My First PBR Rodeo - Ride 'Em Cowboys

Last night, Cowboy Joe and I saddled up and went to the Professional Bull Riders rodeo here in Casper. This is one of the events that I had looked forward to for quite awhile. Yee haw, what a blast that was! I used to watch bull riding on the television every opportunity while living in Georgia and here was my chance to see it in person and I was not disappointed. Through the excitement of attending this event, I even forgot to take pictures of Cowboy Joe complete with his cowboy hat and cowboy shirt. He did strike quite a handsome pose though.

This picture was taken at the beginning of the rodeo where the initials PBR were outlined with fire during the opening ceremonies and the presentation of some of the special bull riders.

One of the special riders was Cord McCoy who is currently one of the participants in the television show "Amazing Race" which I watch every Sunday evening. Though he might be a celebrity, unfortunately it didn't help him stay on his bulls any better than anyone else.

These pictures show some of the action that took place - complete with some of the slinging bull snot. We were sitting the 5th row from the bottom so we had some of the action quite close up.

Then there were the bulls with names like Chicken on a Chain, Fender Bender, Nasty Mike and Code Blue. Some of these bulls decided they didn't want to go back into the chutes after bucking off the rider. They would paw the ground like a Spanish bull waiting to take out the toreador, take several laps around the arena, avoided the arm-waving antics of the "bullfighters" and even escaped the lasso of the horse rider. This is a picture of one such bull, as well as the video posted below. This is the bull that decided to romp about an additional five minutes or so...

You might ask "What makes a bull buck"? Apparently genetics is key in determining a bull’s desire and ability to kick up his hooves. In other words, he is born with attitude. But what about that strap tied around the hips of each bull? And, one of the most common misconceptions about bull riding is that the rope used by the rider is connected to the animal’s private parts. In truth, this soft rope is tied between each animal's ribs and hips to enhance kicking. And the rope is loose. The ornery bull has usually flung the thing by the time he exits the ring, usually with a victorious swagger (like the bull in the video).

What a fun event!!! Gotta love it when the riders get thrown or get tangled up or get tossed like a wet dishcloth over the railing or run for their lives from a 2000 lb. charging bull! That's what makes it an event and I will make plans to attend more of these in the future.

I Looked Out The Window And What Did I See...

...a robin in the backyard looking at me! Well it wasn't really looking at me and it was across our back fence sitting in the neighbors yard. But, it was a robin and isn't that a sure sign of spring?

Spring officially arrived on the calendar a week ago, but it snowed yesterday morning when the robin appeared. However, I just know that spring is just waiting down at the end of my street and will show up very soon.

...before I take you ole biddies with me again!

In 1977, I decided I wanted to go to Canada on vacation since that's a place I'd never been before. I also decided that I would take Mom along with me, as well as Aunt Rachel. So with the car packed and everyone loaded in the car, we took off for a week's work of vacation.

Not too far out of town, Aunt Rachel, who was seated in the backseat of the car commented, "Well Hazel, it must be a cold day in hell because here we are off on another trip with Carol"! (See blog "It'll be a cold day in hell..." dated 3/3/10 for further details).

Here's Mom tying her tennis shoes somewhere along the trip. (She was almost 43 at the time). On one of our stops in Canada on the way to Thunder Bay...

During our trip we visited a site where we walked down a path to the edge of Lake Superior and saw a mist-covered island and petroglyphs drawn on the side of a mountain wall; we were stopped by a rock slide on the only highway we were taking through Canada and were delayed about an hour; we saw some moose(s) for the first time ever and Mom made me get out and take pictures (found out later that was a big no-no as they could have charged me).

We had a wonderful time together and I'm hoping I find more of the pictures I took (like the moose(s) and add them at a later time.

Beverly Walker - One of Corey's First Playmates

Years ago I had a very good friend named Jane Walker whom I worked with at the Georgia Agrirama. She even helped host one of my baby showers when I was pregnant with Corey. (I realized this is one of the few pictures I have when I was pregnant).

A few months after Corey was born, Jane had a little girl, Beverly. Our two children used to play together quite often as we were stay-at-home moms. Eventually Jane went back to work and I stayed home and kept Corey and Beverly for several months. It was my first foray into childcare and I definitely was not ready for it at that time!

This is Corey trying to give Beverly a hug and a kiss...

Jane with Corey and Beverly...

Beverly and Corey riding in the little red wagon on a nice fall day. From the expression on Corey's face, I think Beverly was biting on his finger at the time...

Warmer days playing in the pool. (That's Sarah in the left hand side of the photo. Les and I used to keep Sarah and Travis most weekends while Susan was working at Pizza Hut while she was attending college. They were like our weekend children).

After a few years, Jane and I parted friendship with the changes in our lives. Beverly wound up marrying one of my former after school children.

My New Coping Skills To Handle Stress

With Joe spending almost a week in the hospital, I found out that I developed a couple of coping skills to handle my stress:

1. Biting my fingernails - this was done in stages and over the course of several days. By the time Joe came home from the hospital, I had no long fingernails at all. Corey always said he could tell when I was happy and contented - when I had long fingernails.

2. Eating! It appears that when my regular routine was disrupted, so was my way of being aware of what and how I was eating. It was though I had to eat my way through the fast food industry in Wyoming. One night I knew I just had to have some chicken strips and a Beef n' Cheddar so I stopped by Arby's. When I arrived at Arby's, I discovered they no longer had chicken strips which threw my whole plan of action out the restaurant door. I stood there for about 10 minutes, not able to make up my mind what I was going to do (remember I'd been up for almost 34 hrs) and I just left purchasing nothing.

I then headed to Dairy Queen where I knew they had a chicken strip basket, which I did buy after requesting and waiting for freshly fried french fries. Walking out the door, I spotted the Long John Silver's across the street and suddenly thought how great some fish would taste too. So, I drove across the street there and purchased a 2 pc. fish dinner. When I got home, I only all the meat, some of the fries and my coleslaw.

The next night was a trip to the Subway where I purchased two foot longs because I couldn't decide which one I wanted.

There was a trip to the Burger King just because I hadn't been to a Burger King in months.

The only reason I didn't hit the Taco Bell was because I had had some enchiladas at the hospital buffet earlier in the week.

I rationalized my eating habits by the fact that I hadn't eaten anything all day some of those days. I will be so glad when all returns to normal this coming week so that I can begin to control my eating habits again. All I know is that eating this way was my way to cope with Joe's latest hospital stay.

More Excitement With Joe - Again!

Last week Joe wasn't feeling well - it was like a bad cold. After being medicated with a cold medicine with an expectorant, I finally made the decision to take him to the emergency room. He had begun exhibiting symptoms of delusion, hallucinating, running a high temperature, vomiting, etc. After an examination, he was admitted to the hospital with pneumonia and some heart failure.

This is what he looked like when he was taking one of his brief naps. (That'll teach him to go to sleep).

How do you like his "tiger paw" socks?

Here is Joe trying to put his oxygen line back in his nose - backwards...

Here is the end result...

Here he is doing one of his many breathing treatments...he called this smoking his peace pipe... (We found out later that the medicine used in the treatment was one of the contributing factors to his loss of kidney function).

This is his George Washington look. The washclothes were put on his head to cool him after his temperature spiked and just before he was moved to ICU. One of the nurses commented that he looked like George Washington and all he needed was black buckled shoes to go with his white "pantyhose". (He really was sick here, but I couldn't resist taking this picture).

This lovely creature is modeling a new line of white pantyhose that help keep blood clots from forming (and don't you love the cute little dress too)...

At home in his ICU room...

After spending two days here and getting a handle on his pneumonia, Joe was then transferred to another hospital for them to deal with it and his renal failure problem...

All of this has occurred from last Thursday until today (Monday). Though the pictures look deceiving, Joe has been and is still very sick as he is still running high temperatures every afternoon, still battling his pneumonia, trying to get his kidneys functioning semi-normally, etc. I just want him home.

(And he was released finally on Tuesday evening to return home).

California Dreaming

In 2007, I had to attend a childcare conference in Anaheim, California and got to take Joe along with me. While there, Joe and I had the opportunity to do alot of sightseeing. One of the things we did was to go out together one evening with my friend Tricia and her husband, Ron, who live in Florida. We decided to go down the Pacific Coast Highway for some exploring of the California coast.

Proof that we made it on the Pacific Coast highway. (One of my wishes is that one day I'll have the chance to go up the the PC Highway along the coast through Oregon and Washington State).

Sometime during our excursion, we all had to use the bathroom - BADLY!!! The only place we could finally find was a restroom at a Taco Bell along the highway in one of the coastal cities. The facilities were located outside, supposed to have been locked, but weren't, and when Tricia and I stepped into the female side, we were so grossed out! The guys apparently had no problems with their side...

What were we girls to do? We used the guy's bathroom while our hubbies guarded the door.

Thanks Tricia for catching me coming out of the bathroom and not wanting to touch anything.

The loving couple spending some time down by the Pacific Ocean at the end of a wonderful day with good friends and great company.

"It'll be a cold day in hell..."!

In 1976, Mom, Nancy, Aunt Rachel and I headed off for an adventure from Georgia to Washington, D.C. We were going there to get ready for Nancy's wedding which was going to take place in September at the Washington, D.C. Temple. There was paperwork she needed to pick up and other arrangements to be made, so we all took off to our nation's capitol. I took Aunt Rachel along with us because she'd not been too many places and I loved her a lot.

Of course we wanted to see and do as many things as possible and one of the stops we made was at Arlington Cemetery to see the grave of President John F. Kennedy and his brother Robert F. Kennedy.

(Aunt Rachel and Mom looking at some of the many headstones in the cemetery)

Then, we wanted to go by the White House and check it out but didn't know how to take a tour. While we were stopped at a red light, we noticed a guy with a sign saying he would give tours of Washington, D.C. for a fee and take you wherever you wanted to go. We all laughed thinking that would be a great idea, but who in their right mind would turn their car over to a complete stranger and trust that all your stuff wouldn't be stolen. But as we circled the block, we got to talking about the possibility and decided we'd be those people who lost their minds and take him up on the offer. We actually went back, found the guy and made him promise to us he was legitimate. Somehow, we took the man at his word. I actually turned the keys of my Mach I Mustang over to this guy, with all our luggage and let him become our guide.

True to his word, he got us tickets to tour the White House, dropped us off, told us where we could meet him after the tour and he did everything he said he would. So, we all have toured the White House and even saw Susan Ford out by the guard shack. We then bid the driver a fond goodbye with a nice payment and tip of $10.00 if I remember correctly.

(Nancy, Mom and Aunt Rachel outside the White House)

For our last stop before heading out of town, we decided to tour the Capitol building. We parked in one of the parking lots and headed up all those steps. Once inside we got to see a display of the Magna Carta which was dated 1215 and had been loaned to the U.S. in celebration of our bicentennial. We even got to go into the Gallery where the Congress conducts its business. You had to be very quiet and no pictures were allowed to be taken.

After we'd done all the sightseeing in the Capitol we wanted to do, it was time to leave the building. When we exited, we discovered we were on the wrong side of the building. Rather than have everyone go back through the building, I suggested that I go get the car and meet them on this side. I told them and showed them where to meet me as it would be impossible to park or to stop for a long period of time because of the traffic.

It was a very warm day and by the time I had climbed back up those steps on that side, go through the entire building, down the steps on other side and then find the car. When I finally got it and went to pick everyone up, they weren't where they needed to be. I had to circle the entire block and come back and then they still weren't there. Finally on another pass, there they were. Needless to say, I was rather "hot under the collar" by this time and it was then that I pointed my finger at both Mom and Aunt Rachel and exclaimed very loudly "It'll be a cold day in hell before I ever take you ole biddies with me again"! No one said a thing, but they did get into the car rather quickly.

I don't remember the rest of the trip, but that quote has stuck with everyone even up to this time.

Love At First Sight - December 7, 1977

In 1977 I was 25 and living in Atlanta working for a marketing company. My job consisted of traveling throughout the U.S. and contacting retail shops to set up displays. The first week of December 1977 while sitting in a hotel outside of New Orleans, Louisiana I was preparing to go to Beaumont, Texas. However at the last moment, I found I was being sent to Shreveport, Louisiana. I called Mom and Dad to let them know of the change and that's when Dad told me that my Uncle George (his brother) and his family lived in the area and look them up when I got there. I assured him I would especially since I'd not seen him nor his family since 1965 when we had returned from Japan. So, I left the next morning not expecting anything out of the usual to happen. That trip wound up changing my entire life.

Monday went as a usual workday for me and when I returned to my hotel room that's when my life took a different direction. The message light on my telephone was blinking when I went into the room. I called the front desk and there was a message to call Dad. I knew something was wrong as he never called unless he had a real reason and even then I couldn't remember the last time he'd done that. Dad was calling to ask me if I had gotten in touch with Uncle George. I told him I'd not been able to find his name, address or telephone number anywhere. He said he had it because my Grandmother Cattell had called him to let him know that one of Uncle George's sons had killed - my cousin Michael who was my age. (Michael had stepped between a domestic argument and shot). Dad gave me the telephone number and address of Uncle George which had been supplied by Grandmother when Dad told her I "just happened" to have been in the area that day for the week.

I left almost immediately to go the house and see the family. When I arrived, I was greeted by relatives I'd not seen in a dozen years. After pleasantries had been exchanged, one of the cousins made mention that since I was single they had the perfect person for me to meet...their neighbor whose name was Junior Preston and he lived next door. That really excited me - being in Louisiana and meeting a guy named "Junior"! Sometime later, there was the roar of a motorcycle and my cousins started shouting "he's home...he's home". Oh, goodie. Someone went running out to bring this guy over so he could meet their single cousin from Georgia. I went into another room and tried to blend into the wood paneling hoping I wouldn't have to meet this guy. I heard the front door open, people began saying "Hey, Junior" and the voice of this mystery man came closer to the room I was hiding in. Then, there he was dressed in jeans,a flannel shirt, boots and with a moustache and beautiful hair. Holy Moly, I was in love. It was definitely love at first sight for me. I was smitten; I was bowled over; I was knocked for a loop...you name it, I was it. (This picture was made by my grandmother five days later). Junior was a babe to me. I remember describing him later as "rugged".

He came over, shook my hand, made some small talk and then turned to speak to someone. That's when I made my escape to the living room to the only seat left. I knew I had to stop sharing the same space as him because I couldn't breathe. A few minutes later, he walked into the living room and stood next to my chair. I knew I'd never see this guy again so I decided I could turn on some of my southern charm and said "here, I'll let you share my chair" while patting the armrest. He thanked me "no" and said he had to go pick his mother up at work. But then he said, "Would you like to go with me"? What do you think I said? We got into his car with bucket seats and I sat in the passenger side. He then asked what I was doing over there, plopped a cushion on the console and helped me sit next to him. I don't know what came over me, but I decided to flirt some more and told him if I lived there, I'd have to give the gals a run for their money. He seemed to like that. Then the guy that I'd met named "Junior" became "Les" to me and I never called him Junior ever, never.

We picked his Mom up and then took her home. Afterwards, Les followed me back to hotel room where we spent the night talking about anything and everything. When we both could talk no more, we then spent the night together in the purest of all senses. That's when I knew that I had met someone special. Someone who respected me and wanted to get to know the real me. It was the perfect date with the guy who would later become my husband.

I always believed that it was meant for the two of us to meet since I wasn't supposed to go to Shreveport at that time and we would never have met if my cousin Michael had not been killed. I felt like I was at the right place at the right time.

Reflections On The Past

I've recently gone through several cardboard boxes, plastic containers and Ziploc bags and discovered a number of very old and old pictures and mementos from my 57+ years of my life. I'll be writing about several of these items in future blogs and adding pictures of them so that maybe my son and others who know me and love me will understand what happened in my past that made me the person I am today.

Several of these blogs may be of a highly personal nature, but the reason I started blogging in the begging was to use it as an electronic journal which could document my life. This is my life; this is my legacy for better or for worse.

This Ain't No Bull...

Yehaw!!! I am finally going to do something that I would list on my "Bucket List". That's the list of things you would like to do before "kicking the bucket".

The last weekend of this month, Joe and I are attending a PBR rodeo which is the Professional Bull Riders rodeo here in Casper at the Events Center. Gotta love watching those bulls try and throw the rider off! I used to watch those rodeos on the television quite often while in Georgia and was really quite vocal too. Lots of "ooohs" and "aaaahs" and "oh nos". So, I'm looking forward to watching one in person. Ye dawgies!!!

My First Apartment and Car

Either in 1972 or 1973, I finally moved away from home and was on my own for awhile. I decided to move to Jacksonville, Florida as it would be close to home yet far enough away to be independent. Also, I would have family located in the same city - Aunt Ruth. In fact, I lived with her for awhile until I found my apartment which was located on Blanding Boulevard and I got a job working at Duval Motors in the lease department. Life was exciting for me on my own for the first time. Some time later, Susan decided to come and live with me until she got married to Dale later on.

This was the front of my apartment...

Lovely glamour shots (notice the mini-dress). It's so funny to look at these pictures and remember that I didn't feel very pretty at the time. In fact, one of the career possibilities I had checked into at that time was being a "stewardess" for Eastern Airlines. I went for an initial interview, was invited to return for a second one, but I didn't do so as I thought I wouldn't be pretty enough to work as a stewardess. That was one of those opportunities I lost out to and who knows where and how my life might have changed had I more confidence in me. (Note that I was also wearing my POW bracelet of Maj. Ernest DeSoto that I had worn since 1970. That story is for another posting).

This is how I spent most weekends...at the beach. I loved it.

Returning from the beach in my little coverup. The picture also shows my first purchased car...a Ford Maverick. Though it was the sports model, I HaTEd that car and traded it as soon as possible for a Mustang!!! Now that was a car!

Ooooh weee...it's the bathing beauty. Miss Tropicana herself...

Brother Jimmy even showed up for a visit to his sisters' new digs. I remember the carpeting in the apartment was a very deep shag and if you dropped something small, too bad.

I lived in this apartment until after Susan got married and then moved into another apartment by myself.

------------------------------------

It was also while living in this apartment that I turned down a marriage proposal from Wallace Martin. That, too, will be another posting.

Happy Cereal Day

I LOVE cereal - cold cereal, dry cereal, whatever you want to call it. My favorite? Frosted Mini Wheats and GrapeNuts, although I can eat most any kind. I remember when growing up that cold cereal was a treat which we didn't have a lot and when we did it was usually Corn Flakes or Cheerios. Hot cereal was usually the main staple of our breakfast particularly oatmeal with raisins (that's why I think I don't like eating raisins).

My most vivid memory regarding cereal happened in 1965 when our family took our first real family vacation and headed from Eglin AFB to Tampa. Mom had planned and prepped for our meals on the road so that we could save money. After all, we were a family of six and eating out on the road would and could be expensive. While in the commissary one day before the trip, she apparently ran across a great deal. She found boxes of Cap'n Crunch cereal that was .10 cents a box and bought LOTS of boxes of it. This wound up being our breakfast each and every morning while on our vacation. We would usually stop at some rest area along the wayside and Mom would bring out the styrofoam bowls, plastic spoons, jug of milk and the Cap'n Crunch. I have NevER bought Cap'n Crunch for me to eat since that time.

When I eat cereal, I eat it for pure pleasure. I like eating it when I can take my time. There is an art to proper cereal consumption:

1. Fill the bowl until the cereal is about even with rim. It can be leveled out with your hand.
2. Pour your milk (preferably 100% whole since it does taste best. However since I eat more than one bowl at a time and want to keep my voluptuous figure, I've opted to use 1% or skim) until the cereal starts to rise up over the edge of your bowl. If pieces of cereal are jumping overboard, it's time to quit pouring.
3. If your cereal is not pre-sweetened a couple of teaspoons of sugar should be sprinkled around on your cereal. Just dumping the sugar is not allowed as you will then need to stir your cereal to mix the milk and sugar and you could lose precious cereal from your bowl. And, the ultimate topping for unsweetened cereal is slicing up a nice firm banana. Those shouldn't be left to be eaten until the end though as they will tend to get rather mushy and that's not good! (No I won't and don't add strawberries or blueberries or any other fruit on my cereal. Yuk!)
4. Despite what the television commercials say, I don't like crunchy, newly-poured cereal. It's too sharp; too stiff and sometimes can even cut the inside of your mouth. Cereal tastes much better having the chance to soak up some of the milk. "Soggy" cereal does not bother me and will not be thrown out.
5. With each delicious spoonful of consumed cereal, the level in the bowl goes down and bits of cereal stick to the sides of the bowl. These are not to be considered "no good" bits but should be routinely and systematically shoved back down into the milk with your spoon and leveled off to keep the bowl of cereal in tip-top shape.
6. Milk left in the bottom of the bowl is evidence of a serious problem. You MUST drink all of the remaining milk. That is where the best flavors wind up and you discover that sometimes your milk has even turned pink or brown depending upon the type of cereal you just consumed. (One of the trials in my marriage is that Joe ALWAYS leaves LOTS of milk in the bottom of his cereal bowl. He doesn't like milk he says. Well, if you don't like milk, don't add so much the next time)!

Bet you didn't think there was such an art to eating cereal, huh? And, you've just read my philosophy on cold cereal which I've been honing for the last 50+ years. What about you?

-------------------------------------

Pssst....I will admit that I've even eaten cold cereal straight from the box sans milk. Of course, it was some fabulous sweet cereal and I just needed something to satisfy my sweet tooth.

Star Spangled Banner Day

I received this email today from my good friend Tricia...

Carol,
Did you know that TODAY is STAR SPANGLED BANNER DAY?? Woohoo!
And, since you and I saw THE ORIGINAL flag, being refurbished at the Smithsonian, I just couldn’t resist sending you this commemorative email!
God Bless the Red,
God Bless the Blue
God Bless America
And God Bless You!

Yes, Tricia and I got the opportunity to visit the Smithsonian and see the original American flag on one of our visits to Washington, D.C. when we were project managers for the Air Force Project for child care providers. What a fun day we had spending most of it in the various parts of the Smithsonian. My favorite building though was the American History one. Almost immediately upon entering that great building we were able to stand under the flag that had hung at the Pentagon the day of the 9/11 bombings. It was hanging so low that Tricia and I both stood on our tiptoes just to touch the edge of the flag knowing that we were touching a piece of history.

As we continued our tour, we came upon the section where the original "Star Spangled Banner" was being restored. I had never really realized how large that flag would be and was and it is quite large. Read on...

The original Star-Spangled Banner, the flag that inspired Francis Scott Key to write the song that would become our national anthem, is among the most treasured artifacts in the collections of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C.

Quick Facts about the Star-Spangled Banner Flag:

- Made in Baltimore, Maryland, in July-August 1813 by flagmaker Mary Pickersgill
- Commissioned by Major George Armistead, commander of Fort McHenry
- Original size: 30 feet by 42 feet
- Current size: 30 feet by 34 feet
- Fifteen stars and fifteen stripes (one star has been cut out)
- Raised over Fort McHenry on the morning of September 14, 1814, to signal American victory over the British in the Battle of Baltimore; the sight inspired Francis Scott Key to write “The Star-Spangled Banner”
- Preserved by the Armistead family as a memento of the battle
- First loaned to the Smithsonian Institution in 1907; converted to permanent gift in 1912
- On exhibit at the National Museum of American History since 1964
- Major, multi-year conservation effort launched in 1998

We were able to observe the progress of the restoration, as well as view an exhibition about the history of the 185-year-old flag. Although the flag restoration work was conducted behind glass walls, we had a great view of the restoration taking place.

The restorers worked in a climate-controlled, pressurized lab inside the museum, inspecting, repairing and cleaning every inch of the flag, without touching it. They worked on their stomachs, from a scaffold suspended just six inches over the wool and cotton banner, which is being rolled out, a little at a time.

I remember being so excited about what I was seeing that I called Mom and Dad on my cell phone just to have them share that experience with me.