Happy happy joy joy
Alright, time to see how much I can get out here without being a downer.
Monday was awesome. It started off horribly, but wound up being one of the best days of the month. We'll start at work, where Mike gave me my keys and told me that since Kate is going on maternity leave soon, I'll more or less be filling her role as AM, so I'm going to start doing more opening shifts. Hoo-hah. Later on I find out from Carol that Kate will NOT be returning after mat. leave, because she and her husband are moving across the state. Soooo my hope is that if I can work my ass off over the next month or so, I can get in cahoots with the assistant managing team permanently.
Such a transition, I realize, may extend the time I planned to stay in Vermont. If I'm happy, however, I suppose it's a compromise I can accept.
The REAL fun came in the evening. New England Federal Credit Union, or NEFCU for short, is where Beth works and subsequently where the family banks. At their main branch in Williston, one town over from us, they run a series of workshops and seminars. On this particular Monday, they were presenting a Vermont Writer's series featuring Gesine Bullock-Prado. To most of you she is Sandra Bullock's younger sister but to me she is a local celebrity idol and this is the second time I've gotten to attend a seminar with her. Last time she read an excerpt out of her memoir, answered a few questions, and signed copies of her book. THIS time we got a hands on demonstration. :D
Gesine demo'ed taffy and cotton candy.... but forgot to bring her non-stick spray, which lead to a lot of hilarity to ensue. I admit how easy-going she was about the whole thing. We're watching her pull taffy and it's sticking HORRIBLY to her gloves and at one point she says, "Well, let's just pretend this is going well. Oh look how beautiful it is". We move onto cotton candy where she gives a brief overview of the process and invites us up to play with it. This naturally gets my attention.
What we would do, after the sugar cooled to the proper viscosity, was dip the tool into the pot and fling it back and forth over parchment to get fine threads of sugar. There was a kid in the audience, I think he was maybe 11 or 12, and I was thinking I'd give him the chance to go up first. Gesine invites us up to try, and I look over the the kid. His mom is asking if he wants to go, and he's all like meeeeeh. Gesine looks out and goes, "C'mon, there's gotta be someone out there" and without missing a beat I leap out of my chair and go "I'LL DO IT!!" like a six-year-old would. This got a chuckle out of the group and I probably looked like and over-eager pre-teen but I didn't give a shit. I got to stand two feet away from someone I greatly admire and it was absolutely worth anything someone might've muttered about me under their breath.
As I drove home that evening I felt renewed, inspired and awakened. It's amazing to me that someone with no formal training was so knowledgeable and experienced. Gesine is there because she loves what she does, and the seminar reaffirmed to me that culinary is my destiny, and I am okay with that. I found out that she teaches classes periodically at King Arthur Flour (which is like an hour and half away, but still). I'd like to attend one before I leave the state.
So that was my awesome Monday. In other not-depressing news, I've been running a mile on the treadmill each day, trying to get my time lower and lower. I'm down to 11:44 today. Someday I'd like to run a 4-minute mile, which apparently has never been done by a woman before, so that has me pretty motivated.
Since I'm eating better and exercising more, it seemed hypocritical of me to keep smoking and drinking, so I stopped both, at least for now. I don't think I'll ever be able to give them up completely, mainly because I don't want to. I enjoy drinking, and as a legal adult I want to exercise right to do so. I admit that my drinking was becoming excessive, so I chose to let go until I felt I could handle a relationship with alcohol again. Last night I was ready, so I let myself get drunk, and you know it? It doesn't do for me what it used to. I'm hopeful that this is the start to healthy lifelong drinking habits.
As for smoking.... well, I really hated how my car stank. It still smells a little because I haven't emptied out the ashtray. I'm fortunate because I've never developed a physical addiction to nicotine (I believe it's because I mentally convinced myself I don't have one), despite smoking on and off for 5 years. There's something about the feeling of the warm summer air with the car windows down, puffing a Marlboro. *sigh* I dunno, I guess I still gotta figure that one out.
I also managed to get Saturday off so I can attend the service, which is good and bad. Good because I get to go, but bad because... well, it's a funeral. That sorts says everything. Then after I come back I get to work on Marathon Day, which is the craziest fucking thing to happen in Burlington the entire year, and it's also our busiest day. Then right after is Memorial Day, which is like, our third-busiest day, because all the out-of-towners who ran in the marathon the day before want a quick, cheap breakfast before they leave.
It's going to be a long weekend. Don't expect to hear any more from me until Tuesday, although with the rate I tend to update, it'll probably be more like, July.
Monday was awesome. It started off horribly, but wound up being one of the best days of the month. We'll start at work, where Mike gave me my keys and told me that since Kate is going on maternity leave soon, I'll more or less be filling her role as AM, so I'm going to start doing more opening shifts. Hoo-hah. Later on I find out from Carol that Kate will NOT be returning after mat. leave, because she and her husband are moving across the state. Soooo my hope is that if I can work my ass off over the next month or so, I can get in cahoots with the assistant managing team permanently.
Such a transition, I realize, may extend the time I planned to stay in Vermont. If I'm happy, however, I suppose it's a compromise I can accept.
The REAL fun came in the evening. New England Federal Credit Union, or NEFCU for short, is where Beth works and subsequently where the family banks. At their main branch in Williston, one town over from us, they run a series of workshops and seminars. On this particular Monday, they were presenting a Vermont Writer's series featuring Gesine Bullock-Prado. To most of you she is Sandra Bullock's younger sister but to me she is a local celebrity idol and this is the second time I've gotten to attend a seminar with her. Last time she read an excerpt out of her memoir, answered a few questions, and signed copies of her book. THIS time we got a hands on demonstration. :D
Gesine demo'ed taffy and cotton candy.... but forgot to bring her non-stick spray, which lead to a lot of hilarity to ensue. I admit how easy-going she was about the whole thing. We're watching her pull taffy and it's sticking HORRIBLY to her gloves and at one point she says, "Well, let's just pretend this is going well. Oh look how beautiful it is". We move onto cotton candy where she gives a brief overview of the process and invites us up to play with it. This naturally gets my attention.
What we would do, after the sugar cooled to the proper viscosity, was dip the tool into the pot and fling it back and forth over parchment to get fine threads of sugar. There was a kid in the audience, I think he was maybe 11 or 12, and I was thinking I'd give him the chance to go up first. Gesine invites us up to try, and I look over the the kid. His mom is asking if he wants to go, and he's all like meeeeeh. Gesine looks out and goes, "C'mon, there's gotta be someone out there" and without missing a beat I leap out of my chair and go "I'LL DO IT!!" like a six-year-old would. This got a chuckle out of the group and I probably looked like and over-eager pre-teen but I didn't give a shit. I got to stand two feet away from someone I greatly admire and it was absolutely worth anything someone might've muttered about me under their breath.
As I drove home that evening I felt renewed, inspired and awakened. It's amazing to me that someone with no formal training was so knowledgeable and experienced. Gesine is there because she loves what she does, and the seminar reaffirmed to me that culinary is my destiny, and I am okay with that. I found out that she teaches classes periodically at King Arthur Flour (which is like an hour and half away, but still). I'd like to attend one before I leave the state.
So that was my awesome Monday. In other not-depressing news, I've been running a mile on the treadmill each day, trying to get my time lower and lower. I'm down to 11:44 today. Someday I'd like to run a 4-minute mile, which apparently has never been done by a woman before, so that has me pretty motivated.
Since I'm eating better and exercising more, it seemed hypocritical of me to keep smoking and drinking, so I stopped both, at least for now. I don't think I'll ever be able to give them up completely, mainly because I don't want to. I enjoy drinking, and as a legal adult I want to exercise right to do so. I admit that my drinking was becoming excessive, so I chose to let go until I felt I could handle a relationship with alcohol again. Last night I was ready, so I let myself get drunk, and you know it? It doesn't do for me what it used to. I'm hopeful that this is the start to healthy lifelong drinking habits.
As for smoking.... well, I really hated how my car stank. It still smells a little because I haven't emptied out the ashtray. I'm fortunate because I've never developed a physical addiction to nicotine (I believe it's because I mentally convinced myself I don't have one), despite smoking on and off for 5 years. There's something about the feeling of the warm summer air with the car windows down, puffing a Marlboro. *sigh* I dunno, I guess I still gotta figure that one out.
I also managed to get Saturday off so I can attend the service, which is good and bad. Good because I get to go, but bad because... well, it's a funeral. That sorts says everything. Then after I come back I get to work on Marathon Day, which is the craziest fucking thing to happen in Burlington the entire year, and it's also our busiest day. Then right after is Memorial Day, which is like, our third-busiest day, because all the out-of-towners who ran in the marathon the day before want a quick, cheap breakfast before they leave.
It's going to be a long weekend. Don't expect to hear any more from me until Tuesday, although with the rate I tend to update, it'll probably be more like, July.