Sunday, February 10, 2008

It's boots and chaps; it's cowboy hats...

And they call the thing rodeo. (My thanks to Mr. Brooks for those words.)
We went to the Toughest Cowboy rodeo on Saturday. It was Scott's first rodeo and I think he enjoyed it. It was a little different than full rodeo as it didn't have all the events. We saw the cowboys compete in bull riding and in bareback and saddle bronco riding. Very exciting stuff. The tickets we had were in the fourth row, so we were close enough to be hit by flying dirt. (The tickets came from Scott's coworker who had won them from a radio station and they were pretty awesome.) Here are some pictures; they're a little fuzzy, but you'll get the idea.
Bronc bucking the cowboy
Bronc riding
Bull riding
The bull won this round.
One of the competitors.
Barrel racing (this is a cowgirl event.)
Trick roping
My favorite cowboy...a capuchin monkey who herds goats. I have a sneaky suspicion that the dog is the power behind the throne so to speak.
Following the competition, Blue Oyster Cult took the stage. They played a good show, but I really only knew three of their songs. I did apreciate that they are good sports and embraced the old SNL joke and kept asking if we needed more cowbell.
The band watching the rodeo. It was their first time to play at a rodeo. I'm guessing they were wondering why their agent did this to them.
More cowbell!

Nothing too exciting going on right now. This week Scott will be in Texas for a birding meeting/conference. He's looking forward to seeing a bunch a birds we don't have around here. I'll be studying while he gone. I have a few tests and skills checks this week. Soon (in 2 weeks) I'll be headed to the hospital.

Monday, February 4, 2008

Freezing Rain


On Friday some 10 days ago or so, I drove back to Nashville from Vicksburg, where I "worked" for the week. I was there the week of MLK day. Anyway, on the way home on the way through the delta, I hit freezing rain for about 3 hrs. The roads were just wet, not icy, but my truck and bike got slathered in up to about 1/3 inch of ice. I stopped 4 times to de-ice my windshield and windshield wipers. It was all worth it since I stopped in Rolling Fork, MS and got the best egg and cheese biscuits in the world. I had to make the expected resulting pitstop from all the grease in Indianola, but it was totally worth it. Mmm, mmm, good.








The bike doesn't like ice.


Well a bunch of days later, we went to Huntsville for the day for John's second birthday. We had a good time seeing Brian and the outlaw, Jay and preggers, Pete and Carol, and more of Bob and Susan (they spent Fri night with us). John was thrilled with cake and singing happy birthday.

The train cake.
This boy is SOOOO excited!
Brain being Brian.
Juice box, yummm.

I slept through the cake portion of the party. I was zonked! I'm lame.