Breast of Friends

What happens when you combine the third annual BVG Bring a Friend Night with the second annual BVG Oktoberfest? Double the fun!! On October 30 we gathered for a rare Friday evening BVG night. We were disappointed that Carolyn, Lynn and Lisa could not make it, but Laurie and Sherry were there and we welcomed Rosalie and Tracie who will forever be invited to BAFN. I cooked Farmer George's brats----no, not some farmer's bad kids....Farmer George is Port Orchard's iconic meat market, so we went with his bratwurst---in my Crock Pot, in apple juice. Yum! Thanks to j we had delicious German potato salad, and Cool brought Billy B's homemade apple sauce. Elletu brought the brewskis! It occurs to me that we are not really big beer drinkers, since I delivered a lot elsewhere the next day. It also occurs to me that the laughter heard around my dining room table sounded like we had been drinking a whole lot! I think we are mere tasters. Now, about the wine...

We tried a new game, which is actually an old game, but we haven't played it as a group before. I had to prod them to play Scattergories, but once the game got going I think they were hooked. We ran out of time and didn't get to play as much as we had liked to. Next time.

The BVB's went out to dinner, then back to Cool's house, then to my house once we let them know the coast was clear. Now that they are all retired, I think it's good that they have this social outlet. As if we had to plan their time! They like each other's company like we like ours. After all, they have been the BVB's as long as we have been the BVG's---34 years!

I think Elletu, Cool and j would agree with me that the most memorable conversation of the evening was Tracie, Rosalie's daughter, telling us the 'disturbing' story of how her mother sold her favorite Halloween costume ever, Rainbow Bright, right off her back, and for only $10!!! This clearly traumatized Tracie. I had no idea. I was in Rosalie's will to take Tracie and her sister if something ever happened to her and her husband. Had I known about this injustice, I would have scooped up this poor girl and brought her to my house to live. And of course I would have replaced that costume. Thanks to Tracie and Rosalie for providing a picture of Tracie and her sister on the last Halloween she would ever see that costume that meant the world to her. After all, she won a Halloween costume contest with it! I will still invite Rosalie to BAFN next year, but I don't think any of us can erase this story from our minds. Who would want to? It got the most laughs!

Fun friends, fun times. We are blessed. And the Holiday Season has begun.