You never quite know what you will find while cleaning your house.

This morning, I unlocked the chains and cracked the whips on my children to help clean the house.  (This, of course, is an exaggeration but one that has to be stated, as my children believe I gave birth to them in order to have some help around the house.)  Between the whipping sessions, I came across Avery's school journal.  My eyes landed on his last entry:

I woke up in the morning feeling weird, like somebody else.  I looked at my mirror.  I saw Ms. Rich.  My cat came in the room and when he looked at me he said, "MEEOW!".  I scared him half way to China.  I didn't know what to do.

To see if I could drive, I had to sneak into my Mom's room and, of course, she forgot to shave her legs.  Those gorilla monster legs were hairier than you could see them.  They poked through her pants, but I didn't care.  

So, I got the keys and drove to Pensacola.  I made some fresh pickles for me.  But when I got in the classroom nobody was there, so I went shopping.  I went shopping with Mr. Noon.  When I got home, I didn't look like Ms. Rich anymore.

Hilarious.  (Ms. Rich was his 3rd grade teacher at NWB Academie)

The Art of Introduction

Hi, my name is Erica.  I am married with three children.  I manage a household with numerous pets to include a cat, 2 dogs (by the way, does anyone want them?), and seven chicks in various stages of growth.  I am trying my hand at gardening fruits and veggies this year.  I also remain active at my local Y teaching a Body Sculpt class and Yoga.  My interests include reading, writing, gardening, photography, and traveling.  I hope to resume my Master's classes in Contract and Acquisition Administration in the fall.  There.  That was easy.

Two chicks, both named Erica

In the chicken world, it is not this easy.  A flock establishes a pecking order fairly early, it seems.  How do they figure out who will be in charge?  It is the one who flies and steps on the others heads and backs the most?  Perhaps it is the one who pecks the hardest and/or most frequently?  Or the one who stands the tallest and whose feathers puff out the most?  Or maybe it's the one who can do all these effectively?  I've even considered possibly, just maybe, one may smell more dominant than the rest. Whatever the exact reasoning, it is very interesting to watch.

As many of you know, we have a flock of four, originally five (RIP Bullet), that hatched into the world of an incubator in my closet a few days prior to Easter weekend.  There were more, but five was our limit to keep.  Then, due to plans not going according to plans, two more hatched in the incubator nearly two weeks ago.  The seventh?  Originally coming into our household as temporary guest due to her own flock pecking her like crazy, she is now here to stay.  The younger two and her have already established a pack together.  When one is apart, the others cry until the chick is returned.  It's hard to tell who is the most dominate in that flock.  Scabby (the one who was pecked in her original flock) is older, so she tries to dominate the other two, but I think Willow will eventually win over the leader position.

Today, we did a little introduction to the original group who are now 9 weeks old now.  Eventually, we will get rid of the ones who show themselves to be roosters, but I thought we would see how it went before that happens.  Notice the bigger ones I left in the hen house, for fear they would attack the little ones.

Who do you think you are?!

Scabby stands tall and attempts to approach the original group.  The other two (a blur in the background) stand back.  Oreo and Peep, the two black & white ones and the most dominate, somehow communicate to her to get back.  Probably suffering for PTSS, she did retreat back to her little friends. 

Just look confident guys!!  They will like us, maybe.

Eventually, they all got a little closer together, but I don't think I really felt any love flowing between the two groups.  They were both curious about each other, but I think only so much as to get a whiff of the competition.  At least now there is an awareness of each other.

The lesson: Despite your personal efforts, desires, and hopes that everybody (or every chicken) will get along, be friendly, kind and hospitable toward each other, nature mixed with nurture will simply not allow for it in this life.  This, however, should not totally discourage one from trying.

Another new venture

I like to write.  I believe it's the creative outlet in which I can claim to be decent at and from what my children tell me, I should not even glance in the direction of singing or drawing, so writing it is.  I have dabbled in writing poetry, essays, and notes and have been pleasantly surprised in the positive feedback I get when I share such with others.  The bonus to the joys I find in writing is I have a lot to write about with my never-a-dull moment life.

In life, I value experiences, those with nature, people, and the unseen.  These are what web us together into this intricate fabric of life, allow us to gain perspective, and find the simple things in life extraordinary.  They remind me we are all connected and should work to stay connected so this world can be a better place for all that inhabit it.  As I have randomly shared my life experiences to others in conversation, I have been told by several to record these in writing.  I thought this was excellent advice, so I have used Facebook over the past few years to type out me and my crazy (in a good way) family's conversations, adventures, thoughts, travels, and to share photos of such.

With the limits Facebook has, the personal limits I have with using this site, and the encouragement of a very sweet friend, I have started a new venture: This blog!!  As I have once stated, 'I am a professional dabbler'.  I enjoy finding new ventures and hobbies and this is right up my alley.  The title of this blog states the content you will find in my posts.  It is my hope through these posts we can laugh out loud, give thanks, share worries and fears, find perspective, and open our hearts to others.