Well, we got back a few hours ago from a weekend in Birmingham the Dixie Reptile Show (what a SMALL show that is! Lots of colubrids and very few ball pythons).

Karl and I arrived in Birmingham about 9:45, got checked in and were starving, so we decided to order some pizza from Pizza Hut. They said delivery in 35 minutes - COOL!

An hour later - no pizza, so we called, asked about it and told the driver was running behind, but tell him to knock $4 off the bill.

An hour and a half later - no pizza. Called again - he's really on his way this time, your bill is now 1/2 price, tell the driver.

One hour and 50 minutes later - he's on his way RIGHT now and will be there within 15 minutes, your pizza is free.

At 12:30, 2.5 hours later the pizza still didn't show and we put the do not disturb sign up and went to bed. I was not pleased.

So, a full night's sleep, breakfast, and Christie's on her way with her baby snakes she produced this year to get independent confirmation from myself and Ed on the sexes. Ed calls (he's staying in the same hotel) and we finally get to meet in the lobby while he and his lovely wife are having breakfast. Christie comes in with a box in a Toys 'R Us bag (to hide the Live, Harmless Reptiles that's all over her box) and we all proceed up to my room to have a popping party! We came up with 1.2 normals and 1.2 pastels, but I think after we probed them that it's really 0.3 normals, but they were awfully squirmy, so she'll have to check later on that questionable one.

We all then decide to head out to the show and Ed and Carrie follow us there. We get there and my car has smoke coming out under the hood. Oh joy! Two hours from home and my car decides to have problems. Ed takes a look and tells me it looks like a front seal leak. Yay!

We go into the show, check everything out and head back to the hotel, there's a Goodyear next door and they pull it in, confirm Ed's diagnosis, top me off and assure me I can drive back as long as I check my oil every 30 or 40 miles, top me off and send me on my way (they didn't have time to do the repairs by that time).

Water heater floods the apartment last Saturday, car needs major repairs this week, please - nothing else!!!!

Christie, Karl and I run to Walmart in the afternoon (fun weekend get-away, huh?) and Ed and Carrie go shopping at a nearby outlet mall.

We decide we'll go to PF Changs for dinner, drive all over Birmingham looking for it (it was MAYBE 2 miles from where we were staying), Ed forced us through a red light when we were following him, and then when Christie took the lead, she did a U-turn on Red. By that time, we're all in tears in our respective cars from our belly laughs and this comedy of errors.

We get there, get the pager and told about a 20 minute wait. We're all outside talking, having a nice time, and about 20 minutes into the wait, Karl's holding this pager, that has an end that looks like one of those stun guns you touch to someone. Karl takes his finger and touches those two connections and JUST as he say "I wonder how this thing works", it goes off. OMG! The timing could not have been more perfect! He looks as if he's been electrocuted and we're belly laughing our way into the restaurant, all five of us bent over from laughing so hard at his facial expression and the PERFECT timing of it going off.

We joke later that the waiter's going to come by and tell us that the manager said that we're cut off because by that time, we all thought everything was absolutely hilarious and were laughing so hard through dinner. At that moment, the waiter stops by and we die laughing again. We told him what we had just commented on and he says "well, they did warn me that they had just seated a group of crazy people in my section". Priceless!!!!

We managed to convince Christie to NOT drive back when she was obviously exhausted, and so she crashed on a sofa bed in Ed and Carrie's suite and got up with the birds and drove home this morning.

Karl and I got home about 3, and I've just heard from Ed that they made it back safely, but they have a family emergency and he will probably not be online for several days. Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers these next few days.

I had a blast this weekend hanging out with good friends! I look forward to the next mini-get together.

We told Ed - take this weekend and multiply it by 10 and you get an idea the level of fun of Daytona!

Thanks Christie, Ed and Carrie for such a fun weekend!