Workin' for the Boss and Beauty Tips...Both Free of Charge

Hello world. So nice to see you on this lovely Tuesday morning! Yesterday was the first day of summer vacation for this family.  Approximately 7 minutes into our first day of  "chillaxing" (chillin' and relaxing) I got an emergency call from the big boss. He went to pump water from the ditch to fill the tanks, but the ditch was... 

dry as a bone.

Pumping water from the ditch= 15 minutes.

Hauling water from the creek = 2 hours.

Since my husband is a welder by day, he didn't have two hours on a Monday to fill the stock tank. So he called in his lovely assistant and ace-in-the-hole, me.

I recruited my top-notch ranch-hands-in-training and we threw some supplies in the truck. After feeding and watering old dogs, the rodent exterminator, chickens, piggies, and the wonder horse, we set off on our assignment.

Who wouldn't hire a crew like this? Especially with our cheese-ball grins?

We drove to the creek...which was barely running, and we submerged our pump into the water. We cranked up the generator and pumped water into the tank in the back of the truck.

Her job is to keep the hose in the tank and watch the water level.

His job is to keep the pump from going down the creek.

My baby's job is to keep a good eye out for toads while simultaneously keeping her finger on a little hole in the hose so it doesn't squirt her brother in the eye.

It's a very precise and complicated operation involving years of training.

They spotted this toad below, and I almost lost control of the whole crew. No one wanted to work any more, they all just wanted to catch the toad..or frog...or amphibian. Whatever it is.

That's the problem with free help. It's so undependable.

 Here I am on top of  tank, waiting for the hose so that I can hook it on the pump and submerge it into the tank to pump the water out.  Exciting stuff, isn't it? You're on the edge of your computer chair right now, aren't you?

Now we have to repeat this process five more times. Drive to the creek, pump water in the tank, drive to the pasture, pump water out of the tank, etc. etc.

Halfway through the job, my crew was getting hot, hungry, and thirsty.

Hungry crew = cranky kids

So for the sake of my sanity, we ceased all operations and immediately went for a slice of pizza and soda at the local hole-in-the-wall pizza joint.

After my ranch-hands were fueled up, they were ready to work again, and re-gained their "top-notch" ranking.

I would like to pause here for a brief beauty tip moment:

If your son takes a random picture of your hand...

If your hand looks like it belongs to an eighty year old cowboy even though you are a 34 year old woman...

If  you do not have money to waste on a manicure that will last 4 1/2 hours...

If you put expensive creams on your hands every day to no avail....

Simply give yourself a 3 minute digital manicure using your favorite photo editing program. I went with a lovely shade of pink for this picture.


Before:

After:

The transformation is complete. It's positively radiant, isn't it? Just kidding.

Today's beauty tip moment is brought to you free of charge by...me.

Let's end this blog, shall we?  As you can see, my team of expert water-haulers got the job done, and done right!

Clear as mud, isn't it?

Don't worry, it will settle out in a few hours.

Go forth and have a productive day, alright?

Your friend forever,

Nellie Belles