 1st weekend in August, which of course, is the weekend after we return from the Junior Olympics (she qualified for that after Nationals in Tennessee in January) in Virginia Beach, VA. Seriously. It is a full-time frickin' job keeping up with this kid. How in the hell am I going to start a business that requires deliveries 2x a week and be gone the whole summer following this child around the country? I haven't even mentioned the week in Branson, Missouri they are doing to make money for competitions. Luckily, my dad lives in Branson - so I could just send her down with grandpa and let him deal with that week! Never ending.

Of course the conference we are going to has a Folk Music Contest and she couldn't pass up an opportunity to perform now could she? This time she will be singing instead of clogging - but all the same. Whose kid is this anyway? My husband and I aren't exactly performers and my oldest daughter can't even watch her sister because SHE gets nervous for her!

The next hurdle is finding people to take care of the animals while we are gone. Pretty simple stuff, feeding and letting the chickens out in the morning and closing the doors to the coop at night. The dog will be going to Aunt Bridget's house where he will be spoiled worse than he is here, if that is possible. Getting 3 kids packed for 4 days, remembering all the computer equipment that needs to go, making sure I have all the cords, power strips, office supplies, etc., etc., packing the car and oh yeah, picking up 200 boxes of Girl Scout cookies that need to be delivered as soon as we get back!! The fun never stops, folks.

Until we return, have a great weekend!