u/Dismal_Resolve_9398

For fun, this will either increase or decrease your end of year morale, go to the BLS inflation calculator, enter your starting salary and year and compare to most recent. Does your current salary keep up with, surpass, or fall behind inflation? Have you switched districts, get more certification/credits, or move states to affect it?

I’ll go first. After a decade, I am 7k behind inflation thanks to moving to WI. If I stayed at my first district in a neighboring state, I’d be 15k above my inflated OG salary. I know that because they post public salary scales. Unfortunately my current district does not do salary scales so I think I’m stuck lagging behind for a while. My masters, when I finish, will get me a whopping two grand increase on my base salary.

New ducklings are making me reconsider my flock keeping routine-

I have had chickens all my life as I grew up on a farm. With my husband, we did our own small flock on our hobby farm the last decade of just chickens. We added two ducks a few years ago at our kids' requests. We keep water outside, food inside, close them up in coop (predator proof) at night. Automatic door and I always double check they are in before bed. In the winter, the water is outside covered by a doghouse on a water heater block. We live where winters have weeks of below zero nights. The coop gets a secure hanging light in winter. Our ducks love going in the coop at night for winter. Now with warm weather, they try to stay outside but I easily herd them in before bed. However, we got three ducklings, now old enough to join flock. This is the first week they are with flock as they are almost full sized. I keep a small container of water in coop overnight, enough they have some but not enough to make a royal mess. The ducklings like to go into the coop, the red light is still there for them. The two big ducks now keep trying to sleep out in the run (we have a dog cage enclosure maybe 10'x15' that is predator resistant but not predator proof to smaller animals AND we have that connected to a very large grass pen for them that is fenced in, but right now they are off it as the spring grass fills).

My two concerns- I worry the two adult ducks will convince the little ducks to try to be outside sleepers and herding them in will be harder. The other thing, we travel a lot over summer and holidays because I am from out-of-state to see my family. We have someone check animals during the day but historically have not had someone have to close in the coop as the chickens and two adult ducks got pretty good at going in at night. When we travel, they are closed off the grass pasture and only do coop/run. Honestly the two adult ducks may have skipped the coop overnight now and then but nothing happened. But with more ducks I worry more predators will be attracted and there's more of a chance someone will get stuck outside when the auto door closes.

So I am looking for advice especially when we are away:

1. Try really hard to train the ducks to go in and hope they do so- maybe using camera closer to run area (we do have Ring cameras) and alerting neighbor if any ducks are still outside and shoo them in (possible as one neighbor is always home- in fact she is where we got the ducklings from- but this would be a frequent need and do not want to annoy or misuse her goodwill and help). Maybe for some trips start getting a niece or nephew (now teenagers) to stay overnight and check before bed.
2. Predator proof the dog pen run. This is possible with the 1/4 inch hardware cloth. Would really have to work on the seams, skirting, door area. My husband would probably curse my name the entire time. Could be great solution for if ducks get closed out, they are still decently protected. Would be a better long term sustainable solution. Would still encourage them into coop night routine.
3. Build a separate, smaller pen and coop just for ducks when we travel that is totally predator proof. Make it an easier design to cover in hardware cloth. Let the chickens have the run and coop with auto door as they abide by that well. Let the ducks be in or out within their new enclosure as they wish.

Thanks!!

I have lived in four different states. The closet between states/towns I have lived in is 500 miles. So all are far enough apart there is no quick weekend visits or meet ups. It hits me hard sometimes that all friends and family my first 30 years of life (besides the family I made with my husband) are far away. Each state was a distinct time of life: 1. Childhood/College. 2. First big move/job/adventures on my own. 3. Married and mostly pre-kids. 4. Current as a young family.

My husband has also lived in four states (including our mutual ones) but now we are back in his home state the last few years. I find one thing that bugs me is the constant missing. Of places I am nostalgic for and people I miss. My parents getting older. I have new nieces and nephews. Friends I rarely see now. Places I used to enjoy going as a child that I cannot readily share with my own children, etc. I am not depressed, but feel like that one certain area of my life is depressing. My husband doesn't understand. He got his homecoming.

He know gets to reconnect with old friends. He does 1-1 things with siblings and their kids regularly. He reconnected with people from college and high school. He continued hobbies as normal and gets to do concerts with his dad, fishing with his BIL, sports with his friends. Whereas I have not hung out with an adult friend in the few years we have been here without it being a kid/mom playdate. I miss most opportunities to see my childhood best friend because she also lives out of state (other continent!) and our times of visiting home/parents have not aligned the last few years. I miss special events with my side of the family. My closet friends in adulthood from my last town are far away and I only see them 1-2x a year.

I just feel constantly nostalgic. And where my husband also misses old places and friends, he has so much he got to return to. He also does not have to shoulder the travel stress and distance guilt (I tell him every year- you pick the flights and weeks to see my family, and coordinate with almost a dozen different households for plans of people to see!). It's expensive. I am lucky quite a few friends and family visit me again and again no matter where I move. But it is always a lot of work and effort. My husband just doesn't understand and I feel like he gets so much and I sacrifice so much. (I could also make a post of how overbearing my MIL and SILs have been since we had kids and how even though we live close to them now, time is never enough and it's all about them. Screw my family we hardly see!).

I am not looking for questions on why we moved here. There are a lot of reasons logistically, even though personally it is not ideal for me. Any solidarity and or success stories if you have been in similar situations would be great. Thanks.