Summer Adventures

Next week Fiona, the dog, the cat, and myself are leaving for a summer long adventure. Yes, you read that right, I am taking the dog and the cat...and our bikes, two kitchen knifes, my rolling pin, two 18/10 gauge stainless steel pans, and my stone muffin pan. You never know when you might need to bake up a pan of muffins, roll out a mess of noodles or cut a tomato. :-)

Anyway. I have been on a facebook hiatus so I thought I would update you all here, with news from our wild and wonderful life.

It's been a long hard winter, and I only wish I were talking about the weather. Some of it, I am willing to talk about, most of it I am not. Neither here nor there for the point being that I have stayed the course, and kept on keeping on in the face of much adversity .Now, it's time for a little fun in the sun. (Well, not much sun for my alabaster skin doesn't need any more abuse).

When I look back upon my professional accomplishments of the last year, I almost amaze myself. I coordinated the local food for the Farm Aid concert in Kansas City, I took a group of farmers to Virginia to meet with Polyface Farms, I helped two farmers become certified organic, lessened the farm to fork miles for one of my businesses in Florida by 1500. I met with Secretary of Agriculture Vilsack. I was the guest speaker at many events (at which, and for this I am very proud, was able to remember my own name rather than start with "Hi, my name is Um.") I have written and had published numerous articles about my industry. I have helped my family farm with their quest to make a difference in the world of farming. I have been written about in numerous articles. I have maintained and grown the businesses I already had and opened two additional ones. And the cream to the top, is that I have helped mastermind and implement youth gardens for the homeless and underprivileged as well as put into place a school program to help hungry children have food to eat.

OK, rant over. Bored yet? Thanks for staying with me while I tooted my own horn. There was a reason for it, which was to say this: It all means nothing. Sure, I did some "amazing" things on paper, but that's my job. I love my job, which is probably why I am so good at it, but at the end of the day it doesn't matter. What I truly work for in my life can not be obtained by money, or ego, or awards.

What I want, and what I work for in my life is quality time with those that I love and care about. I spend my days doing great things for others, but that is useless if I don't have time for the ones I love.  It brings me the greatest joy in life to sit down and color a picture with my daughter, or go on a road trip to some random little town with my grandparents. Time is the currency of my life, and I intend to spend it wisely.

Here is the tentative plan.

I have been spending a month delegating responsibilities and downsizing my time commitments to my work. I believe that I have condensed my workload to about 3 intense hours a day. Whew, I feel crazy just typing that. Am I really going to be able to run all these companies and do what I do in three hours a day? Wish me luck with that, I am going to need it. I digress.

We will head to the east coast first, which is where my uncle lives, and will be our "base of operations" for the summer. My intention is for us to go to the beach once, Washington DC to visit old friends and go to the museums, mosey up and down the eastern seaboard, and maybe work in a trip to Canada. Along the way, we will visit with some of my eastern farmers, go to a play or two, have numerous picnics, frequent farmer's markets, and smile until our faces hurt.

It's going to be fabulous. I am especially excited about spending quality time with Fiona. She is hilarious, and I can't wait to hear her take on our adventures.  Speaking of Fiona. Here is what she had to say so far about this trip.

Me: Are you excited to go on vacation?
Fiona: You need to learn the code.
Me: What code?
Fiona: When I talk in a really fast loud voice, it means I am really excited. When I smile really big but don't say anything it means I am a little bit excited. When I don't do anything, it's because you already asked me that question three times, and my voice hurts from being very excited about the SAME THING three times.

Summer adventures, and a battle of the wits. Wish us luck, it's going to be great!!!!