Peaceful morning

After the week of too little sleep, and too much exhaustion I was sincerely dreading getting out of bed this morning.  I even slept in until 7:00 am, and when my alarm went off, rapidly followed by the dual brays of the donkeys, I dragged my weary ass out of bed and plodded around the house getting ready to go do the deed.  The best surprise was that it turned into one of those mornings of fantastic achievement.  The kids stayed up late last night so were all still asleep, and the hubby who has been very sick this week was still abed.  It became my morning, with no rush to get it all done and hoof it out the door to work.  I turned on Pandora on the I-pod, stuck it in my back pocket, and started to enjoy everything!  Visions of accomplishment in my head!

Pre-setting at night for an easy morning has got to be one of the smartest things we ever started doing - after the evening feeding, I measure the morning feed into coffee containers and put on the lids so that when they are all demanding to be fed, it's a fast process.  Decaf canister is for the donkeys, the blue one is for the kids, and the red one is for the first milking doe.  (She's a pill, by the way.)  The second doe to be milked is the only one I have to measure for in the morning. 

After the feeding and milking were done, I even had time to stay out and play with them.  Walked my sweet donkey girls out to the pasture, and scratched the baby goats.  Every time I get my hands on Balvenie, our now 3 month old doeling, I make a point of petting her everywhere including her baby teats.  It's all in the hope that she will not be like her mama and act the terror on the milking stand! 

Back in the house I discovered that the entire family was still asleep!  After filtering the milk, and unloading the dishwasher I fed the dogs and decided it was time to start a batch of cheese.  Still no family awakenings.  The milk is warming now, and I've just enough time to finish this and pour another cup of coffee before I need to go tend it.

Only other mom's would appreciate this, perhaps, but I felt so alive and capable this morning with everyone still asleep and accomplishment in my pocket!  Now, I'm ready for them to be awake, and feel like I can be Mom and Wife with a smile.