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Goooooood Morning, Live Journal!
Apr. 22nd, 2006 06:32 amHappy Saturday morning to you all!!!
What's up with everybody? I'm still half asleep.
But, I'm up and getting ready to go out for breakfast like I do every Saturday morning. It's part of my routine that the changes in work CANNOT take away from me. Woo-hoo!
The waitress will have my ice tea ready for me when she sees my car pull into the parking lot, along with a plate of lemons. (I drink lots of ice tea while I'm there.) The same waitress waits on me EVERY week. We've been doing this for at least a year and a half now, and she knows what I want. So, she'll have my order placed.
It's usually quiet this time of the morning. (They open at 7:00.)
They know I'm going to sit there with a book or something I'm critiquing or one of my HUGE five-section Five-Star binder and my colored pens, and write. (I color code everything, including different stories...I have different binders and each project has a section in a binder. I also color code various aspects of my planning and then I write in whatever color I feel like for the day. Yes, I'm an odd creature.)
Sometimes, some of the other folks that work there ask what I'm working on. One of the younger waitresses thinks it's cool to no end that I write. The others are quiet and repectful and, though they exchange pleasantries with me, only the manager and the regular waitress really engage in much conversation and that's only when I'm between working.
And, believe it or not, I learn from them. Flavor for my stories, as it were.
The waitress is also an apartment complex manager (for a small complex) and has some interesting likes and dislikes.
The manager is from Lebanon originally, and he tells me what it was like to live through terrorist attacks and wondering if a bomb was going to be dropped on a movie theater while you were watching a flick. He told me he attended the Tournament of Roses ONCE in his life (he's lived here in the U.S. a number of years) and that he was so petrified at being "trapped" in that huge crowd (because of the bombings he'd been through in the Middle East and his fear of getting stuck in crowds when it happened) that he could never go again.
And, yet, he's upbeat and positive and kind and gentle. And, he tells me how lucky we are to live in America, and how sad it is that most people don't realize HOW lucky.
And, then there's the chance to people watch. All kinds of people come in. And, I watch for the regulars, like the older (maybe early 60's) man (very quiet, but powerful man) who comes in every other week with his adult Down Syndrome son. They have a regular routine and they follow it each and every week. And, I speak with him in passing (his son cannot speak) and I wonder about their lives and what led them there.
It's almost always a positive experience to go there, almost always productive, and definitely always a chance for me to have a little down time in the rush that's life.
I'm very sad the weeks that I have to miss it, but fortunately, those are generally few.
So, I'm going to get dressed and hurry over there (It's about 20 minutes from home.) and write some sex this morning and then an angsty scene that I hope will cause more than a couple of the characters involved to squirm uneasily. :)
How about you folks? What are you doing today?
At some point this weekend, depending on my energy level, the kids and I might pile in the car and drive down to LA and go to the LA Times Festival of Books on the UCLA campus. I think that's this weekend.
Everybody have a GREAT day and a SAFE weekend!
What's up with everybody? I'm still half asleep.
But, I'm up and getting ready to go out for breakfast like I do every Saturday morning. It's part of my routine that the changes in work CANNOT take away from me. Woo-hoo!
The waitress will have my ice tea ready for me when she sees my car pull into the parking lot, along with a plate of lemons. (I drink lots of ice tea while I'm there.) The same waitress waits on me EVERY week. We've been doing this for at least a year and a half now, and she knows what I want. So, she'll have my order placed.
It's usually quiet this time of the morning. (They open at 7:00.)
They know I'm going to sit there with a book or something I'm critiquing or one of my HUGE five-section Five-Star binder and my colored pens, and write. (I color code everything, including different stories...I have different binders and each project has a section in a binder. I also color code various aspects of my planning and then I write in whatever color I feel like for the day. Yes, I'm an odd creature.)
Sometimes, some of the other folks that work there ask what I'm working on. One of the younger waitresses thinks it's cool to no end that I write. The others are quiet and repectful and, though they exchange pleasantries with me, only the manager and the regular waitress really engage in much conversation and that's only when I'm between working.
And, believe it or not, I learn from them. Flavor for my stories, as it were.
The waitress is also an apartment complex manager (for a small complex) and has some interesting likes and dislikes.
The manager is from Lebanon originally, and he tells me what it was like to live through terrorist attacks and wondering if a bomb was going to be dropped on a movie theater while you were watching a flick. He told me he attended the Tournament of Roses ONCE in his life (he's lived here in the U.S. a number of years) and that he was so petrified at being "trapped" in that huge crowd (because of the bombings he'd been through in the Middle East and his fear of getting stuck in crowds when it happened) that he could never go again.
And, yet, he's upbeat and positive and kind and gentle. And, he tells me how lucky we are to live in America, and how sad it is that most people don't realize HOW lucky.
And, then there's the chance to people watch. All kinds of people come in. And, I watch for the regulars, like the older (maybe early 60's) man (very quiet, but powerful man) who comes in every other week with his adult Down Syndrome son. They have a regular routine and they follow it each and every week. And, I speak with him in passing (his son cannot speak) and I wonder about their lives and what led them there.
It's almost always a positive experience to go there, almost always productive, and definitely always a chance for me to have a little down time in the rush that's life.
I'm very sad the weeks that I have to miss it, but fortunately, those are generally few.
So, I'm going to get dressed and hurry over there (It's about 20 minutes from home.) and write some sex this morning and then an angsty scene that I hope will cause more than a couple of the characters involved to squirm uneasily. :)
How about you folks? What are you doing today?
At some point this weekend, depending on my energy level, the kids and I might pile in the car and drive down to LA and go to the LA Times Festival of Books on the UCLA campus. I think that's this weekend.
Everybody have a GREAT day and a SAFE weekend!
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