wasn’t sure if I should title this one
“In the bag” or “Teeth and ticks”
either would be fitting…
throughout our years together
May has proven to be our busiest month of the year
this year has been no different
and actually, may have been our busiest ever
Cowboy Dan cut our first field of hay down last Monday
beautiful, thick, sweet smelling hay
while the camps are “calling all counselors”
getting ready to start summer camp
and need lots and lots of horses shod
hayfield to shoe to feed store and back
Cowboy Dan’s been riding the yo-yo all week
meanwhile back at the ranch, momma’s still got a BAAAD toothache/gum-ache!
& the rascals have been savoring every moment of summer
until Wed night
when getting ready to shower
Tuck ran to me and said
“Momma, daddy needs your help. Jake’s got a seed in his belly button”
“a seed?”
I entered the bathroom to find Mighty Mouse pinned under Cowboy Dan
tweezers in hand
turned out “seed” was code name for “tick” that had apparently been munching on my baby’s belly for a few days!
YUCK, YUCK, YUCKO
Cowboy Dan is a 10 at many, many things
retrieving a fat, happy tick out of our DISTRESSED, lil rascal’s inney belly button
is not one of them
so, momma took over
first try,
the tick was in the bag
literally
I put it in a baggie just in case Mighty Mouse developed any symptoms…
Thursday evening made that scenario
seem like a walk in the park
Cowboy Dan left the store and headed to the field to get a head-start
sister banker gathered part of the herd of rascals after she got off work
and I brought the rest after closing the store at 5
sister’s always prepared
knowing they’d be hungry
she’d packed a bag of snacks for the kiddos
chips and dip included
the herd, sitting on the back of the trailer
gathered for the feast
sister opened her lunch bag only to find the glass jar of dip had gotten broken on the way
‘Sorry kiddos, no dip. It’s been broken. Chips only”
the herd “aawe, man!”
once they were fed and settled
I got on the raking tractor
sister went to drive the truck for the guys to load the hay
both of us instructing the herd to play in the hall of the barn until we got back
all was well
I raked a few rows and then stopped by to check on the kids
when I noticed the bag with THE DIP was OPEN
and half the DIP in the BROKEN, GLASS JAR was GONE!!!!!
me, trying not to panic, “who ate the dip??”
crickets.
“WHO ATE THE DIP?!!!!”
Tuck, “well mom, we did.”
trying not PANIC at the thought of glass being in my children and my niece’s gut
I say, “well, that was not a good idea. I told you not to eat the dip because there was GLASS IN THE DIP!!!!!!!!!”
“DID YOU TASTE OR FEEL GLASS SON?!”
“no mam, we sure did not.”
so, who knows, if they ate glass chips or not?!?! I sure don’t.
so I’m on poop watch and will be for the next several days….
that was within the first half hour upon arrival
by 8 pm we had a couple of trailers full of the
sweet smelling, HEAVY, HEAVY hay loaded and were headed home
when one of our helpers took a sharp left
running the trailer up on a stump
puncturing a whole in the tire bending the rim of the wheel
under the heaviest load of hay.
nope, I’m not kidding.
While the fellas were getting a plan
resting a minute on the bumper
I asked sister to check out my sore spot on my gum (the spot that’s been tormenting me for weeks!)
without hesitation, because we’re close like that
I open to say “ahhhhhhh” and she says “yep, it looks different!”
I said “it feels sharp”
and just as I was about to open for her to take a second look
I felt it!!!
flick out of my gum
a SPLINTER OF BONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
in. to. my. mouth.
in a cold sweat, I almost threw up in my mouth!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
leaning over in the headlights
trying to catch my breath
on a dirt road in the middle of the night
broke down with a trailer FULL of hay
I felt immediate relief.
whew……THANK YOU LORD!
(if you missed the first part of this tooth/gum dilemma you can read it here)
(and yes, I have the bone splinter in a baggie and yes, I ‘m taking it for show and tell to my dentist next week)
by then it was 830 & after much discussion sister and I decided to
leave the bigs guys with the flat and the spare
and take our little herd of rascals (5 deliriously sleepy kids)
we had finished eating just before 9 when
Cowboy Dan called and said
“we’re going to unload. You going to help?”
“yes dear, I will.”
by nine the trailer
with what seemed like a gazillion square bales of hay was backed into the barn
with 5 beyond, delirious kids climbing around like monkeys
ready to “help”
in it to win it
we finished by a quarter til 10
straight in to shower
ready to collapse
when I spotted a spotted tick on Cowboy Dan’s back
tweezers in hand
I removed the SPOTTED TICK
and yep, you guessed it
it’s in the bag.
have a blessed day,
k
ps..no, I don’t make this stuff up
ps.s.
I’d love to hear a little about your crazy life :O) feel free to share a little madness in comments