I have no topic for this. I've just had an impromptu gathering at my house, or rather my hot tub. I made the mistake of lamenting to Manuel (one of the chefs) that my feet hurt, and I planned to go home and soak myself. He asked if he could come, and the next thing I know, I've invited half a dozen people to hot tub. 4 show up, plus my sister and myself. The boys brought corona. My mother was not impressed of course, but she didn't mind too much as long as my SISTER DIDN"T HAVE ANY. I didn't let her. You're welcome. (I know you're reading this Dad) I tried one. With lime. Not bad. Made it last and hour and forty five minutes. I'm not a fan of beer in general. Smells funny. It was fun -- probably not a party in the sense that they are used to, but at least I got to know the restaurant staff. Interesting that in a party of servers, cooks, and cocktail waitresses, the cocktail waitress knew the least about alcohol. Well, I would be a teetotaler if it wasn't for strawberry daquiris. Very tasty. Much better than corona -- even with lime. Maybe salt would help. I have the feeling that everyone is going to think I'm a lush now. I'm really not. Too much of a lightweight. We had a wine tasting today for the new house wines, and I had to ask Juan to finish my glasses because I sure as heck couldn't juggle orders with nearly a glass of wine under my belt. I dont' think I could walk with a glass of wine under my belt, much less get any for anyone else. Speaking of which -- let me put in a plea for all of the servers everywhere. Please tip generously. We work really hard, even when things are going slow. That usually means we're busy. We don't work for the wages, we work for the tips. It makes our day. On behalf of waitresses everywhere, goodnight. I have to serve BBQ tomorrow.

I've finally found a movie with Hugh Grant in it that he actually acts. Well, that goes to far. He acts exactly the same as he has in every movie -- but it's palatable this time. Sense and Sensibility. Very Good. Emma Thompson. Alan Rickman. You can't miss!

Oh, and my current total of "books I've bought since I've been home" is 27. Someone stop me......

I found a new book. Shocking I know. It's called the "Father Brown" series, by G. K. Chesterton. Check it out. And if you can't find it (it's rather out of print) then borrow my copy. Combine Sherlock Holmes with the Mitford Series.....that's what it's like. A must read! That's all for now....

I just heard from a friend that Mrs. Anders passed away. This woman and especially her family are amazing, and deserve recognition -- even if only here. Mrs. Anders had Multiple Sclerosis for almost two decades. Her husband is one of the bravest, most selfless man I've ever met. He raised both of their children, worked more than full time in a job that required hours of driving, and spent the rest of his time taking care of his wife, who quickly regressed to the point that she couldn't move, speak, or eat. She was determined to survive long enough to see her oldest daughter graduate. Crissie graduated in 1999. Crissie is to be married in September, and her son Chad graduates in 2003. I can't think of anything more to say in tribute that won't sound trite. They all are an amazing example of how hardships bring out the best in people.

More work nightmares. I was followed around today by a duo of 6-year-olds who decided my name was "Room Service." "Where are you going room service? Whatcha doin'?" They told me all about their day and learning how to swim, and how they got to see the horsies. I finally got away from them by pretending to join them in a game of 'run-around-the-room-screaming' and then making use of the nearest exit. Strange children.

The inevitable has happened. For all you music majors out there, do you remember how you had to learn to play "Happy Birthday" in 5 different keys. And we all thought, "yea right -- when will I be in the middle of a happy birthday emergency." Tonight our pianost took a break, and they wanted me to try to play it. She saved me just in the nick of time. Darn it, the music school wins again. One point for the list-of-hoop-jumping-activities-that-have-no-basis-in-real-life-club.

It's been an interesting three days...Matt and his mom kidnapped me and took me with them on their random trek through southern CA. It began with a near death experience as a car veered out of control on the freeway and came within inches of taking us out four times. All sorts of fun. Then onto Los Angeles. Saw Mann's Chinese Theater, the hollywood museum (Got my picture taken in Captain Picard's chair), and ate at a pizza place called "Earth, Wind and Flour." Ate with a nice Jewish family (friends of Matt), who I was worried about offending if I ordered Ham and pineapple toppings. Nope, they dug in too when it looked like the three of us at the other end weren't going to finish. The next morning we woke up too early and drove to San Fransisco for Matt's audition with the head of Merola. I was supposed to be dropped off en route, but the detour would have taken too long, so somehow I ended up heading 5 hours north -- and having to be at work 28 hours later. During Matt's audition, I got my reward for spontenaiety -- Brenda let me go to Nordstrom's half yearly sale -- bought a lovely new pair of shoes. Steve Madden. Red. 5 inch wooden platform heel. Brenda calls them "Barbie goes to woodshop." That evening we checked into a kitchy little hotel, and ate seafood at a restaurant with jellyfish on the walls. Then we got a call from a lady in Santa Ynez that she'd gotten us into an audition the next day in Santa Barbara at 10. So after 4 hours of sleep we were back in the car driving 5 1/2 hours south. Turned out that she'd gotten her days mixed up, and unless Matt and I decided to learn an instrument on the drive down there wasn't much chance of them wanting to hear us. Not much to do except drive back home, put on my uniform and go to work. Exhausted. Anyway -- that was the last three days!

I have been in the south too long. I went to Mannie's (my favorite mexican restaurant in town) to meet a guy for lunch. When I got there, not only did he not pull my chair out for me, he didn't even bother to stand up while I sat down. I stood behind my chair for a moment, and then realized that he wasn't going to do anything about it, and so I sat myself down. He did pay for the meal, which was nice of him. Afterwards he offered to drop me off at work so I could get my car. He walked around the side of the building, down a steep embankment and over several small concrete walls -- by the way very difficult to navigate in a long skirt and four inch platform shoes. Then we got to his car -- an SUV. He held out his clicker, unlocked the doors and got in. I'm left on the passenger side strangely ticked off that he didn't bother to open the door for me, and now I'm in the perilous predicament of how to catapult myself into my seat. (the irony here was 4 years ago I considered it the hight of self-sufficiency to be capable of managing that very task, with a broken foot no less). Anyway...how strange.....

Another day of work finished. More pretentious people. I really like my job -- just hate the people that come in. One man today wished to have a wine presentation (meaning he buys a non-house wine bottle and wants it poured correctly -- swishing and sniffing and all that). First he wanted to get my attention, so he stood half up and waved his arms like a soccer mom with a lost child. As I walked over he commented to the smugly dressed lady with him how slow the service is. Then he made snitty comments about servers in general as I was uncorking the bottle. Has anyone read in Jane Eyre where the entire house-party speaks of how horrible governesses are "for her benifit." It felt rather like that. So I finished the one bottle and brought the second. The man pointedly ignored me for nearly a minute as I stood there waiting for him to approve his wine choice. Then I had to open it -- and the darn cork broke. Terrific. I get a tirade about how corks only break if the wine is improperly stored (Actually it broke because I'm still fairly incompetant with a wine opener). Finally everyone at that table had wine, and his parting shot was to inquire why the other table didn't have wine yet. (Obviously because the server was busy serving his own freaking table...blech).



On the other side of things we had some new money in. Painfully new. Picture Molly Brown in the tea party. That kind of brash. She was wearing nice clothes that still managed to look like trailer trash, and her children's several hundred dollar dresses managed to look like Walmart Special. They came in loudly, tried to talk to guests at the next table, the children were running around screaming and climbing over things, and the woman kept making comments like "how does this menu work?" Pretty much like a normal menu. Anyway. Quite a contrast.