Well, the Beahrs have gone. Paige and I have been running the farm ourselves for almost a couple of months now and things are going pretty smoothly. I have moved all of my bedroom furniture into Sharon's old room, we have added some curtains, blinds, and new ceiling tiles, and I have a new full size bed! We now have 16 horses, 3 of which are outside so I now have 13 stalls to do everyday.
We have just hired a few new people. One gal, Traci, is going to be moving in with me and will help with chores and other barn activities. I have no doubt that she will be training horses since she is a trainer. She is bipolar, and when I mentioned that I had never lived with a bipolar person before, I quickly learned that Sharon was actually bipolar!! I had no idea of this, but that was probably so I wouldn't be scared away from the job in the first place. But once Traci told me what to expect, I think we will get along fine.
We have also hired another gal to help me out with stalls. She will do stalls twice a week so I can have a couple of days to do other things such as run errands and do other barn work. Lately, I have been having pretty bad pain in my upper back while I have been doing stalls, and I have been getting irritable since I am still in school and it's harder to get stalls done in the morning. I am the kind of person who can't get out of bed when it is still dark outside. My body doesn't work that way and Paige thinks I am just finding excuses and making up stories to get out of stalls, but I am not. I do like to do stalls since it is the only way of making money and I am being productive during the day, but getting up before dawn has always been pretty hard. I remember when I started out here in the summer, Sharon would always keep the hall light on. My old room was pitch black with no windows, so when that light would shine through, I would think it was daylight, so I couldn't get back to sleep. I finally had to tell her to keep it off, which she did with much difficulty. Otherwise, the stalls have been getting done later in the morning when the horses are outside and that makes it a lot easier on me since I don't have to worry about the horses getting in the way.
Another recent employee is a new farmhand, who will do the mowing in the summer, snow plowing in the winter, and other stuff in between that us women can't easily get done ourselves. He and his family will be moving into the trailer soon, and Paige and I can't wait to have them join our team.
I can't wait for school to be over! This is my last semester and I will be excited when I no longer have to worry about homework or being late for or missing class. I started going to school this year not knowing if the farm would be sold or not; not to mention if I would still have a long term job here. Last week was Thanksgiving break and it was so relaxing not having to worry about school and just focusing on the horses. Now that school is back in session for another week or so, I am more distracted and stressed than ever! Paige has already called me out on cutting some corners, I have had several meltdowns, and, on top of everything else, Paige and Traci are hinting that I may have to switch rooms....AGAIN!!! I wish I were the kind to toughen up and defend myself, but that is not what I normally do. Normally I end up crying and going off to do something to calm myself down. I am sometimes amazed that I haven't started drinking or smoking yet! I really want to keep my room, but I feel that if I fight for it, they will accuse me of being spoiled, since people have been giving me a lot lately much to my actual dismay, or something like that. I can't find the right words to fight back with and what comes out of my mouth doesn't always match what is in my head at the time. That part gets frustrating. So I guess we will have to see how it all turns out.
I am going to try and get some shut eye now. I am going to try and get some stalls done early in the morning so I can get to church on time and not be in a hurry to get back to do stalls. Good night, all!!
