...what you don't have dreams of Unicorns and vanilla flavored taffy? Really? You sure? Hmm...Another thing to hash out with my therapist...
I spoke with my dad yesterday. He is back from his mini hiatus in the Philippines. We talked briefly about his trip and how fun and relaxing it was for him. It was just what he needed to recover. He is one tough and determined man. He went from losing 65% of his speech, dragging his left body, unable to even lift a spoon to feed himself to virtually back to normal. As if he never had a stroke and a heart attack at the same time! I don't know how he did it but if I didn't believe in miracle and the power of sheer will and determination before, let me tell you, I swear by it now. His slurring is gone. He's walking normal again and his mind is as sharp as a Samurai's blade. Amazing.
He also asked if I wanted to come visit him up in Alaska sometime in the next couple of months. I paused at this question and told him that I have some things that I'm lining up right now that a vacation is really not in the stars but I told him that I'd keep it in mind.
And so it goes...Alaska was on my mind all day yesterday and through the night. Which I think then manifested it's way through my dreams.
All throughout my high school years, while my friends flirted with the boys, went to summer school, pool parties or walked around the mall to see and be seen, I was up in Alaska working. My first job consisted of asking people the ever important question of whether or not they would like to Super Size their fries for only 50 cents more. Yup, I was working the dream job at McDonald's. I was only 15 at the time so I couldn't work the kitchen. You had to be at least 18 to be flipping burgers. I was allowed to make fries though, which I hated with a passion and to this day I still have slightly visible scars on my forearms from lifting the damn fries basket out of the deep fryer. Ugh! I remember getting off work and smelling like fried, rotten eggs. McDonald's is SOOO bad for you. Don't eat it, trust me. And if you absolutely have to have it then pay attention to how your body feels and reacts to the food after you've finished eating. I guarantee that you won't crave it again, hopefully not for another 10 years.
Despite the unavoidable odor fest, I always looked forward to the afternoons. That was usually when my summer fling rode up to the drive-thru window in his motorcycle and ordered his Super Sized Fries...ha ha ha! I always knew it was him on the other side of the intercom because I could hear the revving of the engine.
Did I ever get on his bike?
Yup, just once and I nearly got hung upside down by my dad!
A) Because biker dude only had a riding permit not an actual license at the time
and
B) We didn't wear helmets.
Ahh, to be young and stupid!
I still remember getting my very first paycheck, a whopping $80.62 for 2 weeks worth of work and just like any other kid out there, I spent it all in one place, the Mall :) Oh yeah, I remember it like it was just yesterday. First day of school and I was sporting my white and pink L.A. Gear, Lights. You know what I'm talking about. It's those shoes that lit up when you walked....ha ha ha!
You know you love it!
At 16, I worked as a cashier for the only grocery store in town. That was fun. It was definitely a step up from my $4.25 /hr minimum wage. I was now clocking in at $6.25/hr. But with great pay came great responsibility...I had to memorize the 4 digit bar codes for all the happy veggies in the produce department. You think four digits are easy...well you have to identify the vegetable first and then go through the catalog of numbers in your head. The cabbage family alone was enough to get your digits mixed up. There's napa, savoy, red, green and bok-choy to name just a few and each type had it's own set of 4 numbers.
Cheat sheets you say? Pfft! that was for rookies. I had the next best thing...
I asked my sister Joan who I made sure was always at the register next to me who by the way was also my Supervisor. She had all the codes memorized! I'm horrendous with numbers. Shh! don't tell my boss :) I'm better with words. Words are fun!
My dream last night was really about the last summer I spent up in Alaska. My sister and I moved to the bakery department for the same lone grocery store. That was Heaven on Earth for me. I didn't mind getting up at 4:00 in the morning everyday, walked the 2 mile hike in freezing ass Alaska summer weather to work and sometimes even be greeted by a Brown Bear in the parking lot going through the garbage can and saw me as breakfast!
Oh yes, I didn't mind. All for what?
Because I got to do "quality control" tasting of everything that was baked for that day :) From the itty-bitty short bread cookies, to the specialty cakes and all the cream filled, fruit filled, yummy goodness filled donuts. My absolute favorite was when my sister made the old fashion brownies. We made everything from scratch. We had to melt the chocolate block and then mix it in this giant mixer, spoon it on to the baking sheet pan and then finally bring it to the walk-in oven to bake. The best part was running my fingers in the mixing bowl and licking the left over chocolate mix! YUM!
To me, it felt more like playtime versus work. The only downside to the bakery job was that there were only three of us. The pastry chef, my sister who made the specialty cakes which left little ole' ME to do all the dishes. SIGH! Those mixing bowls were huge and heavy! Even though we had an industrial sized washer, I still had to spray down the pans and the bowls especially when we made the fillings. Summer was just the right amount of time for me to do that. It was short enough so the novelty never wore off and I can still remember it fondly to this day.
So the question begs to be answered...should I go?
Happy weekend bloggies,
jakey
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