It’s been a very long, hot, and busy day
around here today. I’m pretty much worn
out now, which is why I’m multi-tasking this update while enjoying some quality
Jacuzzi time already despite the fact that it’s still comparatively early –
barely ten o’clock. I want to be ready
to go right off to sleep once my head hits the pillow, though; so I’ve been
doing my nightly computer work while also time-phasing my soaking in the tub.
The Jacuzzi time is a must tonight because
it was a tough day at the Inn. Miranda
and Jacob aren’t technically short-staffed, but they have a new group of teens
joining the staff over the next few weeks; they all have zero restaurant
experience; and that makes life very interesting around the kitchen and dining
room. Some of our classmates are and
will be among those new hires, so that’s fun; while others are a year ahead;
and only starting now because they’re old enough to work as servers. I’m not suggesting that job is any easier
than the kitchen work because it isn’t; but there are some girls that are not
interested in working in the kitchen at all; so there are always new server
staff hires to go along with the few annual promotions as teens become old
enough to work as servers too.
Backing up to the start of the day, Tai Chi
was fun; I had breakfast at Michael’s house; and then the Sunday school side of
our time at church was spent getting ready for the holiday weekend service that
the teens and kids will be leading. All
of that was fun; and helped a lot as we then got started on the work parts of
our day when we needed to get to the Inn and start setting up for the lunch
rush. Make that a lunch crush, since the
dining room was full to overflowing and the customers just kept coming
well-past the normal end of our lunch shift.
That’s why Michael and I didn’t get to have
much of an afternoon break. We had time
to come over to my house; go for a long swim; and have something to eat before
going back to the Inn again. Mom, Ethan,
and Ehlana weren’t home while we were there because they were at the lab all
afternoon. Dad had needed to focus on
his work, so they’d left him to do that after lunch; and opted to play at the
lab and archives instead of playing outdoors.
Part of that was because their best friends were all busy this
afternoon; but Mom did get to have dinner and spend the evening with Aunt
Leanne – and they let Uncle Adam, Zack, and Brianna hang out with them.
I missed out on that, and wish I could have
been there; but helping Jacob and Miranda was more important; and they really
appreciated the help today. Once we were
back to work again, it was nearly non-stop action through until we closed the
Inn for the night. Our breaks were short
and fit in whenever we could squeeze them in – which for Michael, Rebecca, and
I meant after everyone else had taken their breaks. We still had fun while we worked, and I’ll
humbly admit that Miranda and I lead the way in that effort; so that’s another
reason why they like to have me around.
See – despite what you may have heard; I
don’t work at the Inn exclusively for the hugs and kisses with Michael!
They’re just a really great added bonus!
;^)
Moving along, I don’t have anything else to
add for my day. After leaving the Inn, I
walked home with Michael and his family; we did our goodnight hugs and kisses
out on his front yard; and then I came home.
Mom, Dad, and the twins were all in the office, so I had a quick chat
with them; and then said goodnight to them too and came up to my room to get
started on my Jacuzzi fun. Mom has put
the twins to bed by now, but they didn’t come straight up to bed them too; and
they’re still awake and playing on their iPads.
Mom and Dad are still working in the office, but I don’t expect it to be
much longer before Mom convinces Dad that it’s time to call it a night so that
they can spend some quality time together before he leaves for Crystal Springs
in the morning.
We didn’t get them a kid-free night this
weekend; but we’ll at least get to see Dad this week when we’re in the city for
the back-to-school shopping trip on Tuesday.
He isn’t taking the day off or anything; but we are going to stay late
and have dinner with him – even though that’ll mean missing out on the tail end
of the big sale here in town that’s now an annual event that’s nearly as big as
Black Friday or other holiday weekend sales.
While I’m on that shopping track, that was the main reason for Mom and
Aunt Leanne to hang out together tonight.
They were finalizing the plans for the trip. From what Mom told me, they pretty much have
that done; and won’t need to do anything else unless they get more than three
new shopper additions between now and Tuesday morning.
I’m going to take a quick look at the week
ahead; but before I do that; let’s cover a few updates for my favorite
travelers.
Grandma and Grandpa are having a wonderful
time in Canada, and while the work is the most important part of their trip;
they’re enjoying the mini adventures that are the entertainment breaks on their
itinerary. They loved their time on the
coast and in the mountains of British Columbia; and are just as amazed and
impressed by the prairies to the east. I
don’t want to take away from all of the great parts of their trip; but I do
still want to mention that they are much less impressed with the oil and mining
areas they’ve visited. It’s one thing to
see and hear about the environmental impact of that work, and the social impact
it has on small communities; but it’s something else to see it in person. The problems and challenges are huge, and we’re
only doing a tiny amount of work there so far; but we do want to do more – and will
if we can find ways to do that.
Jake and Stephanie have wrapped up their ‘official’
honeymoon now; and they’re getting ready to start their classes soon. Learning from some of the great chefs of
Europe is going to be amazing for Jake just as it was for his father; but I
think that Stephanie will love her classes too – and get an entirely different
take on business from an international perspective. That’ll also come in very handy for us when
we draft her into the family business to work with Miranda! ;^)
Uncle Rick, Aunt Melissa, and Martin are
home again tonight, and though I haven’t talked to any of them; Dawn sent me an
email to let me know that her parents have survived seeing their second child
off to college; and are actually fairly happy tonight now that they won’t be
outnumbered by their kids for most of the next ten months. Mom and Dad may feel the same way about that
when I leave for college in a few years; so I won’t say anything else about
that and leave future joke ammunition for them to use on me some day.
I don’t have anything new from my favorite
collegians; but I’m sure they’re just too busy getting settled into their new
places and re-connecting with friends to write.
That’s okay, since I really, really appreciate their ongoing efforts
with setting precedents that I’ll be able to use when it’s my turn to go away
to school.
Okay, let’s take a look at next week.
The shopping trip is a highlight for sure,
but so is Tim’s birthday on Friday. We
actually have two teen birthdays this week, but while Tim’s is the most
important for Michael, Rowen, and me; Roger’s birthday is tomorrow; and we’ll
be out at Quarry Lake for it – a dinner and evening play adventure that all of
his friends and family are invited to attend.
Dad will be in the city, so I’ll help Mom out as much as I can; which
will likely just mean playing with Ethan and Ehlana a bit more so that she can
do the extra work she won’t get done while we’re in the city on Tuesday. Somehow, we’ll also need to work in all of
the regular busy in our schedules; and on top of that; Rowen and I need to get
ready for cheerleader tryouts that are now only a week away. We’re not worried about how we’ll do for the
tryouts, but we do want to start working on new cheer routines for this season –
and be ready to defend our spots on the team if needed.
Just in case that isn’t enough, the holiday
weekend isn’t far off either; so we’ll be spending the next couple of weekends
getting ready for that – and making sure that Grandma and Grandpa’s house is
ready for when they get home too. I’ll
help out at the Inn on Sunday again too, so it’s probably a good thing that we
have so much booked for the weekdays; since it’ll mostly be a work weekend!
I won’t be able to rest up for all of that
in just one night; but I can get a full night of sleep tonight, so I’m going to
wrap this up; get out of the Jacuzzi; and finish getting ready for bed so that
I can do that.
Until next time...
...May the Magi Force be with you!
