A Synopsis of the MN State Fair - Life Returns to "Normal" Again

I always gain weight at the State Fair - it's almost mandatory, but I've already dropped three pounds and only have another one before I'm right back to my normal weight. I can't even think that I ate that much - I actually didn't. But on the final day, when we were with DH, we were more food oriented. Sharon and I tend to ignore most of the food - or Sharon wants this or that but I skip it. DH wanders here and there for this and for that, and we also ended up spending a good deal of our end-of-day time in the Frontier Bar - our usual hangout. But all is good, the three pounds I gained are already almost all gone. 

This is our usual hangout when we need to rest our feet 
for a while. The Frontier Bar at the State Fair is one 
of a row of bars and eating places for people to relax in 
while recovering for the next walk-a-bout. We love the 
Frontier, it's loud, but relaxing for us. We can still 
carry on a conversation, or just chill and enjoy the music. 

Sharon was put onto her plane (well, dropped at the airport door, to be honest - LOL) and is home again, welcoming her kitties and her sister and recovering from her annual visit. She's welcome any time - it's always such a joy to see her. We were disappointed in my local steak house this time, so I'll try a different one, closer to downtown St Paul, next time. Except for that slight disappointment, it was a perfect visit. We had a chance to catch up, and it cleared my head enough to write once again. 

 I didn't think I'd get a story done in time for tonight's 
deadline, but I actually managed one. The voting will 
open tomorrow and I'll send along the link and request 
your votes (which really DO make a difference). 

Stories for the current LJ Idol are due at 7:00 pm today, and I actually had an idea and a chance to sit and write, so I pulled my "Bye" back, and submitted a story yesterday afternoon. When everything is live and I need votes, I'll put the link here (probably in tomorrow's post). I love it when ideas come to me off the top and I'm allowed to run with them. I'm pleased with this particular tale. 

Chickie leaves for vacation soon, and I'll be stuck 
working six day weeks for that time span. I'm 
NOT looking forward to it AT ALL. But, she 
certainly deserves her vacation. 

Chickie leaves on her vacation on the 23rd. She's taking two weeks to go to the East Coast for a family thing. DH and I may kill each other during those two weeks. We'll have to work six days a week with each other, and that means I don't get the bathroom breaks I need, my lunch is an afterthought, and I don't have an immediate second person on the sales floor to help when I'm pulling stock for customers. It's a problem. For a day or so, we manage. For an extended period of time, we barely tolerate it. *sigh* But ... nothing to be done. She's well entitled to her vacation. She's earned it. 

Life is now returning to "normal" although that really 
won't happen until AFTER Chickie's upcoming 
vacation. I'm certainly NOT looking forward to working 
six days a week while she's out of town, but she 
certainly deserves her time off. So, I'll bitch and 
moan, but I'll do what I have to and make it work. 

So, I'm off to the pool. The outdoor pool is now closed and we're back in the indoor pool. That tends to be less crowded because our visitors from other branches of the YMCA stay at their own pools instead of coming out for our outdoor Olympic-sized pool. Life is returning to normal. The BIG Ferris Wheel was missing all of it's carts by the time I drove home yesterday. Only the skeleton of the wheel was silhouetted against the evening sky as I drove home from work. The Fair is officially completed again for the year. 

We set attendance records for five days this year, but fell slightly short of making an annual record, which is still held by our 2019 record of 2,126,551 total attendance. Interested in how we stacked up compared to other years? Here's a link - check it out. Texas might have larger numbers, but that's because they're a longer Fair. If they were open for our number of days, we'd be leaving them to wilt in the hot Texas sun - LOL. I'll chat again tomorrow, and give you the link to my latest story which will be open for voting by then. Have an excellent Wednesday. I'll be doing laundry and laundry and more laundry - LOL. Slava Ukraini.