Skip to main content

Redneck Valentine

It just doesn't get better than Redneck Romance.  Nine years ago, El Hubbo was known more affectionately as the Romantic Hispanic.  We were young(-ish) and newly in LUV, and he displayed the typical lack of sense common to most males who are trying to impress a female.  I worked at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.  Spring for those involved in stock shows is a very busy time.  I was putting in 20+ hour days getting ready for that little 20 day event, and El Hubbo was busy hauling animals and kids from show to show.  Needless to say, there was little time for courtship.

Valentine's Day was just something that went basically un-celebrated for me.  I was busy working and by this point pre-show was doing good to know what day of the week it was - there simply was no time for holiday celebrations.  But, late in the evening on Valentine's Day 2003, I got a phone call from the Romantic Hispanic:

"Hey!  What are you doing?", he said.

"Uh, working," I replied. 

"Want to meet me for dinner?" 

"Um, aren't you in San Antonio?"

"Actually, I'm halfway between San Antonio and Houston."

"Well, I guess I better cancel my other date."  (I liked to keep him on his toes.) 

I sweet-talked my boss into letting me leave for a few hours, and El Hubbo and I agreed to meet at a restaurant on the far west side of Houston.

Here's where the redneck part of the story begins.  We decided to meet at the Valentine Restaurant of Choice:  Cracker Barrel.  He smelled faintly of hogs, I was dressed up and looking fine in my jeans, t-shirt and best baseball cap.  We lucked out and didn't have to wait on a table.  Following dinner, we decided to check out the recently opened Bass Pro Shops.  Now, tell me ladies, how do you not fall in love with a man who treats you to Cracker Barrel and Bass Pro?

There haven't been any Valentine dinner dates since that night.  El Hubbo is usually in San Antonio, and I woman the fort by myself.  That is, until this year.  As he did not go to the San Antonio show, we actually got to have a date.  In true redneck romance fashion, however, our date included the two mini-rednecks.  We didn't even have to think about our plans - we went to the Lubbock Cracker Barrel and sat down right amongst the over-60 crowd.  Lubbock does not have a Bass Pro, so we went to the next best place:  Gander Mountain and checked out camping stuff, dog-training equipment, and handguns. 

The first Redneck Valentine date was among my favorite dates of all time with the Romantic Hispanic, and the second with him and my mini-rednecks was just as special to me.  I hope all of you had a blessed Valentine Day and celebrated it in whatever way lets you laugh and smile with the one(s) you love. 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Uno Lampino

 El Hubbo started the conversation with "Now, promise you won't kill him." That immediately got my attention.   "He broke one of your lamps when he came in the house with the weed eater.  Like beyond repair." I asked, "Why was he bringing the weed eater through the house?" "Well, he cleaned it up and he feels bad," El Hubbo said.  "I thought I should call and give you warning.  We've spent so much time and money getting him to this point....." "Ugh."  I hung up. Upon my arrival home, I saw the lampshade on the counter.  Then I saw the boy child.  I grabbed him in a big hug.  "Your daddy called and told me you wanted to take me lamp shopping.  That is so sweet of you!" He looked a bit bewildered but relieved that I had not immediately gone for the jugular.  "Uh, yeah, ok." "I'm so excited that I'm getting new lamps for the living room!" "Wait?  Lamps?  Don't you mean 'l

A Simple Virtual Christmas Letter 2020

 I used to send out a Christmas card with usually funny pictures of my offspring and a Christmas letter.  A couple years ago, I noticed I received only a couple Christmas cards and I noticed how expensive my little project was, and I noticed how expensive Number One Son's braces were going to be, and I decided that the card and letter tradition had probably gone the way of others. and it was time to stop.  My holiday spirit died a little that day. And, then, a miracle.  It's 2020 and I have received a record number of Christmas cards!  Actual, in the mailbox, Christmas cards!  And, several virtual cards (which I still give points for as it takes time and planning.) My holiday spirit enjoyed that little boost.   So, as it is too late to assemble the actual card and letter,  here's the resurrected virtual annual report of the Martinez Clan: Number One Son has grown to the point he looks his mama in the eye.  He sidles up to her often to see if he has passed her.  She reminds

Doin' Cowboy Stuff

"Steer's out!" was the call El Hubbo got last Saturday.  We were outside on our back porch, enjoying our newly cleaned up space, when our friend and neighbor down the road called. He'd just gotten two steers the night before, and we'd gone to help him unload. "They are a bit bigger than I thought they were going to be," he said.  He'd planned to get a couple steers to feed out and then have butchered.  Usually that translates into a 300 - 500 lb calf, and you feed them out to about 1000 - 1300 lbs.  When we arrived, we were greeted by two solid black, 900+ lb steers who were not too happy with their current circumstances.   Mean would be an understatement.  They were in the trailer, but they eyed us with a "We're bigger and badder than you" look in their eyes.  El Hubbo and I looked at each other a bit surprised, and then we hopped out and got to work.  The trailer was backed up, the gates were opened and out they charged!  Around the h