Just Living My Life

Wow,

So as I'm writing this I'm doing the math and noticing it's been 26 days since my last post...and I have to say, "Where did the time fly?" Spring is here and life is going great for the most part. There's always the occasional slip ups like Rebel going lame before a big team penning this past weekend. Or being laid off...but that is life, and faith in God and my ability to rebound still keeps me signing up for another go round. That means my future will be changing but doesn't it all the time anyways...so here's to life, lemons, lemonade, and good times!

One thing for certain is that life goes on....My best friend Jeff and his amazing wife Karen are expecting the pitter patter of feet and I'm looking forward to spoiling their baby rotten. Another congratulations and welcome to the family will be my cousin Cody and his beautiful wife Roxanna's child. As for me...well I still like practice more than the actual work! :-) Maybe one day, besides it'll give my Aunt Tuggy a chance to wear what she calls..."the perfect dress for a nephews wedding" and my response was "will it still be in style in 10-15 years?" Only time will tell.

Looking forward to Gilly and Andreas baby girl Rylynn's 1st birthday coming up soon. And what an amazing beautiful girl she is. Lets just hope she gets more of Andrea's sweet disposition than Gilly's rhetoric. As always though looking forward to time spent with them.

My grandfather ,Paco Moore, turned 80 this month and we had a wonderful time celebrating with him. I'm always amazed at the family that him and my grandmother raised. Their experiences, kindness, and dedication to one another are something to be admired by all. I look forward to many more years with them and am proud to be one of their grand kids.

Andrew and I are burning up the road and it has been a blast. There is nothing more relaxing to me than loading up the horses and getting lost for the weekend. Steve Earle sang about loving to hear the sound of steel belts on the asphalt and I know exactly what he means. Chasing white lines, greasy food, truck stops, and great friends make the road a place to unwind and relax. I guess that makes me the "ramblin man" that the Hag sings about. If life is about the ride, then there is always more fun around the next curve....sure there are construction zones, highway patrol, local yocals, bandits and blowouts, and a million other dangerous things out there but the scenery, the family, and the friends make it worth every mile day in and day out.

It all can't be one big party though...grad school seems a little tougher this semester or maybe I just haven't dedicated to it like I should. But with 47 days left as a teacher I'm taking things easier than I ever have before. Heck I've even managed to pick up my guitar a few times and work on some thoughts like this one....maybe I'll finish it someday but for now here's the chorus.

"I might be crazy

Yeah, I'm wild, reckless, and free

But you get to love her and you'll find,

She's crazier than me"

The photo up top was taken in the back pasture about a week ago. It is amazing how nature bounces back after going through hell and inspiration is always to be found. Three years of drought and these wild flowers are the prettiest they have been in years. The blues are darker, the yellow and reds more vibrant than in years past. No, not the perfect grazing conditions for a cattle operation, but something inside me decided to let them live a little longer before opting for the weed control. Maybe it was my way of giving thanks to something so beautiful. Or my way of being thankful for still being able to slow down and enjoy the flowers. Anyway it plays out, I'm thankful to be me and wouldn't trade who I am or any of my experiences.

Y'all be good, have fun, tell the ones you love that you do, and just enjoy life.

LB

It's March

Well Kay Bailey didn't win but we're all still Texans. This is a short post today, but lots going on in my world....However it's March with that being said. The skies are prettier, jokes are funnier, and food tastes better! Hope y'all are having as grand a time as I am.
Hasta
LB

February = Valentines = Crazy Women

As my father used to say..."if it ain't one thing, it's another." He was usually talking about something breaking around the ranch, or maybe some trouble I had found myself in. Today I am applying that saying to my life more and more particularly in the area of women..and especially during February. What is it about some damn HEB chocolate, roses, and whatever else deemed romantic that drives women to search for love during such a frigid month?

Yes, I'm talking about all women! Ones that are single are sitting up more and taking notice of those around, married ones are looking at their significant and praying for a smoking hot V-day, and then there is the tortured souls. The tortured soul is that heart that is in a relationship/marriage but just isn't happy with what they have. They won't openly look for others but given the right amount of alcohol, strange location, words, attention, and a attractive guy then they'll confess anything to hear words of happiness. How do I know...well maybe you don't find yourself in these situations but I do. Here's just a current snapshot.

There are a few women that are in relationships telling me they love me. A couple of women that want to jump into a relationship prior to any dates, some that I've dated and want me to try again, and one that wants nothing to do with me but still loves me. It happens...and this February is shaping up to be one for the record books. The weird part is that 90 percent of theses women approached me.

Recently while explaining this phenomena about women approaching me it really came out wrong...or perhaps it was who I was explaining it too? She happened to women liking me to me being a "bug light." She thought it was funny and proceeded to use it alot. I'm sure it's copyrighted by now. I prefer another's opinion who said I was "temptation incarnate" although I believe "carnage" would work better. She says women are just drawn to me. Her words not mine. Whatever the case...it's not me, but for some reason or another I get lucky in the amount of women that approach me. However this strange event doubles in numbers around February. I believe its that search for love that has even the quietest woman ready to unshackle the confines of mediocrity to chance on something wild, adventurous, and outside the box.

I clearly maintain that it's not me...that I am just a guy! Quiet and in the back....unless I'm bored and cutting up about something. I'm not going out of my way to approach anyone and the few times I have they have clearly ended in "epic fail." I'm telling you it's this chaotic ritual of finding/proving your love during the month of February that has women clamoring for men. Yes it's true...I've experienced it. I even buy into it....sending the flowers...picking out the chocolate (even if it's not the kind I like but she will), and looking for the right gift that says I like you don't run off just yet! But this Valentine's Day I'm fighting back!

I'm not buying any strange women anything...and my Wells Fargo checking account and my credit score will be the better for it. In fact it's a little happiness I find and smile to myself thinking about time I won't be standing reading the cards...is this one too funny, too serious, too playful, would she really like it in Spanish? There won't be any over buying of candy because you know it's a few days away but you haven't quite figured out which kind of candy to go with...so you buy a little of everything hoping to cover your bases. Flowers...no there will not be an awkward silence on the other end of the line (maybe its just awkward to me?) as the florist reads back exactly what you want said on the card. Or laughs at weird requests like black roses. (yes, she didn't like red, and white was too pure) It's degrading sometimes the things we're drug through to make them feel all nice and cozy...and sometimes they are worth it.

However, I'm not falling for it this year! So heed this warning if you are one of those crazy, delusional, has to have the love of your life on Valentines Day or else you'll just die women...do not seek me out! Your unsolicited approaches will be rebuked, all offers turned down, numbers will not be called, and facebook friend requests will be ignored. You are on your own for the month of February....but feel free to try back in March. I'm a sucker for a bikini :-)



No mi corazón para usted

LB

Rain

Thank You God for the rain....it helps out more than you know. :-)

What's Up With That?

Howdy,

Yeap that's my typical greeting and as the Spring semester of grad school kicked off last night I saw a few of those shirts that say "Howdy". It's funny seeing shirts of your university when you're at another university. For some reason not known to me there are a lot of people attending Texas A&M San Antonio believing they are Texas A&M College Station or Galveston. Going so far as to call themselves "Aggies." Sorry to bust the bubbles but they're not the same. Granted, TAMUSA is part of the A&M system it's not the flag ship. In fact, TAMUSA voted themselves the jaguars.....ugh thats not an Aggie. At Aggieland there is a spirit that can never be told....and as I was reminded in a scathing blog by an ex "from the outside looking in you can't understand it and from the inside looking out you can't explain it."

I bleed maroon, I pound on my horn everytime I cross the Brazos heading into Aggieland, and I could pack up everything I own and move to College Station to live the rest of my life. That's part of being an Aggie to me. From the great lifelong friends made there, to the life lessons learned its an experience unlike any other university can offer. No, I didn't learn to smoke pot or love everybody, but I learned to stand for what I believe in. To respect the things I didn't understand, that I'm not alone in the world and we are tied together in more ways than I ever fathomed. That's what going to college should do. Open your eyes to the world around you. However, don't take from my alma mater! TAMUSA develop your own culture and pride. Invent some crazy cool jaguar traditions. The profs are great the attitudes are positive but branch out and find yourself....do not latch on to something that you don't understand. Anyways enough rambling about that.

Life is going pretty good, but I'm itching for spring time. We've been getting a lot of work done at the ranch although it always seems too slow for my speed, but progress is coming along. Some little projects knocked out and some big ones left to do but then again there's always something.

My friends are amazing! I'm pretty blessed with those I do call friend. I'm not out to collect a million facebook friends and I don't call everybody friend just because I want a vast network. The ones I do call friend are the greatest. The ones I call friend are the ones you can call at anytime or share anything with and that makes me a pretty lucky guy.

Single life....yeah getting back into the swing of things. Hmmm must be the old age thing because I'm setting the bar pretty high on what I want. (That wasn't a slam against Jennifer. I wasn't dating anybody beneath me or above me...in fact its kinda scary how similiar the two of us are. It was that I told myself I wouldn't be in another relationship that involved some of those high stress factors like distance and availability. I spent a long time in a relationship that involved working around a one day a week and every other weekend deal and it wasn't fun. Being at functions where I shouldn't have had to attend alone (watching the other couples have fun) or planning around a schedule that's completely chaotic for both parties. Jennifer walked in to my house one night and that completely left my mind. Here was a wonderfuly sarcastic, vibrant, extremely educated woman and I wanted to know more about her. We dated for awhile and things were pretty good, but the stress built up on both sides until it finally took its toll. When that stress built up we didn't talk to each other about it, we dealt with it in our own ways and from both sides neither of us did the right thing in that respect and we went our seperate ways.) I wanted more (in terms of what I wanted from the relationship not who I was in the relationship with) I didn't do that the last time around and convinced myself that I could settle down and overlook some of the things that are important to me( the distance, availability, not talking about those frustrations). Lesson learned....don't get talked into anything you didn't want to do( that little voice was kicking me that dating a girl living in Lubbock, and both of us having a stressful year, would be difficult to maintain). I honestly love that girl and that makes it the damnable misery of it all, but maybe the timing wasn't right and who knows what the future holds. With that note applications are open but the criteria is demanding (you have a pretty hard woman to replace) the interview process lengthy and fun is a necessity!

Y'all have a great day

LB

Just Another Week

Time is flying by!!! I spent the week working out, riding horses, chasing cattle, working, church, and enjoying life! Friday was such a blast. I was able to hangout with some old friends and enjoy Reckless Kelly at Gruene and we had a great time, and even met some new ones! Pics to come soon. Looking forward to having tomorrow off but I do have request if you're bored and out of things to surf on the net.

I happened to be perusing the cd's at Wal-Mart this week and came across a classic. It's John Wayne's patriot cd and its pretty cool. I don't think most people don't realize what a patriot and supporter of America he was. The cd is a compilation of ballads about what it means to be an American. As we think of Dr. Martin King's impact on civil rights and his leadership I think we should also compare it to one of the Duke's titles called the "Hyphen." I won't go into what it says because I think everyone should come away with their own view but I liked the message I received from it.

Whatever your plans are enjoy the time off rest, relax, rejuvenate, and just keep doing what you do!

Que Sera Sera
LB

Winter Freeze 2010

Winter Freeze 2010

I'm sure that's what one of the news stations ran....and for the first time in a long time they were right! It was pretty damn cold. In fact, I broke out the insulated walls suit to do chores. The picture is of Andrew holding one of the ice chunks we broke for the horses to have water. I think the last time he wore that ski mask was to Ski Apache a few years ago. Hence, I'm thankful I don't live in Montana or Wyoming during the winter. Although the prospect of being snowed in for a few days and not having to go to work does kind of seem appealing! I'm sure the cabin fever would mess with my adhd and I'd be miserable in no time.

The Cowboys won...and Romo has broken his playoff plague!

Being back in the saddle is feeling great!

It's almost June!