My Corned Beef Adventure!

So Hubby and I decided that we were going to have a St. Patrick's Day party 10 days late, because he wasn't home on the 17th and we were busy on the 20th. So we hand out our invites, and I wait for all the responses back to buy corned beef, so that I have enough and so I don't have to go back to the store. I was expecting around 12 people to respond "yes". Well, in the end, I was right (I'd just like to point that out now), 12 people did show up, but on Thursday... 2 days before our shindig... we have a final count of 18 people. 18!! I'm not even sure how there COULD be 18 people given who we invited, but Hubby said 16 in the morning while I was out shopping, and 18 by the time he got home that night. Woah... that's a lot of corned beef... and potatoes... and carrots... and EVERYTHING else! So I'm at the store getting all my supplies. I get everything I need, but I can't find the corned beef.

"Hello Mr. Meat Department Man (not an actual quote), can you please tell me where the corned beef is?"
"Well ma'am, we don't have any right now. In fact, we sold out even before St. Patrick's day this year, and haven't gotten another shipment in yet. We MIGHT get some more on Tuesday."
"Tuesday!?!?  That does me no good! (huge smile on my face, I was not yelling at the man) I have to feed 16 people corned beef on Saturday!"
"You can always try [our sister store in the next town over]... they might have some left over.  I think they get a truck in more often since it's a smaller store too."
"OK, well thank you, have a nice day!"

Darnit. No corned beef. NOW what am I gonna do? I should add now, that my schedule for the day was 1. Go to gym. 2. Stop at Sam's for beer for party. 3. pick up bracelet at jewelers (in my stinky gym clothes because I was out in town, and I wasn't making that trip twice!) 4. shower. 5. go to store for party supplies and powdered sugar for cake icing. 6. Eat lunch 7. Ice the cake for that night's party (monday's blog) 8. make sugar cookie dough. 9. go to party/meeting.  "Tomorrow" I was booked from 8:30 in the morning until 5:00 at night STRAIGHT. So everything HAD to get done "TODAY".

It's now 2:00, and I'm standing at the store with no corned beef. And at 6:00, I needed an iced cake, a salad, and rolls to be at the Meeting/Party. Somewhere in between I needed to eat lunch, ice a cake, make sugar cookies, and go BACK out to town to FIND corned beef and get back (at LEAST an hour). AWESOME.

So I get back home, make myself a sammy, and head to my neighbor's.

"I can't believe it. There's no corned beef at the store, and I have 16 people to feed this weekend. What am I going to do?!?!"
"Did you try Sam's?"
"yup. No corned beef there either."
So she calls the "sister store" and THEY don't have corned beef EITHER! But they MIGHT get some in on Saturday. Well... at least that's better than Tuesday!
I start calling stores out in town. "Sorry ma'am. We don't have any corned beef left." BUT WAIT... IT GETS BETTER!! "There's been a shortage at the manufacturer, so the only people who have corned beef right now are the ones who have some left over from St. Patrick's day." WHAT!?!? A CORNED BEEF SHORTAGE?!?! HOW DOES THAT EVEN HAPPEN!!??! "Your best bet is to try the store on [the main drag] or [some long road I never drive on]."
"Thank you sir"

DARNIT!

So I call the store on the main drag. "Do you have any corned beef left?"
"Why yes ma'am, we do."
"YES! Can you hold some for me?"
"Ummmm... yes. How many do you want?"
"4 or 5!"
"I'll be here till 6."

FABULOUS!... ish. Now I have to run out to town before traffic gets bad to pick up corned beef BEFORE I can ice my cake or make cookies... but at least I don't have to store hop.

So I get out in town in record time (ok, I sped a little), and I find the guy in the meat department...
"Hello Matt! (some dude in the store told me his name) I'm the crazy lady with the corned beef?" (actual quote)
"Oh hi. I've got it right here, hold on" as he goes in the back and brings out a big tray with 4 corned beef on it.
"So did I buy you out of corned beef with this?" (Big smile and giggling to myself)
"No ma'am. The rest is right there" as he points to 3 more packs of corned beef.
"Hahaha... excellent. I'm going to check my sizes then" and I start trying to find the 4 LARGEST packs possible. This worked out to 13 pounds by the way... but as I'm there, flustered, trying to add in my head and decide how much I actually need (at $4.07/lb!), we get to talking. I'm from NJ, he's from PA, oh, my hubby's from PA, where are you from? Altoona? I sat on a train stuck outside Altoona for a few hours. You're a Stiller's fan? My hubby is too. and then... the sentence that made the trip out to town worth it...
"I'm the one with the stiller's car"
"Seriously?!? I have a picture of your car!"


The sad part of this story? I don't have the picture. I don't know if I didn't REALLY take the picture on my phone, or if I accidentally erased it (as I am good at doing on my cell-phone). But it was awesome. It had been in the Home Depot parking lot at the time, parked away from everywhere else. Steeler's stripes from hood to tail, Steeler's plates, Steeler's decals. The whole spiel. It was awesome. And by the end of the day, I knew the man who owned it, had my corned beef, got my cake iced, made the sugar cookie dough AND made it to my meeting/party at the exact same time as everyone else. Fabulous. lol... now I just need a nap!