Hometown Jitters...

Hey Everyone!! Thanks to all of you that read my last blog and thanks to all of you visiting now!!

So... last time I told ya´ll that I was going to tell you about the last and 2nd auction that I did...which just so happend to be in MY hometown of CARMINE, TX! For those of you that don´t know where that is - it is pretty much right between Austin and Houston, if you´re travelin´ HWY 290. This auction was to raise money for the CARMINE VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT!! FOLKS! It SEEMED like there were  a BAJILLION people there!

To put it plainly... I was more nervous than I was for the very first auction in Plum. I mean I went out to THE TAVERN in ROUND TOP the night before with my best friend Kaysie and her Mom. We went out to celebrate me and a friend´s birthday (which was that following Monday). Plus...there was a BIG birthday party for a very good family friend WILLIE :)! He sold us my very first registered horse "TOOTS." She was a BEAUTIFUL dun mare out of Dun Commander and boy could she move.

Carrying on....I talked to a lot of my friends there and I was nervous then already. I didn´t tell everyone, but I did tell a few people (that DID NOT know that I have started auctioneering) to kind of guage their response. They were pretty much like everyone else´s. Some people just look at me kind of confused trying to figure out why I´m doing it, some ask me to do a little auctioneering right then, and some get REALLY interested and ask me a ton of questions. That is pretty much the 3 responses I get. I´m glad I did tell a few people. I think if I wouldn´t have I would have been EXTREMELY nervous.

Well...like I told you earlier. We were out at the bar, so you know I didn´t get to sleep early or anything. (I do want to say that Kaysie and I have to have the best parents! HER MOM and MY DAD made sure we got home in one piece and my MOM watched my little Sugarbritches- Kylee.) Nonetheless...I was up at 7:10 AM. I couldn´t go back to sleep. Believe me...I tried! I don´t know that I EVER had those kind of nerves. It was that kind of nervous where there are CONSTANT butterflies in your stomach that kind of go into your chest and flutter around for awhile. Well...I walk into the hall and go to the first friend I see (LANCE)...and gave him a hug. He asked me if I was nervous and then told me I would be fine as long as I didn´t use that high-pitch voice I use when I´ve been drinking :).

So...I went and did what has become routine for me...SCOUT OUT THE ITEMS WE WERE GOING TO AUCTION OFF, talked to a few people, and drank A LOT of WATER. I went up there and helped spot bidders, just like I did for the first one. Then Uncle Mele asked me to do a few items. It was really no big introduction this time. He just said he had a "helper" and we rolled on with it. You know the JITTERS were really POINTLESS. I mean...I was there to do something and I knew I was going to have to BUCK UP and do it and I WANTED to. Why be nervous...RIGHT?

  

WELL...I am REALLY hard on myself. I had AWESOME feedback from PLUM, but then I start thinking that maybe they were just being nice, maybe people were expecting me to be a ROCK STAR auctioneer and I wouldn´t be (After Plum...Pops and Uncle Melvin were telling people in town that I did REALLY good - NO PRESSURE or anything..), or that I was going to REALLY mess up. You know how it is...you always want to do your ABSOLUTE BEST in your own HOMETOWN.

Well friends....I DID mess up a few times. But I need to cut myself some slack. The auction was a SUCCESS!! I mean I´ve never even seen a minature horse get auctioned off, I don´t know all the hand signals yet, when I´m at $275...it just seemed right to jump it $25 to $300 - instead of $5 (like I had been going up). Hey...I got the bid, so I´ll TAKE IT!! The whole point is to raise money. I feel like I was RATTLIN´ those numbers off PRETTY FAST at this one....probably b/c I was SO nervous.

(The Great Josie Graves says: "Don´t point your finger...use your whole hand.")

The one thing I DID NOT want to do in Plum was take a bid backwards...you know go from $35 to $30...putting stuff on sale. Well GUESS WHAT... I did it in Carmine (According to my cousin-in-law Cody...3 times). Those stinkín´ cattle buyers catch EVERYTHING :)! I think it started when someone asked me to cut the bid in half on that minature pony. I was going up by $25 and I think it was at $225 or something. I was trying to get $250 and the bidder gave me the hand signal to cut the bid in half. LET ME TELL YOU...I knew what he WANTED  me to do, but I was rattlin´ those numbers off so fast I couldn´t think fast enough, but just kept talking and while I´m tryin´to figure in my head brought the bid down to lower than what the bid was at. We got it all straigtened out. It threw me off my game a little - BUT I "put on my big girl panties and dealt with it". I had to BUCK UP and just keep rollin´!

I had a REALLY GREAT response from EVERYONE. THANK YA´LL for that. If any of you OUT-OF-TOWNERS are ever passing that way...Be sure to stop  and check things out. You´ll run into A LOT  of GOOD PEOPLE!!  I want to take some time again to thank EVERYONE THAT DONTATED TO THE AUCTION, ALL THE BIDDERS, THE VFD for not running me off, when Uncle Mele handed me the mike, and EVERYONE THAT MADE THE AUCTION RUN SMOOTHLY.

Some of the BIDDERS (I really am sorry if I forget anybody. Let me know and I´ll give you a shout out in my next blog).
CARMINE STATE BANK
LEECO PLASTICS
ROUND TOP STATE BANK
BURTON ROCKCRUSHERS
CIRCLE B HOLDINGS
CITY GARAGE
GIDDINGS LIVESTOCK COMMISSION
PAM´S HAIR FASHIONS
ROUND TOP SERVICE STATION
CARMINE FEED AND FERTILIZER
ROUND TOP FARM AND RANCH
JW STEAKHOUSE
TREELAND NURSERY
WASHINGTON COUNTY VET CLINIC
ULLRICH´S ELECTRIC MOTORS
and NUMEROUS Individuals there to support the cause!

Guys...I just don´t know what to think about all of this, but HEY! I´m havin´ a REAL GOOD time. SO...I´m going to keep pluggin´ away at it! I really can´t say THANKS enough!

So...to wrap it up... I had a couple of hiccups that some people probably didn´t even catch. I did the one thing I didn´t want to do (Go backwards)...and SURVIVED. I had a VERY GOOD response from everyone. I was welcomed back with Uncle Melvin. Not too shabby for my 2ND auction.

One of my good friend was nice enough to come out and take some pictures of me auctioneering. I´m trying to get some of you non-believers some proof...and as soon as I figure out how to embed audio on my blog I will :).

When you stop by...let me know. I ENJOY and APPRECIATE the COMMENTS. I think Uncle Melvin told me the next auction will be sometime in AUGUST! Maybe I´ll see some of you guys then!! Stay tuned for more interesting blogs and if you know of ANYONE that would enjoy reading it...PLEASE PASS IT ON!