Farewell, my trusty KitchenAid

I think my KitchenAid is dying.

If so, it's had a good life. I've used it almost daily for ten years. I've lugged it into eight different residences, bought and replaced various attachments, and taken a screwdriver to it more than once. I've definitely gotten my money's worth out of it (especially since it was a gift in the first place).

But now, there's something not quite right with it. The top part is sagging, so that the attachments scrape the bottom of the bowl. I've tightened, and loosened, all the screws, to no avail. Also the top wobbles from side to side.

I think it's time to bid a fond farewell and upgrade to the Professional series, with the six-quart bowl.

New nephew!

This news got sort of buried, so I'm giving it a post of its very own. I have a new nephew! Luke William, born last week, 8 lbs 15 oz. Mother and baby are doing fine.

Isn't he a cutie?

Here he is with his big sister, my niece Leah. (No, they did not intentionally name their children Luke and Leah as an homage to Star Wars, though that of course was the first thing I thought.)

Back to work

The good thing about being on vacation for a week is catching up on all your sleep.

The bad thing is that all your working muscles get soft and lazy.

My first night back at work after more than a week away was about what I expected. I made a few mistakes (nothing major), and I was dead tired by the end of the night. My leg/foot/back muscles were no longer used to the punishment that is working in a restaurant.

But the good news is that by next week, I'll be a full server. No more training for me! I'm graduating in the big leagues, where I'll be making the big money.

And not a moment too soon--this month has been particularly lean, what with missing a week of income.

Also, things are a lot easier now that I'm no longer temping mornings at the law office. I can get enough sleep, I can get things done around the house, I can eat a full meal like a normal person before I leave for work instead of having to eat on the run all the time.

Vacation

It's been a great week. We've been vacationing with DH's family in Missouri, and there is nothing better than a week without work, with your hubby. Neither one of us is working, or stressed, or trying to catch up on stuff before work. I'm sleeping a normal amount, at normal hours, eating at normal mealtimes, and not spending 10 hours a day on my feet. I've even had enough time to read--I've plowed through a whole stack of books.

But the best news is that I have a new nephew! Luke William was born on April 11, at 3:36 am, 22 inches, 8 lbs 15 oz. My sister is doing fine (20 hours of labor with no drugs; ooof), and baby Luke appears to resemble his sister. I'm going to call him Cool Hand Luke. He was two weeks and a day overdue.

We've also spent quality time with my stepson, who is now firmly on the edge of adolescence. He's taller, thinner, and seems much more centered. He talks more (and has thrown out some surprising witticisms), and doesn't do as much weird stuff (like running around the backyard by himself, flapping his arms and making robot noises). We're attempting to make summer plans, and we're hoping to take him to Canada this year. We couldn't last year, because I got laid off in the middle of his visit.

Driving to Missouri was the same as it ever was. Long, tiring, still less hassle (and far less expensive) than flying. We didn't do any sightseeing this trip; the siren call of doing nothing all day, and spending quality time with family, was too tempting. I'd forgotten how nice it is to be relaxed.

I'm so boring these days

I know this hasn't been a very interesting blog lately, and for that I apologize. It's hard to be creative when you're perpetually running on too little sleep and too little food. Fortunately, tomorrow is my last day of working two jobs. After that I'll be visiting the in-laws in Missouri for a much-needed vacation, and then I'll just be working my one job.

Which is hard enough, don't get me wrong--an hour each way commute, minimum, eight hours being on my feet  and doing some fairly intense physical labor (heavy dishes, crates of full water bottles, lots of hustling), having my last meal of the day at 2 pm, collapsing into bed after 1 am.

But it will be easier when I don't have to be somewhere else at 9 am the next morning.

I can barely be bothered to cook these days, so you know I'm running on fumes. I've been living on eggs (for breakfast) and some variation of stale-dinner-roll sandwiches (sometimes with just butter or Nutella, so not even really a sandwich). Sometimes an apple. I'm so tired of stale restaurant bread.

In other news, my new nephew is supposed to be born any day now. He's already about a week overdue. (I'm still not pregnant, though that's not exactly news.) Work is hard, my hubby is working a lot of overtime, I'm really looking forward to having a vacation.