Jan 16

It’s the little things that mean so much. Before my girls were even born, we took my son to the National Western Stock Show here in Denver. It is a big event in Denver. It lasts for two weeks. There are dozens of events including a rodeo and a kid’s rodeo. It’s pretty fun. When we took my son, two of the more memorable things that occurred were when we put him up on a pony and got a picture of him riding around the little corral and a section of the kid zone where he made a lasso. We kept the lasso until it unraveled, and I still have the photo. Anyway, my granddaughter is now three and she is very interested in animals. If Santa is her favorite subject, animals would have to be her second. When we told her that there were going to be animals at the stock show, she told us at every opportunity that she wanted to go. So, there wasn’t any way that we weren’t going to take her. Unfortunately plans became screwy. My wife was going to go take her parents and visit her brother out of town on Saturday. So, I volunteered to work if any overtime became available. On Friday, my wife wasn’t feeling good and she told me that she might not go, but she didn’t tell me for sure. Friday, I worked a day shift instead of the graveyard. And, while I was there, the weekend guy quit. Since I had offered to work earlier in the week, they penciled me in. When I got home, my wife said that she wasn’t going to take her parents. She wanted us to go to the stock show. I told her that I had to work, and of course I got in trouble. But, that didn’t stop her from taking the kids and my granddaughter. When they got back, Tecia said that she had the greatest time. She was able to see all of the animals, except there weren’t any chickens. Even though she loves animals, she isn’t too keen on doing new things. So, she wouldn’t get up onto the horse until my eldest daughter got on with her. We got a picture of that. Then, they put her on a pony by herself and she rode it around the little corral like my son did eighteen years ago. Then, they found the rope maker and she was able to make herself a lasso just like he did. They didn’t get a picture of that, but overall, they had a blast. I’m going to put the pictures of her on the horse and the pony on my Facebook page in case you want to check them out.
It is Sunday today of the next week, and they still haven’t replaced the weekend guy. So, I’m here at work again. I was able to watch the two games yesterday and I did better with my pics than I did the week before. This time, I picked Green Bay. But, I didn’t pick the Steelers. So, I’m one and one. I started watching the Bears game today before work. I’m not bitter anymore about Cuttler being on the Bears team, but I still didn’t pick them to win. But, during the first half, the Sea Hawks hadn’t done anything. So, I’m probably going to lose that one too. I’m not voting for the Patriots tonight either, so I’ll most likely be one and three for this weekend. That’s not too good, one and seven overall.
I did get a little work done whatever day I was able to do it. I’m on chapter 62 today. Some of these next chapters are small ones, so I plan on getting a few of them done. I tried to get the cover started on Saturday, but I couldn’t find my drawing paper. I might have to go out and buy a new pad. It sucks, because I wanted to update my website with it. But, I guess that will have to wait until next weekend. That is as long as I don’t have to work. I’m putting in some Cat Stevens, ABBA, Carly Simon, Heart, Gordon Lightfoot, and Neil Diamond in the playlist today. I know those aren’t the usual choices, but it’s just one of those days.
-Thom