Blog Dump

The holiday weekend was a busy one for me. Saturday I worked all morning and shortly after I got home Patrick and I walked over to the high school to meet my parents for fireworks. We sit in a little corner a ways off from the athletics fields where the biggest crowds are. Every year this area gets more and more crowded as people discover that it's got a nice view of the fireworks without all the other people.
On the side of the school directly facing this area is a light. It is a floodlight, of the kind typically placed outside of public places. It shines directly into our faces as we watch the fireworks, but this year my Uncle Rick remembered to bring something to cover it. It was just a small dark fleece blanket, just large enough to drape over the light and cover the worst of it.
This light is also about ten feet up on the wall. So, my dad came over with my uncle and together they boosted me up high enough (I'm the smallest and lightest who is old enough to be trusted for this) and I draped the blanket on the light. As they let me down, a few people in the surrounding area clapped and cheered, and one woman shouted, "I hate that light!"
I've been contracted to continue doing this little acrobatic feat for a few years until Maggie is coordinated enough to do it.

On the Fourth I was out for a good part of the afternoon trying to find a skirt or shorts to wear at work. There are only two requirements for these in the dress code and they are that they must be 1)black and 2)come no higher than three inches above my knee. Now, if you follow modern fashion at all you'll realize that finding something less than three inches above my knee is a laughable endeavor.
You're completely right. I checked five different stores with no luck. In the end, I just copied my mom's wonderful idea and got a pattern and some fabric and I'm going to make a skirt. I have to make it a size up from what I expected, though, as my hips are fairly wide and it must fit over my hips to get to my waist, which is much more slender.
I loved your idea, Roxie, but unfortunately when I tried it with a bandanna (I even found my black one, so it would match my uniform!) I was told that it was against the uniform policy, no matter if I kept it tucked under my collar so you couldn't see it. Sigh...

I woke up late yesterday morning because I didn't sleep well and I half-ran to work. As it was already 90 degrees out by that time, I was quite tired and miserable by the time I'd gotten in and changed. Then, of course, we were busy and I was stuck with the miserable new girl (who has lots of problems that I don't particularly want to hear about) and everyone was tipping badly. I got told off by an older woman because I apparently walked away every time she tried to get my attention, even though every time I went out to her table for something she was in a conversation with another member of her party. Then she came up front to complain about me to my manager, and complained to her about whatever it was she was trying to complain to me about. What an unhappy woman. I'm expecting to come in today and have a complaint call on file about me.

Knitting is shifting gears. I've put down the sweater and picked up my Yarn Peddler's Shawl from the Folk Shawls book. I was almost done the miles and miles of garter stitch that makes up the main part, so I determined to finish the last four or five rows and get to the lace. I did, and I am slowly working my way through lots of red wool. This is a large shawl and will keep me very warm when the weather cools down enough to wear it.

Ever seen or heard of the show Adventure Time? It's one of Cartoon Network's newest line-up additions, and for the first time in a long time, I like the new show. It's silly and packed full of adventure, which is what cartoons should be. Caryn, who is crafty in the fabric department, made Bob and I hats like Finn's, which have become our DM hats. That is, whenever one of us DMs, we wear the hats to show out superior position amongst the group. They're just white felt, and if you go to CN's website, they have a printable pattern there for it.

The heat has been unbearable, and I regularly come home from work with headaches from it. Not because I'm dehydrated, I've been drinking enough water every day to lower the Delaware River a few inches. It's just because it's so hot. It's disgusting, having to cut people's food while the sweat is dripping down my face. I don't think it's healthy or hygenic for anyone to be working in that kind of environment, and we're making less than minimum wage to do it. That's right, $2.13 an hour folks. Minimum wage in NJ is up to $7.25. We live off our tips, so if I have another day like yesterday, where I made $17, I'm going to start mugging customers in the parking lot.

Today is going to be miserable, I'm sure. Well, I'm off to trudge to work. It's 85 degrees out right now. Ugh.