A "Golden" opportunity!

I was going to sit down with you all tonight and give you the Christmas Decorating Blitz update...HOWEVER I decided to go a totally different route and spare you all the details of the mini tantrum I had earlier this evening when I went to Lowes and they hadn't got in their pine roping yet. ( enter sad face and slight foot stomp)

Anyway....

our evening took a different turn in the form of dinner! We hadn't expected to go out to eat tonight ~ leftovers were patiently waiting in the fridge. I had seen something recently about the Golden Corral giving away a free meal to all military personnel past and present. For some reason I thought about it while I was picking out some kale in the nursery. I mentioned to Mr. OTM that I thought it was today so we decided to go over and check it out!

Now...first I must say...I LOVE the Corral. That is the FIRST place I ever ate in North Carolina ( Mr. OTM pulled out all the stops) and I was hooked. They have the BEST salad bar and bread pudding. Good lordy I could eat that whole pan.

So we pull into the parking lot tonight and WHOA NELLY were they PACKED! Retired military personal were directing traffic and helping people park. We thought about not going in but for some reason we stuck it out and I am so glad. I suppose it would help to know that before Mr. OTM was vying for Olde Tyme Marketplace Employee of the Month he proudly served his county in the US Army. When we entered the restaurant he was given a sticker that says"I Served "then we were met by yet another Veteran who helped us find a seat. We sat with two other people we didn't even know and we didn't even care.
I went and made my huge honkin salad ( spinach, mandarin oranges, walnuts, dried cranberries, grilled chicken, sunflower seeds and honey mustard dressing) and grabbed some crackers. As I was inhaling my dinner I looked around the room and you should have seen everybody. There were so many military people of all ages , men and women. They had a beautiful table set where nobody was to be seated to honor all POW's~ Kate Smith is belting out God BLess America and it was honestly kind of moving in an odd way. Everyone looked happy, nobody was impatient and it just felt special. I can't tell you how many times Mr. OTM was thanked for serving.

The Corral put on quite a show. I love um even more.