The Syndicate

juliets wrote:Is your heart saying "I love a challenge" or is your head saying "this looks better for now and I don't like change". Sometimes they look alike. What do you want to be doing in 5 years? In 10? Does the going get easier as you go up that company's ladder? Or is there something you should be doing to live your dream. Life is short.

Honestly - my head and my heart both love a challenge. And they are both auguring for different challenges. God love them both.

You are very right and SVS is also very right. It's why I post these things. So you all can remind me that I am apt to take the "easy" road of "god I love a challenge." In 5 years - or 10 years. I'm not sure what I want to be doing. I would love to be working in food service if it ment I spent more time in the office and less time like lifting things and doing the grunt work I've been doing for FAR too long now. But I also understand that I'm pretty much tailor made to always do the grunt work in that field. My old GM told me today that my new GM "likes me" and it was all I could do to not be all like "Of course he likes me. He has goals. And he's about to only have me after next week. And I'm good at sucking it up when I have to. He fell into lucky having me as his reliable AM."

In 5 years or 10 years - I'd most love to have a job that I could work and use my brain more than my body for. I've been abusing my body since it was 13. I would like to have a job that cushions my love and I. That would finance a wedding. That would finance some time for my love to find out what he wants to do that's not delivering pizzas day in and day out. That would finance us buying a house someday.

Yes. I DO realize that typing all that out - pushes me back toward teaching.

I just NEED to talk it all out. I need to come to the realization on my own. And I need you all to ask me the right questions. That's why you guys rock so much. You keep me going where I need to go.

rock meet hard place.

Yea. It's conundrum time.

I hate it there - in that I hate the situation. I don't hate the people. Working with them (most of them) day in and day out - I kinda like them alot. And I adore the new GM. He has high hopes. I admire that and see his goals as completely reasonable (though they DO require lots of work.)

He's been fishing about my plans and I've been wish washy - no need to burn bridges before I need to after all. I told him I'm considering going back into teaching as that is the one thing about this job I most love. I was also honest when I said when I accepted the AM job it was always with the goal to be a GM - so I could run a store for a year and tack that onto my already lengthy fnb resume.

He sees the same problems I see. He sees the same potential I see. I COULD see me sticking around to help turn things around there. EXCEPT I'm so very burned out. And also - as an AM - even as a store ready AM - I'd only ever get *so* much credit despite working like I was a GM.

My hed says "get out!!! get out now - find a nice substitute teaching job and work your way back into that. It's in your best interests!!"

But my heart says "God, I love a challenge..."

bell peppers in all of their colors are fantastic. And it's my understanding that each color brings different nutrients to the table. So mix that stuff up yo!

As for my continuing resolution. Ya'll know Imma starting to job hunt soon and ya'll know I'm looking into teaching again. I've not officially started yet - I'm still working 100 billion hours a week. New GM is coming and hopefully AM who is now down with surgery gets better soonish. I want out of there - my higher up boss knows that too - I've said it subtle like, he knows it's coming, just not when or how. He know's I'm keeping on till things get stable.

That said - while I'm doing all this - as excited as I am about the thought of being in the classroom again, I have to admit - I'm kinda terrified too. I'm really hecka skerred. I left the job 10 years ago because I was costing kids their education. I know I've grown and changed - and that I'm not the same person I was 10 years ago, but it strikes me that neither are the kids. Or the schools. And what if that is an awful mistake I'm making?

I can't work my smart phone for god's sake! I'm ok with the basics - yes I can make them write with pen and paper - but when it comes to giving them a base to construct websites for literature and all that, I am ignorant. Woefully ignorant. When I was teaching, they wanted the English teachers to teach their students how to put together a power point presentation. I now suddenly feel like the older teachers I worked with who were terrified of the idea. I'm afraid the world moved on and I didn't keep up well enough.

It may just be cold feeties. It prolly is - but I'm skerred. What if this is wrong? Not for me - but for the kids? I can't do that twice. I can't move into education a second time thinking I have something to offer them - only to find out a second time that my presence costs them an education. I would rather never walk back into a classroom than think for one second another generation of kids didn't get the education they deserved because I sucked at doing my job.


IDK. the fear slipped into the plan today. It's left me a bit cold and skerred.

also - don't even get me started about fresh winter squash!!!

really? you like spinach?! that is awesome!! In vegetable land - that is a super player!!!! So many vitamins and minerals - and you can incorporate it into so much food! And it is always the choice over Iceburg lettuce.

If every salad you ever eat is made of spinach or mixed greens or romaine lettuce - you are already doing *so* much for both flavor and nutrition vs iceburg crap. It's 90% water with NO nutritional content.


But only fresh spinach! It's not like popeye! No can stuff ever ever ever!!!!!! Really - some fresh spinach in a salad is amazing - but also - some spinach lightly warmed in a pasta dish - with either alfredo sauce or an a natural sauce (my preference) spinach - pasta - some butter and some parm cheese - omg - amazing. simple things work - well. (and from what I understand - the spinach helps metabolize the pasta and heavy sauce.)

and yay! you like hummus! let me introduce to you my hummus wrap: it's a large toritlla - and trust me on the ingredients - a spread of hummus on the wrap - then some spinach, some feta cheese (I like the preseasoned tomato basil hummus so I don't have to add spices) (but if you are adding some fresh spices - basil makes this dish sing) some fresh cucumber, some fresh tomato (I like roma tomatos in this) and some sprouts. like bean sprouts or alfalfa sprouts - you could add a hint of greek salad dressing to it if you need a bit more flavor - but I like it just as it is. I swear you will love the flavor combination - even if you don't like one or more of the ingredients by them selves - they meld together wonderfully.

At least just try it then tell me it sucked.

also - you see the word I keep using over and over again? it's fresh.

vegetables - they work best fresh - frozen can be used in some places - but when veggies are the MAIN ingredient - you really need to buy the best you can buy.

oh - also - my resolution of job hunting has been - cock blocked in every way - I hear in 2 weeks we get a GM - outside of everything else - it means there's a third person to pick up hours. And I'll have more free time to job hunt. It's hard to job hunt when you are working 60 hours a week.

vegetables are not meat. I agree with you completely there sockface.

Vegetables are vegetables and should be enjoyed as they are.

Try the candied carrots. Really buy a bag of frozen carrot slices - cook them partially - then add a bit of brown sugar to them (the brown sugar is still sugar, but infinitely better and more sweet than white sugar) then finish cooking them in the brown sugar awesome happy home. Carrots are naturally sweet anyway - the brown sugar just steps it up a notch. It's hands down the *best* intro to "vegetables" outside of corn on the cob.

Also - have you ever tried dipping things? Like Hummus? It is chickpea based and delicious. I like dipping carrots and cucumbers and pita bread in hummus.

And speaking of cucumbers - do you like pickles? because they are cucumbers tainted. Cucumbers are hands down one of the most refreshing foods I know of. They are amazingly versatile. (and also something else - but I can only say that in a PM)

You have to have eaten and not hated SOME vegetable. I am curious as to what it was. I can't believe you grew up in Kentucky and didn't love to eat in season corn on the cob. If anything - let corn be your start point - then listen to me from there.

It's like wine - I can develop tastes when I have the base point to work from.

That's just ridiculousness. Broccoli is awesome!

MovingPictures07 wrote:

bea wrote:veggies are yummy!!!

God no, I wish I could say the same.

I swear on all that is holy and good. Veggies are yummy. Granted - it may take some butter and some cheese to get you there - but you can start with some nice FRESH veggies with REAL butter on them. And some salt and pepper and a little white cheese - and it's AMAZING.

Start with the ones you are used to - but move to fresh. FRESH green beans. FRESH corn on the cob! OMG - Peas in Pea Pods! I swear it's not what you think peas taste like! You'll work your way up to broccoli and cauliflower.

The veggies are warm but crisp. The flavors POP in your mouth. I swear it's true.


And - if push comes to shove - may I suggest "candied carrots"

veggies are yummy!!!

My new resolution is job hunting. I start tomorrow. I hear IHOP is hiring - they just opened a new location. I go tomorrow to put in an app.