Catching Up and Catching Fish

Where to start?

Our driveway is passable again. With all the spring run-off flooding the fields around our house, water started to go over our gravel road, so we had to trench it. Deep and wide, deep and wide, there was trench across our road deep and wide...okay, I'll stop now. It's filled in now and we don't have to park the Jeep, jump a creek, and walk a 1/4 mile just to get home!

We've ordered the seeds for our garden. I'm not going to say how much we spent, but Brandon probably should have culled a few items before I confirmed the order. I'm not sure we really needed 3 kinds of radishes, peas, beans and lettuce. We probably didn't need 2 kinds of pumpkin and watermelon seeds either. OH WELL...We'll see which of each grows best in our climate!

Brandon and I took the boys fishing on Saturday. I haven't been fishing for a couple years, which is really sad since my husband is a fishing guide. But, I wanted to go with Brandon and Elijah, so I got a fishing license. Actually, what happened is that while I was getting the boys ready to go, Brandon pulled up the ND Game and Fish website and typed in all my info and printed off my fishing license for me. When it got to the part about my height and weight, Brandon asked, "You're 5'4'', right?" Yeah. "And 150lbs, right?" Uh, NO! I told him what to put in, but he kept joking about the 150 (okay, so he knows what I weigh and it's not even close to 150). So, I told him that if he put in 150, I'll eat my 'weigh' there. Haha. We had a good laugh about it.

I know the really big deal about fishing on Saturday is that Elijah, being of sound mind and body, at the sweet young age of TWO, caught his very first fish ever...that is a big deal. But, since no one else will tell you this, I'm going to. The other big deal about fishing on Saturday is that I caught 3 fish myself and, get this...actually took 2 of them off the hook all by myself--And they were Northern Pike! Can you see how mean and ugly Northerns are? They have like 30 million teeth--SHARP teeth! I am the woman! (Okay, so maybe it's not such a big deal...I, Joy Wegener, being of sound mind and body, at the uh...sorta young, sorta old age of 27, took my own Northern Pike off my own hook for the first time. Naaahh, it just doesn't have the same ring to it.)

Now, if you're wondering why I didn't take the first Northern off myself, well, it was because the stupid fish swallowed the hook, then twisted around so that the leader was wrapped around it a couple times. Then, to top it off, (and I'm not joking) the fish bit a dead cattail next to shore and it wouldn't let go! So, obviously, I'm gonna let Brandon take care of that one.

I do have to admire that Northern. At least he wasn't complacent. "Okay, here I am. Yes, take the hook out. Okay, now keep me for supper. Woe is me. I'm done for."

Lately, I've had the feeling that life is just happening to me--like so many things are out of my control. Can you relate? You're just swimming along, minding your own business, and wham! Something is taking you somewhere you don't want to go and no matter what you do to fight it, you're still being dragged toward it. Well, my friend, when you get pulled out of the water, just bite a cattail. But, seriously...don't give up yet! It might not be as bad as it looks. We did let the fish go.