I frequently use the phrase, “This is not my first rodeo, Jackdodd” (for a variety of reasons!). But tonight, well tonight WAS my first rodeo!

This weekend happens to be the Kendall County Fair and it’s not terribly far from where we live. Although we knew it wasn’t going to be like the fair we left behind in Ventura County with popular country singers/bands, we really didn’t know what to expect and boy, were we pleasantly surprised. It’s not a big fair by any means but we viewed the exhibits, wandered around a bit, treated ourselves to the requisite funnel cake (cant go to the fair and not have one of those, right?) and waited for the rodeo to start.

First I must start by telling you that I really didn’t know what I should wear. Wanting to blend in, should I wear jeans? Shorts? Sundress? Boots? Sandals? Well, I could have worn any of that and fit right in. In fact, I could have worn any of those things and bedazzled the crap out if it, and I would have still fit in! In the end I settled on boots and jeans and I’m pretty sure no one knew I was an outsider from California.

As we toured the exhibits, I of course took extra interest in the baked goods entries. I instantly decided I am going to enter  something next year. Maybe even more than one thing. I have a year to figure out how to dazzle these Texas judges with my cupcake skills!

Now, on to the rodeo. Please keep in mind that although there are rodeos in California, I have never been to one. Never. Ever. Tonight’s festivities started out with “Mutton Bustin’. JD purposely did not tell me what this was because he wanted to see my reaction. OMG! I was hysterical! These tiny little kids (like 5 years old) come out of the gate on the backs of sheep holding on for dear life! It was one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen. The kids wore helmets, no one was hurt and it was just good fun. Here’s something interesting – before the actual rodeo started, the colors were flown, and then a minister said a prayer of thanks, and prayed for the safety of the participants and the animals. Well, there’s something that I know does not take place at any rodeos or other public events in California! Without making any political statements, I just want to say how refreshing it was. Everyone participated, no one appeared to be offended, and at the end the crowd joined with a loud Amen!

We watched saddle bronco riding, bareback bronco riding, calf roping, barrel racing, and finished off with bull riding. The whole thing was exciting and so fun to watch. Did I mention the rodeo clowns? Those guys are crazy! Or the rodeo queen? The fair queen? The “royalty” from every city in the county? Let’ just say there was no shortage of rhinestones tonight! 

Have you ever gone to a concert and felt like you wanted to be a singer? Or a ballet and thought you wanted to learn to dance? Yeah, you got it – now I want to join the rodeo. Just kidding, I don’t really, but I definitely see more riding in my future 😉

Today’s post is not about my most recent Texas adventure. In this world of social media where bad news travels at the speed of lightening and good news only half that fast, I want to share something and hope that maybe that gap might be made a little smaller.

As you know, my granddaughter came with us when we drove from CA to TX. A couple of weeks later, my daughter and her family came to TX for a visit and to take my granddaughter home. I flew back with them in order to help with preparations for the babies first birthdays. And this is where my story begins…

While my daughter and her family were here, we did all things touristy! Among those things was the purchase of the cutest little straw cowboy hat you’ve ever seen. In addition to the perfect accessory for my other granddaugter’s 1st birthday party with a rodeo theme, we had also used it for her 1st birthday photo session. It wasn’t that it was of much monetary value, but it did already hold some sentimental value.

When we flew from San Antonio to Los Angeles, it wasn’t until we were in the baggage claim area that we realized the hat had been left on the plane. I felt horrible, I had been the one to hold on to it. The only thing I could think to do was to go to the lost luggage counter. (Now I am not promoting or advertising, but I think it should be known that we flew Southwest Airlines) I went to the counter and explained the situation fully expecting to be told I was completely out of luck. What I didn’t know, was that I was lucky enough to be telling my story to a very nice lady named Jocelyn. After providing her with the flight info, she immediately picked up the phone, hung up and said, “I’ll be back, that plane is leaving in 10 minutes”. She then took off at the speed of light!

I waited for maybe 20 minutes or so – and imagine my surprise when Jocelyn reappeared with the little straw cowboy hat in hand! In this crazy fast paced world, Jocelyn’s kindness reminds me that there are still people out there that do care. She could have very easily sent me on my way, but she went above and beyond to help me. (Thank you Jocelyn!)

I didn’t get Jocelyn’s last name, but I did write and let Southwest know about Jocelyn’s customer service. I’m hopeful that Southwest has an employee recognition program so that she knows I cared enough to write. Please feel free to share this story. Who knows, maybe it will make its way to Jocelyn!

And the journey continues. Now that we’re settling in and we’ve got furniture in the house (with the exception of the dining room because we have yet to find the perfect table that we both like!), its time to start thinking about decorating [insert sigh here]. This is challenging for a variety of reasons. You see, JD has a vision, and I have a vision. Sometimes we get lucky and our visions intersect. It might be complete alignment, or it might be just the tiniest thread.

Today’s assignment: find bedding for the master bedroom. No big deal, right? WRONG! WRONG! WRONG! My vision includes patterns, colors, something that makes a statement. You see – when you walk into the house, it you take a look to the left you can see JD’s office (that story to follow) and you can also see into the master bedroom. In addition to that, the master bedroom is my go to place, my sanctuary, the place I can unwind, the place I can relax, and – well, it’s the place I go watch the TV shows that JD doesn’t like to watch! So for all those reasons, I really want to find just the right bedding.

We had seen some nice bedding in the store where we purchased the bedroom furniture and I’d been wanting to go back because I saw that they had some really nice bedding too. So we go into the store and JD heads off to look at office furniture (remember, the office story will come later) and I head out to look at bedding. I know that he’ll agree to pretty much anything I choose, but out of respect for him I try to keep his beige taste in mind. In my search actually found three different sets that I liked so I go track him down to show him my discoveries. Now I have learned over the years that in situations like this (whether it’s bedding, shoes, clothing, whatever) that if I show him something completely outrageous right off the bat, then when I show him the real thing, he’ll agree to it because after what I’ve just shown him, anything is good. Great psychology, don’t you think?

In theory, this works well. And most of the time it does…with the exception of paisley. The man does not like paisley. Who doesn’t like paisley? I don’t know why. Even beige paisley – nope. No can do. I’ll have to ask his siblings if something happened to him during his childhood that involved paisley! Unfortunately, two of the three sets I liked today had paisley. But I showed them to him anyway knowing full well what he would say. “Well, I’m just not sure I like that”, or “I don’t particularly care for that”, or my favorite, “I don’t like paisley”.

We did not make any purchases today and the search will continue. And so we got in the car and drove home – and listened to Brad Paisley 😉

It’s said that time flies when you’re having fun. How true that is! I haven’t blogged for a week because I’ve been so busy having fun. Last week brought my daughter and her family to Texas to check out the homestead, the town we live in, and unfortunately to take home my granddaughter who had been staying with is since we made the road trip from CA. At one point I jokingly said I was going to enroll her in school in TX and keep her because it was so nice to have her there but that didn’t quite work out!  I cant even begin to describe how happy I was to have them there. It was as if the house had suddenly come to life. I could bake! I could get out my serving dishes! I could cook for them! Those things that moms do for their kids – I could do those things again! It was just what I needed.

We were total tourists all week! And why not? We’re still new, right? This leads me to a side question. Every time someone asks, “where y’all from?” I never know quite how to respond. Do I say I’m from CA? Do I say I’m from Boerne and hope they don’t ask me any questions about the area? Do I say I’m a transplant? How do lifelong Texans feel about CA people encroaching? At what point do I say I’m from TX? Three weeks hardly seems long enough to be an established resident. I still have a CA driver’s license and CA plates on my car (and I don’t intend to change those until I have to!).

Our visit went by way too fast. We were on the go every day and although I had made plans to travel back to CA with them I was still sad they were leaving. They cant be leaving so soon, there are still things we didn’t get to do, things I didn’t get to show them, and we hadn’t even had any BBQ yet! I cannot wait for them to come back, and for the rest of the kids to come visit. I look forward to the chaos of having them all there at the same time!

 Is it possible to feel like a stranger in your own home town? All this time I have felt like I was just on vacation, that pretty soon I’d be going back home and back to work. Well now I’m back, but there is another family living in our house and I have no job to go to. I guess this will take a while to get used to – but for the next six days, I can run to the grocery store and it will only take me a few minutes to get there and back. In fact, I may even live dangerously and go without a shopping list!

Most everything is unpacked but let’s face it, some may never get unpacked! The important stuff is put away so it’s time for a play day. I’ve been planning on horseback riding since we made an offer on this house. One of the perks of living here is the equestrian center is just up the road and I have been planning for months on taking advantage of that. I am not an experienced rider by any means. In fact, on a scale of 1-10, my comfort level is right around a 6. They’re so pretty, so graceful, and so BIG!

My granddaughter joined me and when we arrived, our horses were all saddled up and ready for us. They were fabulous! I was really feeling this! I was wearing my jeans and my “not afraid to get muddy” boots – I was ready to hop on that horse and feel the wind in my hair. I was picturing this classic western scene where I come riding into town with 3 days worth of trail dust on me, just in time to save the town folk from the bad guys.

“Do you want a helmet?” “Ma’am, do you want a helmet?” What? Oh, uh, a helmet? Don’t you mean a cowboy hat? A helmet is going to really kill the cool factor of my daydream. I was quickly jolted ack to reality – I opted out of the helmet and figured I’d better start paying attention. My horse’s name was Gus. Wow. Will you just look at how tall Gus is. And will you just look at how high that stirrup is. I know that I’m going to be expected to put my foot in that stirrup and get myself up on ol’ Gus because I sure don’t see any stepstool around, and it’s not likely the nice young man is going to stoop over so I can step on his back.

After a quick but thorough briefing, we walked our horses into the ring so we could let the horses know who’s boss. (yeah…right). There it was…the step! Hallelujah! And no, I was not too proud to use it! Step, step, and there I was sitting atop ol’ Gus. Now I  know very little about horses, but I do know that they are smart enough to know when they have an inexperienced rider aboard. Gus was a good horse but he was not about to let me be the boss. As we headed out on the trail, he made it a point to purposely walk under the low hanging branches of every tree we passed. I was dodging, bending, twigs broke off in my hair – yes Gus, you are the boss.

I was sorry our ride had come to an end, I really was having fun and was feeling more comfortable, but I guess that just means I’ll be going back – and I’ll keep going back until Gus understands that in fact, I am the boss!

Side Note: When the ride was over, the step was nowhere in sight. That meant only one thing. you got it, I was on my own for the dismount – and I did fine.

Another side note: I did not take any pictures as I was too busy dodging tree limbs, but the picture I posted is the barn – super cute! Er, uh, I mean super rustic!

It was bound to happen. Today was pup’s first trip to the vet. Taking your pet to the vet here is quite different than what I am accustomed to. First of all, I have seen more veterinarian offices and animal hospitals here than doctor’s offices!  Pet ownership is serious business here, plus it’s not just the usual dog and cat vet like back in CA. How was I going to pick one? Choose one close by? Ask people for referrals? I don’t really have time for that. Choose the one with the best sign on the highway?

I called this morning hoping that I could get her in right away (the one close by won!). A very nice lady answered the phone and so I went through my “I just moved here, need to make an appointment, my car is dirty because I still haven’t found the car wash blah, blah, blah”.

Let me tell you that this vet’s office was more thorough, more helpful, and more knowledgeable than most doctors offices I’ve called! I was sure I’d made the right choice. She said I could come in right away, but she must have  sensed my hesitation (there were carpenters here doing some work and I couldn’t leave right away) and what she said next was music to my ears! “Or, you can come in this evening.”

What? This is too good to be true! Not only are they close by, nice, knowledgeable, and had openings, but they are open in the evening too? I couldn’t believe my ears – I hit the mother load of vets offices!

Hold on – because here is where the rug was yanked right out from under me… “this evening you can come in at 2:30 or 3:30. Which time would you like?” I’m really hopeful that the look on my face did not make it’s way to the tone of my voice. To quote my granddaughter…”Wait – What?” You’re telling me that 2:30 or 3:30 is in the evening? No – that’s the afternoon where I come from. First you put the eight o’clock shows on at seven o’clock, and now you’re telling me the evening starts at 2:30? [Sigh] I still have so much to learn.

BTW, after a very thorough exam, lots of questions and answers, a rattlesnake vaccine, and three different kinds of meds, we went home. I’m not sure which one of use was most tired. But she did come home with a new bandana!

Now that we’re starting to settle in, we’re getting familiar with our surroundings. This also means that our surroundings are getting familiar with us.  As I’ve mentioned before, the deer are frequent visitors, and in particular is a family that like to graze and bed down in the tall grass on our property. These two guys (we call them The Boys), are a couple of young bucks that seem to like our yard. They’re like two young teens, always together cruising the neighborhood. They seem to stay in our area because farther up the road is a much bigger buck that has staked his claim to the area – and the fawns!

Today as I was turning into the driveway, they were grazing and as soon as they saw me, they froze. I stopped the car and I froze too. My mind was racing. I turned down the radio, and reached for my phone as carefully and with as little movement as possible. They were right there, right next to the car! Would they let me take a picture of them? I rolled down the window and held my phone up. Click. Click. Click. They stood completely motionless. The thing I love about them is how they freeze. As if they’re talking to each other trying not to move their lips, “stay perfectly still and she won’t see us”. Well, after I got my picture I figured I’d try and open the gate. It was more than they could take, they were off in a flash – but I know they’ll be back.

I know I shouldn’t, but I’m really tempted to go buy some feed and leave it out for them! We’ve been talking about a getting another dog, how about a couple of deer instead?

Ugh! We’ve been here for 10 days now and I’ve been so busy cleaning, unpacking, and shopping that I haven’t even thought about either washing my car to taking it to the car wash. Every time I get in the car, I cringe. I feel like I’m hauling around the dirt from four states on it and it’s a little embarrassing. I had resigned myself to the fact that my car would tale a beating on the drive out here, but it’s so dirty I really have no idea what souvenirs I may have picked up along the way. Maybe I should just write on the back window with my finger, “Please help, I’m not from around these parts and I cant find the car wash”. Yes, I could at least hose it off, but you see it’s so warm here that I think that would actually make it worse! Before, I was really conscientious about keeping my car clean, but some strange phenomenon has taken place. Somehow, a clean car isn’t quite as important anymore, in fact most days I don’t even feel like putting on makeup. EEEK!