You gotta know when to call it.......

Last nite was ...well, different....first mom spilled a whole bunch of oil down herself when she was in the kitchen. So, she ended up spendin’ dinner an’ the rest of the evenin’ in her jammies. She said the oil part was messy...but she had to admit it was comfy sittin’ on the couch watchin’ tv in her jammies. An’ she wasn’t gonna have to take much time gettin’ ready for bed........ha ha ha...oh what plans she makes.
After dad went to bed an’ mom cleaned up the kitchen, she let us out for our “last call”. She was busy on the c’mputer answerin’ messages, when Lexie burst into the livin’ room all excited. She grabbed her stuffed puppy on the way as she ran up to mom all wiggly. Then she was givin’ that puppy a furious death shake & makin’ all kinds of noises. Mom was laughin’ an’ thought Lexie wanted to play. She got up an’ moved toward Lexie, thinkin’ she was gonna grab the puppy an’ throw it to her..but noooo, Lexie gave it some more shakes, then dropped it....gave herself a spin an’ barked at mom. Then did a couple of hops an’ ran up to mom an’ grabbed her arm. She tried to tug her toward the door. Finally, mom got the message an’ followed. 

Lexie gave mom one last look as she bolted out her lil’ door. Mom opened the backdoor an’ stepped out w/her lite. She barely had time to catch a glimpse of what direction Lexie took off to, but the sounds of me in the back corner....an’ then Lexie joinin’ in gave her a clue. We were in the farthest corner of the yard.........an’ obviously had a situation. (not sure what mom’s first clue was....Lexie did everythin’ except right it out for her what was goin’ on).

So.....mom comes traipsin’ out int he dark in her jammies w/her lite. (She’s convinced one day one of the neighbors is gonna set up a nite time camera an’ film her an’ send it into some crazy video show one day). 

She found us just where she thought she would. At that back corner....at the same tree....probably w/that same ol’ possum that has been tauntin’ us for weeks. We were stymied....he was up on that branch right over our 8 foot fence...no way for us to get at him. We were sure mom would find a way.
First, she found a long piece of pipe an’ tried to shoo an’ then push him off the limb on the other side of the fence into the field. It was a good plan....she was able to get him to the other end of the branch, but he kept grabbin’ her pole an’ had a deathlike grip on the branch. The plan wasn’ workin’....she’s not 8 foot tall an’ really couldn’t get her pole at the right angle to do much shooin’ or pushin’ really.
Her next brilliant plan was to just go get her big clippers an’ cut the branch off, lettin’ it an’ the possum fall over the other side of the fence into the field. (She was a lil’ ticked that she had to work to get her pipe away from the possum w/out him comin’ too). 

So, off she went across the yard to her greenhouse to get her clippers....in her jammies...in the middle of the nite. I stayed watch on the possum an’ Lexie escorted mom....who was doin’ quiet a bit of mutterin’ at this point. 

Back w/the clippers, mom set her lite upside down an’ wedged it so it’d shine up at the branch. The possum had inched a lil’ closer to the fence...guess he wanted to see what she was gonna do next. I gave him a stern warnin’ not to come any closer. Then mom took them clippers & with her arms outstreatched, the clipper blades on the branch, the lite shinin’ up, the possum watchin’....me an’ Lexie holdin’ our breath actually hopin’ that possum would fall on our side of the fence...she started cuttin’...
...
Then stopped.

The clipper blades were stuck in the branch...she couldn’t get ‘em out....she couldn’t get a strong enough grip to get ‘em to cut thru the branch....they were just hangin’ there over her head. There we stood.....mom, me, Lexie an’ the possum lookin’ at a pair of long red clipper handles hangin’ from a lil’ oak branch. 

There comes a time that you’ve just gotta know when to call it a draw...not a defeat...just not a win.......mom looked at us..an’ told us we did a great job..an’ “how about some cookies for a reward...everybody to the kitchen!”. Lexie an’ I agreed, an’ we raced to the kitchen. There’ll be other opportunities to get that possum...but he won’t be able to escape on that branch, again. When dad got home from work the next mornin’....mom told him she had a job for him...first to get her clippers outa’ a tree....an’ to take a chainsaw an’ cut a big limb. He didn’t even ask why those clippers were danglin’ like that....or why she needed that limb cut.....maybe he don’t want to know, lol.