Hop in the Truck and Let's Talk and Sight See!

Hop in the truck and let me tell ya a little story about this week and we can go sight seeing. I try to stay positive, but I'm human...Earlier in the week, I was in a really bad mood, wanted to just throw in the towel and give it all up. I mean I did, but not really. Blame it on hormones or stress / anxiety... I don't know. I can usually take the heat, but this week has seemed suffocatingly hot. As in sit in front of the a/c, grab the junk mail and fan yourself, turn on all the fans and still HOT! Add in a bad mood and the worst headache, I couldn't function or see straight for a couple days. Finally, Thursday afternoon I got some relief and things looked clear again...Hallelujah!

So this morning we headed out to the farm to haul some calves to market... We had dog treats and leash cuz our girl insisted upon going to the farm and helping, donkey treats, feathers, sunglasses, keys, lots of water, and a thermos of ice tea. 

Things went really well sorting and loading the calves... Whew, that was a blessing in itself! We were loaded and trucking on down the road... 

...pop, boom, spew... busted flat in the middle of nowhere-ville. There wasn't a good shoulder, but fortunately as asphalt driveway was just up the hill and Jeff got the truck pulled over and started working on changing the tire. 

Look at the audience we had! When we stopped, 11 of the prettiest mules I've ever seen came running up to the fence beside us! So I focused on the positive, instead of being negative Nancy and worrying and stressing over our situation. 

I took a few pictures and admired our spectators. Attitude...I was determined to not stress. 

Now we don't have a spare tire per say, but on a dual wheel truck, we were able to take off a back tire to move to the front. All was going well, till the break over broke trying to get the very last lug nut off. True story. Jeff tried a few other things, but it just wasn't happening. We each made a phone call and help came and brought us some more tools! Whew, let's point out the fact that we are thankful for cell phone service at that particular point, because 10 miles down the road is the dead zone. No call or text will go through for several miles.

Now remember me being hot this week? Well, on my junkin' run Thursday morning, I found two of the old timey funeral home hand fans. I grabbed two and even though it wasn't near as hot today, I  made sure one was in the truck this morning. We were all thankful for that little fan today!

We finally got back on the road again and got our calves delivered safely! 

Then it was pumpkin pie blizzard time!!! Ahhh, this is why Trixie thinks she has to go with us whenever the trailer goes to the farm. Hauling cattle almost always involves a stop at the Dairy Queen for ice cream! (Really she just likes going to the farm any time, although she's more insistent when the trailer gets hooked up.)

We always carry water, some sort of snacks (beef jerky, nuts, fruit), and this morning I made an extra thermos of ice tea, so we were extra thankful for those provisions since we were delayed a couple hours. Trixie even has her own bottle of water when she goes with us. We got gas and found a tire shop and got a new-used tire on the truck. We had never stopped at that tire shop, but we will go back - super nice guy working by himself with reasonable prices and great customer service. Jeff said he was glad our paths crossed with him. 

Today could have been super stressful, but it really wasn't. I'm working hard on mind set / focusing on the good and not letting the little things get me down like they did earlier in the week. I've been told to relax and prop my feet up a little more...so I'm on the couch with my feet up, blogging and working on graphics tonight and listening to the Friday Night Scoreboard on the radio (Jeff turns it on every Friday night and it seems to put him to sleep every. single. time!) On the days that I know we are hauling livestock, I usually leave the whole day open, just in case something happens. If we get finished early, that's bonus time and I can work on another project, so I wasn't stressed because I wasn't missing any deadlines. It all worked out...thankful, grateful, blessed. 

And I'm not planning on throwing in the towel and closing my shop! I'm actually in the research and planning stages of expansion...