My parents are amazing

Writing prompt #8 says to make a list of 40 things that happened in the past month. Pick one thing and write about it.

My parents take a two + week vacation once a year. They have done this as long as I can remember. I always loved visiting cousins and swimming in lakes and learning more about my family. When I graduated high school I got a job and couldn't really go anymore. It made me sad. I hated when my parents left on vacation. Even when I didn't live at home I hated it. I hated not being able to call or visit with my mom. I hated not being able to stop by their house and find the door open. It was like when they left the world just wasn't the same.

Now that we live with my parents, their trips are even more difficult! We've lived with them through 2 vacations now and I just have to say, that I find it amazing how smoothly they keep their household running!
While they were gone, 3 of us, Brian, myself and my sister Tawnya watered their trees, the garden, kept the pool chlorinated and clean, fed the cows and the cats, and took care of irrigation all on top of cooking meals, taking care of kids, and every day household cleaning. It was overwhelming for me!

When my parent's go out of town everything that can go wrong does. Here's what happened this year:
*Irrigation was late. We were supposed to get it at 9:45 and it didn't come until after midnight. Our neighbor called and yelled at Brian because her irrigation was late.
*Because the irrigation was late the yard didn't get much water although this proved to be a good thing later on...
*The big cow broke out of his pen. It needed to be welded and our family welder, my brother in law couldn't do it right away. Good thing the pasture was fairly dry because we couldn't keep the big cow in his pen until it was fixed.
* Both cows kept getting into areas they shouldn't have been...we think the electric fence stopped working for a short time.
*Despite all of our best efforts the pool turned green and my dad was not happy when he got home. But he shocked it back into shape.
*We had an ant problem in the kitchen.

I was grateful through all of this that Brian had experience with doing irrigation and checking the electric fence. I was grateful that this year Tawnya was living with us to help. She did a lot. As always, the day my parents came home it was like a huge burden was lifted off of my shoulders. It's difficult to describe, but the feeling I get when they finally come home from vacation is a feeling of relief and comfort.

I told them next time they go on vacation they have to take the cows with them. :P