If we were having coffee, I’d tell you that it hasn’t been the best of weeks. Nothing horrible has happened… things could definitely be worse. But they certainly could be better.
If we were having coffee, you would know that two out of the past five days have been rainy. I love, love, love rainy days… there are few better things than curling up in a lumpy sweater and reading a good book. When you work on a farm, though, rain gets in the way. We were sent home early twice this week because it was simply too wet to do any of the field work that badly needs to get done. Although the extra free time gave me the chance to catch up on much needed around-the-house tasks, I need the pay. Continue reading →
If we were having coffee, you’d know right away that I am a mess. My week was awful.
You see, I’m not a crier. I’ll go for months and months without shedding a tear. This doesn’t mean I’m not emotional–I definitely am. My emotions just don’t manifest in tears very often.
That being said, I’ve had FOUR meltdowns this week.
Three happened in my car. The first of these took place after the first training session for my new job. The second was this morning on the way to church. The third was an hour or so ago on my way home from church. The other sob-fest happened over my bowl of Rice Krispies cereal on Tuesday morning.
As I said, I am a mess.
If we were having coffee, I’d tell you that my new job is proving more stressful than anticipated. I’ve finally got most of the day-to-day things under control, so my time in the office goes fairly smoothly. But there is so much I don’t know or understand. I have zero experience with finances, bills, invoices, payments, etc. And, suddenly, I need to know how to do all of these things. The people who are supposedly there to help me have proved only marginally useful.
I spent the entire week doing my best to stay positive and keep afloat. Two of my nights were sleepless ones. The while time, I thought that, if I could just get to the weekend, everything would be okay. HA. JOKE’S ON ME.
On Friday, I had to go in for my second training session while the rest of my family went to the movies. Which TOTALLY sucked. My little brother was home from college and I wanted to spend time with him. I got to the office a bit before seven, as planned. At 7:08, I got a text from the lady training me (who used to be in my position) saying she would be there by 7:30. She didn’t end up getting there until almost eight o’clock. Which meant I spent an HOUR of my Friday night sitting alone in a cold office playing games on my iPhone because I forgot to bring a book. Because of her tardiness, we weren’t able to cover all the information and now have to meet again on Tuesday evening.
So that all sucks.
If we were having coffee, you’d know that my fourth and final meltdown of the week happened because I almost got into a car accident on my way home from church this morning. But thinking about that just makes me more depressed, so we won’t go into details.
If we were having coffee, I’d tell you that I saw the band The Oh Hellos live on Thursday. It was, by far, the highlight of my whole week. The show was INCREDIBLE.
The first opener was a band called Family & Friends and it was obvious that it was their first tour. You could feel their enthusiasm oozing from the stage. Their expressions were wild and excited and you couldn’t help feel it too. It energized the whole crowd and set the tone for the entire night. When the headliner finally took the stage, we were all screaming before they played a single note.
If I could transport myself into the past, I’d go back to being in that crowd on Thursday. It wasn’t very relaxing, but boy it was fun. My friend and I let loose and went crazy. We sang along to all the words we knew. We cheered. We raised our hands and clapped. I completely let loose and danced, jumping and flailing awkwardly, losing myself in the music. Gosh, it was a blast.
You see, The Oh Hellos are a phenomenal band. They make music not for profit, but because they’re passionate. Their passion is evident in every note. Their music is clearly rooted in Christian faith, but they’re not a Christian band. Their instrumentals are rich and flavorful and all the songs have deep, sophisticated lyrics. I’d gush about how awesome they are more, but it might be better to write about them in other posts. (So stay tuned for that.)
So, yeah. Aside from going to the show, it’s been a pretty crappy week. On the bright side, things can’t get much worse. If you don’t mind, I’m going to go curl up under a blanket with a comfort book and go into hermit-mode during the remainder of my day off. Later, though, I’ll come back on WordPress and would really love to hear how your week has been. What would you share over coffee?
The Oh Hellos during the finale of their set. SO GOOD.
If we were having coffee, we’d be bundled up in sweaters sitting outside. The world is a painting of reds, golds, and browns–the leaves are just past the peak of color and are starting to fall. I’d suggest taking a walk to enjoy the crisp air and crunch of leaves under our feet. If your hands are cold, bring your cup with you. It will keep you warm!
If we were having coffee, I’d let you know that I HAVE A NEW JOB! You are now looking at (or rather, reading the words of) the new Interim Director of my community’s Chamber of Commerce. Of course, the job isn’t permanent. It’s only for a couple of months while the Chamber looks for a new Executive Director. I’m just there to fill in and give the board of directors time to find a good fit for the position.
The frustrating thing, though, is I hope to start tomorrow and still have no idea what the job looks like. I know I’ll be addressing the emails, phone messages, and mail that have come in over the past few weeks. I know there are meetings I’ll have to attend–mostly to take notes. I know that I now have keys to the building and a desk in the old Historical Society building. But I don’t know what my days will actually look like.
My goal is to meet with the former Executive Director sometime in the next couple of days in order to learn the job. The problem is, she’s not a very competent communicator and doesn’t really understand what I want from her. She keeps texting my mom (who is the Vice President of the board) about it. Mom passed her my contact information so she and I can figure it out… but clearly she’s stressed and confused because she hasn’t actually contacted ME yet.
It will all come together. Hopefully we will be able to meet. If not, I’m pretty good at figuring things out. If all else fails, I’ll go to the office tomorrow (after all, I DO have the key), poke around for a few hours, and hope the info I need is lurking in a desk drawer or computer file.
If we were having coffee, you would know that I visited my college town for the first time as an alumni! I didn’t think I’d be making the trip to Morris any time soon, but my old Bible study co-leader organized a retreat for the group and asked if I would be able to come as a guest speaker. My old roommate, Alli, and I founded this Bible study four years ago and it was one of my favorite parts of college.
Selfie with everyone at Pomme de Terre Park, featuring the signature Morris wind turbines that provide energy to campus.
The retreat took place at someone’s house. I was delighted to find that almost everyone in attendance were original members of the group. We had art night on Friday–which was a fun exploration of acrylic paint and Canadian rom-coms. On Saturday, we ate meals together, went on a prayer walk in Pomme de Terre Park, and watched Friends on Netflix. Alli and I gave our talks, which both went well.
If we were having coffee, I’d tell you that my trip to Morris has me feeling incredibly blessed. As an introvert, I find that the best kind of people are the ones I can be with for hours without feeling drained. Hanging out with these girls was like that. I’m not close friends with anyone in the group, but that really didn’t matter. We’ve spent so much time throughout the years laughing, making memories, and discussing faith that friendship comes naturally. Being together again felt just like old times. I can’t remember the last time I laughed as hard as I did.
My faith hasn’t been flourishing since leaving Morris in May. It hasn’t been growing, but it hasn’t been receding. I know that there are lots of important things going on that I can’t see right now. This weekend was a wonderful reminder that God has big things ahead and I’m right where I need to be.
Now the time has come to turn things over to you. How has your week been? What would you share over coffee?
If we were having coffee, I would, right away, ask if you’ve heard the news. Well… actually, if you’ve seen the news. Because, oh boy, is it exciting! One of my state’s top news networks does a “Best in Minnesota” feature and their most recent focus was Best Apple Orchard. My family owns an apple orchard! We found out about the contest a couple of weeks ago and, right away, launched a social media campaign to get everyone we know voting. I kept the news off WordPress, but was fairly obnoxious with my Facebook posts.
Anyways, we WON the competition and can now say that Pleasant Valley Orchard is the best in Minnesota!
Panorama of our orchard, taken last weekend at sunset.
On Tuesday, a reporter and videographer from WCCO came out and shot footage for a story on our farm. I took a class on visual journalism last year and watching them work was fascinating. They clearly came with a vision for the story and, right as they popped out of their vehicle, got to work filming. My entire family was there and we showed them all around our farm, telling them the history, and sharing stories. We were all interviewed, which was fun.
If you’re interested in seeing the story, hop along to the WCCO website! When it aired, we watched it three times in a row. It really is a lovely story–it captures the essence of who my family is, what we do, and where I come from. My interview didn’t make the cut, but no tears were shed over that. I’ll leave the spotlight to my parents and brothers.
If we were having coffee, I’d tell you that being the Best Apple Orchard in Minnesota also has negative consequences. As soon as the story aired, we had a significant increase in traffic. Friday had crowds like a slow Saturday and I worked for ten hours straight assembling bakery products, packing apples, and mowing as much as I could before the sun set. Yesterday (Saturday), I worked in the store all day and now understand what it feels like to work retail on Black Friday. It was the busiest day we have EVER had in the 23 years we have been open. Working the cash register, I did nothing but smile and crunch numbers for eight hours straight. We were short-staffed and, as a result, didn’t get lunch breaks. Our bakery products were gone by three and we sold all of the 700 caramel apples that had been made for the weekend. (Our baker had to work extra to make more.)
Before we opened, I prayed to Jesus and asked Him to make me an extrovert for the day. It didn’t work. My brain was total mush by 2 PM and my stomach growled most of the day. At one point mid-afternoon, I turned to my coworker and declared, “I want to die.”
Nevertheless, I’m still alive and so are my parents. It took a couple of hours to get all the post-closing chores done, but when they were, we went out for fancy steak dinner. Because we deserved it.
If we were having coffee, I’d let you know that, even though exhausted, I was awake from 2:30-5 AM simply because my body was so wired from the day’s work. Instead of rolling around for hours, I climbed out of bed, made a cup of hot cocoa, climbed back into bed, and watched Netflix. I would have preferred sleeping, but Netflix is good too.
It’s now my day off. THANK GOODNESS. If I have my way, I’m spending the entire day in my pajamas, indulging in more Netflix, cleaning my room, and catching up on blogging goals. The sad thing is, I’ll probably end up having to work.
Enough of my complaints. I’m turning things over to you. How has your week been? What would you share over coffee?
This post is part of the Weekend Coffee Share link up at Part Time Monster.
Keep Your Feet 