Just another manic Monday

No, that's not just a Bangles quote. I was repressing the urge to bash my Volvo into things like a bumper car on the way home, because it seemed like it would be FUN to play bumper cars.

That probably had something to do with the iced mocha latte I had around quarter to three to revive my flagging energy.

I got into work around twenty past five today. I did this very much on purpose, because I knew that it was destined to be hellish.

Okay. Radio on. Happy news about the marriage licenses in MA... a nice start to the day.

Muffins, scones, sticky buns, brioche. Grab a bottled water. Refill the bar case. Put out the last two pies. Refill the fruit salad. Set up bacon on two trays to bake off. Laura's in, I get my COFFEE... and one of the blueberry muffins broke when I was taking it out of the pan, guess I have to eat it [grin]. Bacon goes in as soon as the muffins come out - I want to turn the ovens off as soon as possible this morning. Ice in the bain-marie, gazpacho set out. Eggs on to boil.

Throw out coleslaw, cucumber salad, egg salad. Explain to the boss on the phone that the order has not come in because it's not yet 7 AM. Hang up the phone. Five minutes later the order comes in. Check it in. Perishables away.

Bacon out, two trays of chicken breasts in to roast for an hour.

Pork tenderloin salad, orzo salad, tuna pasta salad, edamame salad, all refreshed and in new clean tubs. Refill lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, red onion. Slice a lot of red onion since I'll need it for the next two things as well. Chicken's out. Oven goes off.

New coleslaw... easy, because there's shredded carrot already prepped, yay. Fresh egg salad. New cucumber salad. Yay, that's the deli salads.

Six Cobb salads. Damn, the turkey's getting low. Well, it's not lunch rush yet. Have to shred more carrots since I used up the ones that were ready in the coleslaw. Oops. Oh well. Have to shred cheese, too. Fine. They're in the case by 11ish.

Eggplant rounds. Twenty of them. Layer on roasted red pepper, fresh mozzarella, and sprinkle with parsley. Put them on plates and they go in the case.

Someone wants a turkey wrap now. Make one -- mayo, lettuce, tomato, turkey, bacon, shredded cheddar, wrap it up and Bob's your uncle.

Slice half a turkey breast & divide it into 4-ounce portions. Oops, not enough shredded cheese left from the Cobb salads. Shred more. Eight more turkey wraps, they go in the case.

Siciliano sandwiches. Genoa, pepperoni, provolone, roasted red peppers, and olive tapenade on a hard roll. Eight of them. Whew, that's lunch, and all out there by 12:30. Grab another bottled water.

Slice and portion a quarter of a ham. Slice and portion MORE turkey -- the other half of the turkey breast. Refill the tuna and chicken salads. Slice MORE tomatoes.

Time to eat. Saved one of those pork tenderloin wraps with the goat cheese from the weekend. Add more goat cheese-onion spread, because I deserve it. Scarf it down. Yum.

Put the produce away. Start a batch of brioche dough. More fruit salad: two cantaloupes, a pineapple, two pints of strawberries, a bunch of grapes. Beg for an iced mocha latte. Scrape the brioche dough into a bucket. Fruit salad in the fridge. Wipe down the bench. It's three o'clock. I don't get it -- the lunch stuff got out quicker than last week, and I wasn't panicking so hard, but I was there half an hour longer total? Weird. Punch out.

Realize that I did NOT take anything out of the freezer for dinner tonight. Call home to ask what I should get at the grocery store, Explain that it has to be EASY. Answer: bag of romaine, bag of croutons, and some boneless chicken breasts, and we'll have chicken Caesat salad. Okay. Also bread, apples and string cheese, because we are out of these household staples, and I add shredded Asiago for the salad and a six-pack of Mike's Hard Lemonade because I damned well deserve it.

Today's music choices, because the CD player was working, starting from 8 AM when I acknowledged that everything on Morning Edition was going to repeat what I'd already heard:

Elvis Costello & The Attractions hits compilation, Immortal Beloved soundtrack (all the chapter titles from the first half of the story), soundtrack from the movie "Threesome" (which I bought entirely for the U2 cover of "Dancing Barefoot," but which is pretty good otherwise too), the Smithereens' "11", my Black Crowes disc with the long name, Who's Next, discovered that a Yes CD was scratched, and U2 "Rattle & Hum."

Okay. I am DONE now.

R

I don't wanna grow up

So, pixel sees my post about wanting to play bumper cars in my Volvo today after a slight overindulgence in iced mocha latte.

He says, "I always wanted to turn one of those boxy Volvo wagons into a Radio Flyer little red wagon."

He lives right around the corner from me.

I'm gonna have an art car! Whee!

He also told me how to fix my power steering without spending the money to get the AC fixed as well -- I just have to take a tape measure and figure out what size belt I need. I can do that tomorrow. And he's going to keep an eye out for rear winshield wiper arms, and help me rig something for the missing handle that lowers the seat back in the cargo area.

And we are definitely going to test the sprayer attachment to my Kirby vacuum to see how well it functions as a paint sprayer. Yes, the instructions say "don't." I suspect that's because you get a permanently painted sprayer bottle when you're done. Ask me how much that matters to me. I could even get a spare sprayer bottle if I cared. Just the idea of using my vacuum cleaner to paint my car is amusing the heck out of me.

He promises we can make the wagon handle removable -- just install a permanent bracket where it can be bolted and unbolted.

Whee!