Cattlemen's Ball 2009

(image taken from Cattlemens.com)

Cattlemen's Ball is a super huge fundraiser for Cancer research here in Nebraska. You can check it out here. This year it was held just a stone's throw from my home town.

I went back to GI town to help out...I ended up spending most of the day with my mom- which is always entertaining. The craziest things always happen when we're together. Which is probably good - because then I have a witness that can corroborate my stories!

Here are some of the highlights from our adventure:

• The area received about 3 inches of rain over night- which made the alfalfa field (the part of the ranch where the festivities were being held) a HUGE mud pit! I mean "black squishy lose your sandals and never see them again" kind of muddy!
• Which made it a little more humorous...seeing all the uppity upps (not you nancy!) in their designer shoes trying to wade through the mud! White capris, tan dress pants...can you even imagine!?
• LOVED the fashion show! Not so much for the fashion...but the kids were so stinkin adorable! They did little diva model poses and had on serious faces. So cute! The last set was modeled completely by local cancer survivors...very touching! Especially when two little boys took their stroll down the catwalk...heartbreaking! Really!
• There was a frog sneaking around under unsuspecting people's chairs during the style show. Which happened to be right by me. So when the show was over...I happened to have a bucket (don't ask)... I tried to catch it. After hopping (the frog and I) through the rows for 15 minutes...I finally got the bucket over it. Then my mom told me to slide a piece of paper underneath, flip it over and then we could take it somewhere and release it. Sounded alot easier than it ended up being. Long story short- there was some screaming, a frog in my face, a bucket flying into the crowd and my mom (and other onlookers) laughing hysterically. I decided to let the frog fend for itself.
  
• I decided to leave early...didn't want to get stuck in a storm coming back home. I did, however, get stuck in the mud trying to leave the parking area. My van tire was almost completely covered and my front end was resting on the ground- possibly even sinking into ground- who really knows! I finally found a nice man in a pick up to help me. He couldn't help but comment on how obvious it was that a woman had caused this mess... no man would have gotten it soooo stuck. I took it like a champ. He pulled me out. I proceeded to get stuck two more times until he finally just drove my van to the road for me. I thanked him and headed home.
  
• My mom wore a black bra under her white volunteer tshirt. Neither of us had realized...really kind of hoping no one else did. Although, really how much worse could we have looked...muddy feet, drizzle/wind blown hair (and not the pretty kind), mud splatters all over the lower halves of our bodies and our faces showed every bit of tired weariness resulting from the day's work. Really!? What difference was a black bra under a white tshirt going to make...right!?
• I saw a man dressed in nice tan slacks and a yellow (I think it was yellow) polo shirt get sprayed with mud after helping a car that got stuck. Sprayed completely! I mean the only part of his front that I could see were his eyes...once he took his glasses off. His wife just looked at him and said "Oh honey! I don't think we can go in there with you looking like that!" I hid my laughter! The husband didn't find it as humorous.
  

Alot of money was raised today for a wonderful cause! If you ever have an opportunity to attend this annual event- please do! You won't regret it! Because even though there was mud up to my waist, foggy drizzly weather and a whole lot of craziness- it was AWESOME!