Weekend of the Spatula

Hey everybody!!! Yesterday (Saturday, Sept. 3rd) my family and I went to a cow sale in Lockhart, Texas. Lots of fun, old friends, new pals, and good food. What's really funny is that on Thursday I got a fortune from a cookie that read "You will meet old friends soon." And I did! Hehe. But back to the weekend.

We left here (Sam Houston State U) at about 4 PM on Friday. We got to Lockhart at about 7 PM that same day. We had to stop at Wal-Mart in Brenham to get socks, but other than that it was a straight shot. We arrived in the middle of the heifer sale. This is the first year we had a sale of the sort, so it was interesting. I went around and said hi to the people sitting on the outskirts and my parents, since I hadn't seen them in almost two weeks. I then went to the back to see my two friends. Makayla is 13, about 4' 10", and about as big around as a number 2 pencil. She's a sweetheart, and LOVES animals. She and I love to ride horses and play with the goats and talk about cows and girl stuff. Then I spoke to Mikey. He's 15, and taller than I am. About 5' 8" or so. I love to talk to him. He knows all sorts of stuff about world news and has valid points and opinions, but loves video games and guns about as much as me. Very cool. We talked for a few minutes then I went in and ate some great fajitas and cookies. After the sale, we went around and said hi to everyone we hadn't already seen. Most of the people who participate know us very well, so there weren't very many introductions. I did meet Gayle and Theo, as well as Craig that night. We went to the motel and chilled for a while before falling asleep at about midnight. Well, I went to sleep at midnight. Derek and Brandy went to sleep at about 2. They had been watching a movie.

Saturday morning we woke up and got ready at about 7:30. I went to Mom and Dad's room to talk to Mom for a while before Derek and Brandy woke up. (To clarify, Derek had his won bed and Brandy and I shared the second bed in our room. Mom and Dad were by themselves.) Dad was already gone, but returned before too long to change. We were all up and ready by then, so we all went over to the sale barn, which is only a hop, skip, and a jump away. Actually, it's across the air strip.

After saying good morning to all of our friends, Makayla and I started riding horses. She rides Blue, her 22-year-old horse. I rode Star, a recent addition to the family. We had a lot of fun putting them through their paces in the big empty field next door to the sale barn. That was actually the first time I've ever ridden a horse at a gallop and felt fully in control for more than two seconds.

The sale began at about 12:30, half an hour later than planned. The food was late. But it was good, that's for sure. We started the sale with several donated items that went to the sale fund. We don't charge for food and we don't charge a commission, so we have to make money however we can. Our cows came up. The first sold for $1,300. The second sold for $900 (my brother's cow). My cow sold for $1,200. The fourth and fifth cows sold for $1,200 and $900. Overall, some would say it wasn't a bad day, but we were expecting SO much more. There was a note in the comments and the "auctioneer's assistant" explained that it was for our college funds, but I guess it wasn't a big deal. Gayle and Theo bought my cow. She'll have a good home.

After the sale I met Jared from Minnesota. He was pretty cool. We talked about the differences in our climates and the "joys" of the cow business. I then went to find Makayla. We rode horses again. It started to rain, so we took off for shelter, then decided it didn't really matter. We were both hot and sweaty anyway, and the rain felt wonderful. It did start pouring for as few minutes, so we sound a shed and dismounted. After chilling for a few minutes before the rain quit, we remounted. As I did, my pants stretched at just the right place... and they split. Right down the front. Terrible feeling. So Makayla rode over to Derek and got the car keys, we rode out to the car, I tossed Makayla my reins, and drove over the the motel to change pants. I had an extra pair, fortunately, so I got back in a few minutes and got back on. This time, I used a little more precaution and got up on the side of the trailer first, then stepped down into the stirrups. We rode from the back of the barn to the front door, at which point my parents informed me it was time to go. So I took Star back to the pen, told Makayla a quick goodbye, and went to the truck. When I realized I wouldn't see her again before we left, I was a little upset, but she knows how to reach me. Yay for email!

We had Chinese food for dinner. Good stuff. Shrimp, egg rolls, fried rice, and fortune cookies. I don't remember what mine said. Sorry guys. We went back to the motel and changed into out swimsuits. We swam for about an hour and a half, doing all sorts of things from racing to dunking to jumping to throwing each other up in the air in cheerleader fashion. Brandy did a full backflip, but she's a cheerleader. I was honestly very impressed with my own back dive. Derek, Dad, and Brandy were all surprised that I actually pulled it off. I wasn't surprised exactly... just incredibly pumped.

We left this morning at about 7:30. About an hour down the road, we stopped for breakfast. McDonalds!!! After another 15 miles, the car started acting up. We were in separate vehicles. Dad took his truck on Thursday to haul the cows. He took 4 home (1 is ours, 3 belong to a friend). So Derek, Brandy, and I followed on Friday in Mom's car. So the radiator's seriously screwed up. They put water in it and left it at a store about 2 miles down from where we stopped. Dad will go get it tomorrow. Lots of fun, I'm sure. I just hope they can get it fixed. So we crammed into the truck (yeah, right, the truck's HUGE) and rode the rest of the way back (another hour and a half) to school. They dropped me off and then continued on their way at about 10:30 this morning.

So, that was my oh-so-exciting weekend. We got some money, but not a whole lot. Prayerfully it'll be enough to get us through school for a while. But we'll see. He hasn't failed us yet, so I don't doubt Him now. Other than that, life is great. I'm going to drop my dance class (Jazz 3, WAAAAAAY too advanced) and hopefully get into a lower level class. Hope everybody had a great week and weekend! Sleep LAAAAAAAAAATE tomorrow! Talk to y'all soon! Love and hugs!