2010 ends with manna from heaven and a 10-win season

Got back from South Carolina again last night. Karen had one more catering event and since I didn't have anything else to do, I went back Monday to help prepare.

It was a drop-in party for about 150 people, so I spent two days making things like bacon-wrapped dates (so Moroccan, and yet so not!) and ham biscuits with Jezebel sauce. Thursday morning, we completely busted it until about 11:30 a.m., then we took a break until leaving to set up at 1 p.m.

After that, it was rush rush until about 8:30, when we loaded it all to lug back home. There really weren't all that many leftovers, either, but man, the serving trays. I washed and washed before we left, then once we got back to the house loaded a ton of punch cups into the dishwasher.

But it went well. The event had been a man's 90th birthday party, and he was quite the celebrity. During the entire party he sat in the living room in a big recliner as people came to wish him a happy birthday. One person said it was like waiting to see the Pope.

One of his guests was a Dr. Watson, who, at 101, is the oldest practicing doctor in the country. Amazing. He got his driver's license taken away, but he is still good to look after people's health. And he drinks regular Coke.

Zippy went up to the Carolinas with me, but she kept going to Charlotte. She returned when I was at the party and we left together Friday morning.

Since there's no direct route from Havana to North Augusta, it means taking back roads. Initially, we hit U.S. 1.

Shortly into the drive, I saw something odd in the median. As passed it, I noticed it was a fairly intact loaf of bread. Weird, I vocalized, assuming it fell off a truck or something.

A couple of miles down the road, there was another one on the other side. Bizarre. A bit later, another appeared.

The pattern continued, and at one point we saw a guy stopped on the side of the road. I thought I saw two loaves next to his truck, and it looked like he was picking him up.

Well, goose - gander and all that crap. At the next loaf sighting, I hit the brakes and pulled over. Zippy got out of the car and ran back to pick it up. I could hear her cackling all the way back to the car, which was something since I was laughing uncontrollably, too.

I guess the bread truck had run low about then. We only saw one more loaf, and yes, I stopped. Zippy popped out and ran back before the car came to a complete stop. I watched her in the rear view and noticed her reach down to the side of the road even before she reached the original loaf -- she'd found another.

So we returned to Florida three loaves of bread richer. It was hysterically funny, honestly, and the bread (three different brands) is perfectly good. It had to have fallen off a truck destined for a homeless shelter or something.

Once reunited with Kocur, I watched the Chick-Fil-A bowl. We'd thought about going, but beyond the $80 ticket barrier, we didn't think FSU would win. Happily, E.J. Manuel (who should have had the start in the first place !) had other plans and the Noles have their first 10-win season since 2003.

Other than the whole unemployment thing, the end of 2010 was pretty darn awesome.