Really? Really? REALLY????

May 13, 2013

Travis called before they left today to say good morning to me and I fell right back to sleep! I didn't wake up until ten today and it was awesome! When I woke up I took my laundry and put it in the wash right away. I wanted to get my tights washed so I could wear the outfit I had planned to lunch with my Mother in law! Beth and the boys had decided to go too and surprise her!

After I took the clothes I made my breakfast and relaxed a bit while I ate. I went to put them in the dryer after that. While they were drying I went ahead and did my make up so all I had to do was change clothes before heading to Donato's. My boss called me to ask if I could go in at three to do the registers since she wasn't back in town yet. I reluctantly said yes. I got done with my make up and got down to get the clothes a bit before they were done so I had to wait a bit. When I got back and got changed we all left.

We got there a bit early and the boys hid behind the table to surprise Maw Maw. It was so cute! When she got there she asked if I had driven Beth's car. Now I am a terrible liar so all I could say was no haha! I said but there might be a surprise for you around the corner! Right at that moment the boys all saw her and screamed "Surprise Maw Maw!" She loved it!

My Mother in law and I got the same salad. It was some sort of apple and chicken salad and man I think I'm addicted to it now! The boys all got kids pizza's and Beth got a turkey club. The coolest part is that between 11 and 3 on weekdays its 50% off if you dine in! My lunch only cost me $3! It was a nice long lunch and we really enjoyed the time together.

After lunch Beth and the boys went to the in laws house while I went and did my work thing. I was about ready to throw something when I got there. It was bad enough that I had to do the registers on my day off. Jane had told me to call her when I was doing them in case she needed something else done. I tried three times with no answer of course. She also had scheduled for someone to come fix the broken warmer while I was there which meant I had to wait until he was done until I could leave! I was so angry! I guess I am just so tired of doing so much and being walked all over and used. Well that was my rant for the day!

After that ordeal I went back to the inlaws and Beth and I stayed there for about an hour. Our Father in law got home from work so we chatted with him some and that was nice. The boys played with their toys and they were really good when it was time to go too! 

When we got home cleaned up in my room a bit then got to work catching up on my blogs. Beth was working on a school project for Wes that he needed photos for. She made the cutest collages for it! 

Travis called me and texted me a lot last night! They were stuck in Boston for the night. The load they had dropped off had some boxes that they wouldn't accept. They had to wait until three in the morning for the dump area to open so they could drop them off. They decided to just stay at the dump part that night so that they could dump it and go as soon as they could.

Travis said that he had driven through Boston during rush hour! I was so proud of him! I would have been scared of that in a car. We got to talk for a long time but had a family emergency later in the evening so the blog is getting cut short! Sorry guys!

Mother's Day

May 12, 2013

Woke up today to a call from my sweet husband! Talked to him for a little while before they headed out to Massachusetts. I went in the kitchen to wish my amazingly wonderful Mom a happy Mother's Day! She was cooking breakfast for us. She even made decaf coffee so that I could have some too! That's how awesome she is, that's her day and she made us breakfast!

We ate our breakfast and finished the movie that I fell asleep during last night. It was so stupid! It was that new Wayan's brothers Paranormal Activity spoof. After that we watched Silver Linings Playbook which was AMAZING! I have got to go buy that movie! I laughed and cried, it was so sweet. I had intended to leave her house at two so that I could go home, check on Zoe, get my shower and go to the store before we went to Robert's for the Mother's Day cookout. I didn't leave until three because I just had to finish that movie! Mom even made a salad for lunch with homemade 1000 Island dressing, yummy!

I went home after the movie to get ready and check on Zoe. I headed to the store and got ground turkey for my bunless burgers. I even stopped at the farmers market for some fresh vegetables to grill. I finally got to Robert and Taylor's house around 5:30. I was supposed to be there at five but I got stuck behind a bicyclist. I wanted to accept the beer they offered so bad but I have been doing so good on my diet I just couldn't! 

Robert made all of the burger patties and got the grill ready while Mom and I cut the veggies up. I seasoned them with butter and an Italian dressing packet. While Robert grilled the rest of us sat at the table and talked. It was so nice to have all of the family together!

The whole spread looked amazing and the only thing I really missed out on was the bun and the sweet potato fries. I know my Mom was loving her day with all of us! She has been trying to get us all together for over a month now! We enjoyed our dinner and talked a little more before I had to leave to go see my Mother in law.

I went to see her and give her gift to her. She wasn't expecting anything so I loved the look on her face! She was so excited! She absolutely loved it. I had used Beth's idea and made her a movie basket. I got a popcorn bucket and filled it with a box of popcorn, a Pepsi, a chocolate covered rose and five dollars so that she could pick out her own movie! Travis had helped me pick everything while we were on the phone. She loved hearing that!

I knew that it was about time for Travis to stop for the night so I hung out at his folks for a while. I was pretty sure he would call his Mom first so I wanted to see her face light up and boy did! It was so sweet! They talked for a little while and then I talked to him for a few minutes. He said I could call him when I got home. I started to watch this cute movie The Zookeeper with them but I got sleepy so I headed home. 

I talked to Travis for about thirty minutes. He was in Stanford, CT for the night! That's where the WWE headquarters is so we thought that was funny. He was telling me all about his trainer and how he is from NC. He sounded like a pretty cool dude which I am happy about. That was one of the things I was most worried about. After we got done talking I talked to Beth for a few minutes and then I was ready for bed! Good night everybody!

Out With The Trainer!

May 11, 2013

I opened up at work today and it went well. I was done early so I was going to do a bit of extra cleaning. When I went to grab the paper towel roll I noticed that there was a giant (and I mean giant) furry brown spider. That freaked me out for about twenty minutes! I had no idea where it went because it was way to fast to smush. Shortly after that Ashley came in and we started getting busy for breakfast very early today. Our breakfast rush lasted three hours and it was insane! It was the busiest breakfast I have ever seen in the nine months that I have worked there. People were having to take their food to go because we had no more tables!

Finally breakfast was over but then we had to get together a lunch catering really quickly. Luckily it was only ten items so we got them out really quick and were finally able to take a break! Lunch wasn't any busier than a normal Saturday so that was nice. We also actually had a dining room person so we didn't have to worry about anything but closing our area! Love days like that. Especially since I had to leave Ashley at 2:30 to deliver that catering. I got a text from Travis at 12:30 that he was about to get on the truck with his trainer! I was so excited for him! I told him to have fun and wished him good luck! 

My sexy husband in the truck

The rest of the afternoon went well and I was able to get most of the closing done for Ashley before I left. I left a tiny bit early since I had never driven the van before. Man that thing is so shaky and bouncy! I was going five under the speed limit the whole time! When I got to the address I about flipped out because the driveway was a mile long gravel road! I felt like I was going to bounce into the ceiling with all of the bumps and I was so worried about the food in the back! I made it to the end of the driveway and unloaded the food. I was in and out really quick! She was very pleased with how the fruit tray looked and that made me feel really good. I was so happy to make it back to the cafe and get out of that van that I took an "I survived" picture!!!

After that I finished up the closing and got Ashley all set up to deliver the chocolate covered strawberries. Then I headed home to set Zoe up for the night and get my stuff packed to spend the night with my Mom. Me, my Mom and Joseph went to Publix toget me something for dinner. I got a Bourbon Salmon Fillet from the butcher and they already had veggies to cook. We rented a movie from Redbox and headed back to her house. We started on dinner after we got home. My salmon was amazing and Mom did an awesome job on the vegetables!

We started the movie while we ate dinner. Travis called me around nine. They were done for the night. He had driven 267 miles just in that short time! He told me they were in Youngstown, OH on their way to Massachusetts. His trainers name is Tony and he had bought him dinner so that was awesome! We talked for a little bit and I let my Mom open her Mother's Day present while I had Travis on the phone. I had tried to pick a funny card so that she wouldn't cry but she still did of course! She liked her gift! I told Travis goodnight and we went back to the movie.

I finished my blog (barely) and tried to finish the movie. My eyes started to get really heavy around 10:30 so it was bed time! It had been a long day!

"I'll work for $10 and a pillow"

May 10, 2013

Today was easy and stressful at the same time if that's possible. It wasn't that busy of a Friday so that was somewhat easier but I had to get a catering set up while working in the front too, not so easy.

I started my day like normal at work. Opened everything up waited for everyone else to get there and we had a tiny breakfast rush. Right after that I started cutting up the cheeses for the fruit and cheese tray. This was the first one that I had even helped with other than garnishing what Jane had already done. It was basically instinct on all of it so I was hoping it looked good in the end!  

I finished setting the cheeses out and started on the fruit. Jaime helped me by doing some mango and cantaloupe and spearing the berries. We almost got it finished but then we had lunch rush. As soon as that was over I went back and scooped the potato salad. It Turned out looking pretty good. I got a text from Travis saying that he wouldn't be leaving out until three on Saturday. The other student the trainer had in the truck with him had gotten lost so they were about seven hours behind.

After the potato salad I finished up the fruit tray with Jaime and it looked amazing! I was just happy I got done with it in time to go back up front and finish closing! There was almost nothing done so I ran around like a chicken with its head cut off for thirty minutes trying to finish it. It was so hot in there because one of the AC units had frozen up. 

Thankfully I was able to get it done in time to help Jaime do the chocolate covered strawberries for Jane's neighbor. Travis called while I was dipping the strawberries. Poor thing was so bored at the hotel! He had gone down to the desk and asked if he could do work around the hotel for ten dollars and a pillow! I got a kick out of that and couldn't stop laughing. My Mom stopped by as I was finishing up the strawberries and I got to talk to her for a little while before I had to leave. I headed to the bank and then home.

I watched the boys for a little bit while JP and Beth ran some errands together. When they got back I went to finish shopping for Mother's day gifts. Travis talked to me on the phone the whole time I was picking out gifts. It was sweet! I stopped by Earthfare before heading home. I love that store but I hate how it smells like weird hippie herbs and it's hard to find a worker that doesn't have dreadlocks and a beard! I was looking around trying to pick out some meat for dinner. I had a ton of chicken tenderloins at home but I forgot to lay some out and they were frozen. So I picked out two Chicken and Veggie Kabobs to try. They looked really good and I was excited to cook them. I also got some African Peppadew peppers from their olive bar. We use them at work and now I am like addicted to them or something. They are sweet and spicy!

As soon as I got home I started cooking the Kabobs. I decided to just pan fry them thinking that would be the easiest way to cook them. Well the pieces of meat were so big that I had to finish cooking them in the oven. I was texting Travis while I cooked and sending him pictures of the food while it cooked. We were chatting about my diet and how it was going. I was basically bragging because I was actually sticking to it and proud of myself! The kabobs turned out to be amazing! I never really bought into the whole organic thing but that chicken was some of the juiciest and best tasting chicken I've ever had!

After dinner I relaxed for a bit and watched Mark Henry break a world record on WWE Smackdown. He pulled two tractor trailers! I can't remember exactly how far but something like twenty or thirty feet. It was insane! After wrestling was over Travis called me to say good night and I was out like a light!

Trainer Time

May 10, 2013

Today was crazy! I had to open at work, even though I was originally scheduled to come in at 7:30. That put a damper on my day. Another thing is that I was up front with Jane. She was getting everything ready at work for her to go on vacation for the weekend. 

I thought I was going to go crazy by the end of the day. It was pretty busy and I was super tired so doing most of the closing by myself was exhausting. By the end of the day I was asking myself if the day was really over! I had to stay late to talk to Jane about the catering this weekend since I had to do it by myself. I have to deliver it in the catering van which I have never driven before so that's already making me nervous!

Travis got the call from his trainer today!! He will be leaving on Friday or Saturday with him. I'm so excited for him and also nervous about how often we will be able to talk while he is with his trainer. I know he is happy to not have to sit around doing nothing in the hotel for much longer!

I finally got home around 4:30 and talked to Travis for a few minutes. JP and Beth had bought steaks for dinner and wanted me to cook them. I said heck yeah I'll cook for a free steak! I was texting Travis most of the night and he was so funny. He kept telling all of these golf jokes for some reason and they were a trip! We talked on the phone for a little while until it was time for me to cook dinner.

I sent Travis this picture this afternoon, his response made me smile :) He said I look beautiful in it!

They bought ribeyes and they were huge! I didn't think I would fit them all into the pan but I did. JP and Beth had both never had steak cooked in a pan before they'd only had grilled steaks. I told them they didn't know what they were missing. JP cooked zucchini and onions to go with the steaks. Once we sat down and started eating they realized what I meant that they didn't know what they were missing! They said it was really juicy and moist and I was just on the other side of the table stuffing my face! It was so good! The zucchini went perfect with it!

After the filling dinner I went and laid on the bed and wrote my blog. I wanted to get it done before ten so that I could get some good sleep tonight. I barely was able to stay awake to talk to my sweet husband! I fell asleep right after talking to him!

Late for a Very Important Date

May 8, 2013

My day started out crazy! I woke up at 5:30 when I needed to be at work at six! I barely had time to slap on some make up and run out the door. I made it to work at 6:02 though so I wasn't that late and I was actually pretty amazed with myself! I also still finished all of the opening before time to open so that was good. It didn't mess my day up that much.

Work was still fairly easy today. Virginia the new dishwasher was working so fast she even helped us with front stuff. I was able to get everything closed with time to spare. I was happy I got to leave work on time because I had to do laundry. The crappy part was that my work pants ripped today so I had to hand sew them back together before washing clothes. I decided to take a shower first since I hadn't gotten one this morning and I felt so clean and refreshed afterwards. Travis called me after I got out and we talked for a little while. Surprisingly he had been watching the news all day. He has always talked about how he hates the news! He'd been watching coverage of a murder trial and coverage of the kidnapped women who had been rescued. I took the laundry down shortly after that. I hung around while they washed to put them in the dryer but that was so boring I came home while they dried.

I came home and folded all of the clothes. I made the bed and even cleaned my and organized my closet! Man was I productive this afternoon. After that I had some snuggle time with Zoe and talked to Travis a while longer. Then it was time to cook dinner. I made steak bites and sauteed red pepper. Yummy in my tummy!

I tried to go to bed at ten but I ended up talking to Travis on the phone for the better part of an hour. We talked about everything! He let me whine to him about work, we talked about our plans for Mother's Day gifts and joked around. Toward the end of our conversation he told me that he had a sad point yesterday which made me break the cardinal rule of don't cry on the phone to your husband! The second I started crying it made me feel so guilty I cried more! He got me calmed down and I love him that much more for it. My sweet husband is so far from home dealing with his own loneliness and missing me just as much as I miss him, if not more, and he still calmed me down and made me smile. I love him so much for that! Then it was bed time!  

Surprise Surprise

May 7, 2013

Today started my work week and also my first day of going to work without talking to Travis before going in. That was a bit strange. Work was pretty busy for breakfast today which is strange for a Tuesday. I was up front by myself until ten. Normally on Tuesdays the front person is by themselves all day but I guess we need two now (I don't think we need two). 

Clearly we don't need two because I had time to do this!

Our new dishwasher started today also. Matt was scheduled on dishes too so he could train her but also in case she just left like the last one! So basically we were a few people overstaffed today and I felt so lazy because there wasn't much to do split between all those people! The new dishwasher has never worked in a restaurant before but man is she good at that job. She kept up with the pace and always had the dishes cleaned as soon as they were put in front of her. Travis and I were texting back and fourth all morning about work and his electrode test he was doing. Some test of his nerve impulses and brain waves. Sounded complicated to me!

I also had time to do this for Memorial Day

Work was so easy I was done on time but I had to stay and talk to Jane about a catering she wants me to deliver on Saturday. We also were talking about some schedule changes. 
I stopped by the store to pick up diapers for Beth on my way home and finally got in around four. I hung around the house for a little bit and talked with Travis then went to Food Lion to get more grapefruit for my diet. Beth had me pick up a few things for her as well. I'm glad I just went to Food Lion (it's closer than Bi-Lo, my favorite store, and I was being lazy) because steak was on sale so I stocked up! 

As I was checking out Beth texted me and said that JP told her he would be home in ten minutes but that she thought he was joking. I said to keep me posted. I was on my way to the gas station after Food Lion and saw his truck pulling off of the interstate! Totally not a joke. He had come home four days early to surprise her after telling her he was in California all day! How sweet!

Crazy looking clouds rolling over the grocery store

After I got home I put my groceries and away and started cooking my dinner. I had laid chicken out the night before so I had to save the steak for another night. Beth and JP went for a walk after I ate dinner. I wanted to stay out of their way and give them as much time together as I could. I know its got to be strange for them to have me here. I can't help but feel sort of like a third wheel! Man has it been forever since I've had that feeling! Travis is always with me so I don't have that feeling! So that was a strange thing to think about. If your husband is looking into trucking prepare to feel that if you hang out with your couple friends while he is away! I guess its a little bit different in my situation since I'm staying with them while Travis is away but still just a warning! Tomorrow I plan to give them as much alone time as I can!

After they got back I talked to Travis for a good long while and then it was bed time! Good night world!