Once upon a time, I was a jock.  That may come as a surprise to many of you, especially those who know me only as the old fat Funnel Cake guy.  But, I was.  And, because of that, I am still the ultimate sports fan, much like my father before me and as my son is now.  As a result, I still keep impeccable records and gauge my success--or lack of--on breaking them.  Keeping that in mind: The week started Thursday at the auction which not only was the first day after Ramadan's conclusion, but also the 50th Anniversary of the Fredericksburg Auto Auction.  We had a five loin day and surpassed our best sales day there by a bunch.  Our first record of the week. Friday, at Belvedere Plantation, was our only dog of the week.  Weather got us as a misty rain fell for part of the time--not condusive for either a hayride or the planned square dance--and then a pretty good storm hit about 9:00 pm.  It was a doozy. On the west side of my booth was a six foot commercial table with a 4'x2' wooden box that serves as a riser and a hidey whole for things like our money box and supplies we don't want out in the open.  On the rest of the table was our mixer and a pitcher of batter, 7 pounds of powdered sugar and 15 pounds of regular sugar for the lemonade and tea, plus several pitchers of water and other equipment and supplies.  All in all, about 150 pounds.  A huge gust of wind from the west hit us so hard that it flipped the table and everything on it on top of me leaving one hell of a mess on the ground in the middle of our tent.  Somehow, the tent, which I had strapped down everyway I could think of, was miraculously uneffected.  Peggy, who was in the Porta-John at the time, got back and said innociently, "What happened?"  I was ready to kill her as I layed spralled out in the mud and sugar with the table on my legs and the box on my head.  I still had sugar in my shoes two days later. Saturday was a different story.  After we cleaned up as much of Friday night's mess as we could and put down a bale of straw to cover the mud puddle in the middle of our tent, we opened and the line started about 10:30 am and we never saw the end of it until after 9:00 pm.  Peggy got to eat breakfast at 6:15.  That's PM, not AM.  Got back at her for Friday night's comment. We also got to welcome two new members to our little nutty family as Christina Lovitt, a local teenager, helped us Saturday during the day and all day Sunday, plus her mother, Laura,  pitched in Saturday night.  Laura also works the Scarecrow Workshop at Belvedere and will be helping us some on a regular basis at the auction and possibly at some other events. We had the biggest day we've ever had probably cooking over 500 funnel cakes.  Record number two for the week. Sunday was much the same.  Better than either day last weekend, but not as big as Saturday.  Together, it was our best weekend, Record number three.  While all of this was going on, Tank and Pete had a pretty good outing at Liberty for a band competition, so in total, it was our best week, Record number four.  Needless to say, a very successful endeavor. But, Sunday, probably due to the leftover reminents of the sugar disaster, we got attacked by honey bees.  I got stung on the finger first thing in the morning and tried to go on the Injured Reserve List for the day, but Peggy wouldn't let me.  So, I just started pouring funnel cakes, sore finger and all. Not only was it a great week, but we really enjoyed some new found friends.  Colleen, Donnie and their staff were wonderful hosts and really have a great thing going at Belvedere.  I am just sick that I can't be there this week for the last weekend before Halloween but before this all came up, I was overbooked.  Thursday, we're, of course, at the auction.  Peggy is going to Richmond for the Virginia Equine Festival and will be working on Big Red once again.  An acquaintance purchased Red from my former partner and completely rebuilt it and is now back in operation--only not under my ownership.  But, I rented the trailer and Donnie for the weekend to cover Richmond.  I'll be doing Jefferson Forest's homecoming Friday night, with Tank, and JMU's homecoming Saturday with Laura (I hope) from Belvedere.  At the same time, Tank, Pete and crew will be handling Liberty's homecoming.  There was no way I could fit in Belvedere with that schedule.  But, you can be sure next year I'll keep the whole month open for the Pumpkin Patch. One interesting note.  Sunday afternoon, a lady about our age, ordered a cake with chocolate, caramel, cinnamon and whipped cream making it approximately 14,750 calories.  She also ordered a Diet Coke.  Peggy's comment was, "That certainly is a terrific beverage choice."  Oh, well.  Keep 'em coming.