Work and Rodeo's......
Guess in some ways they have a lot of similarities....I mean in both there are clowns, bulls, thrills and spills! No this is not some profound analogy of the two - that's just the only title I could think of that describes my week and weekend, then when I got to thinking about how funny the two sounded together - I started thinking maybe they aren't so different after all. So, this week in the midst of the M word (that's merger - for those new to my blog)...we found out who our manager will be. The old Regions comp manager will be the new manager in the new Regions - makes perfect sense doesn't it? Ok - when Regions m'd with Union Planters - the Comp Manager came over from UP...so the Regions Comp Mgr moved to another position in HR. Then, the Exec Comp Mgr, who was from UP, was "displaced" so that Comp Mgr came back into Comp doing Exec Comp. So, he has a lot of COMP experience and will be the new mgr over Base/Variable Comp in the new Regions. I know him, like him and feel things will be fine. He was actually part of my decision to come to Regions in the first place even though I knew I would not be working for him...he was instrumental in helping me make my decision. So, I feel good about him and the fact that he will be working for a former SouthTrust manager who has been at Amsouth. So, that's one less unknown in this cake we are baking......now if we can get the rest of the ingredients we might know what kind of cake we are making....until now I've just been worried about pre-heating the oven! I say that to say that we know we have a job just not doing what or working for whom and it's like knowing you've got to make a cake but not what kind or how....so you're just standing there at the oven waiting to start it pre-heating!!! I know - I'm goofy....but that's the way I feel. I just hope our cake doesn't go flat and personally I prefer carrot cake to german chocolate; so let's just keep the coco"nuts" out of this recipe! So, next on the agenda is I got my Yukon back - yeah! I am no longer in the racecar, I mean Grand Prix and the new has worn off the girls and they were ready to have our car back. So, I'm on my way home later than usual last night because I had to go to Trussville to pick up my car. I pass by a home which has a few horses and one of them is out, grazing by the side of the road. I called my sweet hubby and asked him to bring a lead line - to which he replied "you're kidding - right?" and I said "no, I don't want this horse to get hit and no one is at home here"...so off he comes, kids in tow and I try to play Roy Rogers (just kidding). It was dark and this guy was not thru grazing....pinned back his ears and took off. I got his halter briefly and he immediately pulled back and went up with his head, so I let go. I am not into playing "cowgirl" especially with strange horses...so I called the Sherriff's Dept and left it in their hands. I did find the number for house thru freeality.com and called later. The horse had been captured and was safe and sound. I was relieved! I am also very thankful to my husband for coming down there for me....he didn't have to do it and I know he was getting ready for a tournament (by the way he came in 2nd - whoo hoo!) So, with that rodeo behind us....we were off to a "real rodeo" on Saturday. We got up bright and early Saturday morning to head to Hidden Creek Ranch near Vincent / Vandiver. Jessie went to horse camp there this summer and LOVED it. They were holding their 2nd Annual Dusty Bottoms Rodeo for kids ages 2 - 15. We did not pre-register and weren't exactly sure what all it involved. When we got there, I made an executive decision that we would not participate or compete this year but watch for a little while and then embark on other activities. The lineup showed it would be a long day at the Dusty Bottoms Rodeo and it was MUDDY....so the two combined did not seem appealing for an entire day. But we watched long enough to know that we will be back next year and with horses in tow for them to participate. While we were there, Jessie got to ride a mechanical bull - well you can only imagine what that has led to....I got pictures and will have them posted later. She also enjoyed watching the roping events and told me how she wanted to practice roping! We were heading to The Hitchin' Post for a b'day party and she told me she wanted to look at the roping dummies when we got there and the ropes! Lord - help us, I can just see Shelby being roped, Reed being roped, Blackie being roped and heaven forbid I make her mad! Once at Hitchin' Post, we checked out the roping dummies and ropes. Mr Cedar was there and he advised us on that aspect and he is going to let her borrow a rope for calf roping and give her some pointers. She also tried on a really cool pair of new boots from the John Deere line which have brown bottoms with pink uppers and are toooooo cute. We are going to see if she can get those for Christmas! We had a great time at Hitchin' Post and they are in full swing for their rodeo next weekend. We were worried we weren't going to get to see too much of their 1st Annual Rodeo because the girls are in a wedding next weekend....but the rodeo doesn't start until 8:00 each night so we will probably get to see plenty of action. If you are looking for some fun, come out to Kimberly, Alabama to the rodeo OR you could just go to work for a company in the middle of merger - it's all about the same!
