Standin' on daddy's hand

I don't know where or with whom the tradition started..... or if it even is a tradition. 

 My dad used to get his babies to stand on his hand and my mom would snap a picture.  I'm pretty sure (although not entirely sure) that somewhere in the boxes which are scattered across my parents basement are pictures of me and each of my siblings standing on my daddy's hand when we were about 5 or 6 months.  Ryan could do it when he was, like, 2 weeks old or something because he was a gajillion pounds when he was born (OK, only 11, but still- in baby pounds that's a gajillion). 

AAAAAnyway, I think it's fun to keep this "tradition" alive, so we've been doing it with our kiddo's, and I must say- they are DANG full of cuteness while they're doing their trick. 

Cecily at our house in Vegas,  March of 2008.

Nolan in our living room in Salt Lake, July of 2010

In other news: 

Mike is still lookin' for a job and working on his MBA and CPA, and I'm still working at Chang's.  We have felt lots and lots of blessings throughout this whole  unemployment thing.

Cecily has been doing really great potty training. And ps- please don't lecture me about how old she is.  Don't worry it's been done several times before and I am FULLY aware that lots of kids younger than her are potty trained.  Thanks.   Anyway- she's doing awesome and I am super happy to not have to spend 50 bucks a month on diapers anymore. 

She has been so funny lately and has this crazy cool imagination.  Today she dragged a bunch of blankets in to the living room proceeded to sit in the middle of them.  Then she informed me that her eggs were hatching and pretty soon we would have some baby birds to play with baby Nolan. 

Speaking of Nolan.  He's pretty much a giant, and the cutest little giant ever.   He's 19 pounds (yeah, I know) and is SoOoOoOoO tall.  He's taller than one of the 11 month olds who goes to church with us, although he looks skinnier.  He is rolling everywhere, cutting a tooth, and has a blazing high pitched scream that could pierce your eardrums.  He also LLLLLoves to giggle.  I don't know how to post video or I'd show you and you would smile.   

But for now, this will have to do:

no idea what the dribble on his chin is...

July 5th, 2010

Things have been a little crazy daisy around our house lately.  Cecily is still adjusting to life with a stay at home dad and a working mom. She isn't one to hold her emotions in ;-)  She is still happy (and darling) most of the time, just not when mom goes to work or dad goes to school.   Nolan is as sweet as ever and happy and smiley and just too dang cute for words.

Work is good.  I'm done with training now- HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORAY for that.  Training SUCKS.  Running your buns off on a saturday night and giving all your tips to someone else is stinky stinky.  But, I'm on my own now and it's going great.  I like Chang's and the management seems laid back and nice, and tips are pretty good so far.  PLUS- Dane Cook and Frank (the pilot) from LOST  (no idea of his real name....) came in and ate tonight while I was working.  I was like, 10 feet away from them.  In fact, I cleaned the table that Frank was eating at before he ate there.  I'm pretty sure that means I totally know famous people now.  I live SUCH a glamourous lifestyle these days. 

SOOOOOOO- working hasn't left much time for blogging, so I'm playin' catch-up. 

HAPPY BELATED INDEPENDENCE DAY, ALL!!!!

Aren't you grateful for the founding fathers and the treasonous act that created this free land?

I sure am.

Our 4th of July festivities were fun and just chill this year, which was good.  On the 3rd we hung out with Adam (Mike's bro), grilled up a few hot dogs and watched a few fireworks.  Then on the 4th we went to chuch and sang My Country 'Tis of Thee................ and that was pretty much all the celebratin' we did. 

But, my Aunt Diane invited us to her ward breakfast and parade on the 5th of July, so we went and had a dandy time.  We ate a fancy breakfast and some girls painted a star on Cecily's cheek.  Then she got to decorate her tricycle and ride in the kiddie parade around the neighborhood. She did great at first, but then  got tired and wanted to get on dad's shoulders for the rest of the parade route (which was all of 3 blocks). 

It was fun to hang out with aunt diane and watch CJ and her daddy coming down the road and wave to them.  All in all, a fun day. 

I forgot my camera for all of our celebrations, so cell phone pictures will have to do. 

Cecily's Independence Day pigtails

Picture of Cec and Dad at breakfast- you can sort of see the little star on her cheek

You can't see 'em, but there's also Red, White and Blue ribbon off the back of the trike.

Cutie Patootie

Nolan and Aunt Di, chillin' waiting for the fabulous parade of 20 kids :)  We're big time.

Great Joerb!

Yes, my friends, it's true.  I got myself a jibbety job to tide us over until Mike finishes his MBA.  I start tomorrow and I am kinda excited, kinda scared, kinda sad.  I wish I were teaching and using my degree, but that's not in the cards right now.  *sigh*  I am serving tables again.  It's not my favorite, but it makes more sense than trying to get everything together to teach, and since jobs for 1st year teachers are hard to get and I'm 3 months behind the application deadline- it doesn't look like that will happen.  I will most likely start substitute teaching in the fall a few days a week if Mike hasn't found a job by then.  And I'm sad I have to leave my babies, but I'm leaving them in the capable hands of their daddy, so it's ok.

So, in honor of my new job I'm writing a post about serving.

I'm sure most of you are probably really nice to servers and tip well and everything.   I hope that's the case. 

However, unless you've been a server you really have NO idea what it's all about.  Totally not your fault, I know. But, I feel like I should let you know a few things about it, and maybe you'll be a teeny bit more sympathetic if something goes wrong during your next meal.  

I'll repeat:  UNLESS YOU HAVE DONE IT FOR AN EXTENDED PERIOD OF TIME, YOU MOST LIKELY DON'T QUITE GET IT.

 

I'm not saying that it's the worlds hardest job, but here are some things to consider the next time you are out to eat and you are annoyed that your drink has been empty for a few minutes:

- Servers usually have a lot of "side work" to do while they are on shift.  This means that in addition to taking orders, serving food, etc, they are responsible for getting ice into the bins for all the servers to use, or re-stocking the dishes from the back, or changing the syrup on the coke machines, or 1000 other things that need to happen to make a restaurant run smoothly.  If it's 6:00 on a Saturday and the restaurant is full, sometimes it's not that your server is in the back sitting on their butt- it's that they're running their butt off and trying their hardest. 

- Servers are not cooks.  If the dish isn't to your satisfaction, it usually isn't the servers fault.  Servers are the "front men", so they get blamed for lots of mis-haps that they (most of the time) are not responsible for.  Don't assume that "my dumb server wasn't listening and told the kitchen the wrong thing."  Sometimes that's true, sometimes it isn't.

-If a server has to make change from the 100 dollar bill you gave them, they usually need to hunt all over the restaurant for another server or manager to break the bill for them.  This means that it takes longer for you to get your change.  Again, please don't blame your server if it takes a few minutes.

-If you have to get to a movie on a Friday night at 7:00 and you are seated at your table at 6:30, please TELL your server that you need to be fast, instead of getting angry for them not being quick enough.

-If you cannot afford to leave some sort of tip, just go get some yummy Taco Bell or Wendy's.  Or better yet, go get Cafe Rio.  It's simple- if you can't afford a tip, go somewhere where tipping isn't expected and customary.  And yes, 35 lint covered cents is insulting. I'd almost rather you leave nothing.

 -As a server in Utah I will make $2.13 per hour.  Yep,  you read that right.  BEFORE taxes.

-If something goes wrong and your server is apologetic and sincere, please don't treat them like crap.  They are people too.

-Servers are there to make your experience more enjoyable, but they are not beneath you or anyone else.  You wouldn't believe how many times people talked to me like they thought I must be retarded or I would be working at a "real" job.  C'mon, people- aren't we all just trying to eek out a living in this crap economy? 

 

SO there you go.  Some things to consider.
I will concede that there are times when servers are terrible and completely incompetent, but in my experience, if you are nice to your server, they will want to do their best to help you have a great meal.  We are all human and we all make mistakes.  Sorry in advance.

Just so we don't end on a sour note- here are my favorite parts of the job:

- I LOVE being active and getting to walk (a lot) during work.  Sitting at a desk all day has never really  interested me.

- I like talking to people and making them happy.  There is a small sort of satisfaction in giving people a really great meal and a great experience that will make them want to come back.

 

Hope you all don't hate me after this post!  Sorry it's so long, I just had to put it out there.  If you come see me at my new place, don't worry- I'll treat you right!  Happy eating!