hunker down projects

On social media I see so many friends tackling big projects while they're sheltering at home. Making quilts, painting furniture, landscaping, homeschooling, cleaning out their garages.....doing big stuff.

Even though I'm still working full-time at Second Helpings, I'm not working Saturday nights at the Red Key or the occasional Sunday at Marigold. I don't have any writing deadlines, I can go to Mass on my own schedule, and any concerts or parties have been cancelled.

Since I have an abundance of energy in regular times, you'd think I'd channel it and all of my free time into painting the house or starting a novel or scanning the boxes of photographs in my closet or writing letters or organizing my Christmas ornaments or cataloging the PEZ collection....or even keeping up with Words With Friends and birthdays greetings on Facebook.

Nope.

I spent the first few weeks overwhelmed and tired. Second Helpings is doing amazing things and we were working seven days a week in a combination of onsite and at-home shifts and conference calls and planning.

Leaving the house and coming home felt exhausting. I leave my shoes and anything that I was bringing home on the porch, take my clothes off inside the door, run to wash my hands, sanitize the door knob and my keys, toss my clothes down the laundry chute, shower, sanitize my watch and jewelry and glasses, start laundry, sanitize my purse and lunch bag on the porch and fall into bed.

Not that I was sleeping well. I was waking up several times a night in a panic - taking my temperature and realizing that I was hot because the cat was laying on my head or was shivering because the blankets had fallen away. Worrying about COVID-19 symptoms messes with you dang head.

I've certainly settled down. Work has evened out. It's a true testament to how nimble Second Helpings is that we pivoted overnight in how we deliver meals to the community. Not to mention doubling the number of people that we're serving.

I'm sleeping (mostly) through the night and I no longer obsessively take my temperature (now just before I leave the house).

I was feeling guilty that I didn't have a good answer to the question that invariably comes up in Zoom meetings, "what are you doing to keep yourself busy?" Answering "laundry and keeping the cat alive" doesn't seem ambitious enough.

I finally realized that getting through this is a big enough accomplishment in itself. In order to quit feeling like an underachiever I've given myself a list of small things that I can do to feel like I've accomplished something.

This evening I separated a jar of coins from the buttons, pocket lint, and safety pins that had collected there. I went as far as rolling the pennies and separating the Euros from the Canadian coins.

Look at me go!

red

I worked at Marigold today.

It is always fun to spend the day among the pretty clothes and nice co-workers and customers.

The red jumpery piece on the right might belong to me now.

think kit day twenty-four: grateful

[Click on the title to read the full post]

Today's Think Kit blogging prompt: What are you grateful for this year?

I'm a walking ball of gratitude, so I challenged myself to narrow it down to one thing. Otherwise this would be a list of rainbows and ponies and kittens and figgy pudding.

I'm am grateful for my job with Second Helpings. 

My job combines my education (Purdue - restaurant management), experience (25+ years in the food service industry), and passion (who doesn't want to feed and educate people?).

I get to be creative and active and think outside box and make decisions on the fly. 

I have amazing coworkers and get to work with fabulous volunteers. 

And my job allows me to support myself and be active in the community. 

Yep. I'm grateful for my job.

think kit day twenty-three - switch it up

 

 [Click on the title to read the full post]

Today's Think Kit blogging prompt: Look at your surroundings as if you're seeing them for the first time – take a walk in your 'hood, explore your basement, or visit a favorite spot. What do you notice?

 

I've been thinking about my work desk a lot. My job features frequent interruptions. Sometimes for actual fires and people bleeding on my carpeting. Other times it is for a question or to tell me a story or ask me to taste something. If I had to stop and file something every single time I got interrupted I'd spend all of my time filing.

I seem to work well amid the piles and chaos. I know where everything is. Really.

I've been know to spout off this Einstein quote at anyone looking askew at my desk, "If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk a sign?

And who decided what constitutes an efficient workplace? Why can't I give a superior look to clean desks?

 

I can question the norm of clean desks forever, but the reality is that people get judgy about office cleanliness. Today has been relatively quiet so I'm spent the day cleaning the desk - or at least putting things in to neat piles.

It won't last. Trust me.

not good

It's not looking good for my work laptop. Luckily it is only a few months old and under warranty.

So now I figure that I'll only be about eight days behind in answering e-mails.

I'll bring my MacBook to work tomorrow, just in case.

summit

I'm not a big conference goer. I've never had a job where conferences are a big part of the working culture. In the last few years I was more likely to be a panelist or presenter than attendee.

It is exciting to be with other organizations who do similar things to Second Helpings, although none of us are exactly alike. For instance of the agencies attending the Catalyst Kitchens Summit we are the only ones who use all rescued food. And our training program is the shortest, at ten weeks.

I'm soaking in tons of information and ideas and hopefully sharing best practices that others can use. Day One has been great, although I'm not used to sitting still this long.

line cooking

Awesome volunteers including Mom and sister Beth

It has been a hectic week between trying to catch up from being in Austin and getting ready to leave town next week. To top it off we have the student exercise this week where the students prepare lunch to order. 

The Line Cooking days are my favorite days - I get to be the expeditor - which means that I get to be the loudest person in the kitchen, calling the orders and controlling the timing. 

We also need volunteers to act as servers and food runners. I tap in to my great list of family and friends. While the line cooking days are filled with stress they also feature a good deal of laughter. 

slingin' beers and flippin' burgers

Red Key Jukebox 

There is a cause and effect of going out of town for a week for me - three jobs to be covered. I have plenty of vacation time at Second Helpings, but between wrapping things up to leave, answering e-mails when gone, and catching up when I get back, I can quickly feel overwhelmed. I think I did I good job this time of balancing everything with the day job this time.

One of the consequences of being off last Saturday and needing this Saturday off, I had some shifts to make up for the folks that graciously covered for me.

I raced from my first day back at SH to working at the Red Key last night. And I'll do the same thing tonight. While it felt a little stressful, once I was there it was okay. I love the routine of taking orders, delivering their drinks and cooking their food and taking their money. There is satisfaction in seeing a task done from start to finish.

And I can sleep later, right?

panic

I left for the airport straight from work today.
It was weird to see my suitcase sitting next to my desk.

I don't know about you, but sometimes it is more hassle to get ready for vacation than it seems worth. It spent the whole day concentrating on getting the things on my list done - and I did it!

Made it to the first plane in time, and am now enjoying a two hour layover in Chicago. I'm starting to relax already - nothing to do with my dinner of an Irish whiskey and popcorn, I'm sure.

where's nora?

I always feel super guilty when I've neglected this blog.

I turned 50 in May. It's not so bad really.

I've been working on the Farm to Fair project that will be exhibited during the Indiana State Fair from August 4-21.

Work at Second Helpings is good and busy.

And I've been kind of, sort of hanging out with a guy. Too early to talk about, but I came home the other day and he'd mowed my grass in the 100 degree heat. How sexy is that?

icepolocypse 2011 day 6 - the super bowl edition

These sensible boots are on some stylish woman at a swanky hotel opening. I couldn't stand the snow boots one more day, so I broke out my brown 1970s Frye boots.

The JW Marriott is Indianapolis' newest upscale hotel. It has changed Indianapolis' skyline — it is now the seventh tallest building in Indianapolis.

It has been fun to watch the construction from our seats at Victory Field during the baseballs games the last two seasons.

I'm not someone who likes building for the sake of building, but the new hotel fits into the skyline. The building has a gentle curve that mirrors the center of the town, Monument Circle. 

I was invited by the opening by Risa, who was on the Bahamas trip last Super Bowl Sunday. It was almost like being in the Bahamas. With an ice storm and winter coats at a potato fork, which I still need to navigate walking up and down my driveway. The valet parking guys were kind enough to not point it out, although they had to wonder what the heck it was doing in the front seat.

You can see a photo of me and some swanky folks at the party by clicking here — we made the  Talk of our Town section of the Indianapolis Star. Society folks at our finest!

I loved seeing everyone and drinking a fancy $10 pomegranate Cosmopolitan and pretending I was one of the swells.

I feel like the article calls for a Paul Harvey, 'rest of the story' explanation.

First of all, I worked at the Red Key last night and it was 4:30 in the morning before I was showered and in bed. Up at 9:00 for a meeting at church, then 10:30 Mass, followed by working at Marigold all day. Not to mention that the ice made everything from walking to driving difficult.

At half time of the game I started to head to the washroom but decided to go to the lobby to call Dad instead. I knew that he would enjoy hearing about the new hotel, all of the televisions, who I was hanging out with and the fancy drink. 

Dad sounded a little odd and swore that he had not dipped into his homemade wine. I asked if he wanted me to drive out, and he did. Which he never does. 

I thanked my hostess and joined my friends in the valet queue. I was concerned enough that I didn't take time to go to the restroom. 

The drive to the farm from downtown took about 25 anxious minutes. 

I drove straight back to the chicken house, now repurposed to his workshop. Dad was fine and working on restoring an old cider press that he remembers using as a child. 

I was relieved that he was okay and slid back out the door to make the trek to the house and bathroom. 

I crashed through layers of ice and snow in my beautiful boots on the way to the house, falling twice. Trust me, falling in the freezing cold and struggling to stand up while having to pee is torture. Why did I leave the potato fork in the car? 

I finally made it to the house. The laundry room door was iced shut — three inched of ice kept the door from moving. I skated cross-legged and fell up the step to the kitchen door. Same deal, iced shut. 

Back to the work shop, more falling, more crashing through the ice-crusted snow, to burst into through the door. 

N: [hopping from foot to foot] Dad! How do you get into the house? 

D: [looking at me like I was nuts] What do you mean? 

N: [exasperated] How are you getting into the house?

D: I use the ski pole.

N: [shouting] What? 

D: The ski pole I found in the ditch. 

N: [with tears of frustration] How. Are. You. Opening. The. Door. To. Get. In. The. House? 

D: I wonder how a ski pole got in the ditch. It's amazing what I find out there. 

N: [screaming] Dad! I NEED to get in the house. 

D: The doors are frozen. 

N: Yes! Have you been living in the workshop this week? 

D: [looking at me like I'd said the most ridiculous thing ever] I go through the garage. 

N: [so relieved I almost wet my pants] How do you get in? 

D: Through the garage. 

N: How. Do. You. Open. The. Garage. Door? 

D: I push the button. 

N: What button. 

D: I think it says 'enter.' 

I crashed back out the door, this time following the path of the driveway, and using by best ice-skating techniques made it to the garage door. I flipped open the key pad (things are getting modern at the farm) and jabbed 'enter' with my mittened finger as hard as I could. 

Nothing. 

Absolutely nothing. 

Arrrrrrrrrrhhhhhhhhhhh. 

Remember that bad word that Ralphie said in A Christmas Story, when he was helping his dad change the tire? 

That was my mantra all the way back to the work shop. 

N: Dad! I couldn't get the garage door open!

D: Did I tell you there was a code? 

N. Nooooooo....what is it? 

D: I haven't told you the code before? 

N: I don't know....can I have it now? 

D: It's ****. Do you want the ski pole?

N: I'll be back. 

This time I took a different route. To the back of the cow barn. 

All of the practice of going to the bathroom outdoors in my farm-girl childhood paid off. The added layers of clothes and coat and sub-zero weather added to the fun. I did it. And didn't get any on my boots. 

And that is the rest of the story: from the society page to peeing behind a barn.

Ain't life glamorous? 

Dad and the damn ski pole.

icepolocypse 2011 day 3

Back to work today.

Folks need to eat.

My car is still stuck as stuck can be.

Thankfully neighbor Kipp gave me a ride to work. He picked me up at 7:30 after chipping the ice off of his truck. On the way in I commented that I couldn't believe that school was called off again, which he hadn't heard. And it meant that his office was closed too. Whoops!

The potato fork is coming in handy. I'm not sure I could walk down the hill of my icy driveway without it. Lots of salt and chipping and an hours work cleared one of the doors to Second Helpings.

We told the volunteers to stay home, but some came anyway — which was great, the staff worked in the kitchen and helped deliver the meals.

I sorted bread and desserts. I love thinking about the folks we're serving — cupcakes to the kiddos and pies to the seniors. 

Being hands-on today reminded me of the generosity of our donors and volunteers. 

Life ain't bad. 

Except for this damn ice. 

desk

While I'm a charter member of the clean plate club, my work desk does not get the same distinction.

It's a combination of things. Most of my days tend to be one long interruption.  I don't have the opportunity to file things or even stack them in to a neat pile before I get called away.

My desk also becomes a dumping spot of things that no one knows what to do with - toss it Nora's desk, she'll take care of it. I also have coworkers that are fond of printing out the e-mails that I sent them and giving them to me.

I've come to terms with the fact that I can't keep a clean desk, yet I'm very methodical with projects. It might look like hell in production, but the finished product is always stellar. 

While I don't fancy myself as an Albert Einstein, I love what he had to say about desks:

If a cluttered desk signs a cluttered mind, Of what, then, is an empty desk a sign?

So there!

When I'm done with a project, I tend to put it on the floor so when I get up I can take it to the proper place.

Today I've gotten a ton of paperwork done.

You can tell by the floor.

super!

There is a big old football game coming to Indianapolis next year. And it will take an army of volunteers to run it. I'm excited to be one of the volunteers and tonight was the first meeting of the environmental committee.  Hopefully I'll get assigned to the sub-committee that work on rescuing food from the official events.

Super Bowl XLVI - Indianapolis.

Fingers crossed that the labor dispute gets resolved.

how is it possible....

 ...that I'm qualified to speak to a senior level college class?

And maybe I'm not - but I spent an hour and a half tonight with a class focusing on nonprofits. I've learned over the course of hundreds of speeches that I do better without too many notes. I have a five minute talk about Second Helpings that I can give at the drop of a hat. It's easy to expand on all of our great programs for a more in-depth view of our agency. And it gives me a chance to throw out my best food rescue jokes. 

I was encouraged by the preparation and research the students had done and all of their great questions and the challenges to the way nonprofits are run. Before I started working for a nonprofit agency I had the thought in the back of my mind that nonprofits needed to be managed more like businesses. I've flipped that around, especially in this business climate - businesses could use the transparency of nonprofits. I am mindful that every decision I make and every dime I spend for Second Helpings needs to further our mission of feeding hungry people, training adults and rescuing food. I can't tell you how easy that makes the hard decisions.

On a side note, I was slightly distracted knowing that there were guys right outside the door playing Dungeons and Dragons - to further the stereotype, we were in the engineering building on campus. The Purdue (my alma mater) is the icing on the nerdiness cake.

work tamped down with more work

Waitress station, Red Key
Pipe [bottom right] is a chute where returnable beer bottles used to travel to basement.
Trash can [top right] is my nemesis.*

Today was a busy day of work followed by work. I've been spoiled the last few weeks and have only worked one job on Saturdays. I've tried to be protective of my Saturday afternoons, but was happy to work at Second Helpings today. 

We had some great volunteers come in and paint our training kitchen today. I couldn't paint my way out of a paper bag. I've lived in my house for over a dozen years and it has never once occurred to me to paint my walls.

Luckily, there were lots of people who did know what they were doing. I'm a damn good wet towel fetcher and spill wiper-upper. Everyone has a talent.

I raced home to clean the house. And by clean, I mean finally taking the wrapping paper to the basement and scooping the towels off of the bathroom floor. I didn't have time to ditch the vases of pine boughs or sweep or dust or put away the piles of Christmas gifts or cards. I'm ashamed to admit that I shoved some junk under the table - and it's not like you can't see under the table, but it made me feel better. Sort of like a play pen for piles of stuff.

I was doing the panic cleaning because NYC John was flying in at midnight and spending the night at my house before making the trek to his hometown. It's not like I haven't known it for days, I just thought the cleaning fairy might think it was a good time to show up.

No luck.

The Red Key was a little nuts, I got busy later in the evening, cooking right up until 10:00. Then the joint filled up with youngsters. The Red Key is doesn't serve pitchers or fancy shots so we don't get many people in their mid-twenties and early-thirties.

One of the youngsters wanted to fix me up with his dad. Who was there. That got awkward quick.

NYC John's timing was perfect. He walked in the door just as the dad was demanding my phone number. I'd admit that I didn't explain the big hug I gave John and handing him the key to my house to the group. I let everyone drawn their own conclusions.

Between youngsters, the late night, the lack of nap, the trash dumpster being across the icy parking lot and locked, I was good and grumpy by the time I got home.

A hot shower and catching up with an old friend was exactly what I needed to erase the furrow in my brow.

Life ain't so bad after all.

*that trash can is my nemesis because it has a swinging lid top and people love to stuff it to the gills. It's hard to get the bag out of and I typically have to wrestle it to the floor at 2:00 in the morning to empty it. It is bleached out the night before and there is usually bleach water at the bottom. I've ruined more skirts and pants and tee shirts because of that damn can than anything else in my 30 year restaurant career.
Sounds petty, but I'm allowed to hate one thing about my job, right? 

tgif, sort of

unexplained water on the woman's room floor

I think the winter doldrums have arrived. It's cold. It's gloomy. It's late January. I go to work in the dark and come home in the dark. Bleck. 

That said, work is going really well -- all three of the jobs. I'm especially re-energized at the main gig.

But I really enjoyed mopping today. First of all the problem was not as dramatic as advertised; Nora, the bathroom is flooding and covered with six inches of water! That got me up from the lunch table in a hurry. 

No flooding, I couldn't find the source of water, it was just one of those one-time mysterious crop circle-like dealies . The water was clear, instead of, well, you know. All and all, not bad. I've dealt with way worse.

And I enjoyed the process of mopping. I could see results — less water on the floor, more water in the bucket. 

Mop, wring the mop, mop, wring the mop, mop. 

Way more satisfying than that spreadsheet I'm working on.

flummoxed fridays

Casual Fridays confuse me.

Partly because my everyday work dress is not formal. My days are pretty unpredictable. Just this week I've done everything from shoveling snow to conducting job interviews....wait, that was all just yesterday!

Luckily, most Fridays we have guests or graduation or something that requires me to not "dress down."

Today is one of the days that I could have dressed more casually. And that confuses the Hell out of me. I usually even wear a skirt to waitress/cook in most Saturday nights.

My casual dress for today? Boots, scarf and black dress. Suspiciously close to what I wore yesterday - boots, scarf and black dress. Except that it took me three time as long to get dressed. I left a heap of jeans and sweaters and shoes on the floor.

Maybe I should add wearing jeans to my goals for 2011 list.

[meet the artist behind the Farm to Fair project: Douglas David]

indiana state fair day 15 - 2010 edition

Not every day at the State Fair can be a, well, day at the fair.
Read about my misadventures by clicking here.

indiana state fair day 10 - 2010 edition

Today's adventures included two trips to the Indiana State Fair with a shift at Marigold tossed in the middle. 

Read all about what I did at the Fair by clicking here.