I paid off a student loan!

It's a little one, and I've been paying diligently on that bastard for 10 years, but still--I finally paid off a student loan. Go me!

I also transferred the balance on one of my Bank of America credit cards to a 0% one, and cancelled the two open B of A credit cards. Now I am officially no longer a customer of Bank of America, in any form. That feels pretty good. I'm feeling all fiscally responsible this week, even after the dentist told me I would need $976 worth of dental work (out-of-pocket) in the next two months.

In other news, I'm definitely not pregnant. I start another round of Clomid today.

So it begins! 2012's container garden

Yesterday I planted most of this year's container garden.

As you may remember, last year, we were living in a house in the 'burbs, with a huge backyard. I turned most of that backyard into a garden, planting all kinds of things. I ended up with a bumper crop of tomatoes, but I had to kill 31 chipmunks to do it, and it was an awful lot of work. I also spent $760 on everything (seeds, weedeater, hoe, rake, shovel, pitchfork, buckets, hose, seed-starting lights and equipment, potting soil, etc.), and you know, $760 will buy an awful lot of tomatoes.

Of course, last year I didn't know that I wouldn't be able to put in a garden this year--those costs, especially for the gardening equipment, would have amortized out. This year, since we're in the city, in an apartment, I'm back to container gardening. Fortunately, I have a ton of containers, and lots of seed left over from last year, so my gardening costs this year so far are a grand total of $21.60 (for seeds and Miracle Gro).

I dumped out the old potting soil, mixed it with some fertilizer, and redistributed it amongst all the pots, with a sprinkle of seed-starting dirt. I planted spinach and cilantro outside (the mild winter means that hopefully I'll have a crop of spinach in a few weeks), and herbs inside: basil (regular and purple), parsley, sage, thyme, tarragon, rosemary, marjoram, dill, lavender, chives, oregano, lovage, sorrel, and purslane. I had a few stragglers from last year, puny-looking but still alive, that I hope to revitalize with Miracle Gro. If not, I'll replant those too.

I'm hoping my $20 investment will bring me hundreds of dollars worth of fresh herbs (and spinach) in the months to come.

Through the fire

This was a crazy weekend.

Well, week.

Let's start with Valentine's Day. I worked that night (after all, my hubby and I are old married people, and he was working late too). It was very busy at the restaurant, as you might expect. Made good money.

Then Thursday and Friday were dead. Slooooooooooooowww. I actually got cut at 8 pm on Friday (which is unheard of), but it allowed me to have some bone marrow at the bar, and have a drink out with a friend like a normal person. Still home by 10:30.

Saturday night, we were slammed. We ran our asses off all night long. Great money, but didn't get home until 1 am. We sat 104 people, which in a restaurant with 12 tables, is a lot.

Oh, but then. Then came Sunday brunch.

I have never, ever, been that busy waiting tables.

Not even at that dive bar in college, right before last call. Not on any holiday. Not during any special party.

We sat 125 people during a four-hour brunch.

With two servers, one bartender, no hostess, and half a busboy. (I say half, because he's still new, and not very fast.) Saturday night we had three servers, two bartenders, and a hostess. So we sat more people, in less time, with less than half the staff.

Oh, and we lost a server on Saturday night, because her dad had just had a heart attack, and we had to replace the bartender Sunday morning--in the middle of all that rush--because she had a stomach virus and was projectile-vomiting.

But everything turned out okay. Even though people had to wait for a table, everyone was pleasant about it. Everyone got their food in a timely manner, everyone got enough coffee/water/whatever, nothing got dropped or spilled, and no one complained. We made 20% in tips (everyone could see us running our asses off), and several people praised the music (we were doing Power Ballad Brunch).

So I figure I am now, officially, a fully professional waiter. If I could get through those two shifts, back to back, with six hours of sleep, and come out on the other side with 20% tips, no screwed-up orders, and no unreasonable wait times for any of the customers, I figure I can handle anything.

It goes without saying that as soon as we were done on Sunday, I went out and got drunk. I hated humanity so much right then. Fortunately, a friend of mine stopped in to eat at the bar; I made her stick around until we were all done, and then we all went out for shots and beer. It ended up back at my place, in front of a movie, with a pile of junk food.

My hubby worked every day this weekend, for hours at a stretch, and he claims his schedule will be like that until probably the end of the year. Which sucks. But if he's going to be working that much, I might as well be working that much as well--by getting another restaurant job. I could use the money.

It may be time for me to take the next step, and upgrade to a four-star establishment, the kind of restaurant with a tasting menu and a wine list like a book. 

My hubby's first game!

DH's company has released their first game, to great acclaim. Check out this review from the New York Times!

Clomid, part 2

Here's how the Clomid thing works. I take five pills, one a day for five days, at the end of my period. Then I get bloodwork and an ultrasound to see where things are. Repeat as necessary. I had three ultrasounds and three rounds of bloodwork to determine that I'm ovulating right about now. So we'll see what happens.

Mostly there haven't been any side effects, but I have been feeling particularly tired lately, without much of an appetite. I'm not sure if that's due to the Clomid, or if it's just a February thing.

In other news, I got a new haircut yesterday. I haven't decided if I like it, or if I have mom hair.

Things I've learned from working in a restaurant

1. No one ever pushes their chairs in when they leave. Why not? Were you all raised in a barn?

2. You can never tell who the big tipper is going to be. Last night it was a fat guy on a possible blind date with a very young, very sluttily dressed girl. (Almost 40%.) Last weekend it was the guy having a fight with his wife, who didn't touch his food. (Almost 80%.) The converse of that, of course, is that you can never tell who the crappy tipper is going to be. Chances are excellent it will be the old couple, drinking coffee with steak, who want to take the bread home, but not necessarily. I've had the old couple tip 12%; I've had them tip 25%. You never know.

3. You'd be surprised how many people get upset when they just waltz into a restaurant at 7:30 on a Saturday night, expecting to get a table immediately, and can't.

4. If someone refuses to eat the head-on shrimp "because they have eyes," they will not want to eat the bone marrow risotto or the beef heart ragu. Trust me on this.

5. It is low-class to order a burger, made with organic, grass-fed beef, dripping with caramelized onions, cheddar cheese, and Russian dressing, and then ask for ketchup.

6. If you don't like something, it really is okay to say you don't like it. (In nice restaurants, anyway; I'm not sure I'd try this at Applebee's.) We want you to like the food, to have an amazing experience. If you order something and it's just not what you expected, we'll make you something else and not charge you for the first thing. Really. Ditto for cocktails.

7. No one ever places their silverware properly when they're done eating, either. When you're done eating, you place your fork, tines down, and knife together at the 4:00 position on your plate. That way, I know to come over and take your plate away. If you put the fork and knife back down beside your plate, or on the bread plate, or over to one side, or you just leave your fork embedded in the food, I will think you're still trying to eat it. Again: was everyone raised in a barn?

8. Restaurant workers wear those god-awful ugly clogs for a reason. My back, and feet, were killing me all the time until I broke down and bought a $100 pair of god-awful ugly clogs, specially designed for restaurant workers. No more back and foot pain.

9. Restaurant food tastes amazing for primarily two reasons: lots of butter, and high heat. Our baked chicken doesn't taste like your baked chicken at home, because we can fire it in an 800-degree oven, giving it a particularly crispy skin without drying out the middle. Then we can melt half a stick of butter over it.