What a difference 6 months has made. I haven't worked since May, and I couldn't be happier! There is nothing that I miss about my job (other than seeing my friends everyday). Leaving there made me realize how much I really hated being there, how miserable it was making me, and how much I was missing in my son's life. I know that being a stay-at-home mom isn't for everyone, but it's perfect for me.

I'm still just as busy though- some days I think that I'm too busy. I'm still working on my bachelors degree. I alternate between 1 to 2 classes per semester. I recently switched my major, from Health Informatics to Psychology (with a concentration in children). It's a way better fit for me, and I really love the classes and what I'm learning. I babysit 3 of my great-nieces/nephew during the week. I'm also still working on two different direct sales businesses. Those are going kind of slow though- I tend to put them on the backburner when I get busy. So lately I'm not putting enough time into them at all.

Then, I FINALLY got a chicken coop!! I filled it with 6 chickens. Since that didn't happen until this fall, I couldn't get chicks. Instead I bought 3 pullets, and 3 hens. I love my girls, but I am a little disappointed though. I searched around a lot, and I finally settled on a farm that sounded great. He only raises certain breeds at a time. His flock is NPIP certified and they are all non-medicated and fed organically. Sounded great. So I get there and it wasn't the kind of farm that I expected at all. He had a bunch of birds, but they were in sort of crappy, make-shift cages/areas. It smelled so bad there. But I still went ahead and bought the birds that I wanted because, I'm new at this and what the hell do I know.

So what is the problem? Well, it's been a month now and the girls are still kind of skittish. He is obviously a breeder and these aren't his pets. So they weren't really socialized well. I probably should have waited and bought chicks if I wanted that though. Then, it wasn't until just this week when I got my first egg. Now, I know that chickens stress out easily, and between the move, the change in the flock, the change in season and the change in the amount of daylight it wasn't easy for them- but c'mon!! They are way more spoiled by me than they were previously. They have it pretty easy actually. Anyway, I'm finally getting some eggs- slowly, but surely. The issue now is that I think that only 2 of the hens are laying,  but I should have 3 layers. Then I think one of them is going broody (that's an issue for a different post!), and I'm having trouble getting one of them to lay in the nesting boxes- so she lays her eggs in the middle of the floor. Ugh!

If I had known that I could bathe them, I would have given them a bath right away when I got them,  but now it's really too cold. They really stink from that farm! I was reading an article on bumblefoot, and when I checked my girls, sure enough, one of them had it. I brought her to the vet, but since treating chickens isn't big business, she really had no idea what she was doing. Waste of money!! So I had to do a procedure myself to remove it. Not fun!! She is recovering nicely, but I also noticed a problem with one of her eyes. WTF! She's actually the sweetest one of the bunch and my favorite- so of course, I have her recovering in my basement in a cage. Fingers crossed.

 I'm still such a novice chicken keeper, that I feel a bit over my head. I'm learning everyday though, and I follow some great blogs and websites that have helped me tremendously. I'm getting the hang of it!