Don't Forget the Bow Tie...

I shall rewind to my birthday, since I'm sure everyone wants to make sure I had a good one. This is the year I will be hearing "double deuce!" whenever I am asked my age. Ok...so on the morning of my birthday, we wanted to go do something. So we went bowling. After three horrible games (I never broke 100...) and a sore thumb--David had two sore fingers since he's left handed and used a right handed ball...

So we realized that there was one pool table by the bar. It was around 10 in the morning and some leagues had just gotten over. We have been searching for a perfect place to play pool and finally found it there. Nobody was in the area, nobody wanted to play pool, they were all there to bowl. So, we got to play against eachother. I won I think every game. I was doing great, he was like "you sure you aren't a shark and hid it all this time?" Yep...I can't say I learned to play well with the pool table in the basement at ma's...the rare times I got to use it Jessica and I would get in trouble because we'd end up grabbing the balls and throwing them at the other ones and they'd roll all over the place. I guess I have to say I learned to play more at Gpa S's. He taught us how to actually hold the stick right and also taught us how to bowl. I guess it makes sense why I am better at pool, there were two places for us to play for free always.

Anyways...came home, had some cheap champagne, (it wasn't even called champagne...) learned a really neat trick---

take a rasin. Pour a fresh ***fresh glass of champagne, drop rasin in.

What does it do? It goes down, then up, then down, then up...then down..then up...etc.

It was cool.

We had dinner with momma and Teresa and Al and Chris, and had ice cream and cake and gifts. A trademarked "UROCK"...picture frames...gift certificate to the "glazin in the sun" that Sharon works at. They have pottery and you go in and paint it and then they throw it in the kiln and you get it back in a week, it is real neat. I went there once, it took me three trips to finish painting it, if you are a regular reader you will remember I posted about it a couple months ago or so...it was a star thinggy.

She's always asking me to go but I never have any money, so I take it that's her way of demanding I go...because she doesn't get to have much fun time without the kids. Not that she doesn't have fun time with the kids. She needs some relaxing time.

I got a very fragrent something in the mail from someone...and though they mentioned their mother's garden was what it reminded them of...it reminded me of all those summers right around my birthday...the last few weeks of school Jessica and I would fix our hair just right, have a few barettes in our hair, go out a few minutes early for the bus and fix a rose in our hair for the day. One from the many rosebushes in the front yard that would grow like crazy. There were red, pink and white ones, and in the back there were orange ones but we weren't supposed to pick those, unfortunately. I wonder if that bush is doing ok...I know ma had planted grapes near it, I wonder if she ever got those to come up ok...I know she was having problems with them...

Well.

The Saturday before my birthday, which was the day before Neil's birthday...(remember he's a classic now...) I had gone into a place that needed kitchen help. He hired me. Unfortunately, I couldn't start until i filled out all the dumb paperwork which wouldn't be available until Monday some time when the manager of the place was in. I didn't want to work my birthday, I told him, so I started on Wednesday serving. Before you all go "yay for ging" let me just say this:

It sucks.

Let me explain the place...it is called "The Madison" and it is located in Sun City West. It is a senior apartment complex--let me re-itterate it...IT IS NOT A HOME or a CARE FACILITY. It is an apartment complex for old folks. There is a pool and laundry facilities and a game room and they play bingo and they have walkers and motorized wheelchairs but there are no CNAs or Caregivers. If they have a problem they call 911. They pay good money to live there (still wondering how good of money, havent figured it out yet) and they have a full kitchen and dining room with very fancy...I believe they called it on their website "3 star dining" where they have the chefs wearing the funny hats, the "chef" chef (executive chef) dressed in all white and the other chefs wearing black pants and those weird full white coats (poor guys, they must stink at the end of the night of sweat) and all the old folks (with an exception...)flock into the dining room that is super fancy with a paper menu with a few choices at their place. They sit down, fill them out, and us penguins (yes, we look ridiculous...I wanted to take a picture of the uniform on me but i am too embarassed...)come along and grab them and deal with their crap.

I am barely getting used to carrying the stuff around and remembering who came first and is waiting for me to come by so they can demand of me "what's for dessert"....I don't have any pockets in my apron, and the black pants I wear are pocketless also...so if I am not constantly carrying around my little piece of paper with all the deserts for the day on it, I have to say "oh uh...I am sorry I dont have my list for the night let me go get that...." and of course, when they want it it is all out.

Whatever.

Oh I guess I should explain the uniforms to you, huh? Hair: pulled completely back with nothing hanging down, must be up high enough to not touch the collar. Shirt: crisp, clean, STARCH WHITE (for those of you who know me know how painful it is for me to wear white...) full dress shirt. Stand up collar with a flap at the front that when buttened all the way up (which is how it is supposed to be) forms a W but there is nothing else there-no normal collar. It stands up. Black pants. Black shoes. After 60 days they buy you "shoes for crews" which are non slip good shoes. Until then I am torturing myself...I went to goodwill and went up and down through all the shoes, mind you this is the largest goodwill anywhere--I know, because david used to work at it...and anything that was black and would come anywhere near my size either had a heel or had absolutely nothing for grip on the bottom. Then I finally found some that have good tread--thank you ma for teaching me the most important part about shoes-- and I read the size.....

Size 6.

Err....um......let's just see if they fit.. .. .. .. .. ..yep. They do. Kinda tight...but amazingly they fit! How strange, since I wear 8.5's WIDE...(wide=nasty bunions) which yes I know, you all have huge feet compared to me, whatever...I always hated you Jessica and Randas because you could wear eachother's shoes but I was stuck wearing ma's klots. She never wore flip flops, so the only ones I ever got to wear were too small for J's gigantic feet of what were they...11?? And at that time I was only in size 7. Anyways...back to the uniform...

So cram shoes into shoes that in the first hour just feel a little tight, and by the end of it all I want to tear them off. Apron- after completing putting every damn button through every damn hole, put apron on--mine is pocketless unfortunately--it goes and covers from just above knees to chest and then forms a V and at the bottom of my neck and in front of that W on the shirt goes a BOWTIE. There's a belt loop thinggy at the back of the upright collar that it goes through, and yay, we have ourselves a black bowtie with a clasp.

Isn't it so nice?

I am so glad the apron covers most of the shirt. Oh, how I hate white. They are FULL dress shirts! I don't know how anyone keeps them clean! Today one of the ladies (don't even ask me how) got vanilla ice cream and chocolate on her bow tie and shirt.

So anyways...I have barely any hours, so don't say "yay"...and since it is paid for meals, there are no tips. We're still super broke. Thinking about being a delivery driver for hungry howies which is about 1/10th a mile away. Then i'd really need to fix the a/c.

That's all for now.

Ging