The Bitch is Back Redux

 Hello internets and faithful stragglers,
After a few years of faithful blogging back in 2008 and 2009, I abruptly stopped. For the 4 of you who did regularly read, I apologize. Honestly, I don't know what had fired up me to blog in the first place and what extinguished the flame two years later. Then, in what has to speak volumes about the cluttered oasis that is my mind, rather grandiosely I announced that I was back, never be heard from again. Weird, right? I do shit like that.
Just like my vagina when violent misogynist Mel Gibson ruins an otherwise awesome explosion movie, all my other writing dried up when my blogging stopped. I was freelancing for small papers, writing a novel I won't finish and blogging here. As went the Cowboy Chronicles, so went everything else.
Lately, I've been re-reading my old blog posts and I'm thankful I journaled so many things that my oldest two boys did in their early years. What a strange segway, going from arid lady parts to reminiscining about my children's babydom.  That's just how I roll. If you are reading this, I assume you know what you are getting yourself into.
Since that time, a few things have changed. Really, only one big thing. We had another baby. In May, 2012, we welcome our third boy, Ryder. I guess I thought life was getting too easy since everyone had learned to wipe their own rears. That, or I knew my husband was gonna make me get a real, take-a-shower-daily kind of job if I didn't dust off the ole uterus. Jokes aside, Ryder is a hunk of a baby -- feather blond hair, baby blue eyes and a face so angelic you want to squeeze his cheeks. His big brothers are loving, mostly patient older siblings, a real feat for 7 and 9 year old boys.
So, creating another delightful little life has put me back on the toddler track.
Another new thing is that I'm in the process of getting a new design for this blog. Hating the layout has been my most used excuse for not blogging. About a year ago, I hired a woman to revamp my blog. After paying her and 6 months of runaround excuses, I finally accepted she was never going to actually do the work. Sidetracked, I didn't look for anyone else for a few months, but I am now working with a new designer who I confidently believe understands what I want. She designs a blog per week and has me scheduled for January 13. I'm excited!

• A note, though. I'm shucking "The Cowboy Chronicles" as the blog title. This title served me well, but to be honest, I'm not a cowboy. I'm not even married to a cowboy. I'm married to a cattleman. You would have to work around the industry to know the difference. I have loved the cowboys who have worked for us. By far and large, they are often some of the most tender, gentle spirited people you could ever meet, but they also are basically hippies in pearl snaps. My husband Rowdy isn't a cowboy. Yes, we raise cattle for a living, but his feet are pretty nailed to the married-wtih-three-kids board. When I first started this blog some 5 years ago, I was unaware of the existence of the Pioneer Women. Kudos to her on brilliant marketing and turning her mommy blog into her own money-making venture, but she kind of has the corner on ranch wife raising little cowboys. If you weren't in a similar business, it would be easy to get swept up in the romanticized idea of rustic life on the wild West. While we run cattle for a living, make no mistake, our business is very 21st century. We have tractors that sow perfect rows of wheat through GPS navigation. My husband watches livestock auctions a thousand miles away through a smart phone. We aren't Ma and Pa Joad and neither is the Pionner Woman. Rowdy has not roped a calf and branded it with an iron from a campfire since, well, ever. If he did, outrageous labor costs would diminish any profits. Our cattle are worked through a hydraulic shoot and branded with an electric iron. And as a big ass woman, I'm sure you know I have many great recipes to share, but any hillbilly with purple sweatpants (check and check) can cook chicken fried steak. If you happen to be into breaded, deep fried meats, I am your lady. I have no delusions of becoming a mommy blog superstar, but in the off chance someone does read this, I also don't want to be a knock-off. 

Anyways, that's what I have going on. If you have any suggestions for my new blog design, I would love to hear them.