truth – Page 12 – 2 Chicks and a blog

Mother’s Day Moments

May 18, 2020 2chicksandapen

Mother’s Day during the pandemic. I wasn’t really sure what to expect. Honestly, many Mother’s Days in our home pass without too much fanfare. My own Mom is no longer alive and some years are harder than others. It’s also one of the busiest days of the year at our family’s restaurant, and often that is the focus. More years than not I spend working at the restaurant just to help be sure people are happy. (This doesn’t really bother me. I always say those are the kind of days that pay my kids’ college tuition. This year it’s more like my mortgage, but you get the idea.) I worked this year as well.

It may not surprise you that the gifts I often enjoy most are cards. Taking time to write someone a meaningful note is a rare treasure. I’ve gotten several amazing cards and letters from my kids in the past years. When my youngest asked me what I wanted for Mother’s Day, I said “fifteen pound dumbbells” with a belly laugh. Stores have been out of fitness equipment for months since many have set up home gyms during corona. But then I just told her my real answer: a card. Honestly, I don’t expect anything, especially right now.

So the night before Mother’s Day, when my son asked me if I would be around in the morning, I had no idea what to expect. There would be a delivery, he said. I was touched by the very thought that he would have something delivered. I figured maybe it would be flowers, since I do have a great love for unique blooms. I was floored when a bag was dropped on my doorstep and I pulled out this amazing super sparkly tumbler he had made just for me. Yes, it’s awesome and I love the Georgia Bulldogs. But even more amazing is the fact that only about 5 days earlier I had complained about needing a bigger insulated cup to increase my water consumption. My workplace closure has brought my water intake way down since I don’t have my infused water any longer. So not only is it a personal design, it showed that he heard me and responded. What a heartwarming gift!

My middle daughter made our whole family dinner on the Monday after Mother’s Day. She made tacos, which are my food love language. Fresh guacamole, all the fixin, and she is a healthy eater herself so it was all more or less in my eating goals. Even protein baked goods for dessert! She also gave me some lovely hydrangeas, some of my favorite flowers, and a candle in my second favorite scent. (That’s a story for another post). Finally, a card with all kinds of beautiful words. It was a beautiful, thoughtful evening.

Lastly, in an unexpected turn, my youngest walks in the house with a pair of…you guessed it…15 pound dumbbells. I was in shock. She went to two stores…the first had nothing. The second had all of 3 dumbbells and unbelievably they were fifteen pounders. Ah-May-Zing. !!!! I’ve already used them several times. Yay for less frustration in workouts.

Of course I saved all the cute little handprint and rhyme Mother’s Day gifts from their elementary school days. They are precious! But to be heard, seen, and known as an individual with interests, goals, and preferences by my kids is a different sort of celebration, and in some ways all that much sweeter.

inspire, perspective

Excitement

May 17, 2020 2chicksandapen

Who doesn’t like a little excitement in their life? Who doesn’t get excited on a regular basis?

A big vacation starts tomorrow. The feeling of excitement hits you and sleep is no longer an option. The first day of school is upon you. Many emotions pass through your mind but one is definitely excitement to see what the day will hold. A birth of a new family member. Nerves are a-blazing but excitement is in the air. The examples are limitless in my mind.

Excitement is around us. It’s a word but also a feeling. Some show it visibly differently than others and that is okay. For me excitement is easily visible and can even be contagious.

My eyes light up. My curiosity is sparked. My brain fires on all cylinders. I engage others around me. Excitement is a stimulant to me in a way that many may not understand.

I feel excitement in my core and it radiates around me. I can wake up excited for the day where others are slow off the block or need coffee for arousal. This is what I mean when I say I feel excitement in my core. No dusting off needed to arouse my excitement, it sits at the core of my existence.

Some days it’s shaken and stirred. Other days the excitement becomes an inferno. It’s somewhere in between the reckless inferno and shaken when my mind works the best.

I am excited today and thus I decided to write. I often write in the morning when my senses are awakened with excitement. Content flows. Ideas go into the journal. Plans are made. Action is taken. Most of which happens before one gets up and has their morning coffee.

I am fond of the word excitement. It’s part of my aura. It’s part of my story. For now I will take my excitement off this page and into the world as it awaits. And there are some folks out there in the world that don’t appreciate my excitement. I have to assume it’s because their life is boring but I waste no time on that negativity. I just do me. Exciting me whenever possible.

I hope the word excitement has sparked some thought for you today. The post was meant to send you in that direction of excitement.

perspective

The Elevator

May 15, 2020 2chicksandapen

You will find this gem of an elevator in a building in downtown Atlanta, GA. It serves a purpose of hauling freight, equipment, people and so on up and down throughout a day. Sounds simple and practical, right?

Of course it’s simple and practical but I wonder how sanitary it is in the corona age we live. Do these surfaces get the wipe down we see at the front door? I am probably sure I know the answer to this. Is there any smell lingering? Is it vile piss or fragrant flowers? Are there any foreign bodies stuck to the walls?

The long forgotten access door. Is it the gate to hell? It’s designed to be a work horse. It gets the job done but it’s ugly and borderline creepy. The mystery behind the door and all the folks that crossed its path has struck my curiosity and thus you are reading this post.

Tucked away from the main stream of day-to-day hustlers. Abundant scratches, gouges and scuff marks showing its wear and age. The abuse this elevator sees in a day. The laborers that visit it during the day. The dirty jobs that pass through behind the scenes like trash disposal for example.

If this door could talk what would it say? What would be on the surface of the buttons if somebody tested it today? Is it a safe area to pass by? So many questions about the door to the elevator. The spooky door.

I stare blankly at the dirty door of mystery and a million questions run through my mind. Would there be blood from somebody jamming their finger lingering? Would there be snot from a recent sneeze or cough? How many dirty doors like this are in back alleys, basement buildings and so on?

just a random post for a random day.

perspective

Stripping the Fun Stuff Away

May 14, 2020 2chicksandapen

The return to “normal” has begun. Gyms, restaurants, hair salons, sports leagues, bowling alleys, summer camps and a host of other businesses have gotten the green light to open their doors. Yay! (right?)

Of course, nothing is really normal and the “new normal” has already lost it’s luster (if it ever had any). Opening business doors often comes along with an eye-popping list of new restrictions.

Both the chicks have recently given their views on restaurant dining.

Like restaurants, for many businesses, industries, and institutions, it’s still a strange time. We are all figuring it out on the fly, customers included. I’ve noticed that in some cases, we are stuck trying to do the hard parts but the fun parts are what we miss now. Here are a few examples:

Gyms are starting to reopen. But, I never really stopped working out. I’m still exercising in my basement or on the pavement most mornings due to financial and work constraints. Some lifting, some cardio, some basic bodyweight movement, Heroes on Mondays. I get my exercise in one way or another.

Is it the same? Yes and no. Yes, I get my movement in. But some of the most enjoyable parts of the gym experience are gone. I don’t see friends and like-minded people. I don’t get coaching. I don’t get to use all the great equipment. I don’t get the occasional coffee and breakfast after with friends. Sure, I don’t miss certain things about the gym, but some of the parts that made it fun and special (and the hard parts less hard) can’t be replicated in my home.

My work is a similar situation. I am a librarian that teaches in an elementary school. We left school for a long weekend in mid-March, not knowing that students and most teachers wouldn’t return this year. Instead, we’ve been teaching and learning online for almost 9 weeks.

Are we getting the job done? Yes and no. Yes, there are lessons and many teachers working extremely hard to connect with students and families. Yes, there is learning happening. But, some of the parts that make school fun and meaningful are stripped away. Field day. End-of-year culminations of work and celebrations. Social time at lunch and recess on the playground. Working shoulder-to-shoulder to finish a puzzle or create something together. For me, it’s just walking through the library with a student and helping them find a great book.

Or reading a funny or suspenseful picture book to a live Kindergarten audience, laughing and responding together in that moment. Nothing replaces those. And those are some of the things that make school worth going to for many kids (not to mention food, etc.) Instead, online school often seems like a lot more of the work and a lot less of the fun stuff that makes school special. (And yes, this is about the teachers, too. I miss the energy of my students! Computer screens, while helpful, don’t cut it for connection!)

On the flip side, there are also students and families who aren’t built for distance learning. Some have limited or no access to technology. Some need the structure and surroundings and encouragement of others working. Some need the social benefits. Some need the food and care that come along with being at school. Some parents are working from home while also trying to manage multiple children learning online. It is all extremely stressful. School isn’t working for many, and it is definitely not the same even for those getting by.

Then, there are the fun things that are just not happening anymore at all. Most notably for me are travel plans for myself and my family, and races I was training for. Pleasure travel by anything other than car seems risky (and if you take a road trip, where do you stay overnight?)

I was sad that the triathlon I was training for got canceled. They can’t guarantee safety and I am sure liability is also a big part of that decision. Would I have wanted to participate in some sort of sanitized race? I had mixed feelings about the virtual 10K I ran recently. Although it wasn’t terrible since I was able to do it with friends, I missed the trip to Nashville, the mass of runners, all the spectators and the thrill of race day. It just wasn’t the same. I may still do a virtual version of the triathlon at some point since I am already training. But, some things just can’t be replaced. You can’t take away some of the most fun and challenging parts and expect a similar experience. Again, some of the most fun stuff of life is stripped away. And it is hard not to be bogged down in the frustration and sadness of it all.

You can’t recreate the Mona Lisa with a Magic Marker. It just isn’t the same. And will it ever be the same? What do I expect? I don’t know. I know many people are trying their best. I know many people disagree about how all of this is being carried out. Frankly, between dealing with that personal and political drama and the abundance of the day-to-day changes, I am exhausted at times. The fun stuff buoys me along and there is so much less of that. Nonetheless, I want to try to find the celebration in the irritation. Today, I realized I would have never bought my road bike if I hadn’t set the triathlon as a goal. My bike has been a huge part of my sanity through the stay-at-home orders. So there is a bit of sunshine.

It’s hard not to wonder when things will get back to some kind of regularity. What will things look like on the other end? When can we plan a race, some pleasure travel? When will I be able to read to kids again? When is the finish line of this mess? I can budget my energy if I have a finish line in sight. But now we are in the long middle miles when it’s hard to stay energized and forward moving.

I think it’s ok to pout as long as you don’t wallow in it. Acknowledge the loss then move on. It might be easier if we knew the story had a happy ending. I can deal with suspense as long as it gets resolved. I have to believe that day will come. Maybe not quite happily ever after, and maybe this is a heck of a long chapter, but it will be resolved.

business, challenges

A View From Behind the Mask

May 11, 2020May 12, 2020 2chicksandapen

I don’t bring it up often, but my family is in the restaurant business. My husband and I met when I came to work at his family’s restaurant when I was 20 years old. I was taking a mental health break from college for a semester and needed a job, so I stumbled in to a local restaurant and ended up working there on and off for over a decade. That’s a story for another time.

Suffice it to say, I have worked the front of the house in a restaurant for a lot of my life. Server, bartender, hostess, manager, banquet server, retail sales, I’ve done it. I have learned that it is not the life for me. (Add that to the list of stories for another time.) Still, my husband’s restaurant is a huge part of our family economy, so there are certain days every year when I go to work and pitch in. Father’s Day, Oktoberfest celebrations, and so on. Mother’s Day is usually one of those days.

As you likely know, the restaurant business has been radically changed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Many establishments are closed. Others are trying take-out, delivery, family-style offerings, and whatever else they can cook up. Heck, some are even offering grocery-style shopping. Pivoting quickly to focus on survival.

It was just recently that Georgia decided to allow restaurant dining rooms to open with detailed, extensive safety measures and very limited capacity. We are lucky to have a restaurant with a large dining room. Other restaurants may not even be able to try to open their dining areas just because of the safety measures and square footage requirements.

This Mother’s Day was the first time our dining room had been open in well over a month. My daughter and I were pinch hitting to help things run smoothly. Here are just a few of the rules: Paper menus instead of plastic sleeves so they could be disposed of each use. Gloves…I think I changed my gloves 50 times during a 6-hour shift. No bringing pitchers to the table to refill any drinks. Just bring a new fresh glass. Spread guests out at every third table or so. No groups over six people, which is often the minimum number for many tables on Mother’s Day at our place. Deep cleaning all surfaces…we scrubbed tabletops and every part of every chair anyone touched with sanitizer all shift. Since we couldn’t use our typical tablecloths, this was a lengthy chore. When done, we left a card on the table letting customers know it had been thoroughly cleaned.

Maybe the biggest change was the masks. I had a coworker from my school make me cloth masks to wear a while ago. They are more or less comfortable. They are much better than the awkward constricting bandana I tried at the beginning of corona. Still, after a while with the mask on you find yourself breathing differently. It’s always sweaty and warm under there. I was breathing more heavily, like I was working out or something, after just a minute with the mask on. It was a relief to take it off every once in a while, or just let my nose peek out for 30 seconds or so. Apparently it’s even worse if you wear glasses.

I wondered, could people tell if I was smiling at them? I do smile with my eyes but I’m still not sure. (No comment on my overgrown eyebrows which are tragic, or the bags under my eyes!) I wore more eye makeup thinking that would be the part people could see.

I learned quickly that most guests couldn’t understand what I was saying, so I spoke less and less as the shift wore on. I hardly wished anyone Happy Mother’s Day, which is usually a big part of my job being the “Comfortable Committee” on those days. I suppose I was just caught up in the strangeness of it all. It didn’t feel festive. Not many dressed for church. No tables filled with gifts or flowers for the Moms. Only a handful of photos taken. The dining rooms weren’t crammed with smiling faces. (And we are usually wall-to-wall with a waiting list for hours on Mother’s Day.) It felt tense, with our focus on staying safe and sterile over warm and welcoming. It is what is needed right now. We want our customers to feel safe with us. Still, it is very different than the atmosphere in most years.

Just an insider’s view of what it’s like to work in a restaurant for Mother’s Day during the pandemic. Thankfully, we had quite a few people dine with us and many families took brunch and sweets to go. This daily income is truly a lifeline for your local restaurants.

Sadly, when I got home from working, I read a long string of complaints and disappointments on social media from people who had waited hours for food ordered from major chains. Steakhouses, southern cooking, seafood, you name it. All took enormous numbers of online orders and the system broke down. People waited and waited, no one answering the phone, no one updating them. When only a few miles away we had tables sitting empty and cooks and servers ready to make great food! It won’t always be perfect, but please give your local places a chance.

Our family’s place has been the site of engagements, weddings, showers, celebrations of all kinds and so many other special occasions. Please support those quirky, unique little places now. Support the ones that hold your memories, even if it is a little strange to do these days. If they are able to open at all, they are likely working their tails off to keep you safe and keep their business alive and employees working. If you can, please dine with your favorite local places! Support the places you want to see come out the other side of this challenge with your dollars, your social media buzz, and any other support you can offer.