Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz....

That must be the sound following me these days...because I am a busy bee.

I am hitting 3 weeks of non-stop, planned days, lots of unexpected mini-crises, and tasks with deadlines. I am thankful for good rest at night (for the most part) and a joyful, abiding heart during the day (for the most part). I can tell the Lord is sustaining our family. At this point I should admit that I wish He would have sustained a clean house too : ). No really, He has provided, sustained, and maintained us. I am thankful, humbled, and trusting.

After the birthday crazies and the wild fire crazies things just kept on rolling. I was able to spend quality time with my girls' Bible study last week and then have a play date as well. On Saturday I spent hours finding items around my house to sell at a flea market in our little town's Labor Day celebration. I was pulling things off of the walls, out of cabinets, off the hangers in the closet, etc. I cleaned, priced, sorted, and loaded a large assortment of our home's dust collecting stuff. What a cleansing experience to get it out of the house!

Sunday we loaded up the truck and trailer and headed 2 hours down the highway to the sale barn with a load of cattle. We had semi load as well and The Prairie Daddy hauled the ones that couldn't fit on the semi. On the way home while The Prairie Kid was napping we snuck in a game of mini-golf and he woke up in perfect time for some ice cream. This was the only chance we had to celebrate our 7th wedding anniversary which was September 1.

On Monday, our anniversary, I headed to town for the flea market while The Prairie Boys stayed back to man the ranch. I had a great day and sold some items that I had been itching to sell for quite a while. One of those was the dress I had made for a rodeo pageant back in college. I was THRILLED to sell it to a sorta local rodeo queen. I hope she'll follow up with me and send me some pictures online of how she looks in the dress and how she does.

That evening I figured that there would be some nice TV time together to just relax. Who was I kidding? The Prairie Daddy had to go out and check cows around 6:30. At this point I called my mom and said "well, you know I've come a long way as a rancher's wife when I am not upset that he's out working on our anniversary. A couple years ago I would have been bawling."

Then he called to tell me there were problems. And then called again to say there was a cow that is having major birthing problems and the vet was on his way.

At 8:30 The Prairie Kid and I headed to the barn to join the "party." When we got there I was asked to hold open a gate and when I took my post it was just the right time. Right time for what, you ask? To see the vet take his scalpel and slice the side of the numbed, shaved cow about a foot long. This was my first ever cow c-section that I was witnessing. I wondered for a moment if I could handle it...and then realized #1 she is numb, #2 I was fascinated! I proceeded to watch them reach inside her, find her calf's feet, and pull him out. I am sorry to report the calf was already dead but the mom will be fine. And, we have a bum calf that we can let her have as her own.

After stitching her up it was time to go home. I was surprised to see the c-section take place in the cow's side because I hadn't ever pictured anything different than a human c-section. I found a not-too-gross picture for you to see what it was like. This is not our photo but one I found online to show you:

Yesterday I was really excited to go to the dentist and get a cavity filled. Woo-hoo! Actually, it wasn't too bad. I am sure that cow is in a lot more pain than I am!

I have an adventure to share with you soon but time does not permit it now because I just heard The Prairie Daddy pull in for lunch.