60 seconds of fame!

Do you ever go shopping and feel guilty picking up another dress even though you know there are three new dresses in your closet? Do you ever feel the need to put your shopping bags in a secret hiding place so your husband doesn't see that you bought the fourth dress in a two month period? Thankfully, I have a husband that never asks why there is a spare bedroom full of shopping bags.

Now when I go shopping, I shop the clearance racks. Rarely will I purchase a full-price item unless it is something I just have to have. It just so happens that I ran across that must-have dress over the weekend. Stores sure know how to grab your attention when they put the cutest items in the very front of the store.

I was weak and picked up the dress to try on. I was hopeing the dress didn't fit so I wouldn't buy it but go figure, the dress fit like a glove. As I was checking out, the cashier ( a larger black woman) was commenting on how cute the dress was. I proceeded to tell her that I was hoping the dress didn't fit so my husband wouldn't ask why I bought another dress. Her comment to that, "Oh honney, just tell him that that dress makes you look gooooood."

As the woman walked around the counter to give me the bag she glanced down at my two pairs of shoes that I bought at the store nextdoor. "Oh honney, now how are you going to explain those?  Oh just tell him they make your feet look good!" 

Yes, I bought a dress, a pair of running shoes and a pair of heels but I didn't spend but $70 on it all! Looking back now, I would have spent more on a dress had I known I would be standing next to Kristen Bell on National Television!!

It started out with a text Monday morning from a friend saying that she was able to invite three friends to go with her to the CMT Awards for talent seat fill in. I was confused as to what she meant by talent seat fill in. Apparently Kayla (blonde standing behind and to the right of Kristen Bell) has been going to the CMAs, CMTs, etc. awards shows as a talent seat fill in for the past 5 years. These fill ins are trustworthy people that have the ability to sit next to the artists without passing out, trying to talk to them, handing out demo discs, etc. As artists get up to either perform or accept an award, fill ins sit in the empty seats for the appearance of a full audience.

Luckily, Kayla was able to invite three trustworthy friends to go with her this time. I am almost ashamed to tell ya'll that I was on the verge of not even going. Its not that I had anything else major in to do but for the simple fact that this was way out of my comfort zone. Not only did I have to make a spur of the moment trip to Nashville Monday afternoon for orientation but then there was a possibility of not getting back Wednesday until the wee hours of the morning. For those of you that know me, staying up late is not my thing and spur of the moment activities are not my favorite.

I immediately called Dan to ask for advice. His only advice was that I had to go otherwise he would be mad at me. My friend Crystal pressured me into going even though she was one of the lucky ones that had the opportunity to go but had other obligations. I am in a friend's wedding this weekend so I had a million things to get done beforehand and the thought of how exhausted I would be was darn right exhausting!

I had a personal debate for a while thinking about all of the things that I needed to get done but I soon realized that this was once in a lifetime experience. There was the possibility of seeing my man, George Strait!

So Wednesday Kayla and I headed down to Nashville. We stood at the bottom of the stairs that the artists would walk up when receiving an award. Just inches away from Miranda Lambert, Lady A, Florida Georgia Line, Luke Bryan....the list goes on and on. 

About 10 minutes before the show went live, a production manager came up to a small group of girls and informed us that Kristen Bell was going to be shooting where we were and he needed us to circle her. Those 10 minutes were full of checking each other over making sure our hair looked good and lips were shiny. For the record, Kristen Bell is very sweet in person. She looked at all of us and asked how we were doing. Of course we all just nodded and smiled seeing as we were given strict orders to not talk to the celebrities. 

Kayla and I continued to have the best seat in the house considering we were just inches from all of the award winners. About an hour and a half into the show we were able to go be seat fill ins. I wasn't able to sit right next to any celebrities but I sat directly behind Dog the Bounty Hunter and Beth, about four seats over from Randy Travis, two seats over from Big and Rich, and two rows behind Darius Rucker and Kenny Rogers. So many celebrities! I didn't loose my cool walking past Carrie Underwood or stop to gawk at Luke Bryan (that one was a little more difficult). My only saving grace was that George Strait wasn't there. I didn't realize until the next dat that George was supposed to perform until his dad passed away. Before I left the house Wednesday morning I informed Dan that if I ever got in arms reach of George Strait that my hand could possibly get a major twitch and slide across that great Wrangler butt. I don't know of any other man that can look that good at age 61!

Even though I slipped into bed about 12:45 that night and still have several loads of laundry yet to do, I wouldn't have traded Wednesday night for anything. The performances were amazing and the experience was unforgettable! I just wish I could have spent a little more time on my hair and wore my new dress rather than my $29 dress from Catos.

Oh the joys of being a small farmers wife on National Television!!

What a week!

Whew wee! This week has been…uh….interesting to say the least.

The week started out well with a day off from work. Memorial Day was spent lounging in a chair outside with Kindle and a large glass of sweet tea in hand. Three day weekends are great for catching up on household chores and some much needed R & R.

Unfortunately, R& R was not in Dan's forecast. He has been working like a dog the past couple of weeks and it continued on into Memorial Day weekend. It finally dried up enough for the guys to get in the field and finish up planting corn. Sadly, no break is in sight seeing as they had to jump right into side dressing (applying Nitrogen which boosts growth) the corn that was previously planted.

I’ve had several “crop lessons” over the past 5 years since Dan and I started dating. I now can say with complete confidence that I know what side dressing is, the cycle of which crops are planted/harvested and most importantly…when to just nod and smile!

I know Dan absolutely LOVES what he does but I sometimes get that feeling of guilt when I call to check on him and he is broke down or he has another 50 acres to plant and it is already 10:30 pm. I believe farmers deserve the 125% dedication award!

So with Dan working day in and day out I feel like it is my wifely duty to pick up the slack and take care of things around the house. Due to my slight OCD (Dan may beg to differ on the slight part), cleaning is something I enjoy doing. I don’t mind laundry, cooking, or washing my car. I’m not above taking trash to the dumpster, weed eating or even mulching. The one thing I didn’t do previously was mow grass. Its not that I didn’t want to mow the grass, it’s the fact that the lawn mower is one of those large and in charge, zero turn radius mowers. I will be honest, it’s intimidating! When it got to the point where we could bale our yard was when I realized I needed to learn how to use Big Bertha!

Saturday was the big day. Lawn Mowing 101. Dan’s Grandmother brought Bertha over and there I was…the day of having the excuse “I don’t know how” gone. Granny was kind enough to mow the edges and hard spots so I didn’t have to my first time. I know deep down it was for Bertha’s sake.  I hopped on that sucker and took off. My first few passes were more like the Chevron print than straight lines but I finally got the hang of it. Yes, there might be a few patches that I missed but at least I did it!

Even Gus got a new buddy this week! While cleaning stalls one morning I heard what sounded like another kitten. After searching the barn up and down I found what looks to be like Gus’ twin. We now have Gwen…Gus’ sister. I am not sure how she survived for the past three weeks but she’s a trooper. I just hope they don’t have any other siblings pop up somewhere.

As if things couldn’t get anymore exciting we got a phone call Saturday morning saying that Alex, Dan’s little brother, was in a car accident Friday night. He was hit by a drunk driver and took a spill right into a trailer park, in between two mobile homes. Things could have gotten ugly seeing as he knocked down a power line/gas line but once again, the Good Lord did amazing things. Alex walked away with a few air bag burns, a stiff neck and a totaled car. Times like these we realize life is so precious and so fragile. I believe Alex’s guardian angel was tired after that one!

What more could possibly take place this week you ask? How about an out-of-body experience! About a month ago I had a few cavities filled. The dentist gave me some Nitrous Oxide (laughing gas) to make it a more enjoyable experience. If you have ever had the gas you know that it mellows you out and typically doesn't have any negative sideaffects....

I am guessing the hygienist got the vibe that I was anxious about the procedure so they gave me a much stronger dose of the gas. As they were telling me to let them know if the room began to spin or if I felt sick I quickly realized that something was not right. I tried to tell them that something was going on but I slipped out of it too fast. I could hear they hygenist talking but couldn’t make out what was being said nor could I see anything. I was myself in a much smaller form (like in Honey, I shrunk the kids form) and I was in my mouth watching them work on my teeth. It was the most bizarre thing I have ever experienced. Once I came to, the Hygienist told me what happened and informed me that I sat up and ripped everything off of my face. I was hoping they already worked on my teeth but that was a negative. It was apparnt that out-of-body experiences are not part of my regular routine seeing as the first thing the dentist said was, “Well Hun, looks to me like you don’t participate in recreational drugs.” Well Sir, you are correct about that one. I guess they could tell by the tears streaming down my extremely frightened face that this wasn’t something I experienced on a regular basis. Dan’s response to all of this, “And that’s why the dentist is overrated.

Oh my, the joys of being a farmer’s wife!