Saturday Shouts Outs- Old Friends Edition!

A week ago today I was waking up after a raucous night of food and fun at Ocean Isle Beach with many of my favorite people in the world, friends dating back to our childhoods- which you may know in my case was not a recent event! There had been a meal of Mexican Pile-Up, great desserts and a few adult beverages. A tense, hilarious males vs. females game of Catchphrase had completed the night, scarring some of us for life. That night was made special by the presence of our dear friend Lisa Moran, who had come down for just the one night. The entire 5 days the group spent together were a riot of laughter and love. Today, I want to share with you some of the moments that are still making me smile. It's a special reunion edition of my Saturday Shout Outs!

• After a bit of prodding from my old pal Martha Ratledge Farlow, we broke into the Fig Newton Song (and dance) in the parking lot of a restaurant on Saturday night. Don't know the song? See it here ---->  Hit it Hal!!!  
• During the Catchphrase game, my lovely wife Marilyn got the phrase "Pull it off." To demonstrate, she began pulling on her top. As time ticked down and she became more desperate, she pulled harder. We all became concerned that she was about to strip, but fortunately it never reached that point. Although Steve Semmler was a little disappointed.
• Carl Semmler brought a pound cake he made from his mother's classic recipe. Instead of keeping it with the desserts, it was kept with the breakfast foods, and many of us cut slices for our morning meal. Since eating cake for breakfast is frowned upon, the slices were referred to as Square Doughnuts. I miss them terribly...
• Ever feel like telling someone they are full of crap? Chuck Foster gave us a much more subtle line to use- "You are a landfill of useless information." Too good.
• We ate at Calabash on Thursday night, shutting down Captain John's. Literally. They turned off the lights as soon as we were out the door. Many, many hushpuppies gave their lives that night...
• While trying to get the other women to guess the word "burp" while playing Catchphrase, Beth Vestal McGalliard became so animated that she fell off the stool she was sitting on...backwards. Fifteen minutes later, after the howls of laughter ceased, Rob Mitchell finally asked if she was OK. She was. So we laughed some more!
• Tammy Foster really wanted us to play guitars and sing. So much so that after we failed to do so by Saturday afternoon she got the guitars out herself and handed them to us. We still tried really hard to not do anything, but Tammy was relentless. Finally Chuck and I played a few things, singing Wild Thing to Beth and a few of my old silly songs. It was fun. And Tammy is scary! And maybe a little mean...#NoFilter  :)
• Each time we traveled during the week those of us in Condo 103 all rode in Tim & Allison Vail's van. The 6 of us were a team, united in our efforts when grocery shopping and other efforts. Condo 101 always took separate vehicles. So clearly we were the better condo. That just needed to be said.
• Lisa Ramos Moran played Catchphrase right along with us, and at one point she was giving clues for the phrase "soul mate." She said it was 2 words you might use as term of endearment for your partner, and Denise May Langley blurted out this guess- Spousal Unit.  Truth is stranger than fiction.
• Carl S. was trying to get the guys to guess the song title "Jailhouse Rock" and gave the clues an Elvis song about prison. Martha, who was supposed to be quiet since she was on the other team, guessed Love Me Tender. That's just wrong on so many levels...
• Several people brought photo albums full of fun (if a bit horrifying) pictures from our younger days together. As Andy Maynard remarked on Saturday night, this group has known each other a VERY long time. And as much as we have all changed, our relationships are still pretty much the same. So much fun to be with that group, even if it did take us 5 days instead of 5 minutes to polish off a bag of Sweet 16 Powdered Sugar Doughnuts. Age has its price.  :)
• And finally (or this could go on for hours)...during the game Friday night I was sitting on a sofa with Denise and Steve. Something happened and I reached out to give an "air" high five to Martha across the room. At that instant, the couch collapsed under us, leaving us startled and the rest of the room rolling on the floor laughing. We were troopers however, continuing to sit there for the rest of the game. Of course, I took  most of the blame, being the largest and also having moved slightly just before the event. Denise was clearly an innocent victim, having been brave enough to sit with us in the first place. But after discussion with the sofa owners, Beth & Bob McGalliard, we discovered they had been expecting it to happen (So the lawsuit is pending. WHIPLASH!). We also agreed it was Steve's fault. It's always the pretty ones!

I hope this gives you a little taste of what it was like for me to hang out with people who have been special to me for 43 years now. I miss them already, and look forward to doing it again next year. And in case you are wondering, 2 updates- the game ended in a tie and the couch was saved and is still in use. Have a great weekend!

"Enjoy every sandwich."