I left my last *official* job (the kind with a breakroom and dental insurance, without pantyhose) on Friday, December 1, 2000. Actually, I took that day off to take Mitch to the doctor for yet another picture of his brain. So my last day at work was November 30, 2000. I had a dang cool job then, too, interpreting for a Deaf student, just mornings, in an elementary school. As diana, this means I've got all kinds of crazy emotional attachments to the thought of work, especially as a mother. Not to mention the multitude of blog posts I could write about mainstreaming Deaf kids. Alas, not this time. For today, I shall stick to my point.
Back in your chair? Good.
Jobs, Working, Employment, Connections, Fears and Courage.
Yesterday happened to be a highlight of my current official employment. Yeah, it was a kick-ass (as in -my-ass) day; actually for all of us! I was there to do the dishes, there really is a zen to dishwashing and I love to stand and channel Mary and do what I can to support my favorite local business :) Being part of the chaos without actually being part of the chaos was nice for a while. As things go, I found myself replaced by Mary and asked to do one of the very things I do best. There was this part of me, from 6 or 7 crazy weekends, 23 (eek!) years ago, who peed just a little at the request. I don't think I'd get a very good reference from my very first job, not just because it no longer exists, because I am SO not cut out for the whole truck stop experience. I'm related to folks for whom this kind of thing makes sense and works for them. Me? I didn't get that gene. Since I'm not 16 anymore (thank the gods!) and I've taken a long enough sabbatical to think things through, I waitressed. Which was easy because I was really just backup for the two very experienced (though one was sick!) waitresses we already had, plus the baristas are there to take out the food and ring up checks. So, as part of the team I did what I love to do at this job: support my friends and charm the customers, with the added bonus of selling a plethora of Challa French Toast!
When I arrived home, I looked like this:
partially because I was so glad to be home (it was exhausting) and partially because I am so totally energized by this kind of frenetic energy and partially because I was going to take a nap and wake up to Baking!! (oddly enough, even naptime involved food, as Scotty and Hayden engaged in an Iron Chef cookoff with Broccoli) I am so diggin' the baking gig. I baked and baked and plotted and planned and thought and meditated and didn't think and whipped and mixed and created. Then it was done and I realized I had just worked for 3.5 hours in the quiet (which explains why I jumped at the settling of the ice machine!). Sometimes there's so much going on inside (and it's loud, believe me!) I don't notice the outside. That zone is best used when there's no one around to be ignored.
Kat warned me I would dream of work. And I do. Not of irate customers or disasters. Of pineapple upside down coffee cake and new flavor combinations for scones and strudel and coffee frostings.
Hayden's been cool about work, too. I prefer having him with me at the baking shift, he just sits at his favorite table and surfs the web. An occasional holler for how to spell something, otherwise a kind of companionable silence. When I barista, he hangs with Jon and Mary. This means they'll soon, for sure, lose their status as the most boring house. As it stands, they have his PS2 and the GH3, so he'll be seeing them soon. When I work and Scotty's home, they've had some great times together (wait til I blog about the cookoff!).
So there is something to be said about working and making it work. I have a reason to leave my house; the energy boost of the environment is a great reward for getting out!! There's a shift, a subtle difference that is deeper than just a new place for us to live. Just as there are many factors contributing to my downward swing, there are, indeed, an equal amount of factors working on the upswing. All is as it should be. And it is great! Amen.
Back in your chair? Good.
Jobs, Working, Employment, Connections, Fears and Courage.
Yesterday happened to be a highlight of my current official employment. Yeah, it was a kick-ass (as in -my-ass) day; actually for all of us! I was there to do the dishes, there really is a zen to dishwashing and I love to stand and channel Mary and do what I can to support my favorite local business :) Being part of the chaos without actually being part of the chaos was nice for a while. As things go, I found myself replaced by Mary and asked to do one of the very things I do best. There was this part of me, from 6 or 7 crazy weekends, 23 (eek!) years ago, who peed just a little at the request. I don't think I'd get a very good reference from my very first job, not just because it no longer exists, because I am SO not cut out for the whole truck stop experience. I'm related to folks for whom this kind of thing makes sense and works for them. Me? I didn't get that gene. Since I'm not 16 anymore (thank the gods!) and I've taken a long enough sabbatical to think things through, I waitressed. Which was easy because I was really just backup for the two very experienced (though one was sick!) waitresses we already had, plus the baristas are there to take out the food and ring up checks. So, as part of the team I did what I love to do at this job: support my friends and charm the customers, with the added bonus of selling a plethora of Challa French Toast!
When I arrived home, I looked like this:
partially because I was so glad to be home (it was exhausting) and partially because I am so totally energized by this kind of frenetic energy and partially because I was going to take a nap and wake up to Baking!! (oddly enough, even naptime involved food, as Scotty and Hayden engaged in an Iron Chef cookoff with Broccoli) I am so diggin' the baking gig. I baked and baked and plotted and planned and thought and meditated and didn't think and whipped and mixed and created. Then it was done and I realized I had just worked for 3.5 hours in the quiet (which explains why I jumped at the settling of the ice machine!). Sometimes there's so much going on inside (and it's loud, believe me!) I don't notice the outside. That zone is best used when there's no one around to be ignored.
Kat warned me I would dream of work. And I do. Not of irate customers or disasters. Of pineapple upside down coffee cake and new flavor combinations for scones and strudel and coffee frostings.
Hayden's been cool about work, too. I prefer having him with me at the baking shift, he just sits at his favorite table and surfs the web. An occasional holler for how to spell something, otherwise a kind of companionable silence. When I barista, he hangs with Jon and Mary. This means they'll soon, for sure, lose their status as the most boring house. As it stands, they have his PS2 and the GH3, so he'll be seeing them soon. When I work and Scotty's home, they've had some great times together (wait til I blog about the cookoff!).
So there is something to be said about working and making it work. I have a reason to leave my house; the energy boost of the environment is a great reward for getting out!! There's a shift, a subtle difference that is deeper than just a new place for us to live. Just as there are many factors contributing to my downward swing, there are, indeed, an equal amount of factors working on the upswing. All is as it should be. And it is great! Amen.
4 comments:
there is such a thing as pineapple upside down coffee cake? my two favorite cakes -- together?!
is there a recipe or is it some huge trade secret?
I am positively salivating at the very idea of pineapples and coffee cake!
Nice.
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congrats on gainful employment!
it's attractive... to say the least!
I remember that feeling of baking and being a barista and being a waitress. Each one of those postions is thrilling in itself. Creating exciting food that you know somone will savor. I remember making drinks for people making sure that they had the freshest, best ingredients available. And having conversations with customers who love you so much that they come back wanting more. Congrats on such wonderful satisfaction and happiness. And i will make sure that someday we are your customers wanting more.
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