Friends and Food

Sunday was warm and beautiful. We were having Jim and Megan Stebbins for dinner and made some preparations in the morning. 

We wanted to visit Ron in the hospital as Donna was working at Dollywood, and yesterday the Dr. said he was going to have his gastric tube out.  Now, Gary and I discussed if we wanted to be in the room when it was done and we both said no.  So when we arrived at 1, the nurse, Scott, came in and said he would be taking it out at 4 pm.  OK, we said, we'll be back.  We grabbed a little lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings - Gary loves those wings.  In fact, that's where Ron had chosen to go for his birthday dinner, but sadly that needed to be postponed.  We arrived back at 3:45, and right at 4, Scott came back in, and I got up to leave, but Gary said he'd stay.  Fine.  I left but came back a few minutes later and listened at the door.  I heard voices, so tentatively went in and they boys were all joking and laughing.  Whew.  Dodged that.

Ron was really happy and asked for a cup of coffee, which Scott kindly brought right away.  We hung out a while longer, but then needed to get home to ready for company. 

Megan and Jim are from Washington state and have been full-timing for almost 10 years.  So we had a lot to learn from them.  They, like many full-timers including us, have to work to maintain this lifestyle, but working at Dollywood was their first job dealing with food.  Mostly they like working with the NASCAR circuits in retail.  They also do NHRA drag racing and both of these jobs take them and their two kitties from coast to coast.  Our dinner was great, but I forgot to take pictures, sorry.  During our pumpkin pie, our neighbor, Betsy, stopped by to ask a favor.  Her son was having surgery in Charlotte, NC and asked if we could look after her poodle, Laptop, while they were gone a couple days. Of course we would - Laptop is a sweet special needs dog at 18 years old, blind and deaf,  and soooo sweet.  Gary would do Monday and I would do Tuesday.  We made plans for Gary to meet  up with Rick at 7:30 am to learn the ropes.

We had a really nice time with Megan and Jim and wish we had done so earlier, but they are leaving on Tuesday for their trip to Las Vegas via Alabama to vist Jim's dad.  Then off to the races!  We wish them fair skies and smooth roads.

Monday came early enough - Gary went out to learn about Laptop and I got ready for work.  For some reason, I had a feeling that this was going to be a difficult day.  It was the first day after the Rod Run ended, and a lot of people were leaving, but various complications started arising from the get go.  But, things were handled satisfactorily and I was really glad to see 7 pm roll around. 

Donna came by to have dinner with us and we started watching the season premier of Dancing with the Stars.  It's always surprising who they choose to be the stars - I would like to know, do they ask to be on the show, or are they solicited?

Thank you for your suggestions about staying in Raleigh!  I forgot about the Fairgrounds - we're just used to going to the fairs and flea markets, but not living there!  That could be an option if we stay longer for sure. 

Another day off tomorrow and not much is planned, but I have a couple ideas.  Nitey-nite.