Yippee!!!

I'm so tired that I can barely think straight, but I'm also super excited because I won free Chickfila for a year!!! That's my pretty nugget box full of 52 coupons!! Woohoo!!

I woke up yesterday, Wednesday, at 4:45 and got to chickfila at 6am. There was more than 100 people there so they had a raffle for the first 100 spots and they took 25 alternates. I was 105. At first I was optimistic, hoping that 5 people would drop out and I'd move up. But it became apparent pretty quick that I was up against the pros. I'd say at least 90 % of us were college kids who travel to openings and are very good and very prepared. Needless to say I felt somewhat silly with my backpack and camping chair up next to tents with generators and tvs and nintendos and fans. Oh well, I guess I'm old :) So in the end only 1 person left and I was still an alternate. But this morning at 6am they did a raffle for the "leftovers" as they called us and so they actually took 105 people and I won one of the 5 spots!! They then put us in numerical order and we got to be the first 105 people in this morning. They gave us oversized tshirts and we paraded through the store with bubbles and employees clapping and banging stuff. It was quite fun! So now I'm 52 chickfila meals richer! Well, make that 51, I gave one to Coleson to take for lunch today :)

Ryan was with me off and on, mostly off. Grandpa and Grandma were a huge help, keeping him with them most of the day. It was easier that way since it was so hot and he would never have napped there. But when he was there, he had a great time. Our friends Tara & Madeleine came to visit and there was another little boy there who shared his toys with us and all the babies made friends. There were games and prizes throughout the day - I won 100 pieces of gum for being the first to identify the song I Should Have Been a Cowboy by Toby Keith and a stuffed cow for spinning on a baseball bat 10 times and then hopping with a ball between my knees across the parking lot. Not sure I would have done that game if I'd known what I was getting into! Oh well, it was fun!

Of course they fed us very well. Biscuits for breakfast yesterday, nuggets for lunch. Dinner was fun - the new employees practiced on us and we got to go inside the air conditioning! We had a #1 combo with fries and drink. And then at 10pm we got ice cream complete with a topping bar - M&Ms, oreos, sprinkles, chocolate syrup, whatever you wanted! There was a DJ there from 6-10 last night and he was lots of fun. And the cow was there too!

I tried to go to sleep a few minutes before 11 last night, but that didn't work so well. For starters it was bright as day in my tent. The lights all stayed on last night, which I suppose is good for safety, not so good for sleeping! Also the college kids didn't even pretend to try to sleep. But the worst was about 11:10 when a scattered thunderstorm struck - lightening, rain, wind, thunder. My tent kept my kinda dry, but not really. All my stuff is currently spread out in the garage with the hope that one day it will dry and not smell quite as bad as it already does. Fortunately the rain only lasted about 25 minutes. I finally fell asleep about 11:45 only to wake up at 12:12. Oops. I did finally fall asleep for about 3 hours from 1:30 - 4:30. And then we broke camp and had our raffle where I found out this was all worth it!! Of course being Chickfila even the alternates that didn't win the 5 extra spots still got a little stack of coupons. But oh so much better to say I won the first 100 ("105" I suppose!) and to get 52 of them!!!

Anyways, off to a quick shower, I'm wearing what I put on 27 hours ago and I feel a little nasty. But I did at least brush my teeth last night. Ryan should be up soon, but I'm really hope for a long nap today because for once I plan on napping when he naps!!