Mystery Guest and general ramblings!
I am now officially a Mystery Guest, a paid food critic! :) The company tells me to eat at a certain restaurant, when to go and some basic criteria to judge. Then they reimburse me for the meal (usually for me and one other) and $5 for my opinion. Okay, it is not a lot of money but I have to eat out for work a lot so why not have my opinion count? I have the ability to refuse any assignment so I can't see that this is going to be a problem. Plus any company that values my opinion must be really smart! LOL! BTW, they are looking for other Mystery Guests all over the country so if you are interested in this, let me know. If nothing else, it will make me think harder about my restaurant experiences and what makes it a happy time.
Susie and I had a long conversation (3 hours!) on Thursday night. She is "committed to the trip" and those are her words. She is thinking of 10 days however and we had collectively moved on to planning for 14 days. No problem- they leave early and we stay on. We probably haven't talked more than 15 minutes at a stretch since I was there on Memorial Day until this talk. We used to spend every weekend together, talk every day and usually hung out several nights a week. We lived in each other's pockets and when I say "we", I mean our families. My girls consider Katy and Zak their little sister and brother. We have known Zak since he was 6 months old and now he is 14. Katy is a senior in HS and has grown up to be someone I enjoy spending time with. We love each other but living in Arkansas and North Carolina makes it much more difficult to keep up with the daily stuff. I miss them all so much. Sometimes I am not sure whether it is worse to talk a lot or not. There is some comfort in being disconnected. Is that crazy?
Kirsten, I might be taking a business trip to SF in late September/early October. I hope that if the trip materializes, we can meet. Best case, I would love to see one of your shows!
It is an early night for us- we have to be up at 3:00 a.m. for a 4:00 departure. We found out that the family we will be helping with Extreme Home Makeover is the family that started Camp Barnabas. It is a camp for special needs children. If you want to know more about them, here is the link:
http://www.campbarnabas.org
Isn't it amazing how life mirrors itself? Kate's MIL started a foundation 25 years ago for special needs adults called Lifestyles. They are kept out of institutions and taught life skills including work skills. We attend their major fundraiser every year which is "Polo in the Ozarks". Tons of fun! Now, having blindly volunteered for a EHM crew, we are working to help some of the same children who will eventually end up at Lifestyles (God willing). Am I looking forward to getting up so early? Hell no! But I am so jazzed about helping a worthy family and if ... please please please... I get to meet Ty Pennington, that would not suck! :)
A work friend quit on Friday. I was a factor in her decision. At least, my complaint about her treatment of a client was a major factor. In my head, I know I did the right thing. In my heart, I feel so badly about this.
Susie and I had a long conversation (3 hours!) on Thursday night. She is "committed to the trip" and those are her words. She is thinking of 10 days however and we had collectively moved on to planning for 14 days. No problem- they leave early and we stay on. We probably haven't talked more than 15 minutes at a stretch since I was there on Memorial Day until this talk. We used to spend every weekend together, talk every day and usually hung out several nights a week. We lived in each other's pockets and when I say "we", I mean our families. My girls consider Katy and Zak their little sister and brother. We have known Zak since he was 6 months old and now he is 14. Katy is a senior in HS and has grown up to be someone I enjoy spending time with. We love each other but living in Arkansas and North Carolina makes it much more difficult to keep up with the daily stuff. I miss them all so much. Sometimes I am not sure whether it is worse to talk a lot or not. There is some comfort in being disconnected. Is that crazy?
Kirsten, I might be taking a business trip to SF in late September/early October. I hope that if the trip materializes, we can meet. Best case, I would love to see one of your shows!
It is an early night for us- we have to be up at 3:00 a.m. for a 4:00 departure. We found out that the family we will be helping with Extreme Home Makeover is the family that started Camp Barnabas. It is a camp for special needs children. If you want to know more about them, here is the link:
http://www.campbarnabas.org
Isn't it amazing how life mirrors itself? Kate's MIL started a foundation 25 years ago for special needs adults called Lifestyles. They are kept out of institutions and taught life skills including work skills. We attend their major fundraiser every year which is "Polo in the Ozarks". Tons of fun! Now, having blindly volunteered for a EHM crew, we are working to help some of the same children who will eventually end up at Lifestyles (God willing). Am I looking forward to getting up so early? Hell no! But I am so jazzed about helping a worthy family and if ... please please please... I get to meet Ty Pennington, that would not suck! :)
A work friend quit on Friday. I was a factor in her decision. At least, my complaint about her treatment of a client was a major factor. In my head, I know I did the right thing. In my heart, I feel so badly about this.