I have been gone for three days.  Lauren was left in charge of the farm.  And what a time she had in my absence. 

Starting off she had the roof problem to deal with, a couple of basketball size holes in the roof from the limb that fell during the storm last weekend.  Then she had the total care and feeding of the horses, dogs and cats.  Plus we are going to a horse show this weekend so the horses have to worked and polished.

First, Lauren does not like meeting new people.  She likes to leave all the adult interaction to me.  But this week, she had two roofing contractors come to house to give bids on the roof damage.  I understand that it can be uncomfortable to be 19 years old, a female, and alone in a house in the country with men you do not coming into your home.  I get that.  But Lauren hates it.  She had to do it because I wasn’t there.  She was fine.  One guy wanted to talk all about her horses and her riding.  She thought it was a little creepy but I think he was just enjoying talking to a pretty girl on a summer day. 

After the roofing contractors came and went, the insurance adjustor had to come and view both the outside of the house (which was pretty safe) and the inside (to see the water damage) which was not.  She was glad to close and lock the door when they all were gone. 

Lauren’s snake!

On Monday, to liven things up for her, she found Chloe (our favorite cat) playing with a snake.  Not just a snake, but a big snake and we think it is a copperhead.  Feel free to educate me if I am wrong.  She tried to take the shovel to it and kill it but had to contend with getting the cat away.  Oh, and there was the whole Lauren is scared to DEATH of SNAKES!  So, I am not surprised she didn’t get it killed.  She was far too worried that she would cut off its tail and it would swing around and bite her.  The next day she texted me to say that she had gotten a shot gun from her boyfriend, Blake, and was going to shoot the snake.  That scared me more than her getting attacked by the roofer guys or bit by the snake.  Lauren with a gun was not my favorite visual as I sat in training in Oklahoma. 

The next thing I know, Lauren texts me to tell me Blake is having her fire a semi-automatic weapon.  This did not bring great joy and assurance to me.  I was worried about the shot-gun.  I have little regard for the recreational use of a semi-automatic weapon.  I know there are those that will disagree. 

Finally, yesterday Dr. Criner, our vet, came.  She was going to follow up with Leo (which by the way, I had sent her a text saying “F/U Leo” and she called me to ask why I was mad at her-the F/U was follow up not some other acronym) and his chiropractic needs. Also she had to do dental work on Leo and Feather.  For Dr. Criner, and Lauren, by extension as her helper, dental work on horses involves the old-fashioned method of filing down the rough edges of the horse’s teeth.  Dr. Criner insists on client involvement, whereby once she has the horse suitably drugged and their mouth propped open, she has the owner feel the edges of the horse’s teeth.  Feather’s bottom teeth were so sharp that they were causing swelling of her upper mouth.  Leo’s were horrible-sharp and overgrown plus he had TMJ and needed his jaw chiropracticed (not kidding here). 

After Dr. Criner did her process of filing the teeth and rinsing, Lauren was asked to put her hand back in the horse’s mouth to feel the newly filed teeth.  If your vet does not offer this option you are missing out-I mean really, how do you know they are doing what should be done?  This process also involves Lauren holding up the horse’s head (easily 80 pounds) while the dental work is done.  Because of the anesthetic the head just bobbles away.  Of course, the heat index was over 100 degrees, so all and all this was pretty great.  Dr. Criner did the hard physical work of filing while Lauren was the head-holding dental assistant.  The last patient of day was my old horse Kid.  He has had a lot of drainage from his eyes.  He needed an irrigation of the sinus and eye.  I think we completely lost Lauren when the syringe went in Kid’s eye.

I am proud of my daughter.  What a crazy three days.  I bet she won’t want me to leave again any time soon.  Sometimes it is good for your children to appreciate you.  Likewise, it is good for them to learn-inspite of anything that comes up- that they can handle things on their own.

Other update-I have not been able to reach my mom much this week.  There is a problem with the phone.  But I did learn Jim was in trouble for driving his new SUV on the sidewalk.  The greatest news was that my cousin Lu Ann got to Denver to see my mom this week.  I think it was therapeutic for both of them.  Lu Ann is one of the warmest, dearest people on earth and she truly brightened my mother’s life.  It was a little ironic that I was in Oklahoma while Lu Ann was visiting my mom.  She no longer lives in Oklahoma but I think it will always be home for her.