who knew cleaning toilets could be so much fun!

Arrived at the lodge yesterday for a week-long adventure in learning. The idea is for me to do all the different jobs that the interns will do - so that I'll have some sort of a clue and can better explain it to them during the interview process. Here's my schedule for the week:
  - Friday: 9am Housekeeping
  - Saturday: 8am Dishroom
  - Sunday: 8am Busing tables
  - Monday: 9am Maintenance

First of all: 8am??? Are these people insane? Shouldn't the guests still be asleep? I know I should be!!

This morning met the housekeeping crew. Interestingly, an all male crew with only one exception. I quickly knew it was going to be a fun day. Laid back, nice group of folks. We filled up the two carts with sheets, towels, bathmats, toilet paper, lots of little shampoos and lotions and soaps (no conditioner - kind of odd...), and all the cleaning supplies - and headed to the cabins. Sounds simple enough, right. EXCEPT it's a freaking ice skating rink on a hill out there!! It's a lawsuit waiting to happen. I am so not joking here - steep hill, pretty much solid ice. The guys were dragging / being pushed by these carts loaded with supplies. We get to the first cabin, park the carts, and I started to get a little cocky, thinking I could stand up and all. Next thing I know, I'm doing this little dance, slipping and sliding and crashing into the cart. Very humbling. (speaking of humbling, I had no sooner pulled into the lodge yesterday than I got it stuck in the snow and had to have one of the maintenance guys help get me out. Yikes!!)

Anyhow, back to this morning. My job in the first cabin was to observe. I felt like such a loser watching a group of people clean. So by cabin two, I jumped in. I decided to start with what I know: making a bed. Momma taught me well. So I'm trying to put the nice fluffy pillow into the pillow case, and I look up at Joe, my fearless instructor, and he's giving me this "you have no idea what you're doing" look. I said, "you've got a better way to do this, eh?" So he showed me the karate chop - best way to de-fluff a pillow so you can get it into the case. Nice trick. I'm gonna use that one at home! Also learned that apparently, if you clean your bathroom on a regular basis, it's easier to clean and looks better. Who knew? I have to say, cleaning up after other people's messes is not a fun task. It's amazing how messy people leave their rooms. Yikes.

Anyhow, that was my day. I've now met all the managers. All are cool, and some are sure to be wonderful people to hang out with. This will be a place for lots of laughs and good times.

One final story. I walked out of the office (trailer) on my way to dinner, and saw these two people I hadn't seen before. "Who are they?" I thought to myself. And then it hit me: they're guests! I forget this is a lodge - I've really only seen the back of the house so far. Apparently, we're about half full tonight and almost entirely sold out for tomorrow. Will be nice to see this place hopping!

That's all for now!
Ciao

smiling

So at the end of the day yesterday my cheeks were especially warm and I was rather hyper. I'd been laughing and smiling all day. Some of it was of the slightly forced variety ("hi, it's nice to meet you, so that's what you do here, and look, i've already forgotten your name..."). But most of it was of the laughing and joking variety. I'm amazed at how mellow the folks in the office are considering the type of work they do. Really friendly crowd, very laid back, casual. Had several good conversations with the owners. All and all, I just felt like myself again. I think it's been awhile. Very exciting.

the impact of elevation...

Really wanted to do something today to "celebrate" my last week of unemployment. Most of my time has been spent deep cleaning my room, organizing and purging stuff. It's been quite fulfilling and productive, but I was itching to get outside. I decided to head to Castle Rock state park for one of my favorite bay area hikes. It was raining a bit as I set out, but there were a few indications of clear skies, so I was optimistic. Driving down 280, I would go through occassional bursts of pouring rain. It was crazy, but I was not deterred. I made my way up to Skyline Blvd - which runs along the top of the Santa Cruz mountains. And then I noticed it - what was that along the side of the road? Little bits of snow!!! I was so excited to see it. And then there was more ... and more. And then I realized that the wet stuff falling from the sky was in fact snow, and no longer rain. Before long, there was snow everywhere, and it was quite a snowstorm in the sky. I was grinning from ear to ear, like a little child seeing it for the first time. The last few miles of road to Castle Rock was closed, so I parked and found a nice trail nearby. I headed into the mountains and enjoyed spectacular views. One problem though. There was a sign about watching out for mountain lions. Not sure why, but after about 30 minutes of hiking, I got a bit paranoid about being eaten by a mountain lion and decided to turn back. When I got back to my car, I wasn't ready to head back to the city, so I headed down the closed road on foot. It was so peaceful. Plus, there was more snow because it was open to the sky. What a rush to just walk, catching huge snowflakes in my mouth, seeing the beauty of it covering the earth. Wow.

As if that wasn't enough, on my way back to the city, the sun suddenly popped out and there was the most amazing rainbow hovering over the peninsula. At one stage on my ride back, just before sunset, I could gaze westward to a lighthouse and the Pacific Ocean, eastward over the peninsula, bay and east bay, and finally northward to see the San Francisco skyline. It was breathtaking. YEA!

Tomorrow will be the last stage of organizing and purging. And Monday I start work. I can't wait. Another exciting chapter begins.

all i got for christmas was...

Greetings from sunny Florida. It's been a very stressful couple of days down here. Sleep for 8 hours, or 10? What time to each lunch? How far to take the dog on a walk? Work on my latch hook or read? Coffee then orange juice, or orange juice then coffee? So many big decisions, it's overwhelming.

Christmas eve - my first day down here, was quite eventful. At 6am, I hear my dad scream to my mom, "Cathy, come help me." I jumped out of bed, scared that he was hurt. I saw him in the dining room with a huge hammer. "There's a rat behind the credenza." That was my sign to grab the dog and get out of the way. I won't share the details about what happened to the rat. Later that day my dad and I drove to the post office to pick up a package. When we got back in the car, it wouldn't start - dead battery. So we sat for an hour waiting for AAA to come. Too funny. We went to church that night - and the pastor there used to pastor at my old church in Chicago. Small world. Finally, we went to dinner at Demetrio's - the lovely Italien restaurant where we always had dinner on Christmas eve. Good times. Missed my lil sister though.

So for Christmas, had a funky array of gifts:

• Gum which came in a round container, which, according to my mom, fits conveniently in the drink holder in your car. Not sure how I've survived so long without it.
• A short little book with pictures of little fuzzy animals.
• The book Caring for your Parents prepared by AARP. A thoughtful gift from my little sister.
• Two - yes TWO - angels. I think this reflects people's deep perceptions of who I am.
• Pajamas. Fuzzy, warm ones. Yea.
• An evil eye.
• Oh, and an iPod. I'll need to ask some of the teens to help me figure out how to set it up.

My sister in law and niece arrived last night. I'm looking forward to spending some time with them. Hopefully we'll make it to the beach today or tomorrow. It's just hard to fit it into our busy, busy schedule.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

they felt sorry for us

Went bellringing last night with Leya and two girls from youth group - Hilary and Emma. Roger set it up as a competition: Hil and I vs. Emma and Leya. We stood at opposite side of the stairs to enter the Opera - where the Nutcracker was being performed. The competition was fierce - with both sides talking the talk as we walked over to set up our kettles.

Hilary and I had an advantage though. We both sing like crap, but sing quite enthusiastically - and loud. Now, one might not think of that as an advantage, a fundraising gimmick. However, we proved last night that, in fact, it is. Our two favorite songs (primarily because they were the only ones where we both knew most of the words) were Rudolph and Jingle Bells. We never did figure out the names of all 8 reindeer (dasher and dancer were oft repeated), but didn't let that slow us down one iota. We sang loudly, horribly, and with much gusto. We would jump and shout during appropriate moments in each song, bringing laughs and smiles to those who walked by. Many blushed in embarrassment on our behalf. Perhaps they thought we didn't realize how bad we were? Perhaps it pained them? Or perhaps they saw our enthusiasm, our fearless Christmas spirit, and chuckled inside. At any rate, I think many enjoyed the absurdity of it, and many were very generous. Overall, it was a fun night.

PS. Hil and I won!