Me, Myself and Mommy

Today I am grateful for second winds. There have been countless days where I think, “I’m not gonna make it,” and somehow I’ve been able to muster up the energy to make it through.

That last little bit of push is what gets me out of bed the next morning. It’s usually a second wind that gives me the energy and drive I need to cross a couple of things off of the to-do list. When I can go to bed feeling like I accomplished something, it makes getting out of bed the next morning so much easier because if I made it through today, then certainly I can make it through tomorrow.

I am thankful for the second wind that came to me this evening. It allowed me to get a few things done around the house. I even vacuumed. That second wind gave me hope that I can make it through the rest of the week, and that is something to be grateful for.

Valentine’s Day, hand down, is my least favorite holiday of the year. I loathe the holiday. I didn’t always have such a poor opinion of the day, it grew over time. No, I didn’t have a boy crush my Valentine’s Day dreams. My hatred for the holiday developed because I waited tables for several years on Valentine’s Day. No, it had nothing to do with the fact that I was missing out on hot dates because I was working. I just want to be clear that my distaste, OK disdain, for the holiday has nothing to do with boys. It’s purely professional.

I double, dog dare my husband to take me out to eat on Valentine’s Day.  If he ever had the audacity to do such a thing, he may find himself at the point-proving single guys’ table (I’ll get to that in a minute). I dare him to even utter the words, “Happy Valentine’s Day.” If he’s smart, he’ll pretend the holiday doesn’t exists.

One might think that working on Valentine’s Day as a server is excellent because the money is good. You could not be more wrong. People who never, I mean never, go out to eat, go out on Valentine’s Day. These people do not how to behave in a restaurant, and they certainly do not know how to tip. In case you were stuck in the 19 I don’t know what’s, 10% is NOT an acceptable tip. You are lucky if you bring home 10% on Valentine’s Day, and that is before you tip out the hostess and busboy.

Not only do these people not know how to tip, they don’t have patience, and they don’t know how to order a steak. Do not get sassy with me because it took me a whole 30 seconds to get to your table after the hostess seated you. I am so very sorry for that unacceptable delay in service, but the table behind you was complaining because their steak was under cooked. When in fact, their steak was cooked to medium rare perfection. They just don’t know that medium rare means ‘warm red center.’ Don’t worry, you’re going to complain that your steak took too long and is tough because you asked for it to be cooked ‘exter, exter well,’ – not extra well, but ‘exter, exter well.’ I hate to tell you this, but it’s going to take longer for your steak to cook to ‘exter, exter well’ and ‘exter, exter well’ steak is tough, especially when you expect it to cook in less than five minutes.

In addition to the poor tip and steak battle, half of the couples are miserable. A lot of them have horrible relationships, and are being drug out in public against their will. You can see it in their eyes. The relationship died a long time ago, but they’re too comfortable or too scared to leave. Valentine’s Day is just a slap in the face reminder of what their relationship isn’t.

On occasion you do come across couples that really do love each other, but the poor things can’t find and/or afford a babysitter, so they’re stuck bringing the kids out for date night. It’s probably the only date they get a year, and they have to spend it in an over crowded restaurant with the reason they never get to go out on a date – the two kids that are screaming at the top of their lungs, jumping on the booth seat, and rubbing ketchup in their hair. I feel for this couple. They need a hug. They also need to be reminded that just because their kids got to eat for free, doesn’t mean I don’t deserve a real tip. After all, I’m going to have to scrub the ketchup off this table when you leave. While I am cleaning up after your bundles of joy, that table over there is fuming because their “exter, exter well’ steak isn’t ready, and the couple that knows how to leave a real tip was seated in someone else’s section because it took me forever to get the ketchup off the table AND the seat.

Then there are the tables of barely dressed single girls proving to the world that they do not need a man to have a good time on Valentine’s Day. They eat a side salad, drink water and hork down a ton of rolls. Girls, the act would be a bit more believable if your ta-tas were not hanging out all over the place, and you were eating real food instead of nibbling on this rabbit feed. FYI – starvation is not sexy. The table of point-proving single ladies tend to tip a bit better than 10%, but better than 10% on a side salad and water is close to nil.

There is also the group of single guys in the cocktail area nursing their third pilsner of the night, eating fried foods and getting louder by the minute. They are also proving a point. Their point is that no woman is going to tie them down by tricking them into celebrating Valentine’s Day. No, by golly, they are not going to take you out on Valentine’s Day because that means you own the poor man, and he has to give up the other ladies he was dating along with his other single guy rights.

Point-proving guys, meet my point-proving ladies. If you are going to gawk at them all night, at least show your appreciation and buy them a drink, and please, oh please, leave a real tip!

If  you happen to be the type of person that goes out to eat on Valentine’s Day, I’m not judging you, but please keep a few things in mind. Be prepared to wait a long time for a table. Know how to order your steak. If you don’t know how you like your steak cooked, order the chicken. Ranch does not go on bread or steak. It’s worth it to pay for a babysitter. If you can’t afford a sitter, then clean up after your children; we are servers not maids. You can’t live on salad alone. Ladies, cover up; this a family establishment. Guys, two beers is plenty; this is a family establishment, not a frat party. Be nice to your server, she’s had a rough night. For the love of Pete, learn how to tip! 10% is just rude.

If this doesn’t’ sound like something you can hold to, then stay home.

Yes, this is how I really feel!

Thank you all so much for participating, and showing your support for Haiti.

I’m excited to announce that Anika was randomly selected for the $50.00 donation! Anika’s charity of choice is the Church of Jesus Christ of Later Day Saints.

I’m also excited to announce that Auntie Jill will be matching the $50.00 donation to the Church of Jesus Christ of Later Day Saints! She was debating what charity she should contribute to in support of Haiti, and decided that she would make her donation to the charity selected in Haiti Aide.

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It’s been two weeks since the tragic earthquake in Haiti. We have continued to watch the nightly news, and have stayed in constant contact with Andy. Everyday new stories unfold, both heartbreaking and uplifting. It’s still hard to believe that something that lasted less than a minute can change so many lives.

The more we learn about Haiti, and how much help is desperately needed there, the more we want to help. The desire to help in a big way has become palpable for our family. In the coming weeks, I will continue to post about Haiti. I will give you more opportunities to help Haiti, and I will share the things that we are doing in our family to help.

Please continue to keep the people Haiti in your thoughts and prayers. Don’t let your desire to help fade as the news coverage dwindles.

Long before the shattering earthquake on January 12, 2010, Haiti has been in desperate need of help. It’s hard to imagine that less than 800 miles from Florida lies the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, the forth poorest country in the world. Now more than ever, the people of Haiti need to be heard and helped.

For us, this  tragedy has been on our hearts and minds nonstop. Steve’s best friend, Andy, is from Haiti. He lives here in the US, so he is safe. His sister and mom also live in the US. However, they have a lot of family and friends in Haiti. They have had contact from many of their close relatives and friends. They’ve also received a lot of heartbreaking news of those that did not make it, and there are some that are still missing. It’s impossible to imagine what they and hundreds of thousands of others are going through.

I’m grateful that so many reputable organizations are sending help to Haiti. I am grateful that countries from all over the world are coming together to bring Haiti the support they need to get through this tragedy. I am grateful for the individuals that are donating money, supplies and time to the people of Haiti. I’m hopeful that this aid in all forms will continue to pour into Haiti as they begin to rebuild their country, and their home.

I know so many of you are doing what you can to offer your support and prayers to Haiti. Thank you. I hope that you can continue to donate your time, money, resources and prayers to Haiti long after the media buzz wears off. I encourage you to take time to learn about the people of Haiti – their history, their government, their culture. It is only through educating ourselves that we can begin to understand what these people are going through, and how we can best help them now and in the future.

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GIVEAWAY

To help you make a difference, I am going to  donate $50.00 in your name to the Haitian-related reputable charity of your choice.

To enter, simply leave a comment with the name of the organization you would like to donate to. Again, this organization must be reputable, and the money must go to Haitian relief.

If your comment doesn’t show up right away, don’t panic, it will show up shortly.

On January 25, 2010 (Monday) at 10:00AM, I will close the comments and randomly select a winner.

The winner will have $50.00 donated in their name to the organization of their choice.

** Family, you can enter this one too. If the randomly selected winner, happens to be a family member, I will select a second winner.

Thank you so much for participating and supporting the beautiful people of Haiti.

In the middle of a community service project we participated in, a blizzard came to town. It is the biggest snow storm we’ve had in over ten years. In recent years, we’ve had close to no snow. This blizzard hit town right when everyone was heading home for work. Thank goodness, schools were closed for the day in anticipation of the pending storm. It got so bad, so quick that people were stranded overnight on the interstate. Not just a few people either. Over a thousand people were stranded in Rockbridge County alone. We thankfully made it home safely. It took us over forty-five minutes to get home (it’s usually a 10 minute drive), but at least we made it.

By night fall, we were officially snowed in and going nowhere. We weren’t just snowed in; we were snowed in with my little brothers. Thank goodness we had plenty of toilet paper and Coke. The last time we were all three snowed in together, I didn’t have a driver’s license, Evan still ran around naked and Josh was a disgruntled tween.

Way back in the day, before Evan, before we lived in South Buffalo, Mom, Josh and I lived together in Buena Vista (B.V.). We would get snowed in all of the time. Late at night the three of us would go out when everyone else was asleep and go trekking through the snow. We were even allowed to go sledding in the deserted streets.

These late night snow adventures must be permanent fixtures in our existence because right before bed I tried to get Steve to go on a walk with me. He would take part in no such thing. He thought I was crazy. I tried to explain how much fun it is. He refused. I told him it was like a big secret adventure. He wouldn’t back down, so I did. However, long after Steve and I fell asleep, Josh and Evan tiptoed out of the house.

At some unreasonable hour of the night (4:00AMish), Josh and Evan went to the gas station for snack food. They tried to get Josh’s truck out, but with no luck. Can you imagine the comedy that was going on when no one was awake to see it?  Low and behold, they had to hoof it (that means walk) to the gas station, easily a two mile hike round trip. Evan claims it was some of the most fun he and Josh have had together. Josh denies any warm feelings towards the event. Maybe he’s still disgruntled. (Don’t look now, Mom’s crying.)

The next morning we woke up to two feet of snow, depending on where you dropped your yardstick. We spent the better part of an hour getting dressed to go play. When Steve finished taking pictures of the undisturbed snow (minus the evidence of Josh and Evan’s late night snack run), we were finally allowed to jump in. We threw Moanna in the snow. We made snow angels. We attempted sledding on a plastic lid. Evan lost a boot. We froze.

Unfortunately, Josh had to go to work. The restaurant he works at was the only one open in town, and the hotels were packed with people that got stuck in our rinky-dink county. Since we had no snow shovels, Steve and Josh dug out my car (Josh’s truck is not suitable for snow, rain or humidity of any kind) with the lids to plastic bins. Hilarious. I watched from the warmth of my bedroom window, as Josh pushed and Steve drove back and forth. There was lots of cursing and laughing.

With Josh off to work, Steve and I rejarred all of the apple butter we made over Thanksgiving into half pints. Moanna and Evan played games. We also made chocolates, lots and lots of chocolates. Moanna was in charge of sprinkles. I dabbled in snow cone making. Not too shabby if I must say. Steve became a water connoisseur by melting snow down into “fine water”. We ate a lot of food. Steve’s hands are still pruney from all the dishes he had to do. We did a lot of laundry. We drank hot chocolate.

I usually hate snow, but I had a great time being snowed in with my little brothers and new family. It was like reliving childhood memories.  (Mom’s still crying.) Next time, Steve’s going out late at night to go play in the snow even if I have to drag him out in his underwear.