Weekend from Hell

I had the worst day on Saturday and Sunday wasn't much better! A little background, Justin's grandfather passed away on Thursday and Justin's cousin and her 16 month old son were due to come stay with us on Sunday. I had plans to go to a concert (see previous post) on Friday and had volunteered to work our church's concession stand at the OSU game on Saturday. In short, I had two days to get my house clean and relatively toddler proof.

I had to be at our church at 8 AM on Sautrday morning. I got up, got dressed in my black pants and white polo (bought that week from Wal-Mart), and ate breakfast. Justin had gotten me McDonalds, and it's a good thing he did as you will read later. Justin was meeting his friend Steve at Steve's house at 8:30 or so to attend the game as well. So I get to the church and get in a van with some other workers and head to the stadium.

When we got there, we checked in and headed up to our stand which is on the A deck level. I was quickly taught the ropes of being a cashier. There was a price list, a pen, a calculator, and a pad of paper at each station. I had to rely on my mental math skills. I thought, "Oh great. This will be a challenge." At ten, the gates opened and we soon got busy. I quickly became a pro at adding up orders in my head and pouring drinks from the fountain. I'd shout "Pretzel" and "Nachos no peppers" to the runners and fulfill orders. I'd count back people's change and swipe their credit cards. I was getting the hang of it.

Saturday was a cold, rainy day in Columbus. The game against Minnesota was also a blow out. These two things combined to make being inside and getting concessions a very popular thing to do. I had a solid line of people from 10:30 until the beginning of the fourth quarter. From people who'd worked the stand before, there is usually a lull during every quarter when they take turns taking breaks and going to the restroom. We as workers were allowed two hot dogs each during our breaks. I'd also brought some money thinking I could buy myself some food. I finially got a break at the beginning of the fourth quarter, and by that time we'd run out of hot dogs at our stand, so no freebies and forget about having time to buy myself food. I went to the restroom and drank a small courtesy cup of Diet Coke. I was back at my station soon after and then the rain started. We couldn't keep coffee made and hot chocolate was selling like crazy. After the game, we closed up shop and began cleaning. We wiped down the counters and cleaned the nozzles on the soda fountains. After most of the stand was cleaned, my group walked back to the van and drove back to the church.

I got home after 5. I'd texted Justin and told him I needed to eat and he'd ordered a pizza, but both Justin and the pizza were still a long way off by the time I got home. I ate a banana and sat down. I was cranky from not eating. I was exhausted from standing and working all day. I was stressed from trying to quickly fulfill orders. I was also milling over a large to-do list before our out of town company arrived.

Justin got home and the pizza arrived. I inhaled about four pieces and tried to relax. I figured I'd give myself some time to recoup before starting to clean. Justin fell asleep and I cleaned my bathroom. I started a load of laundry with the shower curtain and bath mats. I scrubbed the shower, toilet and sink, about asphyxiating myself on bathroom cleanser fumes. I wanted to get some dusting done or the grocery shopping taken care of, but I was too exhausted.

Justin didn't see the urgency of the situation and we ended up fighting. I wanted him to show a little more of a sense of urgency, and he wanted me to stress less. His attitude was just adding to my stress. I decided to go to bed early and start fresh in the morning. I called my mom quickly to let her know that Justin's grandfather's service was scheduled for the following Thursday. As I hung up the phone I saw that my cat, Maggie was in the bedroom. I didn't want her to cry and want out in the middle of the night, thus waking me from some much needed slumber. So I tried to get her to get out of the bedroom. I stood at the door and called to her. No dice. I got some treats and tried to lure her out of the room. At this point I collapsed in the hall and started crying. I was just done. Done with the day. Justin intervened and tried to scare her out from under the bed. He shook the bed but I didn't want the middle support to become undone. He wanted the broom, but I didn't want him to scare the cat. So we ended up fighting some more. He got a hold of the cat and took her out of the room, and I went to bed where I promptly fell asleep.

Sunday was a busy day, but we got everything done. We bought some needed supplies at Target. We finished the laundry. We dusted, vacuumed, and scrubbed the kitchen floor. We had to rush, but we got some groceries in the house. We checked the status of his cousin's flight and saw it was to arrive early, so we headed to the airport around 3:30 to pick her up. The visit is going well, and our house looks nice. There was just so much stress that had to go into it!

So now we are enjoying hanging out with Justin's cousin and her son. He is so much fun to have around the house. He's very well behaved and an all around happy kid. So I guess it all turned out okay. She doesn't think we live in a pig sty, so I'm happy. I'm just never going to work the concession stand again.