TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS

Well .... (that's a deep subject) ..... it is again 41 degrees in lovely Central California, with not even one tiny ray of sunshine.  Truly, this is getting old.  Cooper doesn't even want to go for a walk.  He scoots outside and three seconds later is back in the house.   And Kitters ... she spends all her time in the heated house.  I'm glad I got that for her.

Knowing the third of Twelve Days of Christmas was upon me, I did my best to sit around the house and do nothing.  I prefer one day off in order to gear up for any party.  That didn't happen, so I stayed in my jammies as long as I could.  Not just sitting on the couch however ... I was standing in front of the TV watching the National Finals Rodeo ... Round One.  If you want to see some world class athletes, go to the Cowboy Channel.  

Oh there's some wrecks, like this one.  Laying on your back is NOT how you ride a mean nasty bull.  This one is actually named Buck Nasty, because he does.    

THIS is how you ride a bull with only one hand gripping the bull rope (you can't touch the bull with your other hand) and your legs holding you on.  THIS is Stetson Wright.

This kid is 26 years old and has been riding bulls most of his life.  They call him Superman because he can ride like no one EVER!  

He was badly injured about 18 months ago.  Tore his hamstring completely loose from the bone.  The doctor told him he would never ride again, so he got a second opinion from a Doc who fixes up football players.  A year later he was back, only to get run over by a saddle bronc horse, resulting in a broken rib, collapsed lung and lacerated pelvis.  Those are career ending injuries.

But not for Stetson.  He barely made the finals, which is determined by how much money you make throughout the entire year.  This first night ... he won both the saddle bronc AND the bull riding, to the tune of about $36,000 for each one.  

Last night he won the bull riding AGAIN on a bull that I'm sure no one else would be able to ride.  It was crazy ... and the entire building full of people were standing on their feet screaming for him.

This kid .... he was SO DARN HAPPY that his career wasn't over yet, that he cried.  He was overwhelmed ... and so was the crowd ... me included.  Superman indeed!!

And then I was off to the party.  I knew there was construction on that road, but I had no idea it was so bad.  Pitch black outside and with no street lights, I was lucky to see the first row of cones and dodge them over to the far right.  Trouble is, I needed to turn left.

I saw the turn ... and I saw the cones ... but no way to get there from here.  This is ridiculous ... I made a left turn right over all those cones, to almost be run over by the guy coming to the stop sign who also could not see where the road was.  YIKES!!  

Whew ... I made it.  Early of course, because I've been to these before.  If you want something to eat and a chair to sit down, you go early.  The spread was amazing.  Swedish meatballs, bbq meatballs, some kind of weird sausage with potatoes, Deb's famous mushrooms and plate after plate of veggies and dips.  

Literally in 30 minutes the table was empty.  I'm pretty sure that's because the King kept asking people to show up.  They ran out of food completely, so everyone hit the bar.  I did too ... the DESSERT bar!!

On the way, I spotted this.  Talk about keeping track of your ancestry ... each picture on this cute little tree is of their parents, grand parents and great grandparents who all hailed from around Sweden.  I'd like this tree for Cooper and Jessie pictures.

The dessert bar ... cheesecake with jam, Danish cookies, the best crispy gingersnaps I've ever had in my life, and rice pudding with cinnamon.  I tried to leave something for someone else, but a few of those gingersnaps ended up in my pocket.

I skipped the alcohol altogether ... they had shots of something ... but the lovely hostess gave me a shot glass anyway to take home.  She said this says Merry Christmas.  I quickly snuck out the front door at 7:00.  

I had PIE waiting.  This turned out to be an apple caramel pie.  I wasn't hoping for much, since these grammar school money raising food sales are not usually the best.  Boy was I wrong!!

It said to bake at 350 for two hours.  YIKES!!  Okay, if you say so.  Turn it every 30 minutes, so I did.  Well let me just say this was the BEST apple pie I've ever had in my life.  And I've got EIGHT more slices to eat!!

Due to the Elks calendar, and everyone else's, there is another Day of Christmas tonight.  I'm going, only because it's the last one I can attend due to the Senior Dinner I have to help cook next week.  The theme of this one is Scotland.  I hope they don't have anything weird to eat in Scotland.  It can't be TOO bad (or maybe it can) because this couple are vegetarian!!  OH BOY!!