Is there a Dr in the house?

Last night was the Spring Banquet for Centre Life Link, the EMS station that Jim volunteers so much of his time.  I was more than ready to have a nice evening in return for the all lonely evenings that I spend doing homework by myself and putting the boys to bed by myself.

The event was held at the local country club in State College.  And this local country club has joined forces with the Ramada Inn, I knew we were in for a culinary delight.

The first item of the evening was what to wear.  I have seen some of these EMT girls.  They definitely eat their Wheaties for breakfast being able to lift litters with bodies on them.  As I have experienced from the past, some women go all out and get a fancy cocktail dress to wear.  Others throw on a pair of Dockers and they are dressed up.  When I asked Jim what he was wearing, so that I might dress appropriately to be on his arm he hadn't thought that far ahead. So much for his help.


Jim decided on a shirt and tie accompianed by his "Law and Order" sweater.  In case you were wondering what I call the "Law and Order" sweater, here you go.  Jim's sweater is minus the badges. 

This is what I decided on.

We were dressed very appropriately for the evening.  And the clothing went from extremely casual to cocktail dresses.  I saw a lady in jeans and there was a gentleman in jeans and sweatshirt.  There were a few ladies in super short, glittery cocktail dresses.  In fact one of the girls at our table, her coat was longer than her dress. 

Speaking of our table, we were the oldest ones at the table.  We were surrounded by college age volunteers, who drink their calories and have the metabolism to keep up with their large plates and drinks. 

The food was amazing.  The menu consisted of cheese and crackers, veggies and dip, salad, pasta salad, potato salad, roasted red potatoes, rice pilaf, baby carrots and green beans, vegetarian lasagna, chicken breast, roast beef, rolls and an assortment of cake for dessert. 

There were door prizes that had been donated by local businesses.  One of the prizes was from Trader Joes, was a resuable shopping bag filled with goodies from their store.  The crowd was not very excited about this environmentally friendly gift.  I would have loved this gift.  One of the gifts was for a hotel night stay went to a young man that brought his parents to the banquet.  That brought quite a laughter from the crowd. 

There must of been 100 people there.  It was great to see so many people that support the local ambulance. And to know there were several supporting spouses and partners in the room.  I thought about this, it would be the perfect time to have a medical emergency with all of those EMTs in the room.  The coroner was even present, so there wouldn't be long wait to be declared dead.


It was a really nice evening.  I had a small realization of the importance of the work Jim is volunteering for.  Sometimes I just see the lonely side of things.