manic monday

I can definitely tell it is a Monday.  And in case anyone was wondering, being sick on a Monday, makes everything about being a Monday worse.


We also got our research schedule for the week, which as you may have guessed added to the Mondayness of today.  Our meats group has three different research projects going on this week, it's going to get a little crazy around here!  For one project we will weigh whole product, fabricate steaks, weigh steaks, take pictures of the steaks, trace muscles within the steaks, and prepare samples for WBSF.  Needless to say, all of our knives will get a lot of use this week!


Being a Monday, however, makes me excited for the weekend!  I am heading back to Iowa to attend a meeting with Chasen.  "Spouse's" are invited to attend this weekend, and being his fiance, Chasen has been quite insistent on me going!  So on Friday evening, I am invited to supper as a part of the Ag Leader's Institute through the Iowa Farm Bureau.  From what he has told me, it sounds like a neat opportunity for young farmers and ranchers to enhance their leadership and advocacy skills.  There are four weekend meetings held this spring, and then in the fall Chasen will get to fly to Washington DC to meet with lawmakers that work with ag policy.  How cool is that?!! 


We should be done with the conference by 3:00 on Saturday afternoon, giving us enough time to get back to Knoxville to see the renovation of the barn in the daylight!  This past weekend the barn on Stevenson Farms got re-sided and a barn quilt was hung.  The quilt is a piece of siding from the old hog barn we tore down early this summer.  This fall Tamra painted the Stevenson Farms logo (which I so keenly designed) on the wood, and had the Amish hang it this weekend.  When Chasen mentioned the quilt this morning, I insisted he send me a picture.  After seeing it  I am soooo much more excited to see it in person!

Heading back to the farm, I will also get to see the baby calves born last week.  They should be quite spunky by time I get there, and I must admit I am excited.  Chasen took Roxie back with him yesterday, so she will have all week to bond with the calves as well. The game of tag she plays with them is quite adorable--I will make sure to take lots of pictures!!

All things considered, today has been quite hectic, and the rest of this week is not looking much better.  Needless to say, I will be counting down the hours until my car is east bound!