This One's for the Girls

It's the weekend and I've gotten my girl on.

A little update on the Houston Livestock and Rodeo: a young woman, Mackenzi Lea Dorsey, age 16 and her steer, Ernie, took the grand prize Friday night at the Livestock Show. Ernie is a Maine-Anjou weighing 1278 pounds. Ernie is now the Grand Champion Steer, the top honor among ranching families in the great state of Texas.

Micah, MacKenzi's older brother at age 19, is her biggest supporter. "We've been trying for a long time," he said on their victory. "We've finally got it", he was quoted in the Houston Chronicle. The secret of her success? "Rinsing him and brushing him and just working with him every day," she said. Ernie was auctioned off this afternoon and he brought $300,000. MacKenzi will come into about $85,000 for her payout with the grand champion steer.

The record amount for such a steer was in 2002, at $600,000.

MacKenzi wore her lucky red shirt for the competition. "I've never been so proud of her in my life," her brother said. She just smiled.

Made me smile, too.

I listened to a lecture by Dr. Christiane Northrup this afternoon on PBS. They are begging for bucks so they put on a variety of shows to appeal to everyone for money. Too bad they aren't so interesting most of the time. Anyway, I so enjoy her. She is an expert on the trials and tribulations of the menopause years, beginning at perimenopause and going forward. I have several of her books. She is very down to earth and funny, too.

I just like her attitude. She stresses we can choose to be positive and send out those vibes or go the other way and be miserable. As women, we are taught to be the caregivers of everyone except ourselves. We have to learn to put ourselves in the equation.

Amen.