Sooo, we loaded the heavy boxes back into her extended length cargo van. Needless to say, I was dripping sweat and verged on pulling the muscles in my lower back. We considered spending the night (a la the Memphis in May Barbeque Festival) to guard the inventory, but thought better of it. Instead, we decided to get there at 5:00 A.M. the next day. Believe it or not, we scurried to finish setting up for the opening at 9:30. The plus is that it was much cooler. The down side, though, was the rain (albeit light) and wind gusts.
Once more, unloading heavy boxes. Rolling up the sides of the canopy. For the life of me, I couldn't manage the stretchy cords to secure them. I gave up after getting popped in the forehead with the big plastic bead on the end of the loop. It left a mark. I bled, even. My friend was a maniac.
Now, take into account the fact that I didn't go to bed until 12:30 that morning, so I only got four hours' sleep. I was on my feet until 2:00 when my buddy Rich showed up to rescue me. We walked over to the arena to watch the Running of the Weenies. A Dachshund race. So cute. I tried to get Rich to make a wager to make it more interesting, but we pretty much agreed on which dogs would win, so we didn't bet. I swear, I think some of those masters/mistresses were guilty of blood-doping and/or administering steriods to their pooches.Then I decided that I was done for the day (see comment re my lack of compensation above). By then it was 4:00. And I had to get home and get ready by 6:00 for my next outing. It took me at least 30 minutes to wind my way out of the extremely congested traffic. Including my near accident involving a close call involving a too-wide left turn on a narrow road with no shoulder and an adjacent deep ditch (next to the railroad tracks, no less.) It scared the crap out of me, which wasn't a bad thing. If not for the surge of adrenalin, I'm not sure I would've made it home in my extremely sleep-deprived, physically exhausted state.
When I finally got home, I decided that I need to stay vertical so I wouldn't fall asleep and stand up my suitor. Especially since I'd already slept through (and stood up) my first planned get-together with this guy. I have no idea why he persisted.
We went to a concert at the Levitt Shell. It was really great. The weather was so nice and cool We took a picnic blanket and lawn chairs. My girl JoJo was there with her main squeeze. I set off to find her and the bathroom. I wound up rescuing not one, but two lost little girls (what is up with these parents?). I found Jo and her man and his sweet little four-year old daugher. He had the most incredible hair. I couldn't help myself from running my fingers through said hair and inquired about his use of "products." He was sweet and indulgent. After my visit, I made a pre-emptive visit to the loo. On my way back to home-base, Bella (the four-year old) saw me and almost tackled me. She reminded me of Gabby's and Carlos' chunky little girl.
I have no sense of time, and it turned out that I was AWOL from the forebearing guy for 45 minutes or so. But hey, at least I didn't stand him up. And I stayed awake. For most of the night. I think I dozed off on the picnic blanket for a few minutes.
Ok, this is enough about that. I need to figure out how to handle the festival gig today. I've decide that I'm going to beg off for the set-up and sales duty. I'll offer, however to get there toward the end and help pack up the freight. What's she gonna do? But I did make a commitment.
Fortunately, I slept like the dead last night. Which is great, because I have lots of catching up to do around my house. I'm gonna go make The D a good lunch. Take Lucy out. Play Words With Friends and read emails.
Over and out...
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