The Date That Almost Didn't Happen

We shipped the kids off to "Cousins Camp" at Pop Pop and Grandma's house yesterday after church.

No Kids = Date Night!

We leisurely drove back home and had lovely conversation about retirement, team roping and castrating bulls...in that order.  No interruptions. No refereeing fights in the back seat, and we didn't have to answer the question "Why?" even one time.  It felt totally weird.

When we got home, it began to rain hard.  I mean it was a real gully washer, or as they say in Texas, it was a real toad strangler!  While we waited for the rain to let up, we got ready to go out to a nice dinner.  I curled my hair, put on mascara, and wore my nicest boots.

We hopped in the truck and went to feed the critters on our way to dinner.

From here, things went south.

As we walked up to the hogs, being careful not to get our clean pants all muddy, we were appalled to find their entire pen was flooded.  There was nowhere for them to lay down and the whole thing had standing water in it.

The air hissed out of my lungs.  I cringed inwardly, and closed my eyes.

No matter how hard we try, SOMETHING always happens when we want to go on a date!

People who raise livestock will understand what I'm talking about.  If we have some place to be, something will calve, break down a fence, get into the neighbor's pasture, get sick, or some sort of natural disaster will take place.

It's similar to the well known truth that kids never get sick or injured during doctors' business hours, only it's the livestock version.

My husband gave me the look. (You know that look, don't you?)

 I said, "well, lets go home and change."

Upon our arrival, I took off my nice leather boots, and exchanged them for my rubber irrigation boots. I threw my curled hair up in a ponytail and put on a rain slicker.  My defeated husband did the same.  We grabbed some shovels and mechanically put our supplies in the back of the truck without a word.

While we were knee high in muddy water and pig poop, we were receiving these pictures on our phone of our kids living the life of leisure:

They attended tea parties and camp-outs with cousins while mom and dad worked in the driving rain.

Conversation was tense in the pig pen.  There were few words spoken, and most of them were in the form of orders.  We dug draining trenches, hauled in sand, shoveled mud, and all the while, it was raining and lightning was cracking around us.

Isn't that a romantic date?

When the pigs finally had a dry shelter, we loaded up our tools and got back in the truck. 

It was now 7:00pm.

My husband looked over at me, and said, "Do you want to just go to dinner with our irrigation boots on?"

WHAT? 

No.

I suggested that we just go through a drive-thru, but in the end, we went home and changed boots.  The curl was no longer in my wet hair, but we went out to the restaurant anyway, and had a lovely late-night dinner none the less.

We didn't get to catch a flick, but who needs a movie when your real life is this exciting?!? Just kidding.

This morning, Hank and Beulah came to greet me, no worse for the wear. And by the look on their faces, I'd say they don't mind the mud one bit! Dare I say that they are actually enjoying a spa day with a mud bath.  Their pen is already starting to dry very well, and we averted yet another crisis around here.

Once again, this quote seems to sum up the day:

" for I know the joys and discomforts of agricultural life and hold an inborn fondness for those associations which, even in hours of discouragement I cannot deny." -FFA Creed

BWAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!!!! 

Ya, that quote is a bunch of hog wash! Get it...hog wash?

(Is this thing on...?)

Hogs and kisses,

Nell