"The One With...The City Girl"

So this week my aunt, uncle and cousin from South Dakota are in town for the National Jr. Shorthorn Competition at the American Royale! Who knew there was such a thing? I definitely didn't! My cousin is showing several cows (as I like to call them) in this event and I was politely corrected by my uncle that they are not cows but rather heifers and/or steers. Ooops - silly me!

So I had a 1/2 day at work today and thought I would drive myself down to the Amer. Royale area and watch my cousin and visit with my aunt & uncle for a few hours. Now when I left the house this morning, I obviously didn't think about putting on my "cow-watching" apparel. After what I witnessed this afternoon, I should have definitely re-thought my decision when I got dressed this morning. I put on cute little white shorts, with a matching tank top and my black Rainbow flip-flops thinking this would be good to wear incase it was a hot/muggy day out. So I left work and headed downtown - DEEP downtown - into what I like to call the West Bottoms from Hell! I had to take a detour into unknown territory which made me really nervous. Then I had to drive across a huge bridge that I swear was going to collapse at any minute. Next I took a scenic tour all around the AR area looking for my relatives. I finally parked the vehicle 20 minutes later amongst 100's of big dually trucks and made my way into the cattle barn....mind you, I have cute little flip flops on...OH and carrying my big Coach bag :) My uncle meets me outside and leads me through the cow barn where my aunt is. My eyes got real big as I was not prepared for what lay ahead of me! I had to walk through cow-urine-soaked mulch and dodge the cow poo piles and puddles from washing the cows in my now not-so-cute Rainbow flip-flops! My aunt is seated on the top of the metal bleachers which are somewhat covered in dirt/cow manure/unknown residue and I sit my butt down with yes, my white shorts on. I had nowhere to put my purse and feared if I laid it down on the bleacher it would have fell off and landed in a pile of poo so I just held it in my lap. Once I sat down and got settled in, I looked around and noticed the majority of the people there were in jeans, cowboy boots/hats, big flashy belts (which I liked with all the bling on them), t-shirts, etc. and then there was me in my white shorts, flip-flops and Coach bag! How I looked must have screamed "Johnson County Diva" to them all! (You must live around here to get that joke :)

After my cousin finished showing her steer we walked back through the cattle barn, dodging cattle left and right in the aisles like they were people and walked to their camper so we could visit awhile which was really nice since I hadn't seen them since X-mas! After being there a couple of hours I decided to make my way home...through rush hour traffic...on I-35 at 4:30pm...the evening before the holiday weekend! Can you say CRAZY?!? And to think, we are going back on Saturday? You can bet I will be dressing "down" for the occasion :) One thing is for sure - you can take me out of the city...but you can never take the city OUT of me! And to think I grew up on a farm!?!