Now that school is out, I wanted to take a trip to Alabama before the busyness of summer set in. Just so happens that one of the weekends I was looking at was rodeo weekend so that's the one I chose! A trip that normally takes about 8 hours took 9 1/2 thanks to construction and rush hour in Nashville. I spent a lot of time looking at the long string of cars ahead of me, inching along at a snail-like pace.
I was excited to get there in time Friday night for the preschool graduation. Most of the kids I know are gone by now, but there's a few left, and some have younger siblings now going to the preschool, so I still got to see them. After graduation, I went with the other teachers to Applebee's for supper, where we had the ssslllllloooooooowwwwwwweeeeeesssssttttttt service ever. EVER. Eventually we said something to the manager and after that, we had 3 different servers and two different managers being overly kind and attentive. Squeaky wheel gets the grease I guess. At the end of the night, Susan picked up the plastic tray that the bill comes on and a piece of it snapped right off and flew into her water glass!
Saturday night was the rodeo! I get made fun of occasionally for how much I love it, but I can't help it- I just do! One time in high school during an FFA convention, we went to a Bull Bash, and I've been hooked ever since. I love the sight of all those cowboys just waiting for things to get started;) We had really good seats- right by the chutes in the very front row. Close enough to get splattered with mud that the bulls and broncs kicked up, which was actually really fun and added to the experience:)
The calf scramble- all those kiddos chasing after calves with ribbons tied around their tails. Manage to pull a ribbon off and you win five dollars! It was so muddy from the rain the night before that kids were running right out of their shoes, and one even ran right out of her pants!
I found a pretty cute cowboy while I was there! About halfway through, I got a text from Devin's mom asking where I was sitting. I had told her I was going but I didn't know they would be there so that was a fun surprise. I spent the rest of the night sitting with them, and they had equally good seats as I did before so all was well:) Sometimes when I'm with Devin, he makes sure I remember that he's a nine year old boy- saying things that make no sense, making farting noises, laughing at dumb stuff... But sometimes he acts really sweet and mature and makes my heart just overflow with love. Saturday was a sweet and mature night. I loved it!
I headed home Monday morning, and since I didn't have to be anywhere at a certain time, I didn't rush the trip. Nashville has a huge farmers market with a Jamaican restaurant in it. I've eaten at the restaurant before but never walked around the market. So this time I stopped to eat and took the time to see what was there. A big chunk of it was flowers, and they were beautiful!
I have dreams of one day having a thriving garden, full of flowers and vegetables. But in all reality, these are the plants that I should probably invest in. I've never had much luck!
My DELICIOUS Jamaica cuisine. Whetting my appetite for my trip in July!
Oh, and I threw this very short video on here that I took at the rodeo. It looks like it loaded but I'm not sure if it will play or not. It's only about 4 seconds long. I think in the four or five different times I've gone to this rodeo, I've only seen one or maybe two bull riders make it to the 8 second buzzer!
