Looking forward to the next round!

Things to remember when preparing for next year’s show:

1 Bling. It was obvious that my daughter does NOT have enough bling for the arena. Pigs may be dirty. Pigs may be smelly. Pigs may be nasty to some of my readers, but they are what is being judged. The girls have enough bling to blind ya! (and it doesn’t help the pig!) K. will not need the bling. He fits in with the guys….jeans, western shirt, skinny, thick hair, the “boy look”. M on the other hand will need MORE bling.

2. You don’t need to wear a watch at the show. You just live there and when the parking lot begins to clear, you go to the hotel, eat a bite, shower and lay down just long enough to get comfortable then you just get back up and redress. ALTHOUGH…Jordan and Ashley cut us some slack! We knew pretty much how this chapter would end, so he wasn’t as demanding. This was a trial run year.

3. Practice a little better on my mom’s favorite line: “This is your project, not mine so let’s get going. And don’t you even think about whining!”

4. Practice Jordan’s line: “We started this job so let’s get ‘er done.” New pigs next year!

5.Let someone else do the video camera! “The Man” has a video camera like mine, but when you are recording it shows a green dot and a red dot for pause. Mine is the opposite so I have none of M going into the alley way with the judge, but I do have a lot of red pipe fence and wrangler butts! Don’t get me wrong. there is nothing wrong with Wrangler butts, but this was supposed to be about my daughter!

6.Those people we thought were a little weird wearing those masks were the smartest ones there! I have no voice. None. Part of it is due to the fact that I slept with the room below 71 and in the direct line of the vent. The other part is the fact that I probably inhaled the odors and dust of the barn.

7. Do not follow cars that can’t see chains blocking an exit! I now have beautiful yellow paint, two dents and a police report on file! All because this guy ran through a small barricade and the pvc pipe hit my car. I don’t like the color yellow! Never have.

8. Buy everyone in the family including Jordan and Ashley, an exhibitor’s and parking Pass. That is easy! No juggling of passes.

10. Don’t arrive between 10AM-2PM on a Saturday. No one directing traffic really knows what is going on. They are mainly there to say you MUST turn whatever direction the little red “airplane directing” light points you. If you want to turn left..sorry. Get a livestock trailer and you can turn any direction. But just me….a mom with NO trailer…you must turn right then you can do a U-turn in front of the officer to go left. They even suggest it. And don’t hesitate to do it either because IF you don’t, you will find yourself waiting 2 hours in line just for a parking place. Yes, even with my parking sticker. Let’s see….lot 5 was full so I wanted to go to lot 6, but you can’t turn left and the traffic won’t let you U-turn so you continue to go right and end up in a line that takes 2 hours to get back to 150 yards from where you started.

11. Finally………….don’t give the ding dang pigs a name! Yeah right, like that won’t happen next year. My children were so stoic. I was such a wimp. I cried. They didn’t see it, but Tony saw it coming on and took charge. I understand better than they do as to what is happening to our pigs who are now family. I didn’t lie though…they do put the pigs in a pen…….. for awhile. Not weeks like they think, but at least until the truck is ready to load. Anyway, I cried. I continued to think about the fact that I willingly gave this pig over to be your breakfast food, or you lunch meat. I watched my kids hope for the best and love this pig that was barely going to make it down the alley. M didn’t want to disappoint her brother, Jordan or Ashley, and I didn’t want her to feel like that. What a mess we were. WE help with my mom’s garden, and I love cucumbers, but I don’t cry when I give them away! And think, we still have Wilbur in barn. I have not been out to see him because he is due to leave next week.

12. The judging. Well, I now understand phrases like “penning”, “weigh back”, weigh out” and “dead sea”. I also understand that you actually have a chance AFTER the one judge sends you on down the line because the second judge can still throw you into the ring. And in the ring we will be sooner than later. Bring it on. We are ready with enough bling to blind you and a pig that will blow your socks off. We won’t need a second judge next year!

I never dreamed I would like just sitting around watching pigs walk around an arena, enjoy the smell of a barn, actually "want" to hear what a judge was about to say concerning a pig, and think: "I could really enjoy this for awhile". Pigs were breakfast, and Easter Sunday meals. Pigs were nasty! They were part of a fun memory of a Grandad and two little girls on vacation. And...people who had pet pigs were desperate for a pet. Now...I have a different view. Yep, the honeymoon is probably over....the real work about to begin, but I love what I see in my kids, and the responsibilities they have taken on and done well with.

Now, if you are tired of reading this list…..click off. IF not, I have a few more things to say.


Dear Ashley and Jordan,
Thanks! That word only has 6 letters, but it carries a lot of warmth and love for you guys. You put up with some strange quirks in our family, a grumpy little boy, a nervous young lady and a mom who is ……..older and just goofy. You guys probably took on more than first thought when you signed on at BBBS. But thank you for doing so! You have done so much for us in so short a time. We love you and thank you from the bottom of our hearts (and my pocket book!). Let’s get ‘er done next year.

Family and friends (mine, Jordan's and Ashley's)………..Thanks for the support this year. Mom and Dad, thanks for watering and feeding on cold mornings. Thanks for cementing the barn, running errands, and buying things here and there. Mom thanks for not missing a show..even in San Antonio. To all those who keep checking on the progress, checking on the kids, checking on the pigs, going to shows and loving us....thanks. You helped create this monster! Get ready for the second year to be just as fun, interesting, expensive, and hopefully more successful. And remember.....you are invited to come sit in the show barn anytime. We get lots of visiting done.

M. and K.

I am so very proud of you. You guys did a great job with your pigs this first year. I know that you are not morning people. Sometimes you are “not any time people”, but you got up and did what had to be done. You two did what was asked and I have been so proud. I can’t wait until you can figure out food amounts, and clipping, and are able to do by your self, some of the things you have been learning. Let me say that even though your daddy didn’t like pigs in anyway except cooked, he would have been sooooo proud of you. He would not have missed a moment of it, and would have supported you to the max. You are precious children, and I am so glad you are mine! (Even when you frustrate me) Let’s get ‘er done next year.
Mommy!

Ready or Not, here we come!

And so tonight before heading to dinner with my whole family (except Uncle T because he had to go out of town) the kids and I met with the "bigs" to take pictures of Bevo. Tonight is his last night to sleep in the barn. The last night to wake up and grunt with his friend Wilbur. The last night to enjoy the "country life". Tomorrow he heads out to the San Antonio Livestock show. He will travel with one of the breeders, and we will arrive on Sat. afternoon. And I must say....I have some mixed emotions. I have loved having these ding dang pigs. They are now family, but I am tired of cleaning up after them,changing their bedding, feeding them and getting nothing in return AND being ignored when I want them to do something. Oh, my I promise I am really talking about Bevo and Wilbur, not my two children. My children do not have aliases. Anyway, give me about 6 months, and it is like birthing a child. You forget the "labor" and would do it again.
We are already in the "next year" mode. We are planning for this and we are planning for that. But for now, we have to brace ourselves for the fact that as of Monday, unless by some wild chance we get to sale the next Sat., Bevo will load on a truck and head to another home(maybe even yours). I have been packing for two days. Hair ribbons, polished boots, jeans, kleenex, shirts, bling jewelry, kleenex, snacks, drinks, kleenex, joke books, swimsuits, and kleenex. Will this be the way it is the day my babies decide to move out? Will I need the kleenex? Will my stomach be churning, or will I be ready for the vacation only to begin planning for them to come back in a few months?
So, besides the packing for the trip, I am bracing and packing for the return home without our BEVO! A few days later, we will load Wilbur up and he will have a new home too. I always try to remember....he is just a pig. But there once was a spider who figured out like we have that he is "some pig" and quite "radiant". And she loved him. Have I mentioned that we actually had a spider sack in Wilbur's pen? I got rid of it because I don't need a spider writing phrases like "eat more beef" on the barn walls.
During this weekend, remember our family as my kids deal with this. I keep telling them: Don't look into their eyes for the next few days. AND, no more kissing Wilbur!
And in a few months there will be 4 little pigs in our barn. All fresh and new. All poopy and hungry. Spending my money! Eating the food. Demanding attention, and NOT cleaning up after themselves. Hmmmm I think I will practice raising my children before I get this next round of pigs.
San Antonio........ready or not, here we come!!!

This time next week

This time next week we will be getting ready for the San Antonio Livestock Show. Wow, I can't believe it is actually here. Not the show really, but the date we have dreaded. The day that we come home to the empty pig barn. I already have that sick to the stomach feeling. I already wonder: "How am I going to handle this so that the kids can handle it?" and then of course the next thought is that I don't want Jordan and Ashley to see me go to pieces. You, my friends, know that I don't like letting go....even of pigs. They have become our family. I have used my hard earned money to feed them, lodge them, purchase grooming for them, and change their shavings. So, I have to admit that I have stayed out of the barn for the last week. Yep, I am the chicken in the family.
Now, to more pressing matters. Is it my writing that does not stir your heart to respond, or is everyone now so caught up in face book that no one has time to read blogs? Hello, where are my friends? That's right...we talked on face book right before my computer crashed on Sat. morning. AND so....I am leaving to take it to the computer doctor.
Oh, and by the way..I can not tell you everything that goes on in school but the button I found on face book (before the crash) said: "If drama was vodka, our school would be wasted". That described last week! Drama, Drama, Drama.....then....my computer crashed!