(Un)Traditional Thanksgiving

Today is the first Thanksgiving I will spend without my family, who is currently half-way around the world vacationing with my uncle, aunt and cousins who reside in the United Arab Emirates. Coping with my sentiments has been a little harder than I anticipated, but knowing that I will be home for Christmas in about a month is great consolation. In the meantime, I will enjoy the Thanksgiving traditions and rituals at the Ethredge home.

There is something comforting about waking up in a Home. I love the character of the morning routine, which has a completely different pace and charm than my apartment. Rather than wake to the sound of college students and business people rolling out of the complex parking lot, I wake to the ticks of the family clock hanging on the other side of the bedroom; the sounds of running water and scrubbing as a body washes the forgotten dishes from last night's meal; the chirping of the pet parakeet Birdie ... Perhaps it's the charm of the country, but even the sun rays trickling through the window curtains seem fresher and more welcoming than in the city.

Mrs. E. has the day mapped out. I'm used to last-minute scramblings around for groceries and cooking for the big meal; however, it seems that most of the food is already cooked. What will we do today? I heard naps will be on the agenda ... The more I work, the more I appreciate respites like these. Once the day is over, it's back to the mediocre drive.

Work is good. I think I am familiar enough with ups and downs to honestly say that I really do enjoy working at P.F. Chang's. I am officially the opening Take-Out girl, so chances are great that I will prepare your call-in or online orders for the weekdays. It is a completely different workout than hostessing, but I like the interactions better: more with customers and less with ornery servers. There is much less pressure in take-out, only the need for speed. I can cope with that.

There are times when I struggle with my current occupation: Hostess and Take-out orderly with a double major in music and English. Not exactly what I thought myself to be doing. I do not plan to work at P.F. Chang's for the rest of my life, but this is where I am. I have five potential jobs pending: Four are located in my backpack (teaching applications waiting to be completed and mailed); the fifth shall remain undisclosed for awhile.

God is good all the time. I am thankful for His goodness and mercies that are new every morning!

How Should We Roll ...

"When it rains, it pours." Occasionally, yes. But most of the time it is our own perception, or rather, our decision on how we want to perceive the drops.

Trifle annoyances of life - such as the event of a flat tire, immediate locking of keys in car, and conversing with an incompetent mechanic who is surprised that you want to pay him to find the leak and fix it - add character and flavor to one's daily routine.

Do you take it in stride, allowing it to build your character and patience, or overreact, cursing inanimate objects whose actions are only the consequence of your own stupidity?

You don't even have to guess my initial reaction.

Just Another Day

Last night I celebrated my 22nd birthday with a few of my favorite people over appetizers, dessert and a bottle of wine at Bravo, which just happens to be my favorite restaurant. As long as wallets permit, we've agreed to make it a weekly (or every other week) tradition. Even though each of us is in a different stage in life, there's something special about our fellowship, almost like you wouldn't understand unless you were one of us. But I suppose such is the case with most groups of close-knit friends.

It was a fairly normal day. I babysat, worked, finished some errands, went to church, went to Bravo, then went to bed. The most amazing news of the day is that I made record timing at the DMV! Walking in, I saw there were not too many people waiting on the chairs. I pulled my number and was about to sit down when they called me up. She updated my information, snapped my picture, waited not even a minute before my license came hot off the press. Then I was on my way. If only it worked that way all the time. One of my friends went in today and had to wait for three hours. Bummer. She should have gone with me.

Other than being further along in the double digits, my life is rolling along at an easy pace. I have a few more piano students, am practicing a little more, and working a lot. I would like to find a hostess replacement so I can begin serving soon ... Any takers? Either that or is anyone offering a job in which I'll have reasonable pay and the weekends open?

It's my blog and I can complain if I want to ...

Several reasons for hating being ill:

• Feeling abnormal
• Feeling useless
• Feeling contained, or shall I say quarantined
  
• Feeling irritated because I feel abnormal, useless, and contained
• Missing work hours/losing money
• Inability to interact with people
• Inability to function properly
• Inability to eat
• Inability to enjoy a sick day because of being sick ...
  

Quotable

"Wherever you are, be all there. Live to the hilt every situation you believe to be the will of God."
--Jim Elliot

Say/Do What?

Irritating clichés of life (please feel free to agree, disagree and/or add more to the list):

• Gaping mouth and pucker/Kissie-lip photos
• "Like ..."
• Skinny jeans
• Online fat people ads ... I mean, online diet ads
• Peace-finger photos
  
• "Nutritionally enhanced" foods
  
• Sequins
• Red kitchenware
  
• Sports Moms' Escalades
• 1980's clothing style comeback
• Hip/Jazz/Pop Hit Song mixes
  
• The phrase: "Little Black Dress"
• Movies with Hughe Grant

Hot and Fresh!

Lindsey and I just finished baking some White Chocolate Banana muffins. They are fantastic! I could say that I wish you were here to share in the deliciousness, but that would be a lie. Next time, you provide the bananas and white chocolate; I'll bake; then you can keep half the batch.

Otherwise ... it has been somewhat of a productive day. It began with a bathroom scrub down and then a long-needed practice session, which incidentally ended up being too long of a session, which is sort of a good thing. I thought it was 11am but it was almost 11:30, leaving me just a few minutes to get to work on time. I was five minutes late ...

Work was slow, like it's been for the past couple of weeks. I try to keep myself preoccupied by sweeping the floors, wiping down the host station and windows and bussing tables, but sometimes that is not enough. Toward the end of my shift, I came up with a stylish way to stack the silverware on all the tables. Unfortunately one of the servers informed me that, though it did indeed look good, the head manager wouldn't like it. Thus I had to reform all the silverware back to their old angular setting.

After work I took a shower, checked out a potential new residence (a small, bright yellow duplex at the ghetto - and I do mean GHETTO - end of the street), went to Cups for some reading and journaling, practiced piano for an hour, then made muffins.

I live a pretty boring life. Sorry that I've no stories about wild parties or scathing posts about my political activism (har). The most "exciting" incident that's occurred is losing my phone to a freak Sprite drowning. Please don't ask. Probably the only truly exciting thing to report is that Edwin Norkle, my dear pet plant, has had a growth spurt! The poor thing has been a runt up till now - and that doesn't have any reflection on forgotten watering, exposure to extreme heat and sunlight, over-watering, exposure to extreme cold, resuscitation from a near-death experience ...

It is time to crawl to bed and fall in a coma from gorging on muffins.