Will Wonders Never Cease!!

 HELLO SPRING!!  I say that every morning when I go outside because they said it's springtime.  It may be spring time somewhere, but NOT here.  It's a cool 43 with a high of 65 today.  The good news is my gas bill is down from $379 for one month, to $108.  Yup ... it's as cold inside as outside!!

Mr. Cooper and I went into the wild blue yonder, though it was more gray and blue.  The smells on this route are many, meaning I spend a lot of time standing there doing nothing.  When we get done, I do a lot of time standing there while picking stickers out of his fur.

This is Mr. Cooper's morning spot after our walk.  He's a go-getter.  Once back and after playing with the ball for about 15 minutes, he gets his mandatory three-snack snack, and don't try to cheat him out of one.  He knows how to count.  That's followed by an hour of sleep while I type.  I'm sure it's because he's exhausted from getting up and down on the couch half the night.  My meeting last night was almost 5 hours long.

It was Irish night at the lodge.  I'm a big fan of corned beef, but mostly when it's in a big sandwich with lots of thousand island dressing.  Throw in a few onion rings from Big Nose Kate's Saloon in Tombstone and you have the perfect meal for me.

This one is a little different.  They have been cooking this meal for the last three days.  No kidding ... it takes a village to cook this stuff for 150 people.  I could leave the cabbage and onions, but I have to admit, they did it right.  The cabbage is not mushy.  Add to that a big piece of freshly baked rye bread ... no kidding, fresh baked ... and you have a meal stacked four inches high and falling off the plate.  I brought 3/4 of it home.

And then THIS happened.  There I was, eating my food after having collected all the tickets, not paying one bit of attention to the guy on the stage giving out awards.  I knew he was doing it, but I never in a million years would have thought he would call my name. 

GET UP NANCY ... GET UP!!  What?  Why?  They called your name .... get up on stage.  BUT WHY?  I think I said BUT WHY about six times as I walked up because I had not a clue in the world.  I should probably pay a little more attention to what's going on.

That's when I found out I was Officer of the Year!!  What a shock!!  I was just doing my job and helping out the ER.  Will wonders never cease.  

I took a picture in the hallway just because.  That's pretty nice of them to notice the time I put in at the lodge.  

I would like to say it ended there, but there was of course the meeting to follow.  Elks Park and Bingo made a donation to cover all the fabric and batting I need for the Veteran quilts I'm making.  Not everyone was happy with that ... well ONE was not happy with that, but she was outvoted.  Unfortunately, that means the Quilt Guild's share is cut in half.  I will probably have to donate to them this year to make up for it.  At least I get to write it off my taxes!!

That means my sewing machine is going to be smoking for the next few months.  Let's hope I can get them done in time for the big Veterans Party we have later in the year.  

I'm off this morning to big Wally World ... grocery list in hand.  There's nothing like hob-knobbing with the bedroom slipper crowd early in the morning.  

By the way ... after every lodge dinner, we have a raffle.  Want a good laugh?  One of the raffle prizes was a flat of eggs!!!!!!!