Planning for Good Times

Whew. Where does the time go? I’ve been asking myself that for the past few weeks now, maybe because it’s gotten nicer outside and I’m spending more time laying out on the deck with a book or magazine. Or maybe because I’ve taken on more projects at work. Or maybe because I have a great (for the most part) group of coworkers who I actually want to do things with nowadays. Thursday happy hours are becoming a ritual!

Speaking of things to do with coworkers, I got it in my head last week that I want to plan a tubing trip. Sounded simple in the beginning, but it’s more work than I thought! Working with multiple schedules (between my coworkers and Buppy’s), the distance for everyone to drive, fees, after-party destination, alcohol in the tubes (which most places don’t allow in MD) . . . it’s a lot to coordinate. Oh yeah, let’s not leave out trying to work with Mother Nature, too. One of our friends volunteered his apartment as our party spot because he lives right by a river, but it’s been so dry here, the water level is too low to tube in that area. Bummer. I have a back up in mind though, which is the place I was originally shooting for. My only concern now: my coworker’s husband said the Gunpowder River (where we’d be going) is ‘snakey’. Not ‘snakey’ as in ‘windy’, but ‘snakey’ as in ‘lots of snakes’. I hope he was kidding. Or lying. Or just has no clue what he’s talking about. Well, whatever the case, I’m going to find out this weekend. Several of us are planning to head there, although this trial run might ultimately end up just being Buppy and I. I want to see if it’s a fun spot so we can plan a trip where the majority of us can make it in July or August. The river is running low and slow and float time is at it’s max, so I’m sure we’ll have fun regardless of how many or few of us there are.

On that note, I can’t believe it’s already almost the 2^nd weekend in June. Our annual Slip ‘n Slide / Crab Feast is less than a month away, and we really need to make the FB invite and get it out. Last year I saved money from every paycheck to use for the party, but that didn’t work from Jan. through mid-April this year since I was unemployed. Lucky for me, my current paychecks allow me to put away plenty, so I’ll still have at least as much as I had last year. Not to say that I hope we spend it all because we’re hoping to get a better deal on the crabs, but since we’re expecting more people, we might have to get an extra half bushel. I’m almost giddy with excitement that I get to plan a menu of mostly appetizers; should I be a snob and call them hors d’oeuvres? Ha --- only at work! We’ve decided to go with the tried and true grilled burgers / hot dogs / sausages for the main stuff; the fajitas last year just weren’t a hit. Oh yeah, if anyone out there has a stellar app recipe that holds up well in the heat, shoot it my way and I’ll happily give it a try. I’m psyched!