Another Saturday OUT .....

 Two Saturdays in a row?  What's up with that??  I can't believe I was actually going to be out late once again, since Saturdays are my usual stay-at-home days.  But there I was ... heading out into the rain.  This is what it looked like beginning at 10:00.  It was not a downpour, but a very steady rain for the next ten hours.  

Here's why.  This was the forecast that seemed not to move the entire day.  That is a rarity where I live.  It really was quite nice because there was no wind at all ... just a steady rain that filled up my flower beds and watered the lawn ... of course just after I got the sprinklers fixed.  

This time the benefit dinner was for Love INC (In the Name of Christ).  It's the one and only place in town people can go to get help for anything, though they do specialize in helping children in need.  Several of the items of furniture I had left over from my move went to them.  I am amazed at the number of people that do not have beds.  

They also do everything they can for the homeless, including setting up shower and laundry locations.  Add to that all the education they provide, especially to older children so they can go out on their own and survive.  I don't know of any other organization that does that.  

So ... it's time to Cowboy Up.  They couldn't have picked a better theme than that.

I got there early because again ... parking is at a premium.  I was surprised to find these appetizers at each chair.  That's a new one on me!!  In no time we had 16 people from the Elks Lodge browsing the side tables full of silent auction items.

There was going to be another DESSERT DASH, so I checked out the cakes, pies and goodies.  

Just WOW!!!  It was FOUR TABLES LONG!!  Here's how this works, just like the last one.  Your table puts as much money in an envelope as they want.  When it's counted up, whatever table has the most dollars donated, gets first pick of the desserts.  

But first ... let's have a little entertainment.  Country music .... right up my alley.  There was just two of them, but boy could they sing.  They reminded me of my Dad, who was so good, he even recorded a few records.

In no time the place was packed.  This is a huge building, with only a small part of it shown here.  All around the outside were the silent auction items, 50-50 raffle and live auction items.  

Sadly ... though maybe not this time ... there was another puppy to be auctioned off.  I hate it when they do this.  I always worry that the puppy won't have a good home.  This is a standard poodle.  He's going to be a BIG boy at probably 55 pounds.  Thankfully, he went to a very nice lady who fell in love with him.

At last ... dinner.  We were all served individually at our table.  I must say, it was REALLY good.  My tri-tip was cooked perfectly.  Those beans ... probably the best I've ever had.  I think maybe pork-n-beans mixed with pintos and ground beef??  The potatoes were actually FRIED mashed potatoes.  YUM!!!

As I mentioned, their biggest thing is beds and dressers for kids.  They asked for big donations, but when they got down to $100, I raised my bidders card.  Wasn't I shocked when suddenly my Bingo associate grabbed my card and raised it AGAIN!!  WAIT!!!!  It's okay he said ... and he handed me a $100 bill.  Okay then ... 

And so as the live auction moved on, surprisingly not garnering nearly as much as the last one I attended, we came to the Dessert Dash.  We came in about 4th place I think, and our DASHER gal picked a beauty.  Actually, I'm sure it was made by the same cake maker from the last fundraiser.  

Does that cake stand look familiar?  Most every cake was sitting on a cake plate made from old glassware glued together.   Oh yes, I've made a few of those!!  It took some time to cut through the zip tie holding it together.  We made a big mess ... but the cake made up for it.  YUMMY!!!

I'm now completely stuffed and miserable.  My fault for cutting the cake slices too big.  I was just trying to get rid of it so I wouldn't offer to take the leftovers.  I was a very good girl as I started to walk out with nothing in hand.  Oh I bid on many of the silent auction items, but didn't win any of them.

That's when I saw it.  The Elks SECOND table left HALF of their cake intact and walked off.  WHAT?  Oh no ... you can't be wasteful ... there are starving children in the world.  And so this baby came home with me.

I had to laugh when I told them it was the exact same cake that we ate last Saturday night.  They didn't realize it because the cake cutter destroyed the decorations.  SAME CAKE ... same GREAT taste!!  I'm going to gain ten pounds.

And so ended another Saturday OUT.  It was a great time with great folks who like to pass it along.  What could be better!!