Different start and end to this day!!!

[JD Seller]

Over the weekend the boys and I pushed the pencil around on what we felt we could give for feeder calves an still make anything. So this morning I worked on finding any calves that would work for us. I was busy with the land line and my cell phone at times. I bid on cattle from Virginia to North Dakota. Then on top of that the boys where calling me every 10-15 minutes to see if I had found any yet. LOL So all in all it was a very hectic morning dealing with some very serious business.

This evening the DIL asked me if I would watch my Grand sons while she goes to eat with some of her school friends that happened to be in town tonight. My son is out of town this week welding on a bridge in MN somewhere. They are going to another friend's house when she gets off work.

So I went to watch the grandsons. They where driving my DIL crazy as she was visiting with her friend before they went out. You know the drill looking at old pictures and year books an all. The Grand sons wanted to monopolize "Mom's" attention. LOL

So I grabbed up the boys and told them we where going to make "homemade" brownies. They looked at me like I was from Mars. LMAO The youngest said "Grand Pa you can't cook your a man and plus your too old" Little RUNT!!!! LOL

So we rounded up all the fixins and made a double batch of brownies. I probably broke several Health department rules. Plus I let the boys "lick" the spoon, bowl and spatula. I know they will never be right again from eating a raw egg in the batter. LOL

They are now in bed after getting a warm "homemade" brownie covered with Ice cream in a bowl along with a cool glass of WHOLE milk.

Guys I have to tell you that doing that with them just cancelled out all the stress from earlier in the day. It took me back to when I was their size and My Grand Mothers showed me how to make brownies. Yep I got to lick the mixing spoon then. Then later making them with my children while their Mother watched from her chair when she was too sick to do it with them. (Darn screen is getting blurry) LOL

I am setting here waiting on the DIL to get home. We will eat a brownie and talk about how her visit went. Then I will go home and sleep without worrying about the cattle. I know we will survive whatever happens with the calves/steers.

The important stuff finishes things off for the day!!!!

 

[Wayne in MN]

You have your priorities just right!

 

[David G]

Thanks for the smiles, its been a tough day here.

 

[jeremy in NE]

Glad to hear you are taking advantage of the opportunities. It's always good to teach them, guys can cook too. Good luck with the cattle.

 

[pete 23]

Kind of like the post the other day where the guy left his field of oats, ready to combine, and go pickup an old cub cadet for a WW2 vet. When he got home it started raining so no combining today but he felt good about his deed.

 

[JWalker]

JDSeller,
thank you for your story. Last year I made the difficult decision to cut way back on my farming (i have full time off farm job). I have two sons and realized I needed to spend more time with them. I now have more oppertunities for those special everyday moments. I take most ever chance I have to spend time with them. I am trying to teach each one of them in most everything I do. In the last two weeks I have had them help install doorknobs on closets, worm cows in the squeeze shut, and burn trash safley. While these may seem like "choeres" to some I have had their attention and time. They have had my attention and time. I have noticed a difference in my oldest sons everyday demeanor.

I have said all this to make this point. Our time with the younger generation is very valuable. We get a lot out of it and I know they get a lot out of it.

Thank you for your post.

 

[Grampy]

I know what you mean, went to town today with my grandsons ( 18 and 21 yrs. ) All of us had some appointments and errands to run. Had a late breakfast together, ran our errands and stopped at a fancy coffee place before we drove home. Wouldn't trade this day for anything. At their age, it's not to often we can just 'hang out' together.

 

[flying belgian]

My wife takes care our 4 grandchildren (ages 5-9?) every Monday in the summer. I am usually busy farming and today I had to repair the swather and an auger. I just got started when I noticed they were digging trenches and running the garden hose in it for rivers and lakes. They found some old plywood pieces and were building a village for their toy trucks around the rivers. I threw down the wrenches and picked up a shovel and joined them. Played in the mud with them most of the day. And you know what? After they went home I still got my jobs done. They are only young for a short time. Need to stop and smell the roses.

 

[SweetFeet]

Great story, JD Seller!

I hope you are saving the stories you write into one folder for your kids/grandkids to read one day.

 

[730 virgil]

yea those little ones grow up why to fast tall kid will be 30 on new year's day how did that happen?
seems like yesterday i was trying to figure how to get his mom to hospital in middle of a blizzard.
oh by the way yesterday mrs 730 and i celebrated our 11th anniversary and our birthdays.
yea we have same birthday and year i'm about 18 hours older than her.

 

[JerryS]

Sweetfeet, I don't if he saves them, but I do. Some great stories.

 

[JD Seller]

Sweetfeet: They hear me BS all of the time. Their ears are probably wore out by now. LMAO.

I have written down most of the stories I know about the generations before me. Many of those stories are only known by me anymore. Dad just does not remember much of it and my Mother never listened/paid attention to them. I am also 7 years older then my closest sibling. Then the next is fifteen years younger than I am. They where too young to remember much of our Great Grand parents.

What I find fascinating is that the girls from Vietnam are the ones most interested in the old family stories. I guess they want to know all they can about their adopted family.

 

[showcrop]

A few years back, well maybe more than a few, calves were going for so little money that a dairy farmer built a little pen and put it out by the road with a male calf and FREE sign on the pen. At the end of the day he went back to see if it was gone and found that he had two more.

 

[Sparktrician]

JDSeller, you are a good man. It is the simple things in life that make the stress go away, even if only for a little bit.

My daughter is only 15.5 months old, and even the worst day is made better when I come in the house and soon as she sees me she starts "dada, dada, dada". Playing with her makes it all worth while.

Sounds like the activity with the grandkids is good therapy for you too, brings back good memories, and some not so good, but that's part of it.

 

[Dick2]

Kinda sounds like those boys are over-anxious to jump into a risky market. My theory on such things is that I want to go where the other fellas ain't.

 

[Nancy Howell]

I STILL lick the spoon or the bowl!!!

 

[SDE]

I make homemade waffles. My girlfriend "used" to eat EGGO Waffles, but not anymore. I got her spoiled.
SDE

 

[DENNIS MIN]

JD,

RAw eggs?! how did I live past eating them?

D.

 

[SweetFeet]

JD Seller,

I really think you should type them up in Word and then paste them into your posts here... so you can save them. Someday those kids and grandkids will enjoy reading them.

Both my parents are gone now... and there are so many questions I'd still like to ask them. And sadly, so many stories that I did NOT commit to memory as well as I should have.

 

[SweetFeet]

Jerry S,

I agree - they are really good stories.

 

[jennifer408]

now if anyone ever accuses you of not being a lucky SOB, you can just snicker at em.

 

[Tim in OR]

Its extremely hard to beat Grandpa time. It always makes me smile.