COWBOYS & COWGIRLS

Today will be the 4th of our 10 days here at the National Finals Rodeo (NFR) in Las Vegas. Patty and I share a merchandise booth in the Las Vegas Convention Center with our partners of 3 years, Jim & Megan Stebbins. We first met Jim & Megan in Skagway, Alaska, the first year we work camped in 2004, and we have been friends ever since. Our booth, which I hope to have pictures of for the blog, (left my camera at home), is one of about 15, in several venues around Las Vegas. We have been busy working, with not much time for anything else. The hours of the Cowboy Christmas at the convention center are 10-5, but we have to be at our booth much earlier in order to put away our merchandise that is replenished from the previous days sales. Then, when the doors open, it's pretty much non-stop sales for the next 7 hours, with maybe time for a quick potty or lunch break. Last year, the 50th anniversary of the NFR, we set records, with sales reaching into the multiple hundreds of thousands of dollars. This year, sales have declined, but by the time we're done, our commission check will still be substantial. Patty is still on "countdown to kitty", and is very anxious to get to Flagstaff to pick up her rescue cat, and bring her home to Lake Havasu.