new chicks

wednesday night. that means the older boys are with will at scouts, and the little boys are up at cheryl's. so it's just clayton and me, and his book report that's due on friday. fun fun.

i think i have (what the radio refers to as) the mid-winter blues. (mid??? come on- seriously?) or spring fever- whatever you call it. i'm so anxious for the cold weather to go away i can hardly stand it! i've planned out my garden. (not to mention i have basil growing next to my computer.) will and i have tried planning out our entire summer. we're ordering more bee hives- since cheri's died anyway. i've been turning the heat up in the house so i can wear short sleeved shirts. pathetic? i'm just r.e.a.d.y. for spring.

so today- we went to ifa and purchased 12 new baby chicks. i called every day for the past week waiting for their araucanas to come in. (the breed that lays the blue-green eggs.) we got four of them, four silver-laced wyandottes, (brown eggs) one golden-laced wyandottes, (brown eggs) two golden campines (white eggs) and one black austerlorpe (brown eggs). not that the breeds mean anything to anyone else- but the campines are super cool looking. i'll post photos.

they're not all ours. some will be going to my parents- though i'm not sure how many. we currently get plenty of eggs, more than plenty, but the rule of thumb is to add new chicks each spring to an existing flock so you always have a new batch of egg layers. and it makes it feel more like spring is coming because i can hear these girls chirping nonstop. i was so tempted to buy a mini-lop today as well. if will hadn't been there- we'd have one. i've always loved bunnies- no idea why.

the first phase of the diet is over- and i'm almost struggling more with this second phase. the problem? i can't seem to figure out HOW to eat 1500+ calories in a day! seriously. if i could eat starches and sugars it would be no problem, but without them??? today i only got in about 1100 and i'm so sickly full i couldn't possibly eat anything else. this diet is lame. it's tricky- and inconsistent as well. plus, i'm bitter because i lost so much less than most people. and now i've got to figure out how to keep it off while forcing myself to eat at least 1500 calories. (because you'll be in trouble later on if you don't- and yet you don't want to gain any weight.) see? tricky! anyway- my two favorite things so far? cheese. and peanut butter. i buy the organic kind which is nothing but dry roasted nuts and salt. it used to taste a little gross to me- now i love it. amazing what 7 weeks of no fat will do to your taste buds. :)