Northern Fuller Family: July 2010

Ok... Where to begin? The past month has been crazy, absolutely crazy. I think it'll be best to share everything with you if I break it into the following categories: Sawyer, Ruby, Jon, Myself and Jon & Myself.

(There is a lot to read here... I apologize up front for all typo's. I'm not going to go through and proof read it... I don't have the time! But, please, take the time to read it for yourself and catch up on what's been happening in our little home!)

Sawyer
What a little man this guy is! He is my favorite part of the day (along with his little sister, who I'll brag about in paragraph's to follow). The terrible TWO's are turning out to be terrible and terrific. He whines almost as soon as he's awake and all through out the day, which is very irritating. He can throw a temper-tantrum like a pro. The terrific stuff totally outshines the terribly stuff though. Like how Sawyer will repeat anything you tell him to and he enunciates very well! He is the sweetest big brother EVER and continues to love on Ruby and be very helpful. He cuddles at bedtime, gives kisses freely and tells us he loves us. He's figured out Jon and I have names other than Mommy and Daddy and calls Jon Uncle Jon because that's what Kellen calls him. Pretty cute!

Sawyer likes to pick favorites. Right now his favorite is Buzz Lightyear. He loves watching Toy Story! We have 1 and 2 on DVD here at the house, but we haven't taken him to see the 3rd one yet... (We haven't taken Sawyer to the movies... I'm not sure if he would sit still long enough to watch an entire movie and I don't want to be "that parent" at the theater!) Sawyer likes to jump off the bed and the couch and say "To infinity and beyond!" As seen here:

There is never a dull moment when Sawyer is around!

Ruby
I am totally and completely in LOVE with Little Lady Fuller. Looking at her puts a smile in my heart and I feel so blessed to have such a beautiful, smart girl (and boy)!

I didn't mention on the blog when she started crawling because I was heading home to Minnesota and I wanted it to be a surprise for my family. So, Ruby is CRAWLING (she started this around 6 months), and pulling herself up on the furniture and growing up SO fast... She is 10 months now and that is how old Sawyer was when he started walking. I can't even imagine her walking (even though she is very close), she still seems like such a baby to me. When Sawyer started walking I was pregnant with Ruby and I think I had already started thinking of Sawyer as a big brother and he didn't seem like such a baby to me... And, maybe it's just that I don't want my little girl to grow up!

Ruby says mama and dada and just this morning I think she said baba for bottle. Speaking of bottle, she FINALLY is taking one! Gosh, what a struggle that was to begin with... Then, about a month ago, Jon forced her to drink from one and once she figured out it wasn't so bad she's been taking them ever since. Thank goodness!

Ruby is eating big people food. She loves banana's, Mac-N-Cheese and Cheerios. She scarfed down a good portion of my Pork Tamale at dinner the other night (see the post below for Sawyer's First Hair Cut) and a good amount of ground turkey I made for Taco's last night. My fingers are crossed that she'll be a good eater!

We still aren't getting a full nights sleep in our house... Ruby's up one or more times a night and up at about 5 or 6 each morning. Sometimes she'll go back to sleep, but her brother is up around 6 or 6:30, so our mornings start early. (Coffee is my friend!)

Ruby is a quiet, sweet little baby girl, however I can already see a mischievous look in her beautiful eyes! I'm looking forward to seeing more and more of her personality over the next few months :-)

Jon
Now here is where some of the crazy stuff comes in... Jon quit his job working for Kirk Concrete to start his own concrete business. This change is definitely for the best for our family and for Jon, but it's scary too.

The company he started is Ageless Concrete. Yes, the same name as the business he had in Wisconsin. His truck still has Ageless Concrete decals on it, so it just made sense to go with the same name. Over to the right of this blog page you can see the Facebook Badge for the page we created to generate more advertising for Ageless Concrete. On Facebook, we chose the name DFW (stands for Dallas/Fort Worth) Stamped Concrete so when people google stamped concrete in this area we'll show up. If you're reading this and have Facebook, please become a fan. We also have started a blog for the business. It's agelessconcrete.blogspot.com. Check it out!

Business is busy. This is a good thing! Jon is back to working crazy long hours, like 16+ a day. He has his younger brother, Brandon, and a couple other guys he met from his last job working with him. As of this week, I've also started working for, or as I like to say, WITH him. I'm not sure what my title will be... Jon likes "Secretary". Hahaha! I think I should be "Owner" or "Co-Owner"! Anyway, we are keeping busy and hope to stay that way for a long, long time!

Work is pretty much all that occupies his time right now... Hopefully in the fall Jon will be able to join a men's group at church and find a couple of things he can do to have "Jon" time.

Myself (This is a long story. Sorry)
My weeks are filled with highs and lows. I think being a mom is the toughest job there is. Some days are easy and some days are really hard... For the most part though, things are good!

When we started talking about Jon starting his own business we also decided it would be a good time for me to get a job. I applied and interviewed at Pappadeaux, a nice seafood restaurant near our house (Only 15 minutes away and 1 stop light. Convenient!) As I mentioned HERE, I got the job. The General Manager offered me the job on the spot and I was feeling super good about it!

I went to orientation, was given a stack of flash cards to review for the menu items and told what to buy for the uniform. The next morning I set out to buy a couple of the shirts I needed and that's when things started to go wrong. I was required to wear a white dress shirt, 100% cotton with a button down collar. For guys, this wouldn't be a problem. For me, a women, it proved nearly impossible. I went to a bunch of different stores and didn't find anything that met all the requirements and actually fit. Everything was HUGE... Finally, I called a JCPenny's near an appointment Jon had and they had the shirt in boys sizes. It wasn't 100% cotton, but I didn't care. I wanted something that didn't make me look like a blimp! Oh, and fit around the neck too because we had to wear a cute red bow-tie.

Me in uniform, minus the bow-tie because they didn't have any...

Then I went to the first of many training shifts. It went well. Everyone kept telling me to study my flashcards and learn the wine list because I'd have to know everything for my Mock. What's a Mock you ask?... Well, at the end of training, before you are allowed to take tables on your own, you have to Mock/roll-play how you would greet, serve and payout guests with the General Manager. Intimidating.

It wasn't until my first kitchen training shift that I realized what I was getting myself into. When people told me I had to learn the menu, they meant MEMORIZE EVERYTHING YOU POSSIBLY CAN! I had to know every menu item and how it was prepared, portion size, including what sauce it was served with and what was in that sauce, all sides and garnishes. By. Heart. Also, I had to know the entire wine by the glass menu. The FULL name of everything we offered and what it paired with. As well as all the draft beer (which was no problem, I had that committed to memory as soon as I first heard it) and the summer specialty drinks. By. Heart. MEMORIZED! Very intimidating.

Honestly, I was not really excited about how things were going. I was doing very well and learning everything, but I hadn't met anyone who liked their job or seemed like someone I would be friends with. Two things I was really looking for when it was decided I'd go back to work. 1 - It would be somewhere I liked. 2 - I would meet people who I could be friends with because I really haven't made many friends in Texas... (Sad.)

So, I passed all my training shifts. I say passed because you can fail and have to repeat training shifts... I had three days before my Mock and I studied my tail off. All day for three days I committed everything Pappadeaux had to offer to memory. Never mind Sawyer pulling on my arm saying "Mommy, play with me" seven-hundred-million-times-an-hour... I was going to KNOW everything!!!

Mock morning came and I felt sick to my stomach. I was so anxious to get it over with... BAH! Here's how it went. The Kitchen Manager sat down at a table and I had to greet him and pitch him 2 drinks, 2 appetizers and 2 entree's. When I pitched the 2 drinks, he asked me about each of them and then he went through the entire drink menu and asked me about each item, as well as all the wine offered by the glass. The whole time I had to talk to him like I would a regular guest. Same for the appetizers and entree's. We went through the entire menu. I had no idea how I did, his face revealed nothing. I stumbled on a couple of sauces and hesitated with my answers a couple times, but I knew I did the best I could. Oh, I forgot the desserts. I had to know all of those as well and be able to present the dessert tray and describe everything on it... Scheesh, so, so, SO much stuff. (Really, it was insane. I wish I had taken a picture of the stacks of flash cards I had. It was probably 5 inches thick. No joke.)

When we were done, he set down the menus and said "Well, that was hands down the best mock I have done and I have done hundreds, literally hundreds, of these." HOLY. COW. I couldn't believe it! All my hard work paid off!!! Sweet. It was three weeks of training and studying and finally OVER!

The next day was Sunday, 4th on July, and everyone was required to work. I got scheduled to work the dinner shift and had to be in early to help set up outside seating. Pappadeaux has a great view of the best fireworks in Fort Worth, so every 4th they add seating for about 300 people in their back parking lot.

I was supposed to be back-waiting, kind of like a servers assistant. Running food, busing tables, doing anything to help to the evening run as smoothly as possible. As you can imagine adding seating for 300+ people could create total chaos. And it did. People sat themselves (of course) before there were any servers to serve them. And, they wanted service (of course). So, since I passed my Mock the day before, I was allowed to get them drinks. Well, in the blink of an eye things were crazy busy, servers showed up, guests sat down and total chaos ensued. Also, the managers were total geniuses in thinking that ONE computer would be enough for 20 servers... Hhmmmm, not too bright of an idea there...

I was told to stay with the table I was already waiting on, even though they had turned into a 15 top, meaning there were 15 people. Normally, this wouldn't be a problem for me. But, by Pappadeaux standards a senior waiter should have had this table because everything is SO detailed... BAH!

Long story short, my table was awesome. I missed a couple things, but luckily they were very gracious and drank and ate a lot. Some servers had tables of 15 people order water and an appetizer to share. Jerks. So, I had a great night. It was absolutely crazy and I wish I could describe it better, but just know it was C.R.A.Z.Y.

I stayed after and helped break down tables and chairs and tried to be helpful. The General Manager asked me if I could come in on Tuesday morning for my first shift. I said yes. One thing I forgot to mention is that as part of our uniform we were required to have our shirts dry-cleaned. At the beginning of each shift, during pre-shift, the manager would collect the dry-cleaning tags from each person to prove they had theirs dry-cleaned. So, since I had to work on Tuesday, I set out Monday morning to get my shirt dry-cleaned. Well, all three dry-cleaners in our area chose to extend their 4th of July holiday and were closed. Boo. So, I bleached and ironed my shirt myself in hopes that it would be ok once I explained that I had tried to get it dry-cleaned.

Now, I need to wrap this up because this story is now WAY too long. I didn't work my shift Tuesday morning because I was sent home due to not getting my shirt dry cleaned. The manager on duty was totally awful to me and spoke to me in a manner that a manager should NEVER use when addressing an employee. I was very upset. In my training I had witness some poor management behavior, but I figured I'd do a good job so I wouldn't have to worry about being ignored, belittled or embarrassed by a manager. So, this incident left me not wanting to work there at all. No one liked their jobs, the managers treated the employees like crap and I was anxious and nervous before every shift. I really wanted to make it work because training was SO long and I had worked SO hard, but seriously it just didn't seem worth it.

I talked to the General Manager the next day and he reassured me that his managers should not be treating employees in the manner I had seen. He told me I could move up quickly to bartender, which sounded great, so I decided to try and stick it out longer.

The next day, now it's Thursday after the 4th, I had my first shift. All day I felt sick to my stomach and really didn't want to go to work. Not how I wanted to be feeling about my NEW job... The shift went really well. The manager and I sat down at the end of the night and she said I did great. That didn't make me feel any better.

My next shift was Sunday and again I was nervous and anxious all day. I decided I couldn't do it. I put all my stuff together that I'd been given and went up there and turned it in. So, after all THAT, I don't work for Pappadeaux. I work for Ageless Concrete. Thank Goodness!

Gosh, that was a lot. Sorry.

Onto other things... On the same day I was sent home from work because my shirt wasn't good enough for me to be seen working on the floor and serving guests my Grandma fell and broke her hip. Thankfully, it turned out to be the best break she could have for breaking her hip. She had surgery and is recovering well!

It's hot in Texas and I'm not really liking it. My body is not acclimated to this weather. I think that's why I was inside so much this winter, when we really could have been outside. And now, all I want is to be outside, taking the kids places and BBQ-ing, but just standing outside equals sweating. Not fun. So, I think I'm in a bit of a funk due to weather. Also, I quit breast feeding Ruby about a month ago (when I went back to work) and so my hormones are not quite back to normal yet. I just want to feel "normal", whatever that is...

I'm really looking forward to fall! Also, hopefully visiting MN again soon (like Christmas time). AND, my best friend in the whole-wide world, Kristie, is moving to Montana to be with her wonderful man, Rob. Which means I will have to visit her and see her new place! AND, she'll be close to Jackson, WY (about 6 hours close) and so I'll get to see my good friend Katie and maybe Becky too! This all makes me happy :-) Friends are good for the soul. It will be weird going home to MN to see my family and not have Kristie there though... But, moving to MT is great for her and I'm SO excited for this new chapter in her life!!!

Jon & Me
Shortly after I came home from Minnesota, Jon and I spent our first night away from the kiddo's since Ruby was born. We went to Possum Kingdom Lake and camped. We got a free campsite right on the lake, which was pretty sweet. Jon fished in the afternoon and I read. We drank beers and hung out, it was very nice! When we tried to start Jon's truck to go get some dinner, it wouldn't start. The battery was totally dead... So, we walked to the main road and hitched a ride into town, which was fun :-) We went to a local bar, had some dinner, drinks, meet some people and danced. Then hitched a ride back to our campsite. We had a mattress in the back of the truck which we pulled out and slept outside under stars.

In the morning we tried to find someone to jump the truck. Our camping neighbor turned to be a military mechanic and he helped us out. The battery was completely dead and needed to be replaced. Once that was done, we had lunch at a nice Mexican restaurant and then headed home.

It was a nice, short little break for us. The next time we go to Possum Kingdom it'd be nice to go out on the lake though!

Jon turned 31 last month. We went out to dinner at a Mexican restaurant called Joe T. Garcia's. It's a famous place here in Fort Worth and it was my first time going there. Most of the seating is outside in a beautiful garden setting. There are pools and fountains and it's really pretty. The menu is small, only fajita's and enchilada's, but everything is very good. One style of house margarita is offered and it's amazing! We went with two couples from our church that we met through Jon playing flag football this past spring.

Then, at the end of June, Jon and I went to a marriage conference for an entire weekend and the kiddo's stayed with Papa and Gramma Fuller. We were gone from Friday night to late Sunday afternoon. This was the first time Jon and I have spent a weekend away together in years. The conference was pretty good and gave us some good ideas on how to improve our marriage. Now, if only we could implement all those wonderful ideas! :-)

The conference was at the Gaylord Texan which is an amazing hotel about an hour from our house. It was beautiful and if we could afford it, it would be nice to stay there sometime!

Wrap Up
Well, I think that's about it... If you actually read all this, thank you :-) I will try and blog more often!!! I hope you are all enjoying your summer :-)