Promotion!

I've been on the job two weeks and already I've gone from dishwasher to Sous Chef. I'm also getting into procurement.

The real story?

We were slow today, so there weren't many dishes to wash once I got the prep dishes done. The boss has a catering gig this weekend, so we were making desserts to get her ahead of the game.

The procurement? I stopped at the store on my way to work to pick up a bread order.

I was washing up when the last customers left, and the wife commented on how I was doing the grunt work. I laughed and said--very honestly--"This is the best job in the whole world. There's no learning curve, no stress, and I'm getting paid."

That about sums it up.

Well, that and now I can call myself a Sous Chef.

Stretchin' it

I've been verbally observing (ok, whining) about how, despite the fact that I'm watching my diet*, exercising more than I ever have in my life, and seeing my body tone, I can't get my pants on.

(Did you hear that "woo hoo!!!!"? That was Eric.)

I don't have this problem with all of my pants; just my dress pants. The ones I wore all the time when I worked at Bath and Body Works. The ones that were washed often and dried in the dryer with the funky thermostat.

It took me a long time to figure out that it wasn't all me.

Finally, Eric (who evidently got tired of my verbal observations) suggested that I wash them again, stretch them and hang them to dry. I figured anything was worth a try. I like shopping as much as the next girl, but I can't afford to replace a third of my wardrobe.

It seems to have worked, but not as much as I would like. I might have to do some of them again.

Eventually.

Thank goodness it's not all me.

* I AM! I watch everything that goes into my mouth. I'm on the "See Food" diet.

Day one done

Alex made it through his first day of high school almost unscathed. Vicky's books arrived today so we're sorting and figuring out assignments. She's going to have a lot of reading to do this year. I'm about ready to nominate J. K. Rowling for sainthood because she's why Vicky is reading as well as she is.

So, we got the first day down, and 179 left to go. This year.

More on the retreat

I just looked over past posts and realized I never said anything about where we were going over the weekend. Hmm. I'm not too sure how I managed that, but I'll try to keep my synopsis short!

We went on our church's annual retreat. On the schedule, among other things, were four hour-long sessions on spiritual gifts. (Hence the reason for long stretches in metal folding chairs.) I learned a lot, most notably that I have some gifts that I didn't realize are gifts. I thought mercy, enouragement and empathy were just parts of a personality matrix and that everyone has them to some degree. According to our speaker and the New Testament, those are gifts and should be honed. OK!

I also had the chance to tour a colonial French fort. It was built in the early 1700's and today the only original structure is the powder magazine (where gun powder was stored). It appears to have been rebuilt authentically, although the real test of that will be when I take Dad there. He's forgotten more about that era than I'll even know. The best part is that they have to Rendezvous a year, and I can get gear there. I found some Dutch ovens and candle lanterns in the gift shop, and based on my limited research the prices are competetive. I'm thinking of taking Dad and Linda out there when they come to visit and spending part of my inheritance out there!

We're back

The weekend was fun and gave me a lot to think about. I'm also very stiff and tired. The beds were very hard, and we spent a lot of time sitting in metal folding chairs. Add to that a hilly hike of, oh, maybe a quarter mile between the cabins and the dining hall, between which we passed several times a day, and you have a recipe for soreness.

More tomorrow about what we studied.