makin' salads...

It is hard to admit: I don't make much money working at my little jobette. Certainly not enough to support myself/live on. I might if it was full-time, and all I ever did is go to work, be exhausted, go to bed, get up and go to work again. Which I do not do, and even more- do not want to do. But the down side of that is the lack of steady income.

When I do go to that jobette, in recent years I have been spending more of my time working in the produce prep. area, than working as a floral person. Until recently, I was not spending much time at work: with a manager who did not want to devote any of his 'labor-hour budget' to me. So I had gotten accustomed to working ten or twelve hours a week. Sort of a catch-22: no work = no income. And lots of free time to devote to things I would rather do than be working, but again: no work = fewer dollars to pay for all that gas I burn running all over the state. better hours now, sometimes twenty or more a week, but there's that catch-22 again: fewer hours to spend running around = better funding for fun....

I may sound a bit whine-y, give the impression of being put-upon, give the idea I am feeling like a red-headed-stepchild, act like it's a miserable chore. But actually I feel like I am pretty good at it, have finally gotten to the point that I don't have to look at the book to check the ingredients/recipe any more.  And don't really have a problem with making salads and fresh-fruit yogurt parfaits.

I often think when I make the ones that are shredded romaine lettuce and little red and yellow grape tomatoes: it feels like hiding Easter eggs. Always an amusing occupation. And sometimes when I am making salads in those clear plastic bowls with snap-on lids, I will put too much stuff in the bowl, making the lid not want to snap shut. It makes me think about that ancient Jack-in-the-box I remember in the nursery at church when my girls were little. How you would have to stuff the clown head back in the little box, with the damaged 'catch', and slam the lid on really fast to keep the clown in. Then you would turn the crank on the side and make the tinny music, and suddenly the top would fly open, and out pops Jack! There are times when I feel as if I need to stuff everything in really fast, snatch my fingers out really quick, and slam the plastic lid on really quickly, before the lettuce and tomatoes get loose again. Sort of Jack-in-the-box'ish. 









The things we do at work to amuse ourselves and help the time pass...