Spring's a Comin'

The usual signs of spring are making their appearance: 1) The groundhog predicted an early spring, 2)Temperatures are warming up, and 3)Baby bumps are EVERYWHERE!

I went to a baby shower this weekend, which wasn't too awful, (normally I hate baby showers; they're embarrassing for everyone there, including the mom-to-be.) But, as I got caught up with all my old friends from high school, I realized that almost EVERYONE I KNEW was pregnant or had just had a baby.

They're everywhere. Everywhere. Now don't get me wrong, I love babies. But it was just a bit overwhelming. Has there been some political push to multiply like in some Asian communist country? It just seems like many of these girls, or I guess I should say women, are getting preggers just because that's what you do after you get married.

Why? How come it has to be that way? Why can't you get married and spend a little time enjoying that before moving on to the next huge milestone? I just don't understand.

Bizarre...

My beautiful little sister showed her American Cross steer at Fort Worth last week and placed 10th! Yay for Ali! She showed like a champ, and squeaked into the very last sale hole. So proud.

Saturday, at the Sale of Champions, the sale started around 9 a.m. Due to Ali's low position in the sale, it was around 3 or 4 before it was her turn. The Grand Champion went for $185,000, ( unbelievable!) and by the time Ali was up, they were selling for around $4 a pound. Pretty good,

compared to the average salebarn prices of $.82

a pound.

Anyway, so we were all very excited about the whole thing, (except for Ali, who had been crying since yesterday about selling her pet.) Then, when Ali came out there, the whole thing turned surreal. A man in a white cowboy hat stood up and yelled "$12!" The auctioneer was so caught off guard, he stopped mid-sentence to say "$12? Per pound?"

It seems that someone in the sale committee saw her showing earlier that week, mentioned how cute she was, and happened to be standing close to someone from our county. They told the man all about her, how she got the calf from a local salebarn, and how my dad had fit the calf and trimmed his hooves all himself. The story charmed the committeman, and he told it to some of the buyers. They rallied together, and decided to make a big statement, a $12 per pound statement. (Now, for those of you who haven't done the math, $12 a pound doesn't sound like such a big deal until you realize that her steer weighed approximately 1250 lbs.)

The bizarro-like situation just increased when we went behind the stage to take her picture with her buyers and her steer. The main buyer informed Ali that she could take her steer HOME if she wanted, or she would take him to HER RANCH to be a PET. Well, Ali's no dummy, and knew if he was taken back to our house, his name might as well have been Hamburger. So, she asked the woman to take him home to her ranch in Throckmorton. No kidding. He's gonna live out his days on a ranch with other pet cows.

This was all so unbelievable, my family and I were sort of in shock throughout this whole thing. Ali was crying, and all we could really do was continue to say "Thank You" over and over again. I still have a hard time believing it.