The Pioneer Woman Book Signing

As the time for The Pioneer Woman's book signing neared, I was back and forth on if I was going to go. The fact that I had to drive over 2 hours, miss one of the Buckaroo's soccer games, and no one else was willing to go that far on a "school night" with me, made me think twice. Bwaaahahaaaa, of course I was going. Ree (we are on a first name basis now, we bonded in the 2 minutes we talked) was my blog inspiration and I even tried once for her to be my best blog friend (more on that soon).

As soon as Big Buckaroo got home, I hopped in the car, turned on music that was not Veggie Tales and hit the road sistah. The traffic was horrendous, I do not miss that part of city life at all. But, I arrived at 6:20, it started at 6, and the line was HUGE, hundreds and hundreds of people.

Let me break down the night for you:

The Gals:
I told Big Buckaroo that I felt weird going by myself, he said you will meet someone in line and be fine. Since I am so introverted and uncomfortable in social situations, I was worried. I jest.

Anyway, as soon as I trekked all the way to the back of the store to find the end of the line, a very sweet young lady walked up behind me. I expressed my appreciation for not being last in line anymore and our friendship began. Thanks Beth for putting up with me the whole night!

When you are in line for 4 hours with people, you get to know them. These are my wonderful new PW stalker friends, I love some stalker camaraderie. There is a homeschool mom, a nurse, the gal who met her husband in the fabric section of Walmart and she does not even sew, an incredible photographer and her sweet daughter, and Beth, a nursing student.

We had a blast, we got a little rowdy and there were many strange looks from those around us. It was so much fun.

The post it notes:

Meet Romy, her name has been changed to protect her identity and for us to blurt out quotes like, "Um, I invented Post-Its". She walked around and gave everyone post it notes so that we could write what we wanted Ree to sign in our books. That would help expedite the process, it did help the 743 people in front of me go through faster.

Then, there were these clever notes along the way. I appreciate the humor and creativeness of those in front of us who thought to encourage us along. (This just in.... I found out that Julie from Eggs and Herbs knows the clever person who did this, her husband Richie!) As if we were going to give up after being there 3 hours, no way, we were invested by then. The gals got tired of me humming the Rocky theme every time we got closer, another hour and I would have broken into "I Will Survive".

Attention Walmart shoppers, there is a Wrangler special on aisle 4:

MM was not deterred as our rowdy group got closer to him. He is a real cowboy that is use to herds of mustangs and cattle racing toward him. Rattle, rattle, here come the cattle.

He was incredibly kind and has a gentle spirit. I contemplated a picture with him as I felt that it would have been disrespectful not only to Ree but to my husband to have a picture taken with just MM and myself. So, I wrangled Christy into getting into the picture. No harm/disrespect in two Christian homeschool moms flanking MM, right?

Meeting Ree:

It was finally my turn, Ree looked up and said hi. She then looked down at the post it note that I had written: To Stephanie, "The Park Wife" , my best blog friend. She looked up and said "Park Wife!" I forgot your live near here". I can not believe that she knew who I was even though I blog about my admiration and respect for her. O.K. you may be thinking, she was just being kind. Yea, I thought that too until she said, "you stopped blogging for a little while didn't you? Have you started back?" Gasp...choke..."um, yes, I got overwhelmed starting homeschooling, a farmers market, um, and my ironing got too piled up, but now I am back at it!"

I told her I was being funny when I wrote that message and she said, "I have no problem writing this, none at all".

Was I a little excited, ya think? I know, a little pathetic. Could my smile be any bigger?

Big Buckaroo, who knows hardly anything about blogging, asked me what all this Pioneer Woman admiration is about, why would I drive that far and stand in line that long. I thought on it for a while and for me, Ree is an example of someone who is like me, a homeschool mom thrown into a situation where you have to adapt and she has done so with creativity, wit and fun. She makes me think that although this season of my life is centered around raising/homeschooling our Buckaroos, that I can do something for myself that feeds my soul.

She is talented, has worked hard and she deserves every bit of what she is reaping right now. I am genuinely so happy for her and her success.

Grateful for Ree's kindness,

The Park Wife

I appreciate my old friend Ree (wait, we aren't old) linking my post, why don't you Follow Me, I know shameless. Come along and experience my life living on a state park!