It isn’t very often that the Sunday of a
holiday weekend feels anti-climactic; but I did feel that way this morning – or
I was just too tired for my own good.
Both could be possible; and I’m that tired again tonight as I write this
– though it isn’t quite as late as it was yesterday thanks to it being a
holiday weekend and the extra day I’m taking off from the usual bedtime work
and studying.
We’ve had a nice weather day here except
for an afternoon sprinkle that rolled through and barely even dampened the
ground before moving on again. I only
know that from watching through the windows at the Inn; since that happened
while we were in the thick of the second buffet sitting. That’s getting ahead of the story, though; so
let’s back up and cover the news of the day from the beginning.
Tai Chi by the river was especially-awesome
because we had bonus exercise buddies; we then had extra breakfast guests as we
hosted a family and friends breakfast at our house – just as Dillon’s parents
did the same at their house for his side of the family. I helped out as much as I could, but had to
juggle the work with getting ready for church and being there early for the
teen praise team warm-ups. As always,
the Memorial Day weekend Sunday service is one of the few toned-down and somber
services we have each year; so this is one weekend where the teen praise team
does not attempt to ‘rock the house’ – or even have any music that is
moderately-upbeat. Remembering our past
and the sacrifices of others is important, though; and I’m glad that Michael
and I did our part to help our congregation out with that – even if some of our
visitors likely thought the seriousness of the service was a bit much.
Spending a lot of the rest of the day at
work doesn’t exactly give a person the opportunity to switch from somber to
celebration, but while I worked; most of my family had a play afternoon and
evening that started with attending the noon buffet with most of the wedding
guests. The parents picked that buffet
so that all of the guests that were heading home today could do so without
staying late and then having long drives; and then it also left the rest of the
day open to play for everyone that is staying for the holiday parade, service,
and picnic tomorrow. I worked some of
the tables for my family, and Jake and Stephanie helped to host that meal as
Best Man and Matron of Honor; but they also worked most of the day too –
including the prep work for the first buffet.
While I worked except for a couple of short
breaks with Michael when we could fit them into the lulls in the buffet action;
my family spent the day playing. They
biked the paths; played at the park; went canoeing; and had a pot-luck dinner
at my house – though that meal didn’t include the Johnson clan because they
were at the Inn for the six o’clock buffet so that the store owner members of
their family could have that meal with them too. Uncle Adam and Aunt Leanne were among a
handful of members of our family that went to both of those buffets; but they
were only able to do that because they had help for feeding their weekend
guests at lunchtime while they were busy with the post-wedding buffet lunch
that was mostly another chance to thank everyone for coming to Violet and
Dillon’s wedding.
Jacob and Miranda still have about half of
the rooms at the Inn in use tonight for wedding guests that are staying until
sometime tomorrow; and we still have all of our guests here for another night –
including Jillian; since she decided to stay with Dawn instead of going home
with her parents today. Since I’ve been
busy; that worked out for Dawn – and they had a pretty good day today too that
apparently included doing a bit of flirting with the local or visiting boys. That isn’t as easy for the local boys as it
was for them a few years ago because most of the guys their age – and mine –
are in relationships with local girls, but they are both beautiful; and get a
lot of attention from the boys – even if they’re only allowed to look! ;^)
Moving along and getting back on my train
of thought, my point for mentioning the guests still at the Inn was to explain
why we didn’t get out of the Inn as early as we might have after that last
buffet because Michael and I again had to get the library stocked and ready for
the night and another self-serve breakfast while the Inn is closed for the day
tomorrow. I haven’t written about the
work going on during the day for the guest rooms, but that’s been a bigger deal
this weekend with twenty-eight guest rooms now – whether that’s the staff
cleaning those rooms or the extra laundry that goes along with all of those
guests using up towels and other amenities.
I haven’t done much with that this weekend; but I expect that I will
help out now and then this summer.
Before moving on from the work at the Inn,
I should also add that we sold-out all three buffets despite having the
much-larger capacity; and that pushed us to the limits again today to keep up
with sittings of six-hundred and fifty customers at a time. Sure, we did great for tips today, but for
those of you who haven’t worked at the Inn or pub; we definitely work our tails
off for every cent of those tips! We
finished the last clean-up of the dining rooms by ten; Michael and I needed
another forty-five minutes to get everything done upstairs; and then we headed
for our homes for the night. Jake and
Stephanie had stayed until we were all done after sending Jacob and Miranda
home once the worst of the last buffet rush was done, but they drove back to
their apartment while Michael and I walked to his house together – and then did
our goodnight hugs and kisses on his front porch.
That little delay meant that I didn’t get
home until a bit after eleven o’clock.
Most of my family was in bed and sleeping by then, but the teens were
hanging out in the lounge; and I joined them there after stopping in for
goodnight hugs and kisses with Ethan and Ehlana on my way up to my room. Dawn, Jillian, and I moved into my room after
talking with Chris and Martin for a while, but then we had some girl chat time
while they played video games; and then I needed to hit the shower before getting
ready for bed. Silkie had been donated
to Dawn so she’d have a cuddle buddy, but that gift came with responsibilities,
so while I grabbed my shower; Dawn and Jillian took Silkie out for a bedtime
walk before getting ready for bed too.
They had fun with that; we had a bit more of a chat before splitting up
for the night; and then I hopped into bed with Mandy and got started on my
bedtime computer checks.
While I haven’t done any major family
business work, there were two little jobs that needed attention; and I took
care of them before dealing with a handful of family and friends emails –
including responding to a travel email that Violet had sent out to everyone to
let us know that she and Dillon had arrived safely at their beach-front
hotel. I don’t expect to be exchanging a
lot of emails with them over the next week, but I’m sure they’ll have a
wonderful honeymoon; and I’ll wish that I was on vacation this week instead of
working and studying for exams.
Tomorrow is a holiday, and the Inn is
closed; but it isn’t a day off for most of us.
Michael and I will be busy with the marching band tomorrow morning; we’ll
be drafted to help out with the meals and work at the park tomorrow afternoon;
and then we’ll have piles of chores to do at home to clean up after our guests
head home – which for Michael might include helping with cleaning guest rooms
at the Inn. We will hopefully get to
have a bit of fun with our families and friends too, and I’d really love to
ride the full trail around town tomorrow too; but I’ll have to keep you posted
on how that works out for us.
Right now, I’m really only interested in
some quality nap time; and I will at least get to have a couple of extra hours
of down time more than has been the norm over the past week or so. Being on the work side of holiday weekends so
much of the time is tough sometimes, but I am glad that I’ve helped to make
this a great weekend for a lot of people; so there is some reward for all of
the effort – and the tips were pretty good too.
Yeah, I’ve mentioned that a few times in
the past; but don’t knock the power of the tip for teens – especially when I
use most of that money here in town to pay for things like haircuts and dresses
for church services and weddings! ;^)
Okay, I’ve really had enough for today, so
let’s call it a night; and I’ll head off to dreamland now while you flip a
digital page and read on – or don’t; and pick up the story of my life another
time.
Until next time...
...May the Magi Force be with you!
