I'm Here Sometimes

I’ve been home for a week. Well, come tomorrow it will be a week. 

I feel like it has gone so fast and I’m becoming very anxious about how I’m going to schedule my remaining two weeks before I need to go back to school for three weeks of fencing. Yes. Three weeks consisting only of fencing. No classes. No clubs. No assignments. Just fencing; five days a week, six hours a day. 

Anyway, this week has been filled with work. As soon as my mother could put an apron on me, I was in the bakery filling cannolis and carrying trays and doing anything and everything my mom barked at me. The holidays are always very busy for the bakery, as I’d imagine every store is busy. The preparation for the bombardment of customers that will arrive on Christmas Eve and stragglers of Christmas Day is tedious and long. We stand for a majority of the day, only bending our knees to sit for lunch, squat down for something, use the stairs, or take a bathroom break. Constantly being on your feet can take a toll on your feet and legs. My feet are pretty sore and my shins have inconsistently been giving me problems for the last few months. I’ve resorted to wearing these clunky clogs in an effort to sustain the well-being of my lower limbs. 

The days are long, and I marvel at the dedication of my mother, uncles, brother, and some of the other girls and guys that are there before opening to midnight, roughly hours 7 AM to 12 AM and sometimes later. Even though I came to work late today (11 AM), I still managed to fit in 12 hours. You are constantly moving, constantly stacking or filling or carrying or painting or rolling or cupping or sugering something. It’s constant. 

There is something about repetitive, manual work that I like. I would prefer to stack cookies than to talk on the phone with costumers. I like to think of myself as the packing mule; the one doing all the handy work and filling in the gaps where a worker is needed. It’s an Renaissance-Man sort of job. I work the men’s table (old traditions remain, but can be broken), I buttercream cakes, I bring things to the post office, I wing butterflies and soak babas. I learn to do a little bit of everything. Well. Not everything. I’m not very good with working the counter. I stay away from the counter on the holidays. People get a little scary when it’s Christmas Eve and they want their lobster tails. Really want them. 

Meh. My computer is dying. I’m sleepy. I just want to talk to my girlfriend and make time to see her and see my other friends and get some fencing in and maybe go to the gym a few times and visit my high school properly and other things. But for now, I’ll just sleep. Because before you know it, it’s going to be 6:30 AM and I’ll be in my apron and chunky clogs by 7 AM, filling cakes. 

On the bright side, there are really only three more days of bakery madness. 

I mean, I have no reason to complain about my Christmas Break so far. There are worse things happening in the lives of other. But, to be honest, I am tired. I will keep these events entirely factual.

Thursday

• wake up at 9 am.
• Fencing practice: 12 pm-2:30 pm.
• Work at the bakery: 3 pm-10 pm.
• Shower.
• Sleep by 1:30 am.

Friday: Christmas Eve

• wake up at 6:30 am.
• Work at Bakery from 7 am-8:30 pm.
• Go to Shauna’s house for shower.
• Watch “Miss. Congeniality” but not finish it.
• Church from 10:30 pm.-11:30 pm. (almost falling asleep)
• Sleep at 12:30 am.

Saturday: Christmas

• Wake up at 6:30 am.
• Work at Bakery from 7 am.-3 pm.
• Go home and take shower.
• Nap from 4:30 pm.-6:30 pm.
• Go to hospital to visit Josephine from 7 pm.-8:45 pm.
• Dinner at 9 pm.
• Watch Mythbusters and drift in and out of sleep from 11 pm.-12 am.
• Finally go to bed after mom forces me to at 12:30 am.

All in all

• All work hours include no sitting. My legs and feet hurt.
• Working at the bakery has killed my hands, as does winter weather. They are so dry that I’ve got bloody knuckles from making a fist and have multiple other little cuts here and there. Had about 4 band aids on when working. My hands hurt.
• I ate pretty well when working. Thank goodness.
• I am alive and well.
• I have my family.
• I got money and 2 shirts for Christmas. That is all. And that’s just fine with me.
• Josephine hopefully comes home from the hospital today or tomorrow. I can’t imagine what it’s like to be a 6 year old that has to have rounds of chemo in a hospital during Christmas. She didn’t believe Santa would come to her, but he did. There was a big Barbie house in her hospital room.
• I drank my chai tea last night. Finally.
• Oh, and SNOW TODAY!