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REALLY. Hard. stuff.

I'm sitting by Reagan's crib, holding her hand as she falls asleep. It's nearly 10:00 pm, but she had a late nap. And she climbs out of her crib, so I'm opting for this solution tonight. 

I hate pigs. I already did, but I do even more after tonight. 

The county fair starts this weekend, and they needed to have a vet bill of health before they could enter the fairgrounds. (Christopher and Derek are raising 4-H hogs). So, they needed loaded into a trailer to go visit the vet for a few minutes. 

I went out to take pictures. They'd already been trying for a while, and I'd fed the little kids and hid inside as long as I dared. 

I didn't get a single picture and ended up jumping in to help. 

These pigs are big. And stinky. And gross. AND dumb. 

It took FOREVER to get them in- plus help from friends who already had their pigs in a trailer. (I kid you not, after two hours of squealing, fighting and snarling George literally walked up the ramp, into their trailer to join their pigs. 😠) 

I was wearing sandals (my bad, I know- but remember, I was planning to take pictures!) I stepped in fresh poop. Then one of the pigs stepped on my toe.

Then I cried. My toe was fine, really. I cried because I hate hard work, stinky pigs, and doing things out of my comfort zone. 

I am not one to persevere gracefully. 

Thankfully, Brant knew I'd reached a limit and said I should go help Anna (who was standing naked on the back steps of the house- she'd had an accident and taken her swim suit off). 

I happily went inside to help her, and turned on a cartoon for the little kids (we have cousins over). I texted back and forth with our save-the-day-friends, and then headed back out. 

I survived it! 

But, you know what impressed me even more? My boys! My husband. And my amazing sister-in-law. They were right there, fighting the whole time. They never gave up. They tried over and over and over again to succeed at their quest. 

And I found myself proud to be in their company. 

I heard Kayla say, "We're having a lesson in perseverance tonight" as she grabbed a board and blocked the charge of a raging mad pig 3 X's her weight. And we did.

Life is stinky. Life can be hard. And sometimes it hurts. It wears us down, knocks us over and makes us cry. But tonight, I learned that we can keep fighting. 

Oh, how much I hated it. I really, really did.

I hope my boys will remember it though. And how they stuck it out. And how proud I am of them. 

And the next time I eat bacon, I am REALLY going to enjoy it. 

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  1. NaDellJuly 29, 2020 at 10:54 PM

    Oh man! What a night!
    No wonder you posted what you did on Insta!
    We all have special talents and I think it takes special talent to notice when herding pigs into a trailer isn't someone else's talent and have the wisdom to let them step away. And it's another talent to keep trying and figuring it out in different ways.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tina CrowtherJuly 30, 2020 at 7:14 AM

      Yes, Brant is very talented at knowing when I've reached a breaking point. And I appreciate your perspective! I'm getting better at branching out, but I'm usually much more comfortable taking care of babies than doing "hard" work.

      Delete
  2. Mellissa July 29, 2020 at 10:58 PM

    That sounds crazy! I am impressed you took the pigs on. Lol

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tina CrowtherJuly 30, 2020 at 7:14 AM

      You should've seen Kayla! She was a beast out there!

      Delete
  3. MaryJuly 30, 2020 at 5:48 AM

    Oh Girl! I totally get it! Grandpa has some advice for you.

    Brings back so many memories of showing hogs and steers at the fair. Dad used to put a 5 gallon bucket over their head and back them up into the pickup. Sometimes we got down to the last one and all the others came crashing out. About 60 years ago Gordon was helping the neighbor load pigs and knocked out a front tooth after he ran into a protruding board He wore a fake one the rest of his life

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tina CrowtherJuly 30, 2020 at 7:15 AM

      Yikes! I am very happy to say nobody lost a tooth! And oh that would be so frustrating to have them all escape again! 😠

      Delete
    2. RebeccaJuly 30, 2020 at 3:40 PM

      Not fun. I am sorry for the frustration of all. Personally I have thought about getting pigs and one of the things I found as I considered and researched was the idea if you even need to load pigs, because no matter the reason for pigs you normally need to load them to transport at some point... supposedly an "easy" way, is to take their food away the night before, then the next day back up the trailer and when it is all set, toss food in the trailer and watch them run for it and close the door fast :) Good luck to you all, in all your adventures

      Delete

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