Birthday, Fest trip summary, and perhaps etcetera

Happy birthday to me....

Just got in from being taken to dinner by three good friends. We changed plans on the fly today and instead of Pearl Street, we ended up at a Thai restaurant in Belmont, which was very good (and more centrally located for where everyone was coming from). Even better, they weren't very busy, so we could linger and chat without pressure to leave the table, which was a real bonus. It was a very nice evening.

Not that the cats thought so! I was much too late getting in for them, seeing as I was (oh, the nerve) away last weekend. Wait until I don't come directly home tomorrow night: I will be in the dog house, so to speak. But hey, I'm twin-sitting for a couple of hours, can't pass that up! I didn't go to Stitch and Bitch last night, and I'll be in Thursday and Friday (better be doing laundry, in fact). Little though they like it, I have a small amount of social life.

I did give them some catnip when I got in. So it's bribery, so what?

I had a nice weekend with family and Apple Festival, anyway, and much as I love the cats, seeing my aunt and (93-year-old) grandmother and going to the Fest are important to me. I took Friday off from work so I could drive up in the morning, instead of after work, and go to the Fest on Saturday, which is just what happened. The drive was uneventful, just the way I like it. I usually drive up 2-3 times a year*, so I'm into a routine with it, no need to study maps or plan routes or write notes to myself ("Fill tank last chance in MA, even if it's not empty, gas costs more in NY!").

*Apple Festival, Grandma's birthday, and sometimes Christmas

The rest of Friday was good, and low-key. Saturday was the long, busy day! My aunt and I were at the Fest before it officially opened, so that we'd have time to see all the craft tents (500 crafters takes time to see!) before our stint at the church tent. One year we cleared and wiped tables, and the last couple of years we were on the food line (they sell an awesome barbecue chicken meal), but this year, we were in the big league: selling the pies!

They actually make 1000 pies, yes, one thousand, and always sell out, too. It's their big fund-raiser of the year, this, and I felt the pie-selling had a prestige ... plus, since they're already bagged and boxed, you don't have to wear the hat and gloves that the food line requires, which was a real bonus because it was hot! So we spent two hours selling pies (how good is your nine-times table recall?), and saying that yes, we were sold out of the double-crust ones (by 11:15 on Saturday!), all we have left are the crumb-top (which almost everyone bought anyway, and some wanted in the first place), that's nine dollars each, and yes, you can pick one that isn't as dark, and no, we don't sell the apple fritters, that's in the barn over there.

We had one woman who told us that last year's were lousy ... but she bought one anyway.

Another woman was so thrilled that we had the crumb-top pies, because her mother had charged her not to come home without one ... and then she came back ten minutes later and said she'd forgotten to get one for herself!

And we had one young man who said he'd never had pie in his life. He was earnest about it, but I can still hardly believe it. I think they must have been joking around ... but why?

Anyway, it was busy, and two hours flew right by. Then we had an hour to recover, and eat and drink, before reporting to the Chamber of Commerce tent to help sell t-shirts. This was not nearly so busy, but the weather threw us some excitement anyway, in the form of a sudden storm that brought not just heavy rain but gusty winds, which not only blew papers off the table, it actually blew the t-shirts, and then tried to lift the tent, too!

And when I say tried to lift the tent, I mean it was succeeding until we grabbed it. Unlike the church tent, this was a little one, no sides but just a top, with 6 legs of which 2 dropped out when the top of the tent started to leave. It was quite dramatic! We were hanging on for dear tent, until a neighboring tent-master (from the fudge tent behind us) offered us the few stakes he had left, and fortunately the C of C had some rope, and that was enough to hold things down until the storm passed. I'm sure it was less than half an hour from sprinkles to stop, but it felt like more. Whew!

All in all, it was something of a relief to head for home, though all we did there was clean up a bit and head out to dinner. Yes, another dinner for my birthday: I've been quite spoiled this year! It was a wonderful meal, with a little surprise at the end: the waitress had heard us say birthday, so when she brought out my creme brulee, there was a candle in it, and "Happy Birthday" written in chocolate on the plate! It was lovely, and they didn't spoil it by singing or anything like that (I don't mind the singing from family and friends, though I can't say I love it, but from total strangers while a dining room full of more strangers turns to stare? No, very much no, thank you). It was lovely, but such a long day, and I was so tired!

Sunday was low-key again, sleep in and pie for breakfast and church and dinner, and we sat around talking until I had to tear myself away and hit the road. The return trip was also uneventful, happily, and I returned to the cats who were so neglected, or so they claim. And since they are now trying to beat each other up, I think they need my attention. Gotta go!