Do You Remember The Pain?

They say you don't remember pain and they would be right.  I had completely forgotten how awful it was with Jessie's last surgery.  The ups, the downs, carrying her everywhere ... the worrying about chewing the bandages off ... and the pain in my body from lack of sleep and achey joints.  It's all okay though, I'll survive once I get some sleep and see my chiropractor!!  HA!!

I tried to catch a few winks on the couch after the concrete bed night, but alas, the puppies kept me busy.  Every couple of hours they needed to go out and I have a slew of pills for Jessie.  Soon it was time to begin the gigantic task of cooking 60 pounds of penne pasta for the Relay for Life participants.  The Elks donate everything and feed everyone.

We usually work out of the College snack stand that actually has running water and lots of extra supplies.  It seems the event has been moved to the newest High School track field instead, where there is no building, no conveniences and no water.

I arrived early in time to unload ten cases of bottled water and fifteen cases of to-go boxes, salad dressing, salad, rolls and all the stuff to begin cooking.  The Elks has a big trailer that carries all of the cooktops and pots.

With everything in it's place, I began to assemble 200 zip lock bags of lettuce for salad.  It's a super easy way to hand it out, along with single packets of really good dressing.  That was the easy part.

Do you know how it is when you have four cooks in the kitchen?  The first major discovery was no water to cook the pasta in.  The second, no wrenches to hook up the propane lines.  The THIRD ... yes there was a third ... no one made sure the propane tanks were full.  Good grief Charlie Brown!!

I had wrenches in my truck and two of the cooks went to get water.  While Len (purple shirt) hooked up the propane heaters, I organized everything else for distribution.  Hey guys ... it's time to get that water boiling.  OH NO they said ... we have lots of time.

There was 15 gallons of water in each huge pot that needed to boil and it wasn't going to happen in 30 minutes.  I concentrated on heating up the two huge pans of sauce, thick with beef and sausage.  No surprise ... dinner was late.

Unfortunately, everyone's idea of how long to cook the pasta differed also.  I've done this four years, and 12 minutes makes it al dente.  I soon discovered that MY al dente is not BOB'S al dente.  The name was changed to protect the not so innocent.  SIX MINUTES he stated loudly.  Okay then .. I'll set the timer.  

Don't tell anyone, but the timer was set for ten minutes.  I yelled done and they pulled it out, not knowing the difference.  The pasta was perfect as I dished out well over 200 plates full of pasta. That's Pasta ... it's what for lunch for the next three days.  We had lots of leftovers.

Back home, Miss Jessie Belle is doing very well.  I've taken her off the pain medication since she can easily jump up on the back of the couch in her "princess" spot.  I know I can't trust her though ... if I'm going to be out of sight for ten minutes, the dreaded cone of shame goes on.  

Tired from four hours of pasta cooking and serving, I decided since we were all entrenched on the couch, that we would stay there for the night.  That didn't really leave Cooper much room, which meant he was up and down all night long.  Yup ... I was awake right along with him.  

I feel like I was drug through a knothole backwards.  Since it's such a spectacular spring day with lots of sunshine, I may just lay out on the lounge chair in the sun for a couple of hours and soak up some vitamin D and maybe a few winks.