Saturday, May 31, 2008

Festivus for the Rest of Us....I nearly got blown away....

Today the annual parish festival at my church began. It's three days of food, fun and friends. I am the Queen of the Lemon Shake Up Stand. Yes, Diva Divine is in charge of making lemon shake ups! I have a whole posse of Middle, High School and College age kids who come and work for me. They love being covered in sugar and lemon juice.

The weather was beautiful today. It was the warmest day we have had yet. It was sticky hot, which makes the sugar and lemon juice cover your body in a nice sticky, shiny glaze. The festivus began at 5:00 and we were shaking lemonade and hydrating the masses. I saw so many people I haven't seen in a year or longer. Lots of "OH MY GOSH I DIDN'T RECOGNIZE YOU!!" and "How much weight have you lost?" It's sort of weird when I would wave at someone or say hello and they would look at me like "Who are you?" Then, it would finally hit them. I guess I don't see all the changes they see because I am seeing myself every day. It makes me feel good, I do have to admit it.

Well, we were busy all night. I was getting really tired and as a result, very slap happy. Tonight, they had Karaoke under the Tent. People who can't sing shouldn't sing. They shouldn't participate in activities where they will make fools of themselves...in front of large groups of people. It was quite entertaining to say the least.

So, as we were making Shake Ups and people were singing, we would rate them. Some were not so bad, others were bad and some were horrible. We would yell "Don't quit your day job!!" and "Get them off the stage!!" They couldn't hear us, there were too many people and too much noise. We also put choreography to some songs. We were rolling when someone was singing "Rollin' on the River" and we were channeling our inner Temptations during "My Girl". We were more entertaining than the people who were up on the stage. People offered to take over the stand so we could go up and sing and dance on stage. We said "We will take the money box up with us and sing with it under our arm!"

I don't know how it happened or why, but we decided to pose like Charlie's Angels. Photos were taken. Blackmail could be used. We entertained all the people around us. The Girls in the Lemon Shake Up Stand were a hit!

The night was going really well until the weather turned foul. We had to close up about 15 to 20 minutes early because the Tornado sirens started going off. We got all our stuff cleaned up and put away in about 10 minutes. When I took the money box back to the money room, the rain had not started. Just as we (LuLu and I) were walking out the door to my car, the wind blew up and the rain blew in, and LuLu and I looked at one another and said "Let's wait here until this settles down." The rain was violent...it was blowing sideways and the lightning was dangerous. LuLu and I were finally able to leave after 15 minutes. I got her home safely and took off to my house, which on a normal day at the time I left would take me 20 minutes to drive. But, tonight was not normal.

I decided to take the interstate because the rain had been so heavy, I knew the city streets were flooded in some of the areas I drive through. Going the interstate was not smart. Another line of storms was moving through and at times the rain was so bad, I couldn't see anything. A semi had jack-knifed and a car slammed into the side of it. It was awful. I just wanted to get home. I finally got home, over an hour later! Then, the lightning was so bad, I had to sit in my car for 10 minutes until I felt it was safe enough to get out. I thought I was going to get blown away. "Toto, I have a feeling we aren't in the Metropolis anymore!"

The news stations are buzzing with news reports and pictures are starting to come in. The damage is bad. How I escaped it, I am not sure. I guess I would say I am very thankful. I am going to scrub the sugar sheen off my skin. Until next time, don't forget, I am Diva Divine


Festivus Fun at the Lemon Shake Up Stand!

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