Friday, March 18th

Happy birthday Jim, hope your day is a great one!
  Again there was no post last night, why, well you can guess, suffice it to say the day was long and it ended quicker than I anticipated.  I may have been asleep in my chair at the end, LOL.  So again today will be two days' information.
Thursday, St Patrick's day
  The day started with coffee & donuts at the hall in the park.  It was well attended and best of all the donuts were free, provided by the outgoing association president.  After the hall was cleared, all the help for the corned beef & cabbage dinner met in the kitchen to get a start on the work.  The beef was in the fridge overnight and we trimmed it up and sliced it into pans to be heated later in the oven.  The gals cut up all the cabbage [45 pounds], potatoes [50 pounds] and carrots [20 pounds] I believe, getting it all into pots & ready to boil.  It went pretty well ready to go and tidied up in about an hour and a half, thanks to a good crew.
  Marg & I went to Costco where she got some wine and finger food.  Oh yeh, I got 4 shirts and a couple pairs of shorts too.  The really good news is both were a size smaller than I previously wore.  Then it was on to the Mexican grocery store up on Stapely where she bought some pastries, tortilla chips and a couple of cakes: a Mexican milk cake and a Tiramisu kind of cake.  We each ate one of the sweet rolls on the way home, so I was pretty much covered in whatever they put on top, kind of a combination sugar/cinnamon.  With the cakes needing refrigeration, we had to come straight back.
  Back at the park there was just time for a sandwich and then back to the kitchen.  We got all the big pots possible going on the stove.  Once they were boiling we transferred them to the grill so we could get others started, it was quite an exercise in manipulation of huge pots of boiling stuff.  The meat was put in the oven to heat with a broth over them so it wouldn't dry out.  It was a bit stressful for some, but with Marg & Patti directing the cooking, it came off well.  The steam trays were filled and started so the food could be served hot.

We were in a good position by 5 when the food was to be served.  Every table brings bowls and platters that they bring to the counter to be filled.  This year we put potatoes, cabbage & carrots all in separate bowls, to give folks more choice on how they used it.  There is a nice loaf of bread at every table and at the end everyone was given a dish of ice cream and Crème de Menthe to add a touch of green to dessert.  The whole place sang happy birthday to me, a very nice touch.
  After eating an hour or so of clean up and we were good to go.  A long tough day, but at least it was an overwhelming success.  Marg had invited the work crew to our place for drinks after the work was done.  They were a great bunch to work with and we had a riot with them after.  Marg had some finger food out and then the cakes.  She also made margaritas and I made certain the Irish whisky and beer flowed well.  Most had not tried Irish whisky before, but loved it and why not as we had both Tullamore Dew & Bushmill.  It was a late night by the time the last dog was hung and yours truly had a skin full.
Friday, March 18th

   It was a long way out of the sack this morning, we both woke up still a bit tired, but with lots of plans to get going on.  Marg had agreed on a 10 o'clock departure time with the gamblin' gals, so we were out of here at the appointed hour.  This was what she wanted for her birthday, a day out with these hilarious gals.  You have to experience it to believe it, but the 5 of them are like a group of school girls on an outing:  joking and laughing and generally having a good time.  This was our first time to Wild Horse Pass Casino and they were pumped for it.  Somewhere along the route they all decided they would rub my stomach [like you do with a Buddha] for luck and they did.
  A few pictures and they were off in search of their fortunes.  They were about 3 1/2 hours and 3 came out ahead Ok with the other 2 slightly behind, but in good spirits.  I have done a few of these now and the ride home is always a bit more subdued with the topics more to do with daily stuff around the park, a marked difference.  Everyone said they had fun, so mission accomplished.
  When we got home it was dinner in tonight.  A nice salad accompanied by taco chips, shrimp and other good finger food from the prior night.  Then it was a huge piece of the milk cake for each of us and I was bursting at the seams.  A great way to finish the day.  We were kind of settling in, but got a coffee call.  The Blanke's had a bunch for coffee and pie.  We both passed on the pie, which is a shame as Doris makes great pie, but enough is enough.  A nice visit over a cup of coffee anyway.  A quick visit to Walmart to get a time card for the phone as the minutes were almost out and we need it for almost a month yet.  Hope to get a better nights sleep tonight, I think we were both a bit over tired last night.