I know, I know. It has been FOR-EV-ER since I posted to my blog. Needless to say, the high school years of homeschooling and coordinating dual enrollment classes and assignments with/for my children (young adults now) have been a lot. It has left little time for personal enrichment and hobbies! We're holding on, though! It's SENIOR year!
This weekend, with the Veteran's Day holiday, we planned to go to the November carnival at the local Catholic church/school down the road. The weather was lovely--despite the recent tropical storm-turned-hurricane recently (Nicole). Anyway, we made plans to actually leave the house! Can you believe it??
Once there, we did the rounds...what rides looked safe and fun? What food was interesting? How many tickets would we need for the evening? We needed 20 tickets for the girls' rides. No problem. There was a special: 18 tickets for $20. Save $2.50. Cool. Simple! OK hubby, please order the 18-pack plus 2 extra tickets to get the "special" plus the 2 extra we needed. Simple, right? Nope. Not simple at all. I think the ticket seller was overtired or in need of a calculator. He simply could not understand what we were trying to do. No problem. There was a Volunteer Worker nearby, and she intervened. All set! 20 tickets for rides, let's go!
By the time the sun was down (6pm), the people started flocking to the carnival, and the lines were exceptionally long all of the sudden. We stood in line for the Ferris Wheel. With COVID social distancing ingrained in everyone, people were finally back to the 80's bubble of 3-5 feet. Ahhh. The 80s. A time when people kept their distance and didn't talk directly into your face. Anyway, with everyone nicely spread out, the line went on for over 100 feet, crossing over a go-cart drive area and a walking path for pedestrians. Jumbled, weaving people filtered through the groups here and there. The bright lights from the Ferris Wheel were friendly and inviting in the dark sky, but the strobe from the actual sign was starting to get to me. Yikes! Who was in charge of that seizure-creating light display!
This wasn't the first 'safety' issue we'd noticed at the carnival. Earlier, while looking at all of the rides, there was a family pushing a wheel-chaired loved one, and there were so many cords and lines crisscrossing the walking paths that the wheelchair was bouncing across clumps of wires in 3-foot sections. There was one time when Hubby had to stop and help them navigate across the pile of cords by assisting with the lifting of the wheelchair. I realize the world does not revolve around the handicapped, but come on. There are some basic issues people have today, and when you are trying to create a family-friendly environment, you have to know your audience. No strobe lights using LEDs. They can cause seizures in adults, and they turn autistic kids into zombies. No exposed electrical wires and cords on the ground where people are walking, wheeling, or caning their way through the carnival. Put mats or cord covers over those things! That's dangerous.
Yes...like this. Mats!
Well, I digress! Back to the Ferris Wheel ride. We adults (Hubby and me) stepped out of line to let the kids get ready for their assigned pod on the Wheel. As they got in, sat down, and got locked in, Hub and I stood there assessing the crowd. Everyone seemed pretty calm. There was an employee vehicle parked nearby, and it had an 8x12-inch sticker on the back window: Mother of A$$holes. Really? That prompted conversations about the mother...a mother would never call her kids that, what did that mean about them, what was 'the American family' coming to, what constituted a joke and what didn't, and so on. Anyway, the lights were starting to make my mind short-circuit, so we moved to the other side of the Wheel to wait for the girls to get off the ride.
When there, Hub needed to sit down, so he decided to wait on a nearby bleacher system. I stood by the Wheel, watching an energized 5-year-old run circles around a drainage grate in the grass. He would run two full circles around the grate. Stop. Sway a little. Look around. Lock eyes on his parents standing near the exit sign of the Wheel, and then start a new running cycle. Eventually, he gave up on his independent game of tag and rejoined his parents as they waited for his sister and a friend to get off the Wheel. My girls were on the next pod, and so we joined Daddy on the bleachers.
The next hour consisted of people-watching and riding more rides.
Finally, it was time to make decisions about the possible food options. THEY HAD LUMPIA! Yes! They had LUMPIA!
Oh....I bet you are wondering about The Lady. Don't worry. I'll get to her. She comes in at the end of the night. This isn't even really the real part about lumpia in my story. That will come after The Lady. Just stick with me.
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Since it was a Catholic church hosting the carnival, there was a large food section sponsored by members of the church. They had hot dogs, pretzels, beer, wine, and lumpia stands!
The lumpia caught my attention, and neither Hubby nor the girls had ever had lumpia...so I told them my story of lumpia.
My family was stationed in Italy during the 80s, and so we had to raise funds a little differently than regular American students living in the United States. When our youth group wanted to visit Berlin--before the wall was down--and go to Switzerland for a Revival, it was a 'lumpia sale' that helped to raise the funds. When our high school band wanted to get to the Naval Air Station Sigonella--an Italian Air Force base and a U.S. Navy installation at Italian Air Force Base Sigonella in Sicily, Italy--for a band competition, it was a 'lumpia sale' that helped make it possible. Lumpia was a favorite item to sell to raise funds. The Filipino population was abundant on base, and those women were quite skilled at making, storing, and selling lumpia! Whenever it was time for fundraising, we were all quite happy to contribute to the cause by purchasing a plate or two of lumpia and dipping sauce. Unlike egg rolls, which often tear up the roof of my mouth, lumpia is smooth, crisp, and flakey. Ahh!
So when I saw that lumpia stand at the Catholic church carnival, I knew I had to have some. And yet...we are very choosey about eating at food stands and roach coaches. So, we decided to forgo the lumpia with the understanding that there would be a food delivery by 3pm the next day filled with pork, wraps, veggies, and garlic so that we could make our own lumpia at home. (Gotta love Walmart+!)
As the girls went off to ride another spinning contraption, I sat down, logged into Walmart+, and arranged for the delivery.
Click HERE to read more from The Carnival, The Lady, and The Lumpia! Part 2
