a good ole Texas workday

I'm not sure if I've ever fully explained the deal with my job, aside from referencing how awesome it is. Half of it takes place in the office, typical doldrums of helping my bosses stay organized. That's all fine and well - I have a great view of trees and free range on the Internet, so I can't complain. The other part of my job is to manage one boss' family's vacation home, which is on a river about 45 minutes away. It's an incredible piece of property, lots of open ranch-land, huge trees, deer, cows, turkeys, four-wheelers, swimming holes, cliffs, etc., and that's not even touching on the house (and the new addition we just spent the last year building). 

My boss and I go out at least once a month to work on various projects, and sometimes we get distracted. Like a few weeks ago, when I realized someone in the family had put out glue traps to catch field mice in the garage. 

I don't know how much you know about glue traps, but if you've ever put one down, we can no longer be friends. I found the cutest tiniest deadest mouse in one, and while I was standing over him wondering how long it took him to starve to death, I leaned closer and realized his tiny body was hiccuping in an effort to breathe. And then I immediately started crying. Because I am made of fairy dust. 

A rodent control guy was actually at the house then, so I told him he needed to kill the mouse to put it out of its misery. He seemed totally miffed at how to do that (is this not your job?!) and asked if we had a hammer. Disgusting. I went to my boss and told him he had to do something. The poor mouse was dying. IT WAS DYING AND WE WERE WATCHING. 

And that's the day I learned how to shoot a gun.

I'd never fired an actual for-reals gun before, which is shocking considering both my parents were cops. I don't believe Americans should even have the right to carry concealed weapons, so I don't have too much interest in really learning how to use them. Buuuuuut since we had to shoot the mouse anyway....

R.I.P. Mr. Jingles

My mom periodically has to do some kind of testing at the shooting range to renew her handgun license, and she's a perfect shot. Like, perfect beats all the men perfect. So I've kind of wondered about my own skills, especially since I've been blessed with good vision. My boss and I set up some corncobs for targets on the hillside for the lesson. 

For your viewing pleasure, I circled the corn in red. 

The Shot

The Verdict: 

I can kill any ear of corn that tries to come within 100 feet of me.

I'm happy—and a little weirded out—to say this is my greatest personal victory in the last six months or so. And I'm pretty sure my mom got choked up at the good news, which guarantees that she'll be giving me a gun rack for Christmas. Hooray!