For Those Who've Never Served

I've learned a lot while serving in a restaurant.  This is the first time I've ever worked in the restaurant industry.  Which is somewhat odd to people already working there my age,...most of them have been doing it for years.  A lot of young people start when they are entering college.  I'm doing it because my husband is in college, and I stay at home with the kiddos.  I have come across some pretty interesting people (guest-wise) to say the least.  There are certain things that now annoy me as a server, but maybe I didn't pay attention to as a guest....before working in the industry.  Here are some rules to live by, my friends.

1.  20%. Plain and simple.  That is the "new" "15%".  I'm not being greedy, it's just I expect that tip amount when I give the service that I give.  If I don't get 20% I think to myself, hmmm, I wonder what I did wrong, or what happened?  If they tip below 15% I chalk it up to, they are just plain rude or ignorant.  If I get above 20%, I think wow!  They were really nice, and blessed me tonight!  Made up for people who tipped "below".

2.  *side note to #1* Did you know we only get $3/hour as a wage?  we depend on your tip. :-)

3.  If you use a gift card, have a coupon, or get something taken off your bill...guess what?  You tip off of the original bill.  Not the discount amount.

4.    When a server comes to your table, to ask what you want to drink, introduce themselves, ask how the dinner is, etc... Please do not ignore them and continue talking like they are not there.  Rudeness.  I think you can take 3 sec. of your time to smile and say, "I'll have a coke please, or Everything tastes great, thanks!" After all YOU chose to come out to eat and be served....you have a server.  If it is something that you need privacy for....go home or rent a private booth at another restaurant that does that. We're not bothering you...we're just doing our job.

5.  Manners.  First of all you should treat everyone the same, but I would just like to point out that....you don't know the back-story to your server!  I didn't choose to be a server b/c I can't do anything else.  I have a college degree, going to be a performer/singer, and my husband is studying to be a chiropractor.  Respect.  Please, Thank-you, smiles, not thinking you are "above" your server.

6.  We don't cook your food.  You would be surprised at how many people act like they "think" this.  If you have to wait a little bit longer for your food than normal, it's not because "we're out back chasing the chicken" or "we're out back picking the tomato". (yes, people have said this)  It's because the kitchen is backed up, and you chose to come eat between 6:45-8pm. Wait time has nothing to do with the server, please don't take it out on them.

7.  Be aware of close times!  If the restaurant closes at 10pm, do not get in there @ 9:45pm expecting to sit down and eat a relaxed meal.  It's rude. You didn't "just make it".  I would say a good rule of thumb is, a hour before close to be the latest to eat.  You have to figure, you're not going to leave there until right before close.  Also, if servers are still around, and you are thinking "oh, they're still here...we're fine".  hello.  We're here, because you are :-)

8.  Credit card, great!  Cash, great as long as no change needed...or saying "hey, just give me a $5 back" would be fine.  During the shift you have a lot of tables going on and to stop and go get change, etc...slows you down.  Credit/debit cards we just swipe it, deliver it to you, and then we're done.  Cash, when people say, "no change needed"...bless you.  *side note* go ahead and pay your server after the check is delivered.  Guess what?  You can still sit there and visit to your hearts desire...it just allows us to close out your check on our end.

I wrote this because honestly I had no idea about a lot of these things until I worked in this industry.  Someone once said, everyone should be a server at one time in their life.  I totally agree with this statement.  You appreciate the hard work that is done.  If I have helped someone here have a "light-bulb" moment by writing this, I'm sure their next server will appreciate it.  And my job is done.

                                                                 

What's been going on here

Last Friday little Bronson and I went to the hospital for him to have his adenoids taken out, with the possibility of tubes being put in his ears.  My sister Cheryl was so gracious and came over the night before to spend the night so she could be there with Brock the next morning...as Bronson's surgery was SUPER early.  I waited in the waiting room and the Dr. came in and said, "I really feel I need to take his tonsils out as well.  They are really huge."  (Basically this means a routine 30 min surgery, and out of there in an hour turns into 4 hours recovery and 7 days recovery at home). 

(my sleepy bear)

Bronson did beautifully when he came out of surgery.  I was nervous b/c after his tear duct probe in November he went ballistic when he came out of surgery.  But this time, they let me be right there as he was opening his eyes, and he didn't cry once.  He just remained extremely sleepy.  We finally left the hospital, and went home to take it easy.  He's been recovering pretty good.  The last couple of days though, I had to give him the stronger pain medication, b/c he's in so much pain. :-/  Hopefully he will be on the upward slope soon.

(on our way home after surgery)

Brock has been having fun with Mommy-son days, and Daddy-son days, as he can only go out with us by himself since Bronson has to remain at the house.  On Saturday I took Brock to go see Yogi Bear at the theater.  He had fun!  Then we went to the library to pick out some "movie-time" movies, books, and music.  On Sunday Brock went with Brian to run some errands and to play at the Y.  Today I got to go to my zumba class while Brock played at the Y. (Brian stayed with Bronson), and then Brock got a kid hot chocolate from Starbucks.  So he knows that we can't do a lot with Bronson, but he's having some fun one-on-one time. 

Signing off for now!

"Autism" and where we go from here

Most know, but our little Bronson as been involved in the program called First Steps for the past year.  We first signed him up for this because he wasn't walking at the time.  After we began therapy, we noticed other things that weren't quite where they needed to be developmentaly in speech and cognition.  He also was and is very sensitive sensory-wise.  He's been in speech, physical, and occupational therapy.  This is a wonderful service offered by the state of Missouri, and I encourage all parents, even if you are a little hesitant or wondering about your child's development....get them screened.  It's free of charge for the screening and they will let you know if your child could use services or not.  Early intervention is key.  Bronson has come leaps and bounds compared to when we first started and I know he will continue to.

This past week we took Bronson to his pediatric neurologist.  It turns out that he is on the autistic spectrum, but  in the middle with what is called..."PDD"-Pervasive Developmental Disorder.  This is not full blown classic autism, but has characteristics that an autistic child has, and therefore still on the spectrum.  Autism is such a BROAD range.  I really had no idea, and I will continue to learn.  I'm going to be attending a program called "Touch Point" with Bronson in February that will teach us how to interact better with Bronson and help both of us communicate better and work through things that "set him off".  If you go to the link below, click on "Olivia's Story" and it will give a great example of a little girl similar to Bronson (aside from biting), and how the program has helped them.
http://www.touchpointautism.org/

I'm so thankful that Bronson is a happy child.  He laughs, gives hugs and kisses, etc....I am SO THANKFUL for this.  We continue to count our blessings, because as with everything....things could be way worse.  We are getting him help early, and I believe that will help him reach his fullest potential.  Again, I encourage parents....don't ignore "feelings" or "possible worries or signs"....early intervention is KEY.  I'm really glad Brian and I didn't push away our thoughts....or said, "maybe he'll grow out of it", but rather sought out help, and got it.  Deep down our feelings and thoughts were right.  You might be right about your child.  You are your child's biggest advocate. 

It has been an emotional ride, but we have learned to take one day at a time.  That's what the Bible says anyways!  "Don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself".  Thank you to all our friends and family for your encouragement and help.  It has meant the world to us.  We love you.  And thank you for loving Bronson.

Firemen & E.T.

So I was heading into work tonight, I'm walking up the sidewalk and I hear sirens blaring all around.  I was like, well, they did say St. Louis was one of the most dangerous cities in the U.S.  Then my mind goes to imagining me walking in downtown New York to work, and how I would hear sirens all the time.  I walk up the steps to our building and notice the "Romano's Macaroni Grill" sign was blinking and parts of the letters were out.  I was thinking to myself...couldn't they fix that?  I mean it looks like an 'Alice's Diner' or something...way tacky.  These questions would soon be answered. 

I walk in, and then turn around because the sirens are getting louder.  Two big fire trucks pull in the parking lot....and firemen follow me in the building. Smoke is in the air and lights are flickering and buzzing.  I walk toward the back, and it's dark back there and then this man in a suit with a huge helmet is right in my face.  I yell out, whoa!  (Memories of E.T. come to mind at this time...the man in the tubes...remember?) 

They had to start evacuating the building, and boxing up food to clear the whole restaurant.  I obviously left.  I didn't get my first table, so there was no clean up for me...good bye.  I wish I could tell you what caused the electrical issue...but I have no idea.  Oh well.  Thanks for the entertainment Mac Grill!  But, no thanks for the no-money night.

ice, snow, and sunshine

Merry Christmas!  I hope everyone had a great one.  We did.  We started out our Christmas celebration about 1 1/2 weeks ago leaving for Florida.  The night before we had to travel I managed to slip on ice leaving the restaurant I work at.  His my head on the pavement and just laid there knowing I was about to see Jesus walk around the corner...for sure I was dead.  But, no, just stars...not dead, just mostly dead. (princess bride lovers?)  I went and got x-rays and looked at by a chiropractor in Tallahassee and all is well as far as emergencies go...just really bad whip lash.

Florida was great!  It was so fun to visit with family and let the boys play with their "uncles".  We had my mom and dad's Christmas on Saturday night, and Meme's Christmas on Sunday.  Monday-Wednesday we just hung out and had some play dates scheduled as well.  I liked staying up and drinking coffee with my parents and Brian after the kids were in bed, so we could chat and laugh.  Jason and I got together 3 times to practice our songs and we recorded a rough draft of all the ones we have so far.  Getting really excited about the future of our pop country duo!

After a long trip home we finally made it back to St. Louis.  I went to work on Christmas Eve, and it wasn't bad at all.  I didn't have to close, and people were in the giving spirit, so my tips were great!  After SLOWLY walking to my car, I made it home, and began setting out the Santa gifts for the boys.  I had already wrapped everything before we left for our trip for FL, so it was just a matter of setting everything out. 

Christmas morning, and day for that matter, was great.  We all stayed in our pjs the whole day, played with Santa toys, watched new movies, and made 2 pots of coffee. Brock said, "Santa is so Awesome!"  It was a great Christmas this year.  Brian and I didn't get each other anything for Christmas this year.  We used our money getting our cars fixed, and traveling, and gifts for the boys & others.  You know what?  I didn't miss a thing.  It was a GREAT Christmas.  I love seeing Christmas through their eyes, and just being with family.  Merry Christmas again, everyone!  Thank you God for sending your son Jesus so that we may have Life, and one day be with You!

Getting Excited

We leave on Thursday to make the long drive to Florida, and I am so excited!  We have so much stuff planned, yet a lot of down time as well.  It's going to make for a great vacation.  Mom is all excited about our guest room, and I'm excited to see it.  She has a bed set up for Brian and I, and a bed for the boys to share in our room to.  It has our own bathroom with shower and t.v/cable/dvd set up.  We'll be set.  Although, I'm sure we won't be spending a lot of time in there!  We're looking forward to spending time with family.  I have 2 combo play dates set up, with 2 moms at each play date with their kids.  And Jason and I are going to be getting together twice to start practicing our music that we've been writing.  I'm really excited about that.  Brian is going to be visiting some chiropractors to start thinking of business ideas.  He'll be graduated before you know it.  Saturday we have family picutres, and then I'll go see my Papa, have lunch with my bestie-cousin Alison, and then that night is our family Christmas.  The next day on Sunday, we have Meme's Christmas.  Talk about a fun tradition!  Needless to say, there will be lots of laughing, dancing, goofing off, wrestling with kids, coffee, and having FUN.  I'm excited.  FLORIDA BOUND!

Sick with 2 tornadoes

Getting sick is terrible.  Getting sick with a 4 year old and a 2 year old underfoot, and husband is in the middle of finals, so is MIA, is more terrible.  Started last night when I was at work, my back started hurting, by the time I got home every muscle in my body was aching...down to my fingers and toes.  I had a fever as well.  I'd like to think b/c I've gone through labor twice, no pain can touch that, and I'm a pretty tough girl, so sickness shouldn't bother me, right?  Yeah, I cried myself to sleep.  Probably a combination of not knowing what's wrong, feeling sorry for myself, mad that I'm sick, and just plain not feeling well. Tossed and turned all night, woke up the next morning and called the Dr. 

They told me to come in as soon as I could.  This was the one morning that Bronson decided he wanted to sleep past 9am, of course I had to encourage him to wake up so we could go.  I go to the Dr. , and the boys were good, as good to be expected with a 4 and 2 year old trapped in a small room with lots of drawers to open, switches to turn on, and computer buttons to stay away from.  After many, "Brock leave him alone", "Bronson don't touch that", "Brock, I'm not going to tell you again", "No, no Bronson don't open the door",....the Dr. finally graced us with his presence.  Turns out there really isn't an explanation on why I felt the way I did...start of a flu maybe, but overall just a viral issue.  The Dr. said, "Get as much rest as possible"...then he looks down at the boys, smiles at me and says, "easier said than done, I know".  "Take Tylenol, and Motrin for the muscle aches". 

We get back home, and I set some food out on the table for the boys, gave them their cups of chocolate milk, turned on PBS kids, and I went to bed.  You might think I'm a horrible mom for doing this....I had no other option.  I thought I was dying.  I don't know how we did it, but we made it until 5pm when Brian finally got home with 2 big bottles of Tylenol and Motrin.  He took the kids to the Y, then fed them, bathed them, and put them to bed.  I drank water like it was going out of style, and ate pretzel sticks during the day.  After resting some more, I woke up and finally felt relief. 

People were praying for me, I know.  So, with a combination of prayers, water, pretzels, rest, and some medicine,...I now feel functional.  Thank you Lord!  I don't have time to be sick... my list is pretty long of what all I need to do before Christmas vacation.  But the first on the list today was to , GET WELL.  Signing off for now, Cyber Space.  Until we meet again.