FULL MOON ECLIPSE BINGO!

 Could there be nothing worse on Bingo night than a full moon with an eclipse?  NO ... no there could not be!!  It started out not so good and got worse as time went on.

So here we go ....... the very end of the eclipse as the moon fell down behind the trees.  You can barely see the moon, but it's there in the middle.  The sun was coming up ... it was going to be a beautiful 50 degree morning.

And then THIS happened.  Oh this is not good ... it's a SIGN.  It got foggier and foggier until I couldn't see past the patio.  I truly tried to sneak in a nap or two, but it was not to be.  Some black and tan kitty thing kept getting in my face for scratches and rubs.  Truly, I don't know what is up with this cat.  It's taken me 16 years to learn DOG ... and now I have to start all over and learn CAT.

Lunch was VERY early ... the last piece of chicken and whatever I could find in the fridge.  The freezer is empty, having tossed all of those containers of meatballs that made me sick.  I should get to the store for supplies and actually COOK something, but I'm just not in the mood.  Funny how the older I get, the less I want to cook.

And THEN ... THE FULL MOON EFFECT.  My couch is very tall, so I had two long steps made from quilting boxes with heavy quilts on top for traction.  That was so Mr. Cooper could get up and down easily without falling.  Until ... DISASTER STRUCT.

He tried to come up the steps and missed the top one altogether, falling to the hardwood floor.  I jumped up instantly to find him frozen in place.  I panicked, thinking he had broken something.  I carefully stood him up straight and held him.  He didn't move a muscle.  I think he hit his head and was dazed.  Finally he took a step ... and another.  It didn't appear anything was broken, thank the Good Lord.  

After resting on the floor for a time, he followed me into my bedroom and took a few trotting steps back out, so I'm guessing he's okay.  We laid on the couch for awhile, while I contemplated what I was going to do.  He LOVES being on the couch with me, but I know he can no longer be up so high.  

This was my solution.  I threw all the couch cushions on the floor, put down a nice comfy blanket and HIS blanket.  Now we sit on the springs.  I know ... crazy of me to do that, but he will continually try to jump up if I don't.  Now he can get on the couch easily, and if he falls, it will only be about 6 inches.  Even better, now he can't perch himself on the very top of the back cushions where it's even easier to fall off.

I blame the FULL MOON ... and it only got worse!  This is it ... the only picture of the night.  The guy who usually sets up the machine, or at least puts it in its spot ... did not show up.  That means I had to set up the entire thing ... screens and all.  I did not come early enough for that.

One volunteer just kept bugging me the entire time.  I'm trying to set up MY table first, and she's asking me a million questions.  Next I got hit up by two more wanting in the safe so they could set out the trash bags.  I love our volunteers, but goodness gracious!  Trash bags are the least of my worries.

To make it worse, the entire back room that sells the pull tabs (and makes all the money) did NOT show up.  I put out a few boxes of their games ... but really, that's not my job.  In a full moon instant ... they let people in the door and we were not even HALF set up.  The next thing I know, while my back is turned, someone came in and began rummaging through my bingo cards.  THAT is a No-No!  We are NOT OPEN!  I chased her off, finding out she should not have even been IN the building at all because she was not a member.

Big sigh ... Still no one showed up for the back room and we were 15 minutes from opening.  By now MY line is clear around the entire room.  What the heck is going on?  Oh wait ... it's a FULL MOON.  They could not even find people to WORK the back room and the head gal was nowhere in sight.

At long last she shows up and we start selling ten minutes late.  I knew I had my trainee coming, but I stayed on the infernal machine the entire time.  I knew if we didn't go fast enough, we would not be done selling before the games started.  ALSO a no-no.  My fingers flew across those keys!

No kidding ... for two solid hours I banged on that cash register as fast as I could possibly go.  It was two hours and ten minutes later before I got a break.  I don't know where they all came from, but we had a record breaking 159 people play bingo.  We haven't had that many in 20 years.  Thankfully I didn't have to deal with scrunching folks into tables where there was little to no room.  

Tempers flared several times, mostly because of newbies calling Bingo when they didn't have one.  SO many new players on this night that didn't know this is not your kids bingo where one line of five numbers wins.  It was pandemonium right and left.

MY temper flared because in spite of two HUGE signs saying NO TAPPING AND DEBIT CARD ONLY, I had people tell me it was a debit card when it was a CREDIT card.  I even said most every time ... NO TAPPING ... and they did it anyway.  

I was exhausted by the end of the night.  Of course we did not balance because the infernal machine stuck in $48 when I wasn't looking.  My trainee added to that with $17 worth of checks that we did not have because ... well ... we don't accept checks.  In the end we balanced ... sort of.  

Luckily when I got home, my Kid was waiting at the door.  Apparently he navigated the couch okay and was all in one piece.  

Thank goodness the full moon madness is over with!!  I will be reminded every day however as I sit ten inches off the floor on the nice not-so-soft springs of my couch.  Obviously, I will do anything for Mr. Cooper!!

Have a GREAT day everyone!!!