Oh How You Make Me Cry

What a crazy few days!  I feel like I got hit by a mack truck and then run over a couple of times just for good measure.  Yup ... me, who prides herself on being in shape is a wreck.

I'm not sure why, but it seems all the lunch programs the Elks put on require a 7:00 am meeting time for preparation.  Yes I do get up at 5:00 every morning, but I don't get dressed or fix my hair until at LEAST 9:00.  It's hard to shift from lounging mode to working your you-know-what off mode.

At any rate, I arrived bright and early just so I could stack over 1,000 pieces of cheese on two sheet pans for ease of removal.  Lets face it ... cheese is sticky.  This happens to be cheddar donated by Hilmar Cheese, located a few miles down the road.  Here's a little tidbit .... did you know Hilmar Cheese produces cheese for Sargento???  Our little dairy cows around here are working overtime.

The menu consisted of hamburgers or cheeseburgers with all the fixings.  Unfortunately for us, the "fixings" included sliced onions.  It was bad enough when the guys PEELED the onions.   When they started slicing them on our machine, it felt like we had all been doused with pepper spray.  Have you ever seen men cry big crocodile tears?  

I felt bad for them ... so I gave them one of my best scuba diving tips.  Open wide and breathe through your mouth.  It's when all that stuff goes up your nose that your eyes water more.  I finally took over the stacking duties since I was the only one not terribly affected.  I'm happy to report I still have all ten fingers.

All that food went to the fairgrounds where the Elks fed over 500 mentally challenged children and adults who were allowed to attend the fair for free.  Pretty cool.  But wait ... there were over 1,000 slices of cheese!!  

That's when the second adventure came about.  Seems the Eagles didn't want their concession stand (a huge one right across from the beer garden) so the Elks took it over.  I don't know who's idea THAT was, but I thought it to be a good one.

All the leftover food went straight to the refrigerators at the stand, along with a frantic Facebook message that they desperately needed help.  As I mentioned, the Dirty Thirty has turned into the Dirty Ten.  So that afternoon, I loaded up and headed to the fairgrounds.  

Parking is at a premium and it's a long walk from the lot to the stand.  I thought to try and finagle my way into the Sheriff's parking lot since he was helping us cook.  It worked.  I got a spot right up front with the shortest walk, still a quarter mile!!  As I made my way to the concession stand, I spotted the long line of what we are noted for.  Tractors and farming.

Hmmmmm I wonder why there's no one here?  I thought they were desperate for help!!

Concession row didn't have anyone around either?  What gives??

That's when I found out they were the ONLY concession open until 3:00 when the fairgrounds are open to the public.  They were swamped because it was show day for the kids and their animals, along with dozens of family members, all of whom were chomping at the bit to have our famous breakfast burritos.

The Sheriff was cooking potatoes, eggs, bacon, chorizo and sausage like crazy, with six other people putting them together and selling them for $5 each.  Such a deal!!  There was a line of 18 tickets on the string.  I jumped in with both feet.  I picked up completed orders and screamed out the window at the top of my lungs ... ORDER 54!!

Around noon, I turned around to find only four of us left.  Everyone had bailed.  BUT WAIT ... it's Saturday night, the biggest night of the fair!  I switched into overdrive as I slapped lettuce, tomatoes and onions on burgers and linguisa sandwiches, hollering out numbers as I filled huge cups of soda.   To say it was a madhouse is an understatement.

Early in the day concession row looked something like this.  I figured to get a time out long enough to hit up the ice cream stand, or at the very least, deep fried oreos.  There's nothing like fair food, a fitting reward for hard work.  Alas, it was 10:00 pm before there was any break in the action and my feet were killing me.  No ice cream for Nancy.  I just wanted to go home after eight hours on my feet.

By that time you couldn't even walk down the street because of the massive amount of people.  I slipped beyond one of the buildings and walked around the back side to get to my truck.  Next thing I know, there's a text message to PLEASE come back at 7:00 am.  

I hit the sheets immediately.  I was exhausted, except I really didn't know what exhausted was until the end of Sunday.  I'll relate the rest of the story tomorrow because today I'm taking ANOTHER long nap trying to recoup before Magic Kingdom Bingo time arrives.

Anyone have a magic remedy for sore achey feet??  I don't even need to look for the bottle of Advil, I tied it to my waist!!