snadblog

At the end of July, I had an unusual but fun mid-week vacation of sorts in Florida. The main reason behind the trip was the CHA Summer 2009 Show in Orlando, which was held on Tuesday through Thursday. Since Tabitha and her family were in Florida anyway, it was a good opportunity for us to attend the show, so I flew out there Monday night and back home Thursday night. That in and of itself was strange, because it meant that I worked only Monday and Friday of that week. I got pretty spoiled over that 9-day period… off two days, work one, off three, work one, then off another two. If only ALL work weeks could be like that!

Getting to CHA this time was nowhere near as eventful as it was back in 2007 when Rita and I went, but there were some typical “Sandra is traveling, so let’s make it hard for her” difficulties. I got to the airport late, had to rush through check-in, security lines were long, and I’d left a giant bottle of contact lens solution in my backpack which meant I got to pulled aside and triple-checked. Then when I finally made it to my gate with only minutes to spare, I was told that my flight had moved to another gate… one which I’d passed along the way. I high-tailed it back to that gate only to hear an announcement just as I arrived that the flight had been moved BACK to the ORIGINAL gate. Sigh. And then after all of that rushing, I ended up standing in the gate area for another hour while they secured a plane. A plane we had to ride a shuttle bus to get to. Sigh again. And of course I was starving by then and there was no food available on the plane except cookies. But at least I got there safe and sound!

In order to take advantage of some free lodging, we all stayed at Chris’ sister’s house just outside of Jacksonville. That meant a 2.5 hour drive to Orlando each day for the show, but it was a good opportunity for me and Tabitha to do some brainstorming and business planning, so it wasn’t a bad drive. I took the morning shift and Tabitha took the evening, and one thing we discovered pretty quickly is that when Tabitha drives, traffic is heavy, drivers are insane, and it will storm like the dickens. It happened daily without fail. If we weren’t in bumper-to-bumper traffic, we were dodging cars that were missing their exits or darting between lanes. And freak storms would appear from nowhere and we’d be struggling through a windy downpour, but her driving prowess got us through every time!

The show itself was a lot smaller than we thought it would be. I’d say it was about 1/3 the size of the Winter show I attended in January, and the giveaways and make-and-takes were a lot less fruitful than in the past. I guess the state of the economy has finally caught up with manufacturers, and there were fewer of them in attendance and fewer freebies to be doled out.

It was still a great show, though, and we made several great contacts, saw tons of awesome new products, and got lots of ideas. I attended two very useful seminars about the online aspects of a business presence, and we’re already incorporating the lessons we learned there.

We even met a celebrity at the show! If you’ve ever watched anything crafty on HGTV, you’ll know how big a deal it is that we got to meet the one and only Carol Duvall, and had our picture taken with her. It was so cool, and she was really nice.

And now, the requisite shot of the loot I gathered from the show! As usual, there were tote bags aplenty, and we did some really fun make-and-takes. Most of the good stuff pictured here came from a “trade show in a bag” activity we did, which required us getting a card initialed from about a dozen sponsoring booths. We turned the card in at the end and got a ton of goodies.

So because the show was smaller than we thought, we ended up not needing the full three days we had allocated to it. Instead, we spent Tuesday and Wednesday at the show, and decided to take Thursday off and visit nearby SeaWorld!

What a fun side-trip that turned out to be. I’d visited SeaWorld as a toddler, and have vague memories of a dolphin-shaped stroller and a plate of whole fish to be fed to dolphins. In fact, check it out:

Judging by that timestamp, I was three years old. And judging by my Dad’s hair, it was most definitely the 70s.

But now back to present day…

When we arrived at the park, we quickly checked the schedule and realized that we’d timed it just right to catch the Shamu show. We headed to the stadium and found a shady seat just outside of the spash zone.

The show was fantastic, as you can imagine, and included tons of tricks and amazing feats by a half dozen or so killer whales.

Those whales seemed large at the time, but I soon discovered they were just small- and medium-sized. This discovery came the second we saw Shumu appear. That whale is HUGE!

After the show was over, we headed over towards the dolphin area, but on the way stopped to see the rays. You could lean in and pet them all you wanted, which was pretty neat. Their skin had a squishy, gelatinous texture that reminded me of Jell-O. Sam wasn’t interested in touching them, but Tabitha and I didn’t want to pass up the chance.

The other good thing about petting the rays was that it meant having your arm submerged in cool water. This was am important benefit, because by then we’d discovered that it was really, really HOT. The temperature must have been in the 90s for sure, and the sun was beating down on us pretty hard. There were limited options for cooling down: either pay $3 a pop for bottled water, or get by with nasty, warm, water fountain water that tasted like it came from a bathtub. As you can probably guess, we spent a lot on bottled water.

While Sam and I were checking out the rays and visiting a nearby air-conditioned gift shop, Chris and Tabitha took turns standing in line at the dolphin feeding area. The dolphins only eat a few times a day, and we weren’t going to miss the chance to feed them (even at $7 per person).

Once we got inside the area, we were each given a tray of 4-5 whole fish to feed them with, and instructed to hold them over the dolphins’ mouths, then drop them inside when they opened up. This turned out to be much easier than I thought it would be, because the dolphins were well trained in the feeding drill, and eager to swim by with their mouths open.

The only challenge I had while feeding the dolphins came from a surprise visitor of the avian variety. I was holding a fish in the air a little bit too long (posing for a photo), and suddenly I felt a flapping by my head and a scratch on my hand. An onlooking bird had decided that I was a prime source for a fishy snack, so he swooped in to try to grab it! I’m not sure how I managed not to drop the fish, but I held on and the bird got nothing. As I collected myself, my dolphin decided he’d had enough of me and moved on to someone else. Fortunately, there was another one right behind him, who was more than happy to wait on me to drop the morsel into his mouth.

So feeding them was pretty cool, but the very best part was that we were allowed to touch the dolphin! This was amazing. They are huge and smart and playful, and it was fascinating to me to get to make contact with them. Their skin felt like wet rubber, and was perfectly smooth.

This was the only part of the trip that Dennis was sorry he missed out on. I’m sure we’ll be returning the next time we’re in the area, if just to see the dolphins again.

After feeding time was over, we had the good fortune to stumble upon a cave-like entrance to an underwater dolphin viewing area. The best part? It was air conditioned! We got to watch the same dolphins we had fed, and they frolicked and played. It was really neat to watch, and Sam was quite entranced by it. Judging by the pictures Chris snapped, she really seemed to have a connection with them, wouldn’t you say?

The rest of the afternoon included some quick visits to see manatees, crocodiles, and turtles. Soon it was time for me to head to the airport and catch my flight back home. Tabitha and I left (with Molly in tow) and left Chris and Sam behind to finish up the day. I’m not sure of everything that went down after I left, but at some point it appears that Chris put Sammy in a jar and stuck her underwater.

When I got to the airport (of course it stormed on the way… Tabitha was driving, after all), I realized I had two problems. One was that I was hungry. This could easily be remedied with food purchased on the plane, if only I can stop at an ATM for some cash (my last dollars had been spent on bottled water and tolls). The other problem was that I stunk. Badly. Something about spending a day outside in 90+ degree heat, sweating like a pig, and handling raw fish and sea life all day just left me feeling not-so-fresh. So, after another long line at security, I headed straight to the bathroom and washed up and put on a clean shirt. Ahh, much better! Except I left myself with no time to find an ATM, so I had to starve on the plane… again. Oh, and because of the storms in the area all day, the planes were backed up and we ended up sitting on the runway for 45 minutes before taking off. Seems like I can never get a break when I travel!

I got home late Thursday night, worked Friday, and then had the weekend to rest and recuperate from a fun and exhausting week. What a great trip!

At the lake this weekend, we all went to see the clogging exhibition put on by the park. There was a lot of group participation during the event, and I couldn’t help but notice one lady in particular, whose clothing choice sent my brain into a tizzy.

Here are my theories as to why she wore what she did:

• She ran away from a Catholic retirement homes that requires uniforms, much like the Catholic grade school I attended in my youth
• She actually thinks it’s fashionable and normal to wear a plaid skirt, white button-down shirts, and knee socks to camp
• She did this for a loved one, and I’ll just leave it at that.

The dream came true last week… an IKEA opened within 2 hours of my house! We waited a week for things to calm down after the grand opening before venturing there. Then yesterday, Kris, Rita, Tabitha, and I took the day off from work and headed to the new West Chester IKEA store, just north of Cincinnati.

It was a full day of fun and we took our time getting there, shopping, and getting home. We spent about 5 or 6 hours in the store itself, but the exhaustion that resulted from all that walking was worth the treasures we purchased. We got lots of small items, a couple of big ones, and tons of ideas for the future. I spent about a hundred bucks but I think a couple of the girls outdid me :)

The store was an absolute piece of cake to get to — just stay on I-75 til you see it, then turn. The parking lot was huge and they let you take shopping carts out to the cars, which was awesome (most IKEA stores have “fences” that keep the carts in, which means you have to drive up to the building to load up). The store itself was beautiful and had two floors that seemed to go on forever, with what appeared to be the full array of IKEA merchandise (unlike some others I’ve been to). The store was well-staffed and well-stocked, except for two small items that Kris and Tabitha wanted. They were sold out and the clerks wouldn’t let us buy the displays. Darn, I guess we’ll just have to go back!

Actually, we definitely will be returning soon. I already picked out a headboard I want for my birthday (to match the dressers I got there last year), and we’re always in need of more IKEAness in our lives. I owe Heath a trip, too :) It’s just so nice to have a store close by now. No more pressure to “get everything now cuz we won’t be back for a year.”

My favorite purchases yesterday were some adorable little GODIS MIX glasses and a dozen 49-cent TEKLA dishtowels (something I’d purchased before… best little towels ever!)

P.S. We stopped at Buffalo Wings & Rings for dinner on the way home… I sense a tradition brewing!

The game of BINGO has changed a lot since I was a kid. (BINGO? You didn’t see that one coming, didja?) Through most of my Catholic grade-school years at the Little Flower School in Maryland, my parents were regular volunteers every Wednesday at the school’s fund-raising BINGO night. Most nights, Mom sold the cards and Dad managed the pull-tab counter. My sister and I were too young to actually sell anything, but we were there every Wednesday and we helped wherever we could. We sort of hated it at the time (and I think my folks did, too) but looking back now, it seems like it was a lot of fun. Shanon and I rarely played, but sometimes we’d get a few pull-tabs as a treat (and we’d re-spend any winnings on more losing pull-tabs, of course). We mostly helped with set-up and tear-down and anything in between that needed done.

Though I didn’t play much, I definitely learned about how the game works. I knew what the various forms of a straight BINGO were. I knew about “picture frames” and “postage stamps” and “4 corners”. I knew that when somebody yelled “BINGO!”, the caller — a nice old man named Bud — would always announce to the crowd, “We have a BINGO on the floor… please hold your cards.” One of the volunteers working the floor would then take the winner’s card and hold it in front of another player for verification as he read out the numbers. Bud would confirm that the numbers were valid and we’d have a winner.

As for the cards, this was back in the day when we actually used those little wooden cards with the red plastic tabs that you slid over each number as it was called. At the end of a game, the players would pick up one card and slide it across all the others until all the tabs were re-set and they were ready to play again. All of the “regular” games during the night were played on these cards, and only the “specials” used the fancy, new, disposable paper cards with the ink daubers.

As you can imagine, there were lots of old ladies at the BINGO nights. They were mostly hard-core pros, and some of them would play dozens of cards at a time. It was a marvel to watch their fingers flutter quickly over the cards and mark their numbers. When it was time to whip out the daubers for the Specials, they were just as proficient at stamping on their numbers and you could hear the gentle thump-thump-thump across the room as they eagerly pounded their way to a possible victory.

The games took place in the school gym and the adjoining cafeteria, which was oddly called “the patio”. Smoking was permitted back then, even in a school cafeteria, and most of the smokers stayed in the low-ceiling patio, so you can imagine the dense fog of nastiness that engulfed that room. Smoking and BINGO seem to go hand-in-hand, and the patio had it in spades. I remember emptying the ashtrays at the end of the night into the special “butt can”, which was an old coffee can. Once I absentmindedly dumped some ashes directly into the trash can and good ol’ Bud caught me and lectured me about burning the school down. If only!

So that was BINGO in the early 80s. That defined BINGO in my mind.

Twenty years later, I found myself with three friends at a local BINGO parlor last night. We thought it would be great fun and we all had ideas in our head of what the night would be like. We expected old ladies and we were right. We expected thick smoke and even though it was a non-smoking night, the air was still heavy with the smell of nights past. Some of us expected to play a single wooden card, while others were ready for paper and daubers. We didn’t know when it started or how it ran, but we were ready to give it a shot. We were a little intimidated as we walked into the giant hall, but we were very quickly set at ease when we started talking to the very helpful volunteers.

Turns out that various organizations can host a night, and last night the proceeds were to benefit a local high school’s marching band. Lots of parents of band members were therefore volunteering that night to help run the event. We went straight to the counter where they were working and asked about the event and what we needed to do to play. The first thing we noticed is that there were no wooden cards — it was all paper. To top that off, you could rent personal computer screens! They explained to us that after you purchase a package of regular paper cards, you can optionally rent a machine that can handle up to 72 additional cards for you. You don’t even have to mark anything; the computer plays for you and tells you if you’ve won. What a way to take the fun out of playing and ruin the odds for everyone else, huh?

We opted to just purchase the basic game package for $20. It provided us with enough paper cards to play every game. This was when we realized that although three of us actually had BINGO daubers at home, none of us thought to bring them along. We purchased some at the counter and headed to a table near the caller and near one of the television screens (although we had no idea what they were for). As we sorted through our cards, we realized that the giant 18-face cards that most of the games were played on were quite daunting, especially when the four of us laid them all out. 18 boards was the kind of craziness the old ladies at Little Flower would do! Could we do it, too?

Then we looked over the list of games for the night and realized that we didn’t know what all of them meant. Sure, I know the difference between a “regular” and “double” BINGO, and I know that you can get a “postage stamp” or “4 corners” and sometimes that counts. But who knows what else counts these days? We asked a volunteer (those people were SO nice to us!) and she showed us the light board that would telegraph the valid combinations as each game was played. With this, we were able to learn what it took to get a “Crazy Kite”, “Baseball”, or “Doo Dad”. As for what constituted a regular BINGO, the combinations seemed endless. Four corners, lines, diagonals, inner frames, outer frames, diamonds, postage stamps, and more. Basically anything that made a neat pattern using 4 or 5 numbers qualified. There were so many options that there was no way that beginners like us could even tell if we had a BINGO or not, especially since we were having a hard enough time just marking all the numbers. And this was on the small 9-face cards!

If that weren’t enough of a challenge, the very first game threw us for a complete loop. It was on one of the smaller cards, and we were marching along, and handled the first few numbers okay. Then one of us looked up at the number board and suddenly there were many more numbers up there than we had heard him call. We had heard 4, but there were so many more. There’s no way we missed them all! We quickly asked a volunteer if all the numbers on the board counted or not, and he said they did. We frantically tried to catch up, laughing all the way, but somebody else won before we even got close. Of course they won… how could you not win quickly with as many valid combinations as there are?

The second game started and it was much like the first. When the caller announced the third number, we also heard him say something about it being wild and marking everything ending with 3. Then we noticed that the board was all lit up again. A ha! A wild number! That explained the frustration of the first game, and now we knew to mark all occurrences of 3, 13, 23, 33, 43, 53, 63, and 73 on our boards (which took quite a while, let me tell ya).

It was about this time that we truly figured out how the number calling was working, too. A video camera was trained on the next number to be called, and that was being shown on the TV screens. This gave you a head start on marking your boards before he actually called the number. Then when he did call it, you already knew (if you were good enough to keep up) if you had a BINGO or not and you’d yell it out immediately. It worked well for us because we had a buffer to help keep us from falling too far behind, but I couldn’t help but think that if we had ever actually WON a game, we wouldn’t know it until it was too late to call it out.

By the time we finished the first few games and moved on to the larger 18-face cards, we were moving pretty well. In addition, the types of BINGO you had to get to win were much more specific — none of this “get any random BINGO” stuff, but instead you had to get a “Small Picture Frame” or a “Crazy Kite”. It became much easier to monitor the cards for a possible win.

And like I said before, we never did win. We did come close a lot, though! There was one “Coverall” game in particular where all four of us only needed ONE number to win! Of course there were other people in the same situation, and one of them got it before us. I put most of the blame on those darn computer screens that were greatly reducing our odds.

While we didn’t win any games, we certainly won over the hearts of most of the volunteers and a few of the players. They laughed with us at our inexperience and helped us whenever we had questions. Everyone was really great about it. Early in the night, one of them was walking by and asked us something inconsequential and we said “We can’t talk! We’re new!” and he laughed and said, “Yeah, I heard.” We had a reputation already.

The volunteers had two jobs during the night. The first was to sell tickets/cards for various sub-games that went on during the regular gameplay. These games were mostly of the pull-tab variety, and winners would be chosen at times we couldn’t decipher using rules we couldn’t even hope to understand. All we knew is that they kept walking around announcing their goods like a beer and peanut seller at a baseball game. One lady kept cheerfully calling out what we thought was “Cookies!” which made us giggle every time. We finally realized she had no cookies, but was yelling “Quick-Eze!” instead, which was the name of one of the sub-games and made us giggle even harder. Two other popular games were “Twins” and “Pink Promise”. There was also random rumblings about a “king of the mountain” and various numbers were spit out by the caller in between regular BINGO numbers, and we never did make sense of how those games were played or who was winning. Through the whole night, though, those volunteers kept selling. No matter how often we heard them, it still cracked us up every time those words were called out over and over across the room as the volunteers made their rounds. “Twins!” “Quickies!” “Twins!”

The second job the volunteers had was to yell out the winning BINGOs to the caller. This went nothing at all like the days of yore, and the computers did all the work. The volunteer had simply to read the serial number off the bottom of the card (or off the computer) and the caller would punch it in to his terminal and the player’s card would appear on screen, with the winning numbers highlighted. He’d say “That’s a valid a BINGO!” and everyone would crumple their cards and toss them into the trash.

Such technology amazed me. I couldn’t believe the leaps and bounds BINGO had taken in the last twenty years. Computers played for you, televisions showed you the number, and computers told you if you won or not. But at the heart of it all, the game was still the same. The food was bad, the smell of smoke was thick, the ladies were old, and the spirit was strong. Most of the folks there were there for profit (or addiction?), but we were there for fun, which I think delighted them. And boy, did we have fun!

The Independence Day cookout we had last month was a huge success. Many called it the best one so far, and I tend to agree. The weather was perfect, the food was aplenty and yummy, everyone had fun, and the whole weekend ran more smoothly than it ever has.

We made a couple of key decisions this year that greatly contributed to the success of the party. The first was doing as much set-up as possible on Friday evening, instead of doing it all Saturday morning, like we usually do. We set up the pool, tents, tarps, hoses, and some chairs and tables during the cooler late hours of the day on Friday. Saturday morning was then dedicated just to setting up the foodstuffs and perishables. By the time the party started, Dennis and I were nowhere near the exhaustion level we’ve been at in years past, and it was definitely a good move.

The second decision was to cook a meal that didn’t require a blazing-hot firepit. In the past, we’ve cooked over our 8′x8′ fire pit, on large grates with long tongs. That thing puts out a lot of heat, and supervising the cooking was not a desirable task. This year I opted not to have a fire at all — instead we had deep-fried turkey! There were two propane-fueled turkey fryers going (placed inside the empty firepit, for safety). We could just drop a turkey in, set a timer, and come back in 35 minutes to take it out. The cooking process was streamlined down to the point where nobody had to watch it and I had more time to spend with the guests. And to top it all off, the turkey tasted FANTASTIC! We actually cooked five 10-lb birds that day, and everyone ate it all up and loved it. All the turkeys were cooked in one fryer, and the second fryer was dedicated to the french fries and other veggies. We went through about 20 pounds of french fries, topped with anything you can imagine. Each family who attended also contributed a side dish to the party, and the end result was a feast that required far less work than in years past. And the food was great, too, so it was wonderful.

One other improvement we made this year may seem minor enough, but I think it had a big impact on the guests — I upgraded our typical port-a-potty rentals. One unit was a regular one, but the other unit was a larger, handicapped-accessible version which offered the extra space needed for parents to manuever with their toddlers in tow. In addition, we had a portable handwashing station positioned nearby, and I know everyone loved having the opportunity to wash and dry their hands well after a visit to the facilities. In fact, I don’t think we’ll be able to get by in future years without it!

The party crowd grew again this year, like it always does. With an open invitation, we never know how many people will show up, but our friends never disappoint. I couldn’t even begin to make a list of everyone I saw that weekend, because there were some whom I didn’t even know. Dennis did a quick headcount at one point and stopped when he reached 100. We estimate we had about 120 guests, which was awesome. It was so much fun to have so many friends milling about and enjoying the party. There were probably 40-50 kids in the crowd, and there were at least 10 of them in the pool at all times, having a blast and keeping cool. Those who weren’t in the pool were taking turns riding the 4-wheelers and riding mower, participating in the potato sack races, blowing bubbles, or feebling attempting to fly kites. In between all that fun, I was often led to the shaved ice machine to dish up snocones for the kids. Judging by the number of remaining cups after the party, I made about 75 snocones, and the kids (and a few adults!) loved every one.

To illustrate just how big the party has gotten, check out the conversation I had with a little girl as I was cleaning up after dinner: (She’s about 11 and I’ve seen at the party before, but I can never remember her name)

girl: Oooh! I see whipped cream! Are there any strawberries?
me: You can look in that fruit bowl over there, but I don’t think so
girl: Oh. Can we have strawberries for breakfast tomorrow?
me: Well…
girl: You’re the one who cooks breakfast, right? Are you cooking breakfast this year?
me: Yes
girl: Do you always cook breakfast?
me: Yes
girl: Wow, you must come to the party every year!
me: Well, this is actually MY party
girl: It IS?? Cool!

As dusk settled, the s’mores patrol went into action and gooey, chocolatey fun ensued. Soonafter, some friends and I started passing out glow bracelets that I had gotten for the kids. They each got three, which was enough to make a necklace if they wanted. The kids think they’re great fun, but the best part is that it makes everyone so much easier to find in the dark. All the dogs got some too, so they had glowing collars which helped immensely with keeping track of them. We had a lot of dogs at the party (at least 7, that I can remember), and they all got along well. The kids had somebody to pet at all times, too! Jack did really well at the party, which was a great relief. He’d never been around so many people before, or spent so much time at a large event. He took it all in stride, though, and didn’t bark, run away, or otherwise annoy anyone. He was content to lie in the shade or play with the other dogs. What a good boy!

When it was dark, we brought out the fireworks and put on a show. We opted this year for quality over quantity, and had about a dozen large multi-shot boxes. Most inspired “ooohs” and “ahhhs” from the crowd, and some of them were quite spectacular. A definite success!

As the planned activities wound down, folks split into three groups — those who left for home, those who took their children to sleep in the tents, and those who stayed up into the wee hours. I was of the “I’m exhausted. Good night!” variety, so Jack and I headed to the tent for some much-needed sleep, since I knew it would be an early morning for me. Even though our tent was quite close to the main area and especially to the music, I was zonked out in no time. Sunday morning I got up early, as is my custom, to prepare for breakfast. I looked around at the number of tents and cars and estimated that about 30-40 folks had stayed overnight — a really good showing. I went to the nearby grocery store and bought breakfast supplies. I got just about everything I could think of that didn’t require cooking, including doughnuts, pastries, coffee cake, Pop-Tarts, and cereal. I grabbed three dozen eggs and all the pre-cooked sausage they had on the shelf. I also grabbed some bananas and a carton of strawberries (as soon as that little girl saw the strawberries, she ran over to me, gave me a big hug, and said “Thank you!!!”).

I got back to camp and set everything out and started to cook. A low fire in a portable grill was enough to get the pre-cooked sausage hot and ready to go, and I used a giant pan directly on the propane burner from the turkey fryer to cook up the eggs. I scrambled the eggs with some onions, spices, and cheese, and they were a big hit (even though the melted cheese made at least one person thing the eggs were runny!). Everyone made quick work of stuffing their bellies and it looked like I judged the portions pretty well, leaving just a few things (and lots of cereal) leftover.

With everyone well-fed and rested, clean-up began, though at a slow, steady, and relaxing pace. Tents were taken down and tired kids were buckled into car seats. Everyone was smiling and happy and looking forward to next year, which is all I could hope for. The party was a definite success, but it was a lot of work, and we didn’t do it alone. Everyone pitched in, and some to huge degrees. We may have been celebrating Independence Day, but really it was sort of a “dependence” day for us, because we depended so much on everyone’s help and contributions. We really could not have pulled this party off without all the great help, and for that I thank you all sincerely.

Here’s to next year… I already have ideas on how we can make it bigger and better!!

(Photos are available in the gallery)