Upgrading Weanie Status

Well folks, I have officially upgraded my weanie status from weanie to no longer a weanie!!! I killed, with a shovel, my first rattlesnake today just off of our front steps in the grass. Noah found it and said, "snake, Mommy." While we were walking off to feed the calves and Haylee said, "Mom, Noah says there's a snake!" I looked around the corner and sure enough there was a rattlesnake peering it's head up and I was praying, "Lord, please do NOT let that snake bite Noah!" I kept yelling at Noah to run away and get to Mommy, but he just took his time. I grabbed my yellow shovel and sent the kids inside. Let me share that my adrenaline was racing or boiling and I was freaking out. So I smacked the snake with my shovel to try to break its back, I kind of missed so I cut its tail instead. But then I realized that my Mom was right about my shovel needing to be bluntly sharper, so I used the side of it like an axe and voila, I had managed to chop, in two whacks or maybe three (I really don't remember), its neck off about 7 inches from the the head. It was similar to an out of body experience, I just remember thinking, I have to protect my kids and I will NOT let anything harm them. Then I made the important call to my Mom to confirm that now I am no longer a weanie and to verify that I had done the job completely right. She reminded me that I needed to cut the head off right at the neck so that it wouldn't/couldn't have the reflex to bite anything or anyone and to bury it in a hole. Good point, I thought and did just that. It came complete with 7 buttons! This my trophy for the duty of protecting my family. I think that I need a shower to remove all the nervous sweat and to calm my nerves. My parents told me that my first would be the hardest, I am hoping that I don't have to find any more in my yard. That makes two rattlesnakes at the Sandman home thus far for 2009.