Would you like cheese on that burger?

Before I go full-on into my little mini-rant here, let me start off by saying that I will not reveal the name of my employer. One, because they say I'm not allowed to, and two, because there are some aspects of my life that I prefer to keep private. So if you know me and know where I work, please respect that, ok?

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Most of you know that I started working a few months ago. It's just a part-time job at a local fast food restaurant. It's not really a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but I actually do enjoy it and it gets me out of the house a few days each week. But since I've started working there, I've run into some interesting situations and I thought that I would share those - some of them are funny and some of them are just things that I never thought of before until I was in this position.

Most (if not all) of these will pertain to the drive-thru, as that's where I've been spending most of my time lately.

1. If you're going to go through the drive-thru anywhere, please be fully clothed. We are usually higher than your car, and we can look down into your lap, ok? Seriously. I am not joking about this one at all.

2. I understand that you like to bring Fido with you wherever you go. However, when he barks the entire time you're placing your order, it makes it hard for me to hear what you want. And if he tries to bite me when I reach out to get your money, it's not going to make me very happy. Please - keep your animals under control for everyone's safety.

3. Turn your radio down - or off - before you try to order. It might not seem loud to you, but we can hear it because of the way that the headphones work. We can also hear every conversation that is happening in the car, even if it's in the backseat. If your passengers are quiet, we might actually hear your order on the first try. Also, if you have a diesel engine, turn it off if you can. You have no idea how loud those things are to us.

4. You see that nifty headset that I'm wearing? That's not just so that I can listen to you. It's also so that I can listen to the guy on grill, the girl at the second window who is gathering your food to give to you, the store manager, and various other employees - and chances are that they are all playing a part in getting your food to you. There's also a good chance that more than one of them is talking to me at the same time as I am talking to you, so if I don't stand and chat with you, that's why.

5. All of those people in #4 who are talking to me? They can also hear every word that you're saying. You might want to keep that in mind before you make a smart comment about the store manager while you're ordering.

6. "Would you like to upsize your fries?" "Would you like cheese on your burger?" "Can I get you anything else with that today?" We know you hate all of the questions - but it goes back to the headset. We have to ask you. The store manager - and sometimes her boss, or on days like today, her boss's boss - is listening to every word that we say, and if we don't ask, we get told about it - and not always very nicely. I asked some version of those questions over 140 times today - trust me, I hate those questions way more than you ever could.

7. Sometimes I ask you more questions than you think is necessary. I'm not trying to be annoying. I might be in a different part of the store trying to do any of the other 87 things that I have to do while running drive-thru, and I'm asking you questions as I sprint back to the register to get your order entered - but on the plus side, while I'm asking you those questions, the guy on grill is already getting your food ready because he's listening to you also.

8. Honestly, I don't want to screw up your order - so I might ask you to repeat something. It might be frustrating for you, but I'm willing to bet that you'll be more frustrated if you get the wrong food. There are so many things that interfere with my ability to hear you - your radio, the wind blowing, your engine, the train rumbling by a few blocks away, the guy mowing the lawn next door to the store, my coworkers who are running back and forth behind me, the manager forgetting that I'm in the middle of an order and barking an order at a coworker (or me) over the headset - so please work with me so that I can get your order entered correctly.

9. Timing is everything. Everything that we do is timed from the moment that you pull up to the menu board to order until the time that you drive away from the building. Seriously, you know when you pull in to the restaurant that you're going through the drive-thru. Get your wallet out ahead of time. Grab your debit card or that $20 bill and have it ready to hand to me. I know that you want to get rid of those 83 pennies in your wallet, but I would rather count out a few coins to you than sit there and wait for you to count those 83 pennies out to me - and so would the person behind you who is already late to work. And when you get your food at the second window, move your car ahead and out of the way before you stop to put your wallet away and fiddle with your stuff. You might not think that you're taking that much time, but even one second over our "acceptable time" for an order can cause us to get our butts handed to us by the boss.

10. Just because we are fast food employees doesn't mean that we're all stupid uneducated kids. Some of us are actually pretty smart, and we all have different reasons for working there. One of my coworkers has a degree in chemistry, but she's working there because her husband recently got transferred to this area and she needed to find a job quickly. One is a single mom who was able to get hired on full-time so that she could have health insurance for herself and her son, but also have the scheduling flexibility that she needs in order to take care of him. One lady has been working there because of the scheduling flexibility while she waited for a liver transplant (which she just got a few weeks ago). Some of the younger kids are working there in order to help their parents make ends meet or to save money for college. We all have our reasons - and if we weren't working there, it would be a lot harder for you to get your food, wouldn't it?

My goofy lunch dates

I've been working on a super-secret craft project and needed to get some more materials for it, so after we took the older kids back to Ex1's house this morning, we made a mad dash to Wichita to hit up the fabric store. Because well, I had coupons. And coupons are good. And they were going to expire.

So I had to go shopping for fabric. I had to.

We found a treasure in Ex1's yard.
(I actually really hate peacocks though.)

Random tree that I've always thought
looked really cool.

After we got done shopping, we were tired and hungry and cranky. So we had to stop to get something to eat. We had to.

Obviously, the food cured the crappy attitudes.

Daniel with "Astronaut Guy" - he was found at the bottom of a
swimming pool in Knoxville, TN on TMOART:12. And he's
still the toy of choice.

Alex was allowed to hold Astronaut Guy for one picture.
But only one.

That was apparently some really good ketchup.

Shopping. It wears them out.

He calls dibs.

Today was our official family Christmas. Because of crappy timing, I had to do a whole bunch of shopping at 5am when WalHell opened - so I got about an hour of sleep before I took off to get what I needed to get for the kids.

I found it amusing downright horrifying that this was one of the first toys that I saw. I may have turned and run away from it just as soon as I snapped the picture. What kind of sick, twisted person came up with this idea???

Anyway, some pictures from the rest of the day....

The tree - complete with insanely crooked star -
at about 7am after my round of shopping.

We got the stockings and the kids' new ornaments hung last night.

After The Dude went shopping and brought home some more stuff.
He is too good to us.

Starting with the stockings....

Finally! The gifts!

The carnage. Some of it, anyway.

Human Tetris-Head.

After we got done opening gifts, it was late in the afternoon and thanks to more glorious timing we hadn't eaten lunch yet. Kids and adults both were cranky and there was a great deal of drama, whining, screaming, crying, and pouting. We finally decided to head out to a local Chinese restaurant (you can tell I was tired if I agreed to go there) and we managed to have a good meal with minimal drama.

After we ate, we came back home and then followed The Dude home in his truck to make sure that he got there in one piece, and then I took the kids (all 5 of them) and went back to WalHell to get them some clothes.

I swear, I avoid that place for months at a time and then end up there twice in one day....ugh. But, I told the kids that I wasn't buying them clothes this year - instead, we would go shop after Christmas and they could pick out their own stuff. So much easier than dealing with returns because I don't buy the "right" stuff.....

Then the kids and I came back home so that we could relax before bedtime. After the past 4-5 nights of not getting to bed until 2-4am, I am wiped out. I seriously think that I might crash as soon as I post this.

Oh, but I bet you want to see what The Dude got me, don't you?

After the kids were pretty much done unwrapping stuff he pointed out that there was something in my stocking. I got it down and pulled out a little box.

Surprised and more than a little scared, I opened it. Inside was a ring with matching earrings and a necklace.

I admit it - I breathed a sigh of relief when I realized that it wasn't an engagement ring. No matter how much I love this guy, I am still not ready for that step - and he knows it. And he's good with it. And that just makes him even more amazing, but we already knew that. He had gotten me a really pretty jewelry box too, and so he said that this was a start to filling it, because I don't have much jewelry. (Honestly, I sold most of it to pay bills throughout both divorces.)

In our typical fashion, we started joking with each other about how people are going to automatically assume that it was an engagement ring and that he had popped the question.

FOR THE RECORD: 
1. There has been no wedding proposal from either one of us to either one of us.
2. This is not an engagement ring.
3. We are not engaged.
4. At this point, we have no specific plans to make 1-3 happen.

I asked him at one point how we should refer to this particular ring, since it is not an engagement ring. Without missing a beat, he laughed and said "it's the I Call Dibs ring. No one else gets to have you except for me."

Who can argue with that logic? The man is definitely a keeper.

A quick project

I took a little bit of time today and went in town to a quilt shop that is closing. All of the stuff in the shop was marked down 25% today, so I went to see what I could find. I managed to restrain myself and not buy any fabric, but I did go through the patterns and I found a few things that I just couldn't resist.

One of the patterns that caught my eye was for something called "Key Fob Pockets" - just a cute little pouch that can be attached to a key chain or purse or backpack, and used to carry ChapStick (my addiction) or a USB drive or other little trinkets.

It took me about an hour to make it. It wouldn't have been that long but the directions kind of sucked and I might have put it together wrong the first time and had to tear it apart and redo it....so it's crooked and a little wonky, but that always happens with the first one.

Now I have better ideas for how to make it easier and faster - and to make it look better when it's done. So now I'm all sorts of excited to make more of them. And sell them. Yup yup.

So other than my craftiness tonight, it's been kind of an 'off' day. I finally decided that I was going to take a nap go straight back to bed after taking the boys to school - and I crashed hard for a couple of hours - before the phone rang and I had to go pick up Daniel from school. He got hit by the Vomit Rocket again and had it all over him from head to toe. I got him home and cleaned up and he was fine for the rest of the day - like I knew he would be.

The usual Wednesday night chaos wasn't quite as bad as it typically is. Sarah and Jared ended up going back to Ex1's house so that his wife can take them to school in the morning - The Dude is coming here in the morning to take Alex and Daniel to school - and I am taking Emily to the orthopedic surgeon (Ex1 is meeting us there). So the morning is going to be a bit funky, but at least we figured out a way that Ex1 and I could both be at the appointment, and all of the other kids would get to school. After we are done there, he will take Emily back to school.

Tomorrow afternoon, we have to travel about 70 miles each way to get to Sarah's volleyball games - which means leaving directly from school when I pick up the boys and heading straight there. Once again I'll be packing supper in a cooler to eat in the stands at the games. I love watching the games - but not the chaos that they tend to create. We'll be lucky to get home by 10pm and then getting the kids up for school Friday morning will be a nightmare.

Thankfully, volleyball is almost over. Then we get a break for a couple of weeks before it starts all over again with basketball - but this time there will be 3 kids participating instead of just two.

I. can't. wait.

Busy day

Up before the sun, as usual, getting the kids off to school - with yet another dashboard breakfast, this time courtesy of the local Kwik Shop. Vanilla cappucino and a king-sized Snickers - the breakfast of champions on this particular day!

Daniel had his Christmas program at playschool, complete with a very special visitor at the end.

The Dude came over this evening, and after I threatened the girls with cleaning their room myself (aka "garbage bag rampage") he opted to help them get their laundry folded and put away. Or maybe he was playing with Barbies with them. That's still up for debate.

Seriously though, having him help was a lifesaver. Getting the girls to put their laundry away is a constant battle, and since he showed them a "new" way to fold things, they just thought that it was so cool and now they're doing it "his" way. Whatever - as long as it's put away, I don't care.

Daniel, of course, was tired. Poor kid. At least this time he fell asleep on normal furniture - just not in what I would consider to be a comfortable position.

Tomorrow we get to get up early and get everyone up and dressed and fed and get the girls ready for basketball. They both have games at the same time tomorrow - in two different towns. So Ex1 and I are meeting in the middle so that I can give Sarah to him and he'll take her to her game, and then I'll take Emily to hers. After the games, we'll meet in the middle and I'll give Emily back to him (and Jared too, unless he opts to go to Sarah's game) and then Alex, Daniel, and I will be back home relaxing with The Dude.

Maybe, just maybe, I'll get to take a nap.

Oh yay, what a day.

I know it could have been worse.

I put the kids to bed last night, and around midnight, I heard screaming coming from the boys' room. I ran in there and Daniel was crying that he had to go to the bathroom. We sprinted and barely made it before he had a massive bout of diarrhea. Then while he was sitting there, he started to puke. He was not a happy camper. So he came out to the living room and sat with me while I watched a movie. This went on until about 4am, so needless to say, I didn't get much sleep last night.

I got up early enough (5:45ish) to take the cinnamon rolls out of the fridge and preheat the oven, and then I laid back down "for a few minutes". Next thing I knew, it was 6:54. We have to leave by 7:15 to get the older 3 kids to school on time. I threw the cinnamon rolls into the oven, yelled at the kids, and got them up and dressed and they got all of their stuff together. I grabbed plastic plates, threw hot cinnamon rolls onto them, and got everyone into the van by about 7:20. They ate and I drove, and we made it to the school on time - barely. Then we took off again so that I could get Alex to his school by 8:00. I think it was 8:02 when we pulled in - worked for me at that point. Besides, there was a school van pulling up behind us at the same time, so it's not like we were that late, right?

Daniel and I came home, and all I wanted to do was lay back down for a while. But he had other ideas. After being a Vomit Rocket all night long, the kid was ready to go this morning! He was in such a good mood and just wanted to DO stuff all morning. I really just wanted to sleep. But about the time I decided that it was pointless and I would go get a shower, there was a knock at the door.

Hello, Mr. Maintenance Dude.

I had called the landlord the other day because there is STILL a leak in the bathroom - but I had figured out where it was coming from and it really only needed some caulking. So he came in, took a look at it, and went to get the stuff that he needed. He found a few more leaks and so he went caulk-crazy, which of course meant that I couldn't take a shower. *rolling eyes*

I did go a little crazy this afternoon and whipped up a batch of cornbread. From scratch. Just because I wanted some. And it was goooooooooooood. Even the kids liked it, which amazed me since they're normally so picky about that. Oh, and that's the second pan of cinnamon rolls which will be tomorrow's breakfast since I plan to get up on time. Ha. Ha. Ha.

I did finally decide that it was time to do Daniel's laundry today. The good part about him having a ton of clothes is that I don't have to do his very often. The bad part is that when I finally do decide to do it, his basket looks something like this.

When the pile of dirty laundry is taller than the kid who wears the clothes, it's time to do it. No more excuses.

Of course the girls decided that I need to do their laundry tonight too - which I'm not really looking forward to doing, but at the same time they did finally tell me that they need to have it done the night before, instead of pitching a total fit 5 minutes before it's time to go to school because they don't have anything to wear. Plus, I was just informed that they need to have something pink to wear to the football game tomorrow night. Like that's going to work - they don't have a lot of pink stuff, and I know I don't have any. Pink is not a popular color in this house. At all.

I keep saying that I'm just going to make them start doing their own laundry - but I haven't done it yet. I know that they're old enough, but sometimes it's just easier to do it myself. At least then I know that it's done right.

Oh boy....I think I just discovered another control-freak-tendency of mine. Every time I say that I'm not a control freak, something like that pops up. *sigh* I should just give up and admit it.

But I'm really not that bad. I don't have to be in total control all of the time. Do I?