Here I am, on the computer and writing a couple emails, IM chatting with a friend. Thomas is watching a kids show on TV, enjoying his day with no school.
I look over to the couch, and Thomas has his big toe in his mouth. Eww.
me: Thomas, that's gross.
T: hahahahaha!
me: no, really, that's gross.
T: HAHAHAHA!!! {inserts the rest of his toes}
mental note-make Thomas have a bath tonight.
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Monday, March 26, 2007
of course it's cold!
I don't know if I will ever understand people ordering food, and then returning it - not because there is anything wrong with it, I can understand that - but returning it solely because either
a: they didn't know what it was before they ordered it and now can't handle what it is
or
b: they are foolish.
I had a table in today, who ordered a chowder to share, a salad to share and another appetizer. This is a usual happening, people want the best of both worlds without being to gluttonous. In and of itself not a problem.
My issue today resulted from said guests frowning at the chowder, split into two bowls 'cause we are nice like that, when it was dropped at the table. "We only ordered one" was the comment they had to make, and our server kindly responded that "this is one, we just put it into two smaller bowls for you to share".
At this point, you would think things are all peachy. In the land of normal people, things are great.
The server continues on about her business for the remainder of the experience, never really unavailable to them because it never really got busy at all today. At the end, the two bowls of chowder are sitting, untouched, on the table.
The people that I will never really understand, the breed that don't really understand how restaurants work or just don't care, call the server over to the table.
"our soup is cold".
REALLY? You mean after you let it sit on the table for 15 minutes, it didn't hold it's heat? I can't imagine what possible reason could cause such a catastrophe as that.
"Oh, I'm really sorry, can I get you a new bowl?"
"No, we are done."
Hmmm. I understand that cold soup is not tasty. That, my friends, is normal. I can't really wrap my head around how you can let your bowl of soup sit on a regular table, not a hot plate or anything as fancy as that, for the entire duration of your meal and chit chat, and then complain that it is cold, please take it off my bill I don't really want it.
If you didn't really want it, DON'T ORDER IT!
a: they didn't know what it was before they ordered it and now can't handle what it is
or
b: they are foolish.
I had a table in today, who ordered a chowder to share, a salad to share and another appetizer. This is a usual happening, people want the best of both worlds without being to gluttonous. In and of itself not a problem.
My issue today resulted from said guests frowning at the chowder, split into two bowls 'cause we are nice like that, when it was dropped at the table. "We only ordered one" was the comment they had to make, and our server kindly responded that "this is one, we just put it into two smaller bowls for you to share".
At this point, you would think things are all peachy. In the land of normal people, things are great.
The server continues on about her business for the remainder of the experience, never really unavailable to them because it never really got busy at all today. At the end, the two bowls of chowder are sitting, untouched, on the table.
The people that I will never really understand, the breed that don't really understand how restaurants work or just don't care, call the server over to the table.
"our soup is cold".
REALLY? You mean after you let it sit on the table for 15 minutes, it didn't hold it's heat? I can't imagine what possible reason could cause such a catastrophe as that.
"Oh, I'm really sorry, can I get you a new bowl?"
"No, we are done."
Hmmm. I understand that cold soup is not tasty. That, my friends, is normal. I can't really wrap my head around how you can let your bowl of soup sit on a regular table, not a hot plate or anything as fancy as that, for the entire duration of your meal and chit chat, and then complain that it is cold, please take it off my bill I don't really want it.
If you didn't really want it, DON'T ORDER IT!
Friday, March 23, 2007
wake up call
I was laying in bed this morning, very much enjoying the act of sleeping that was taking place after a long night at work last evening. Right around 8:30, I answered the phone. My mom was on the phone, cancelling our dinner plans, because my sister in law Angela's water had broken this morning.
It's spring break right now, and Eleanor hasn't had to go to school for the last 2 weeks, which means we have been enjoying some very lazy mornings. Much like this one was shaping up to be, before the phone call.
I hang up the phone, and mumble to Vanessa that dinner is off, because Angela's water has broken. Instantly awake, her mind is racing.
V: Are you going to come out to Maple Ridge with us, or stay here and sleep?
Me: mmm...sleep
V: Really? It's not every day that a baby is born!
Me: Actually, there are thousands born everyday.
V: Obviously...I meant in our family
Me: mmm...sleep
I don't know that I have seen Vanessa and the kids get ready that quickly, even when Eleanor is going to be late for school. Off they went, in record time.
I should tell you that I do work again tonight, tomorrow I will head out there to visit & help with the kids. Until then, I went back to sleep.
Sweet Sweet Sleep.
It's spring break right now, and Eleanor hasn't had to go to school for the last 2 weeks, which means we have been enjoying some very lazy mornings. Much like this one was shaping up to be, before the phone call.
I hang up the phone, and mumble to Vanessa that dinner is off, because Angela's water has broken. Instantly awake, her mind is racing.
V: Are you going to come out to Maple Ridge with us, or stay here and sleep?
Me: mmm...sleep
V: Really? It's not every day that a baby is born!
Me: Actually, there are thousands born everyday.
V: Obviously...I meant in our family
Me: mmm...sleep
I don't know that I have seen Vanessa and the kids get ready that quickly, even when Eleanor is going to be late for school. Off they went, in record time.
I should tell you that I do work again tonight, tomorrow I will head out there to visit & help with the kids. Until then, I went back to sleep.
Sweet Sweet Sleep.
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
welcome Audrey
I had to put up this picture that Vanessa took of Eleanor holding Audrey, her new cousin. Audrey is around 20 hours old, give or take. Eleanor could not get enough of this brand new living person, she was in her glory for almost 45 minutes holding Audrey while she slept.
I love this picture. Great job Vanessa.
I love this picture. Great job Vanessa.
where's the spinach?
We had our Regional Executive Chef come in for dinner tonight, to check up on the new menu that began yesterday. This is a typical occurrence when we start a new menu, as it is part of his job to make sure that we are doing things correctly. He is the Regional Executive Chef.
It always causes a small ripple when he comes in - no major fanfare or sirens to go off, but we give the heads up to the kitchen manager none the less to be sure that things go well.
This evening we had our sous chef working, and when our R.E.C. came in, I mentioned to our guy that he was here.
Normally, this is enough for me to carry on with bigger and better things, and let the kitchen do what they do, knowing that we are in capable hands. Normally. I am not really sure how it happened, but in retrospect I have come to the conclusion that I, in fact, should not have carried on with the never ending list of things to do that finds itself on my daily docket. I should have waited for the food to come up, and checked it out before it went to the table.
One of the very tastiest and key points of our new feature pasta happens to be a bed of fresh spinach in the bowl under the pasta. I think you can all see where this is going now. Down a path of embarrassment and shame, and very probable and deserved lighthearted ridicule for our young friend who happened to be so caught up in the moment, so intent on impressing his boss, so focused on being perfect that he missed the bed of spinach under the pasta.
You know that we can't let him live this one down, for at least one week.
It always causes a small ripple when he comes in - no major fanfare or sirens to go off, but we give the heads up to the kitchen manager none the less to be sure that things go well.
This evening we had our sous chef working, and when our R.E.C. came in, I mentioned to our guy that he was here.
Normally, this is enough for me to carry on with bigger and better things, and let the kitchen do what they do, knowing that we are in capable hands. Normally. I am not really sure how it happened, but in retrospect I have come to the conclusion that I, in fact, should not have carried on with the never ending list of things to do that finds itself on my daily docket. I should have waited for the food to come up, and checked it out before it went to the table.
One of the very tastiest and key points of our new feature pasta happens to be a bed of fresh spinach in the bowl under the pasta. I think you can all see where this is going now. Down a path of embarrassment and shame, and very probable and deserved lighthearted ridicule for our young friend who happened to be so caught up in the moment, so intent on impressing his boss, so focused on being perfect that he missed the bed of spinach under the pasta.
You know that we can't let him live this one down, for at least one week.
Monday, March 19, 2007
spring break with a bang
Last night was one of the steadiest Sundays that I have worked in a long while. It wasn't really any special day, other than the fact that today is the first day of spring break in Langley.
I should probably mention that I am a manager of a local restaurant, one of many in a chain of restaurants, focused on good food, friendly and efficient service. This particular restaurant happens to be owned by a company that owns many restaurants, a various smörgåsbord (phew-spell check) of restaurants. This being said, I feel it is prudent to keep specific names out of the blog for the distinct fear of losing said position of managing one of the best stores in a group of many.
The night started off with us short 2 servers, due to some unlikely and unfortunate circumstances which left some blank holes in the schedule all weekend. We knew it may be a bit busier than usual, but last night takes the cake on busier than expected.
Normally, a busy night wouldn't be such a burden, even short a couple people, you just suck it up and bear it. By the end, everyone will have survived and has earned one more notch in their war belt.
The rough part of last night came at the end of the rush, which lasted almost 4 hours instead of 2, when it was time for the rollout of the new menu. For a rollout, we get the front end staff to come in (it turned out to be 22 of them) and taste the new items, which is a pretty good deal if you are a server - free dinner.
It's not such a great deal if you are the kitchen staff that just pushed out twice as much food as they were expecting too, without more than a 10 minute break in between to breathe and restock, let alone clean up.
In the end, it's 11pm, the rollout is over, and the kitchen finally gets to start their close. The front end staff has eaten, cleaned up, and for the most part finished what they need to do.
The Store Partner and I retreat to the office with a pair of Latte's - in a pint glass cause it's way more masculine than the girlie latte bowl.
After 2 hours of nightly and week-end paperwork, it's up to table 25 to enjoy a well earned glass of cabernet sauvignon. Time to reminisce about the day, the week, the future and the careers of two very tired and victorious men of war.
Then, it's back at it 9am Monday morning, because the battle is never over.
I should probably mention that I am a manager of a local restaurant, one of many in a chain of restaurants, focused on good food, friendly and efficient service. This particular restaurant happens to be owned by a company that owns many restaurants, a various smörgåsbord (phew-spell check) of restaurants. This being said, I feel it is prudent to keep specific names out of the blog for the distinct fear of losing said position of managing one of the best stores in a group of many.
The night started off with us short 2 servers, due to some unlikely and unfortunate circumstances which left some blank holes in the schedule all weekend. We knew it may be a bit busier than usual, but last night takes the cake on busier than expected.
Normally, a busy night wouldn't be such a burden, even short a couple people, you just suck it up and bear it. By the end, everyone will have survived and has earned one more notch in their war belt.
The rough part of last night came at the end of the rush, which lasted almost 4 hours instead of 2, when it was time for the rollout of the new menu. For a rollout, we get the front end staff to come in (it turned out to be 22 of them) and taste the new items, which is a pretty good deal if you are a server - free dinner.
It's not such a great deal if you are the kitchen staff that just pushed out twice as much food as they were expecting too, without more than a 10 minute break in between to breathe and restock, let alone clean up.
In the end, it's 11pm, the rollout is over, and the kitchen finally gets to start their close. The front end staff has eaten, cleaned up, and for the most part finished what they need to do.
The Store Partner and I retreat to the office with a pair of Latte's - in a pint glass cause it's way more masculine than the girlie latte bowl.
After 2 hours of nightly and week-end paperwork, it's up to table 25 to enjoy a well earned glass of cabernet sauvignon. Time to reminisce about the day, the week, the future and the careers of two very tired and victorious men of war.
Then, it's back at it 9am Monday morning, because the battle is never over.
Friday, March 16, 2007
fuzzy morning
Let me start by saying that the morning was not fuzzy due to any sort of imbibed substance.
I had the pleasure of having my 3 and a half year old niece sleep over last night. Now her and I haven't seen alot of each other, given that she has spent most of her life on the East coast of Canada, and I haven't left the West for many a year. Alas, she has returned, and when she asked if she could sleep over with Eleanor and Thomas of course I said yes.
I knew what I was getting in to, a 5, 4 & 3 year old all going to bed in the same room. A few giggles, a few burps, a few more giggles. Nothing too serious, all in good fun.
Until 4am.
That is when someone decided she wanted her daddy. The small issue that I had with this is the fact that daddy did not sleep over, he was at home. The small issue that she had with this is that I am her uncle that looks like a much slimmer version of her daddy, but isn't her dad. I'm just the uncle that she kind of knows.
So, with instructions to her that it was still time for sleeping, and she would see daddy in the morning, I tried to set the example and go back to sleep. But I had to get some milk first.
So, back to bed I go, sleepily checking out the alarm clock and doing the math to see how much sleep I could get before the 6:50 wake up call. Just before sleep took over, I heard a voice.
A cute, tiny, little voice.
Off to investigate I go.
What's the trouble? I didn't heat up the milk. Why wouldn't I heat up the milk? Don't all kids have warm milk, shouldn't I have known this? At 4:30, I wasn't thinking very clearly at all.
And then my two kids decide to explain to me how they feel about the situation of being woken up by their cousin. I listened for about 10 seconds, kissed them goodnight, and went to the washroom.
Naturally, more than ready to go back to bed, I am about to crawl in when I see a Thomas. Not the tank engine kind, but the 4 year old blond haired been woken up by his cousin in his room and now wants to sleep in my bed kind, because it isn't fair that his cousin is keeping him up. To which I may or may not have explained with a small amount of frustration the fact that it really isn't fair that I can't be sleeping, I don't need to hear about how you can't. A little over dramatic on my part, I am sure, but to reiterate - it was 4:45 at this point, and my mind had little capability to think of a possible alternative argument.
Back to sleep, and up at 6:50. Normally, this is not a time of morning that causes me much grief, but with a disrupted sleep pattern I was left in a fog until about 9:30. There's nothing like walking into work, making a pot of coffee full of the cleaner from the night before and settling down for a nice round of fuzzy cash counting.
Would I ever have her over for a sleepover again? Anytime.
I had the pleasure of having my 3 and a half year old niece sleep over last night. Now her and I haven't seen alot of each other, given that she has spent most of her life on the East coast of Canada, and I haven't left the West for many a year. Alas, she has returned, and when she asked if she could sleep over with Eleanor and Thomas of course I said yes.
I knew what I was getting in to, a 5, 4 & 3 year old all going to bed in the same room. A few giggles, a few burps, a few more giggles. Nothing too serious, all in good fun.
Until 4am.
That is when someone decided she wanted her daddy. The small issue that I had with this is the fact that daddy did not sleep over, he was at home. The small issue that she had with this is that I am her uncle that looks like a much slimmer version of her daddy, but isn't her dad. I'm just the uncle that she kind of knows.
So, with instructions to her that it was still time for sleeping, and she would see daddy in the morning, I tried to set the example and go back to sleep. But I had to get some milk first.
So, back to bed I go, sleepily checking out the alarm clock and doing the math to see how much sleep I could get before the 6:50 wake up call. Just before sleep took over, I heard a voice.
A cute, tiny, little voice.
Off to investigate I go.
What's the trouble? I didn't heat up the milk. Why wouldn't I heat up the milk? Don't all kids have warm milk, shouldn't I have known this? At 4:30, I wasn't thinking very clearly at all.
And then my two kids decide to explain to me how they feel about the situation of being woken up by their cousin. I listened for about 10 seconds, kissed them goodnight, and went to the washroom.
Naturally, more than ready to go back to bed, I am about to crawl in when I see a Thomas. Not the tank engine kind, but the 4 year old blond haired been woken up by his cousin in his room and now wants to sleep in my bed kind, because it isn't fair that his cousin is keeping him up. To which I may or may not have explained with a small amount of frustration the fact that it really isn't fair that I can't be sleeping, I don't need to hear about how you can't. A little over dramatic on my part, I am sure, but to reiterate - it was 4:45 at this point, and my mind had little capability to think of a possible alternative argument.
Back to sleep, and up at 6:50. Normally, this is not a time of morning that causes me much grief, but with a disrupted sleep pattern I was left in a fog until about 9:30. There's nothing like walking into work, making a pot of coffee full of the cleaner from the night before and settling down for a nice round of fuzzy cash counting.
Would I ever have her over for a sleepover again? Anytime.
Thursday, March 15, 2007
glimpse of the future
We all went for a walk at Tynehead park yesterday, given the fact that many forces of nature came together in one day:
The kids had no school
Vanessa had nothing planned in the afternoon
The sunshine payed us a visit after the multitude of rain
I had the day off of work.
As is their custom, Eleanor and Thomas were "married" and the "husband" had to push the stroller along when Eleanor didn't want to.
Thomas is going to make a good dad one day.
The kids had no school
Vanessa had nothing planned in the afternoon
The sunshine payed us a visit after the multitude of rain
I had the day off of work.
As is their custom, Eleanor and Thomas were "married" and the "husband" had to push the stroller along when Eleanor didn't want to.
Thomas is going to make a good dad one day.
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
making faces
So it's time for bed, and first Thomas peeks his head around the corner. Tells momma he loves her, and gets tucked back into bed. Next, Eleanor doesn't peek, she just walks right out.
Eleanor: Mom, it's too bright, I can't sleep.
Dad: So turn the light off
Mom: switch the lights, put the one on the stairs on
Eleanor: Then it will be too dark, I won't be able to see
Mom: So leave the light on then
Eleanor: but then it will be too bright...
Dad: make a decision, you either have the light on, or off, there is no in between.
Eleanor: {throws a dirty look}
Mom: don't look at him that way...
Eleanor: Hmmmphh
She's 51/2. Why do I get the feeling that I will be spending the next 10 years getting that look?
Eleanor: Mom, it's too bright, I can't sleep.
Dad: So turn the light off
Mom: switch the lights, put the one on the stairs on
Eleanor: Then it will be too dark, I won't be able to see
Mom: So leave the light on then
Eleanor: but then it will be too bright...
Dad: make a decision, you either have the light on, or off, there is no in between.
Eleanor: {throws a dirty look}
Mom: don't look at him that way...
Eleanor: Hmmmphh
She's 51/2. Why do I get the feeling that I will be spending the next 10 years getting that look?
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