Potluck Supper Club

While in NC we are planning to spend more time with friends, enjoy the new back yard and play golf.

After conversations with several friends, we came up with the idea for a Potluck Supper Club. The host house would provide the entree and the others would bring dishes to round out the meal. We offered to be the first and the theme was Hungarian. It was going to be a real test of the new deck and back yard as there were 15 friends who were coming over!

Chef Frank cooking Chicken Paprikash and preparing the batter for spaetzle.

Don, Bob and Frank

Ray, Barbara, Teddy and Lana

Cindy, Toby, Bonnie and Brenda

Leann & Frank

Frank, Terry & Bonnie

Everyone seemed pretty comfortable and the weather was perfect!

(One more table of 4 out of the camera's view.)

It was a great evening and the food was delicious:

Spicy Hungarian dip

Kielbasa with hot mustard

Chicken Paprikash with Spaetzle

Hungarian Beet Salad
Rye bread

Asparagus

New potatoes

Blueberry pie and Orange-pineapple cake

Bring on the next one!

Fun with Friends

The 'big event' of the summer was last week's "Welcome Back" party. It was a nice way to spend time with friends, enjoy good food and plenty of beverages.

Toby, Don & Barbara

Frank, Rob, Bonnie, Terry, and Barbara

Brothers Ray & Frank with Barbara

Cindy, Ray, Barbara, Don, Brenda, Bob, Jane and Frank

Bob, Frank, Fred and Brenda

Toby & Ray

Cindy, Brenda and Cindy

Frank's gotta job!

Frank received his official welcome letter from the Executive Director of the BMW Car Club of America today! His job, you ask...is Ombudsman!

I don't know all the particulars of what he'll do, but I know it combines his love of BMW vehicles, creative approach to solving problems, unequaled ability to remain calm-cool-and-collected, and the resulting satisfaction from helping others. (Basically, helping BMW owners help resolve problems.)

I'm betting by the end of the year he will have done such a great job they will double his salary!

Golf with friends in North Carolina

We started our golf season right out of the gate! We arrived in Boone on Tuesday and by Friday we were playing golf. (It had been over six months since I had touched my clubs so I was a little anxious about playing.)

In spite of our collegiate affiliation, we were invited by the Hunters (Gators) to play in their Member-Guest tournament at Beech Mountain. We have only played that course one other time and it is, well, challenging to say the least!

Frank, Leann, Diane and Craig, before the tournament.

The tournament started Friday afternoon with threats of thunderstorms. But fortunately the weather held and we were able to complete the round. It's been a few years since we've seen the Hunters so it was very nice to spend time with them. Frank and Craig played very well!

Frank and Craig pointing out their score at the end of the first round - First Place!

Remember me saying I was a little anxious about playing since it had been a while? Well, that anxiousness reared its ugly head frequently throughout our round! Diane played fabulously and we enjoyed the ladies we were paired up with.

At the end of the first round, Diane and I were tied for second, thanks to Diane!

After playing golf, Craig and Diane took us up the mountain to their home. What a beautiful home with a spectacular view!

View from their deck.

We ate dinner at the Alpen Inn where every evening they put out corn and fruit for the deer. (The picture is a little fuzzy because it was taken through a window from a bit of a distance.)

Golf resumed bright and early Saturday morning...and we were ready!

Diane and I continued our fun and each had quite a few great shots! It was a great time and we finished third!

Frank and Craig had another great round and ended up tying for 1st place!

See, Gators and Seminoles can play well together. :)

In fact, Frank and Craig beat Doug (Frank's brother's brother-in-law, another Seminole) by 2/10 of a point!

All in all it was a great time and a good way to kick off golf in the mountains! Thank you Craig and Diane for inviting us!

Friends

While I enjoyed our time at the Fish Camp, I was really missing Tampa and friends here.

I have admired the numerous people in my life who have kept in touch with friends from 'way back when'. I guess you could say, "life happened" and for whatever reason, I drifted away from those to whom I was extremely close.

One of my new year's resolutions this year was to reconnect with people I'd lost touch with over the years. The one person I really wanted to seek out was Debbie, who I'd known since elementary school days and we were really good friends in high school. I had been thinking a lot about her, wondering where she was, what she was doing and how she was doing. I was even working on a (old-fashioned) letter to send to her parent's house.

Thank goodness for Facebook and email! I tried to find Debbie on Facebook, but no luck. However, I did find her daughter and sent her a message. I explained who I was and who I thought her mom was, asking if she would pass along my information. Fortunately, Debbie's daughter didn't think I was a kook, because a few days later, I got an email from Debbie! I was so excited!

We exchanged numerous emails over the next few months. But because of various schedules, it wasn't until April before we could actually get together for lunch. I think we were both a little nervous, anxious, and excited all at the same time. It had been 18 years since we'd seen each other! As soon as we saw each other, the butterflies went away (at least for me). We had a wonderful lunch, did as much catching up as you can in 2 hours and made a promise we would get together again as soon as we could!

We continued to keep in touch by email and had dinner with Debbie and Bobby a few weeks later. We even planned to attend the Plant Happy Hour together as well as booked a date for them to come to our neck of the woods for dinner and to meet our friends Ken & Victoria.

Frank, Leann, Debbie and Bobby at Grillsmith

Plant Happy Hour

Debbie, me and Victoria.

Frank & Bobby checking out the canal.

I look forward to when we can get together next.

I do get teased about the time I spend on Facebook, but it has been wonderful to reconnect with so many people from the past!

In fact, while in NYC, we got to see my other friend named Debbie (from UT) and her husband Neal.

And while the circumstances were sad (funeral for a former co-worker), it was great to see Kelly (go way back to church) and Joellyn (from Raymond James). We then went to lunch and saw another Kelly (from high school).

Kelly, Kelly and Leann

And not to be left out, we were invited across the canal to Ray & Lily's for dinner the other night. It's been since our return from Panama that we've been able to spend any time together. We had a yummy meal and it was so nice catch up on each other's lives!

I'm going to continue to work on my resolution. Life is too short!

Time in Tampa

Over the past few weeks, Frank's been brewing on an idea: He wanted to see if "The Beast" (Excursion) would fit in the garage.

I suggested measuring both the vehicle and garage, but where's the fun in that??

So, Saturday morning, we cleared the garage and proceeded with the experiment.

The "pulling straight in" method left about 2 feet of "The Beast" hanging out.

And so the jockeying began. Surely if he parked it on an angle, it would fit.

(Again, no measuring.)

It was inside! But was it in far enough for the door to close?

Success!

While "The Beast" was in the garage and the door closed, the photographer was trapped in the corner of the garage!

All in all, it was a fun experiment, but the garage won't be "The Beast's" permanent parking spot.