July Already?

Can someone please tell me how the heck we got to July 2011? Great, thanks.

Man, time sure flies. I can't believe our annual party is only a week away. I'm excited, don't get me wrong, but there is still a lot of shopping/cleaning/prep that needs to be done. Luckily, I have a beautiful 3-day weekend to get most of it taken care of. I already hit up the liquor store last night (and spent $100+ on booze) because as of today, the liquor tax in Maryland went up to 9% (from 6%). I figured I might as well get it when it's a little cheaper, right? And I love the store I shop at most of the time; they pay me to drink! They track your spending by your last name if you join their club, and every time you spend $100, they give you $5 in cash. Not huge, but hey, no other liquor store in my area gives me anything back. I received $5 back yesterday after my purchase and was told I'm $3 away from my next $5. How nice of them.

I think I know where our crabs will be coming from and plan to order them sometime this weekend. I'm sure everywhere is swamped for the holiday weekend, so maybe on Sunday or Monday I'll give 'em a ring. If I heard correctly when I called to price them, they're by far the cheapest I've found. They're the same price I paid last year per bushel ($175), which was expensive at that time. However, this year, that price is a steal. Thank goodness I have a nice paying job now and have been able to save up money for this party. Crabs at this price wouldn't have happened if unemployment was still payin' my bills. Now Buppy and I just have to decide if a bushel will be enough or if we'll have to get one and a half. I'm not doing 2 bushels regardless of how many guests we have because I refuse to have leftover crabs to pick. Nu-uh. Not this girl.

On a totally unrelated subject: we had the strangest visitors stop by our office on Thursday evening (5:15pm). They said they were there for a tasting with the woman I work closely with. Uh . . . she doesn't do tastings and she already left for the day. Our social caterings sales manager is pretty much the only person to do them because really, only weddings get tastings. Anyway, come to find out they drove up from Annapolis in rush hour traffic to taste . . . . . wait for it . . . . . . . box lunches. Yup. They honestly thought they were going to taste a turkey club sammy and a chicken salad sammy. What's wrong with people these days?!?!!

Tonight is my last night home alone. Buppy's been gone to NY all week with the kids; they left last Saturday around 10am to head up to spend time with his family. From what I can tell, they've all been having a great time. Anyway, they'll be home tomorrow afternoon/evening, then the kids go to their mom's house for the week on Sunday morning. Super, 'cause that means I then have Buppy to help me with our long list of party prep tasks. Whew.

Well, happy 4th of July weekend to all. Mine will be busy, but I'm positive I'll make some time to relax outside by the pool and soak up some sun. Oh, and I'll make time to grill some brats too, because really, it can't be the 4th without 'em. Have fun and stay safe everyone!