cosmic chickens

Something really weird happened with the chicken decision. 

First, a little backstory.

Late last year, I convinced FH to get chickens. Then I did a TON of research to design a custom coop & run to fit our unique space. 

Then I started second-guessing if I wanted chickens. I mean, I DO want chickens, but the past several years we've talked about how once Pumpkin & Rosco died, we were going to stay pet-free so that we'd have the freedom to travel without those responsibilities. And I'm over here talking about getting chickens, which directly contradicts that idea.

Eventually I reasoned that since the dog refuses to die, we still have pet responsibilities, so I might as well get chickens.

Fast-forward to today, when we started building everything. About 2 hours in, I got overwhelmed and changed my mind about the whole thing.  Yes, we had bought supplies, but I was ready to return everything and abort the whole project. It was too much time, money, energy, effort, and stress. I made a mistake deciding to get chickens, and I didn't want to do it anymore.

FH disagreed and tried to talk me into moving forward, but I was 100% DONE. He continued building the coop and several times I tried to explain that he was wasting his time- we had a nice long disagreement about how I did not want chickens anymore but he was committed to the project. For someone who initially didn't want chickens, he was stubborn.

After some time, he seemed happy working on his project and I wandered over to the porch, where I decided to enjoy the afternoon. At some point, I noticed a clover patch in the yard. I really like to look for 4-leaf clovers, but despite spending lots of time looking in the last few years, I haven't found any in this area yet.

I told myself that I'd go look, and if I found a 4-leaf clover, it was a sign from the universe to change my mind about chickens.

So I walked down to the patch, and immediately spotted one. Then another one. Then ANOTHER one. Then TWO MORE. I found FIVE 4-leaf clovers within 30 seconds of walking down there. Which is how many chickens I want. Taken aback, I told myself that if the universe really wanted me to have chickens, that I'd find another one.

Well, I did. So I walked back up, showed FH the handful of clovers, put my shoes back on, and was all-in on chickens once again.

I'm hungry now

Yesterday I left the house to drive to Ft. Worth and had stomach troubles so bad that I had to turn around and go back home. Which is saying a LOT because over the years I have rallied through some pretty bad stuff.

Not sure why it happened. Ate something funky? Picked up a bug? Flare for no good reason? Hard to say for sure. 

I managed to rally this morning even though I felt crappy. At around 1:00 this afternoon, about 4 hours into my drive, the clouds started to part and I started to feel better. I've said it before and it's still true. Traveling with a stomachache is the WORST.

Even though I started to feel better, I was afraid to eat until I was done seeing the customer and safely back in my hotel room. Even a few bites of food made my stomach hurt.

At this point, I have minimal pain and I'm ready for food. I feel like I haven't eaten in days. 

Not sure where I'm going with this, except to say that I had 2 little dinners and there's a 3rd one in the freezer but I think it's a bad idea to go for that.

financial wellness

Continuing the theme of how I've gotten my shit together lately, here are some steps I've taken financially.

First, I decided to focus on retirement. Specifically, early retirement. Marrying a man 15 years older than you is pretty motivating. I want to retire at 55. Maybe even 50, if I can swing it. In order to do that, I have to start taking steps now. 

What am I doing?

1. Maxing out my 401k.

2. Maxing out my HSA. The idea is that I can use this to pay for health insurance until I'm 65 and am eligible for Medicare. In addition to maxing it out, there is an option to invest HSA funds further into mutual funds once you reach a certain point. Which I'm doing.

3. Opening and maxing out a Roth IRA. The money will earn more this way than sitting in a savings account.

4. Speaking of, I also transferred the majority of my savings into a high-interest account. Earning 4% interest on something that's sitting there anyway is just smart.

5. Miscellaneous investment strategies: I have 2 and they're kinda silly. 

The first one is, if I splurge on something, I have to put that same amount into stocks or mutual funds. I have an Acorns account for this.

The second is, if I buy something off of Amazon (vs supporting a local or small business), I have to put that same amount into cryptocurrency. Diversification, baby. I use a Coinbase account for this. Same goes for gambling money. Equal amounts go into crypto. And honestly, I get a better return from crypto than I do in casinos. Of course.

Our monthly expenses are fairly low right now, and we're pretty frugal so it works. I thought it would hurt to max out all those retirement accounts, but if the money comes out before I see it, I don't miss it.

Long term, we plan to sell the river house and use that money to buy some acreage/build a tiny home, so that once we retire our monthly expenses are even lower. The goal is no mortgage by that time. Plus we will have lots of space and freedom to live a little more off the grid. Getting crunchier by the minute over here. Plus I would LOVE to not have to set an alarm clock anymore... only 10ish more years!

6. In addition to the financial preparations, I've been really motivated to start working out/ seeing the doctor/taking better care of myself. Because what's the good of retiring early if I'm too tired or sick to enjoy it?

chickies

Been researching chicken coops and have started drafting the ideal space-saving coop + run configurations to fit our space. Simple, right?

I've looked at a LOT of pre-fab chicken coops but they're very expensive and none have had the exact configuration I want.

You know what that means. Project time.

Unfortunately, that means, "Add it to the List."

Which means I'll be getting chickens next year because if I'm weighing them against the outdoor shower/bathtub, I'm choosing that. Mostly because we already have all the stuff for that and I miss baths.

But when we're ready for chickens, we'll have a solid plan!

physical and mental

Since I turned 40, I decided it was time to get serious about a few things. Mostly health-related.

I found a new doctor. Got a checkup, complete with bloodwork. Got a mammogram. Found a dermatologist. Still need to find a gyno, especially because I think I'm heading into perimenopause. Healthcare provider options are not plentiful out here.

In addition to adopting a new workout routine (that includes lifting weights bc bone density), I wanted to find a way to exercise my brain. The simplest option was to take an educational course, and it was easy to decide what topic- plants. The best way to maintain enthusiasm is to pick a topic that already interests me, right? I looked into taking a class at the local community college, but that doesn't fit into my schedule and they don't really have any botany-related paths.

So I found a course on Coursera. Since I'm doing it for fun right now and not looking for any documentation, I opted to choose the free option. Online learning is not my favorite, but the flexibility works for me right now. And honestly, it's fascinating.

I'm taking steps to maintain both physical and mental health, but one of my main complaints right now is fatigue. According to my recent bloodwork, there's no major deficiencies or anemia, and I'm taking a few supplements to boost those borderline levels. But I'm still struggling to get through the day. It's not a fatigue like I've experienced before. I'm wondering if it's related to the hormone fluctuations. Exercise has improved it a bit, but it's still noticeable. It's to the point where if I can't get an afternoon nap, I need an afternoon coffee to get through the day. Which is probably not helping with my sleep quality. And the cycle continues. Once I get to the gyno I might get answers, but with my health history, I'm not optimistic.

snow dayyyy

We got proper snow in Houston for the first time since I've lived here. And the first snow at all (for us) at the river.

Even though we're further south, we got enough snow to make it worth a trip outside. Some evidence:

I was thankful for our ski clothes at this point

We had to do a lot of prep to make sure the pipes didn't freeze (the well is more complicated than city water), and we prepared for the power to go out. It did, but not for a long period of time. Thank goodness, because even though we ran it a few days prior to test it, the generator wouldn't start. It was too cold and the battery died. Lesson learned.

watcha gunna do

We are going to get a deep freeze (and it will probably snow)!

So I harvested a lot of the greens that will not make it. Looks like I'll be eating a lot of salad soon.