Painful Weekend
Well, maybe only about 15 minutes of the weekend were painful, but I was just looking at this picture of Brooke and it only brought back memories of pain. You think I sound mean, don't you? Well, this weekend Mike, Jess, Ed, Brooke, and I all went to Gloucester County College for a Chili Cookoff. It sounded like a fun event. However, the lines were LONG!!! I think we probably arrived around 12:30 and by 3:30 had only tasted about 15-20 chili samples. We had some favorites. I think the majority of us loved the Harrison House chili. Nothing was too spicy until we got to the very last booth. I hadn't noticed, but everyone else with me said they watched people jump up and down in pain as they tasted the last booth's chili. Brooke got her sample first, but we were going to wait to all eat it together. At first, it was tasteless. I couldn't figure out what all of the drama was about. Then it happened - the pain was TERRIBLE. Brooke was in pain. The picture here makes her look happy, but she was in tears. I was on the verge. I can't describe the torture. It took at least 15 mintues for us to all recover. I passed out gum which didn't do too much to help. There were also food vendors and a concert. We thought about stopping by the food vendors for relief, but they all seemed to have lines at least 50 people long. So, I quickly mentioned Rita's, and everyone agreed. It was a fun day. I'm glad I experienced it. But, it was so crowded, the lines were so long, but at least we had good company with which to visit!

The rest of the weekend was pretty calm. I had a couple of stamping workshops, Mike's dad's 65th birthday party, and I went into the city for dinner with Claire and Farrell. Claire and I then stamped for several hours. We both agreed it was nice to sit down and stamp for fun for a change! Neither of us could really remember the last time we'd done that. I'm usually planning and experimenting for classes or workshops or something.

After dinner I discussed the logic behind "buying Hawaii" with Claire and Farrell. What do I mean by "buying Hawaii"? Well, Stampin' Up! offers an incentive trip every year. In 2009, the trip is the 20th Anniversary Incentive Trip to Hawaii. They have a special promotion running for demonstrators now that makes earning the trip a little easier. So, I've been contemplating placing some big orders between now and Wednesday to earn Hawaii. I could probably just buy a trip to Hawaii for what it would cost to buy. But, I wouldn't have to buy paper for a couple of years!!! Tune in on Thursday to see what I do.