Happy Mother’s Day to all of my favorite
Moms!
Happy 33rd Birthday, Uncle Mark!
We’ve had a seriously crazy-busy kind of
day around here, but let’s start from the beginning and try not to jump around
all over the place because I also need to get some sleep before getting up to
see Dad off on his trip to Crystal Springs in a little while.
Our camping wake-up call was a lot of fun
because we – the girls – raided the boys’ tent to do that with hugs and kisses
ahead of our Tai Chi by the river. That
workout was even more fun thanks to having the Carrington clan with us; and
Brianna was especially fun because she’s decided that it’s time for her to
learn Tai Chi too – or to do that in public; since she’s been learning indoors
now and then whenever she’s wanted to do that with her parents and
brother. That really felt like one of
many cameo moments of fun for me; since I needed to run from that to getting
ready for church; and then hurrying over to Michael’s house for breakfast. Add in the Mother’s Day gifts fun with my
family along the way; and I should have used a time phase to enjoy that more
than I could while rushing around the house.
Breakfast at Michael’s was a total blast;
and it was amazing to spend that time with Jake and Stephanie. Yes, they’re home to stay now, but we’re all
going to be very busy over the next few weeks; and I’m so glad that we got to
have some time with just Michael’s family today – not including the time we
spent together working at the Inn for the Mother’s Day buffets. The food was awesome thanks to a bit of a
chef’s duel between Jacob and Jake; I loved hearing the college wrap-up
stories; and we had some more Mother’s Day gifts fun to have with Miranda
before Michael and I needed to hurry over to the church.
If tradition continues at our church for
whenever you’re reading this in my future; Mother’s Day and Father’s Day
services are very different – and likely says a lot about guys and girls in
general. While our Father’s Day services
are always short – supposedly as a gift for the fathers; the Moms in our
congregation are generally happy to hang out together for an extended period of
time – and the service is closer to normal time; or even a bit longer than
normal because of the extra music and Mother’s Day fun. I’ll humbly admit that the duet Michael and I
sang was one of those fun highlights, and we get a lot of joy out of doing
things like that for the people we love most, but let’s leave it at that; since
the music and occasion isn’t about us.
Uncle Mark’s birthday got overshadowed by
Mother’s Day, and I didn’t get to have much involvement in that celebration –
or anything else that was going on with my family after church – other than
being one of their servers for the late buffet.
There was some family and friends birthday fun at lunchtime and this
afternoon, but that was mixed in with the Mother’s Day celebrations and play
time; and we’ve had a perfect day around here for outdoor fun with sunny skies
and temperatures that climbed into the eighties. I wish that I could have taken the day off to
play too, but it was an all-hands-on-deck day at the Inn; and Miranda put on
three buffets for Mother’s Day – at noon, three, and six.
That, by the way, seems very unfair for
her, since she doesn’t get a break for Mother’s Day, but now that Jake and
Stephanie are here; maybe Miranda will be able to take a Mother’s Day off now and then – or take turns once Stephanie
joins that club with her.
No, that is not an announcement, but I also
expect that Jake and Stephanie will start their family within the next few
years – once they’ve helped to bring the Inn up to the next level of business
that they’ll all need to support a growing family.
If today is any indication; that won’t take
long. We could have used the extra space
that we’ll have very soon with the full main dining room today; since all three
buffets were sold out and then some because we squeezed in about a half-dining
room full of extra guests over the three sittings.
We also ran our tails off today, but it was
also an amazing, remember-forever kind of day for me getting to work with
Miranda, Stephanie, and Rebecca all day.
Sure, I’ve done that lots of times, but this is the first day when we’ve
all worked as servers; and the first day with Stephanie officially working as
one of the bosses. Having two
world-class chefs playing in the kitchen was awesome too; Jake takes the fun
level up a few notches wherever he is; and I really loved getting to share all
of that with Michael and his family – even if we could have had an awesome day
with my family instead that would have included a lot more play time without
nearly as much work.
I missed out on bike rides, canoe
adventures, play time at the park, and a barbeque lunch while I worked today;
but I did get to catch some fun moments here and there while my family enjoyed
the late buffet. They picked that one
for the usual reason – as did most of the store owners that had their shops
open for the day. That was also my best
chance to offer my best Mother’s Day wishes for all of my favorite Moms –
though that was true for the first two buffets too; since the first one was
very popular with the ‘country’ families that were already in town for church
anyway; and that was another bonus that came with working all day – getting to
share those happy moments with so many people I know and care about!
Michael and I needed to take our breaks
when we could; didn’t get an extended afternoon break at all; and did our
homework while resting during two of those shorter breaks. That was hardly fun and exciting, but we did
go outside and sit by the river while studying and having our snacks; so we got
to enjoy just a bit of the beautiful weather.
One downside to the warm is that the
kitchen gets a lot hotter, but now that I’m a server; that isn’t as big of a
deal for me as it has been before now.
Yes, there is air conditioning, and that does make a difference, but we’d
likely need to keep it cold-enough to have frost on the tables in the dining
rooms to keep the kitchen cold-enough when all of the equipment is running at
or near capacity on a hot day. Jacob and
Miranda have done an amazing job with the remodel, but a major structural refit
for multiple extra air conditioning or heating systems was definitely not in
the budget.
That’s hardly an interesting topic to write
about on Mother’s Day – or any other time; so let’s move along.
Having the last buffet start at six o’clock
did allow us to finish up a bit earlier than normal for a Sunday – but only by
about a half-hour; since we did have that overflow diners issue for the last
buffet too. After a night of camping and
a crazy-busy day, I would have been happy to come home and go off to sleep; but
that wasn’t really an option. Instead of
doing that, I stopped in at Michael’s for a bedtime snack, drinks, and visit
with him and his family; came home by ten-thirty; and had a bedtime visit with
my family before they went to bed and I came up to my room to get to work – and
multi-task some quality Jacuzzi time. I
seriously needed that bath by then; used a time phase so that I could get a lot
of work done too; and then kept working and studying while getting ready for
bed.
Once tucked in with Mandy, I still had a
couple of hours of work to do in real time; did the family business jobs first;
and wrapped up with the language studies that included some online chats that I
also translated and transcribed while talking – just to have a bit of practice
that will come in handy for my future career.
All of that has added up to a too-late night, and I really will only
have a nap now before getting up to see Dad off on his trip. Since he will be away, though, I need to keep
up with my work; and try to do more to help Mom too – not that I’ve done very
well with that lately.
I won’t improve on that if I’m too tired to
help, though, and that is pretty much all of the news I have for today; so,
until next time...
...May the Magi Force be with you!
