Hello, Work Ethic!

When I left off, I was getting ready for bed in my birthday hotel room for the night. Such a fantastic night! I don't remember the last time I slept that well, but it was much needed. The next morning, I woke up early to have breakfast with my aunt and uncle. Then, I met my parents down at the docks right as their boat came in! Definitely long awaited. After we went to church that morning (which darn near put everyone but me to sleep...) we went up to have lunch at Carleton's, per usual for my days off. We hung around the hotel for a couple of hours and then went to dinner in the main dining room. Dinner was fantastic! My friends were playing in the band across the room, plus I finally got my birthday cake! I had the lamb shank which was fantastic! Minus the mint jello. Who decided mint and lamb go together...?
Anyway, the next day I unfortunately had to work until 8 p.m., but after I got off we all went into the China Suite where my aunt and uncle were staying. This room is easily the coolest one I've seen at the hotel so far. There's this enormous raised four poster, canopy bed in to the left when you walk in. All of the wood is a dark stain something (i'm not an expert on wood types, so that's all i've got). There were two huge dragon head lanterns on each side of the bed, an enormous desk intricately carved on one side of the room, and various other exquisite chinese accents throughout the room. Why did I try describing this room? It's probably the most difficult one in the whole hotel to put into words. Just take my word for it that it was really really cool. Also- you had to climb on a two-tiered step stool in order to get into the bed. Cool! Once we got to the room, we talked over a glass of wine, and chatted with my aunt and uncle, mom and dad and Kendra. It was so nice having everyone together.
I'd love to say that the last night my parents were in town I stayed up late spending time with them and catching up on everything, but here's the honest truth- I was so exhausted from over working and under-sleeping that when I went up to the Cupola Bar with them to play cards and chat, I pretty much fell asleep in my chair within about 30 minutes. Luckily, by leaving and going to bed early I was able to wake up early and spend a few hours with them before they left. While I was beyond sad to see them go,the time until I go home at the end of the summer is going faster and faster each day.
Since then, I have done very little but work work work. 12 hour shifts pretty much every day, catching up on filing and forms and backed up phone calls. It's truly never ending. Speaking of never ending - my schedule for next week.... My next (and perhaps last) day off is this coming Thursday. I'm hoping to spend the day laying in the sun, but we'll see how the weather holds up. Ironically enough, as the weather has cooled off by about 20 degrees, the air conditioning in my office broke...so while everyone outside is shivering and bundling up on their furs and blankets, we're sweating like pigs. Its fun stuff, really. Oh yeah, the schedule... So we've got a very busy week coming up. I can't specifically say why, due to confidentially stuff, but basically starting this coming Friday, our schedule is 8 a.m. - ? every day. No days off. Based on past years, the average end time per night will be around 11 p.m. I'm trying to just not think about that.


The greatest thing that this job is teaching me, really one thing that I think I'll always be thankful for, is the work ethic I'm gaining. I used to groan at the thought of a 6 or 8 hour shift. The time went by slowly, I was always tired and spent most of my time looking at the clock, dreading my time there, and praying for days off. Going from that, you'd think working the kind of hours I've been working here would be impossible. Instead, it's just changed the way I think of work. Now, work isn't something to keep me from doing other, better things, it's the only way to usefully spend time. It's hard to describe. But, basically I'll put it this way: I love this business. So, when everyone else in the office leaves at 8 p.m., I don't mind staying until 10 to file and enter forms, because I love where I'm at. Also, I'm on an island where there is very little to do that is free which you haven't done 100 times. I'd rather spend my time racking up that time and a half. And finally - I'm planning on staying in the hospitality business for a long time. Now is the time where I create my work habits and work ethic. I don't want to be the type of person who groans at having to work an 8 hour shift 5 days a week. I'd rather be the person that willingly takes on 3-4 extra hours every day 5-6 days a week without complaining. And I'm not complaining...seriously, I work because I want to.
It also doesn't hurt that the owner of the hotel walks through my office every once and a while around 10 p.m. when the front desk manager and I are the only ones left. When I come back here looking for a job in 2015, I'd like to be remembered as someone who is devoted to their job and willing to put in the extra time to get stuff done, especially when no one else does.
But again, I love it. Nothing makes you enjoy a day off like knowing you really worked for it.
Well, and knowing that your next one may just be on August 31st.

My "Great - Magnificent - Big - Splendid - Large" Birthday

Because saying that I had a Grand birthday would just be a little much.

Where do I start? I guess I've got to rewind all the way back to last Sunday... It's been a very eventful week.

Sunday, July 14, 2013.
Had my second and third visitor today! Some friends from my church back home were planning a trip up north, and it worked out perfectly that we had a friends and family rate available one of the nights that they would be in the area, so we put them up at the hotel. I had the day off, so when they arrived we met up and went to church, then lunch at Carlton's. After I gave them a tour of the hotel, we headed downtown and took a carriage tour around the island (Ding! another one off the list!). The carriage tour was really interesting, and it was so relaxing to just tour the island via horse-drawn carriage. One half of the tour was the downtown area, and the other half was through the state park. Very fun. On the way back, the carriage stops at the Fort, so we hopped off and knocked another one off the list! Really happy I got to see this too, it's crazy to think that the war of 1812 basically started here! The Fort was very well maintained, and some parts you feel like you're back in the days of war looking out over the water waiting for war ships to come in. Pretty cool stuff. After leaving the Fort, we headed back downtown to grab our bikes, and then it was time to go our separate ways...they had to go get ready for dinner and I had a party to get ready for! You may or may not remember, because I may or may not have mentioned, that my department (Reservations) had an occupancy goal of 98% for the month of June. If we reached our goal, the owner of the hotel was going to give us a cookout. LUCKILY the goal was reached, so tonight was the cookout! The cookout is at the home of the Executive Vice President of the hotel, and the owner himself is there as well as the Vice President of Accommodations (my boss), the manager of shops, the hotel historian, the Front Desk Manager and the General Manager. Needless to say, from the perspective of my career, this is probably one of the most important functions I will attend while on this island. I spent the evening eating, laughing, and watching everyone else drink! We spent time telling stories and jokes with the owner, laughing about all of our different crazy stories from this and past summers, and then...surprise! a group of people (who had been awkwardly standing outside the fence around the house for about ten minutes) decide to let themselves in and ask for a tour...their grandparents apparently used to live in the house, so they wanted to see the updates. While, very sweet, also pretty awkward. I'm sure they received the shock of their lives when they walked in to see the owner of the hotel standing in the kitchen. !

Tuesday, July 16, 2013.
There was really only one exciting thing that happened today...I decided to go out for my birthday dinner on Wednesday night instead of Friday. We were going to the Woods for dinner, and trying to go on a Friday night would just be chaotic. So, Tuesday evening around 5:00 I took my lunch break and decided to race downtown and try and find a dress to wear to dinner the next night! I made it out of the office and down to the store in about 5 minutes (probably going 50mph down the hill on my bike...eek!). I got there, told the girls in the shop that I had about 15 minutes and that I needed a birthday dress. I told them my price point and sent them off to find me something! Unfortunately, 15 minutes apparently isn't enough..cough cough..duh..so I asked how long they were open. To my luck, they were open until 10, so after work Sandra and I went back and I found the most adorable short white-lace dress with mid length sleeves. $35 later, I had a dress! Yay!

Wednesday, July 17, 2013.
Cheers to my co-worker Plao, for switching shifts with me! She gave me her 8am-6pm shift so I wouldn't have to get off work and get up to Woods in 45 minutes by working until 8pm. So, I got off at 6 to see a black sky and a cold, dangerous wind. Yikes. I got my butt down the hill as quickly as possible, braided up my hair, and got dressed. Then my friend Rhonda came over, I braided up her hair, and we went outside to catch a horse-drawn carriage taxi to the Woods since it looked like the heavens were about to open up on top of us. We made it up there in about 20 minutes, and when everyone arrived (just the girls from my office) we sat down and had dinner. Either one of these beautiful ladies or one of my friends that works at this restaurant handled my bill without my knowledge, so I smiled, said a general thank you to whoever it was, and then thanked God for putting such incredible people into my life. It also made me realize that I could really use a boyfriend so my friends don't have to pick up the bill on my birthday! lol! Anyway, dinner was fantastic, and they brought me out my tiramisu cheesecake with a candle, everyone singing happy birthday (accompanied by the pianist) and the plate had "Happy Birthday Elizabeth" written around the outside in chocolate. I love this place!

Thursday, July 18, 2013.
Long day. 13 hour shift. Torrential rain shower. Stayed so late my boss came in and said, "how late are you stayin here?! how much are you costin me?!" Time to go home.

Friday, July 19, 2013.
BIRTHDAY! yay!! Unfortunately had to work a 10 hour shift today, but that's absolutely fine by me. The weather was crappy, so I wouldn't have been able to do anything fun regardless. I came into work an hour early, had coffee at Carlton's while reading a book and looking out over the lake. [Worked for 10 hours]. Got off work, met up with Kendra, spent the night watching "The Proposal" because every girl deserves to see Ryan Reynolds with his shirt off on her birthday.

Saturday, July 20, 2013.
Fun day! Short shift today, only 8 hours. It absolutely flew by. My aunt and uncle came in, so I stepped out to chat with them for about 10 minutes, then back to work. As we were calling arrivals, we came across 3 people who didn't know they had reservations for tonight and therefore wouldn't be coming. We were able to sell two of those rooms, and then the front desk manager came through and told us my boss had put someone in the last room. Oh well, no birthday room for me! Then, 20 minutes before our phones went off for the day, my boss walks through and goes, "Sell this last room! I can kick Elizabeth out if I need to." Huh? You put me in? "yes." Ok! To my luck, I'm currently enjoying a really amazing birthday present right now. A nice little lakeview room with a tub and internet access. I really couldn't have asked for more. Oh, except dinner tomorrow night in the Main Dining Room with my parents who are finally coming in!...definitely looking forward to that! Haven't seen them in almost two months, and I'm really excited they're coming. That all being said, I'm about to go hop into a hot bath with some relaxing music and finish the night by catching up on Scandal and Revenge. Night all!

Confessions Of A Work-A-Holic

The inspiration for this post came to me a few moments ago...I'm sitting in one of the guest rooms of the hotel with three sleeping babies in the room next door, who I am babysitting for tonight through the hotel. I've been pulling 12-13 (and somedays 14) hour days the last few weeks to try and earn a little extra money to enjoy my birthday a little more. A friend of mine yesterday called me a "work-a-holic," which kind of made me think about it...am I? In my head, a workaholic is someone who neglects other important aspects of their life in the interest of career development to the extreme. A normal person might spend 8 hours at work 8 hours sleeping, and the other 8 hours with family or friends, doing yardwork, going to movies - whatever, however, whenever. But think about it...Im on an island. My nearest relatve is over two hours away, and there's not a single person on this island who I've known for more than two months. What else would I do here? I've developed a few different perspectives on work since I moved here: Number 1- If you have to be bored, getting paid overtime to enter forms into a computer is NOT the worst way to spend your extra time. Number 2- If all you're going to do after work is listenn to music, it's almost as relaxing as laying in bed listening to music as it is to stand up listening to it while filing the forms you entered while doing number 1. Number 3- If your best friend is working late with you, paid and productive quality time makes the work feel like nothing and the hours go by quicker Number 4- The feeling when you see your check every other thursday is well worth the extra two hours a day Number 5- The feeling when you see your check every other thursday is NOT worth sacrifices in relationships with God, family, or friends. After all, what would be the point if i had a successful day at work if I couldn't call my family, friends, K, and D and share these things with them? The Way I See It number 793 is that if I can't find the time or money to share my successes and achievements with those that I most care about, who should I expect to be there when life inevitably throws curves in that path?

That Thing Called A Weekend

So, in the outside world, as I vaguely remember, they have this thing called a week-end. I'm not exactly sure what it is (I mean, when does the week, end?) but from what it sounds like, after working five consecutive days, people in the outside world take two days off. They sleep in, do yard work, go out with friends, go on adventures, and some even attend church on Sunday morning. Now, this is all very strange and new to me, but...if I didn't know better...I'd say I just experienced my very first “week-end.”

Now, keep in mind that I have already had two consecutive days off, on which I did absolutely nothing. So, I did not have particularly high hopes for my one day off on Sunday, especially since I was looking forward to having Tuesday off instead, to spend with a very special family member who was coming to visit me. So, when the schedule came out on Saturday, you can imagine my disappointment when I saw that the two days my lovely aunt would be here, I would be working from 8 a.m. Until 6 p.m...if I was lucky enough to get out on time!

So, Saturday night, right after the schedule was released, my friend Hal and I met up with her mom and brother at a hotel downtown.Now, none of us were staying in this hotel, but I swear there was no sign that said no trespassing...soo....

Hal and I grabbed some pretty much 100% plastic magazines, and somehow managed to get a fire started in one of the hotels fire pits outside (again, there wasn't any no trespassing sign...). We had a good smolder going until a gentleman from the hotel finally came out and really got it going for us. We sat and talked for probably an hour, roasted hot dogs, and made marshmallows and s'mores on the campfire. Check that one off the to-do list! This was five days ago, so honestly I don't remember what I did for the rest of that night, probably watched Julie and Julia for the 107^th time.

The next day was Sunday, my day off. Now, on any given day that I have off, I usually sleep in until at least 11, however this particular day I woke up at 5:30, again at 7:30, and again at 8:30. Finally, I got the hint. It was Sunday morning...my first Sunday off since I've been at the hotel- I was going to church! So I got up and went to an awesome church service. Absolutely the best I've been to since I came here. There was a band in town from Lima, NY (not far from where I go to school) and they were truly incredible. Pastor K announced afterwards that instead of our usual Crossroads meeting, we were having a bonfire (second night in a row!!) up at one of the member's houses back in the woods. So, I left church, went up to the hotel for an amazing lunch at the Tea Store, and then went back downtown to my room. I played guitar for a couple of hours, took a nap and then woke up just in time for dinner. I ran up to the hotel in time to catch Sandra for dinner, and then we walked for a bit until I went up to the bonfire. Now, this was a fantastic campfire. We had, again, hotdogs and marshmallows.  However, what made this fire special was that I got to share it with my fellow Christians, listening to testimonies, and singing a few gospel songs. After that, I went over to chat with and make friends with the people in the band, and ended up singing a few random songs together on the guitar. From there, we all went over to the Woods, attempted to bowl until we were thwarted by little kids with popcorn eating on the alley, went to sunset rock for a little while and then...yes...decided to do a late night bike ride.

Yep! Knocked two things off the list this weekend! The bike ride was great, absolutely pitch black except for the stars. Very peaceful minus all the spiderwebs.

So, Monday my aunt came into town! She gave me my birthday present...which is probably one of the best gifts i've gotten in a while. Rain gear!!!!! Now, you all have been reading these for a while, I assume (hope..). I've been getting absolutely drenched up here! I am so excited, especially because they are pink, I find myself actually hoping for rain. Forgive me, fellow islanders. But give me this simple pleasure! So after we stopped at her room and I got my rain gear, as well as some fresh cherries, strawberries, and blueberries – all of which were a huge hit at the office – we went for dinner at the restaurant where John Stamos works. When we walked in, he greeted us and took us to our table. We sat down, and I looked at my aunt and said, “So....you read my blogs, right?” she basically says “You know I read your blogs. I'm pretty much the only one that ever comments.”

oh. yeah.

“Well....that was John Stamos.”

We both erupt in laughter.

Dinner there was great, per usual. I finally tried the spinach and artichoke flatbread which i've been wanting to try forever and it was really really good. We went our separate ways after dinner, I was getting up early to go into work so I went to bed pretty early that night. Woke up the next morning, clocked in at about 6:30 a.m., and was hoping to get my boss to let me leave an hour early. Unfortunately, do to unforseen circumstances, our department went back to being understaffed today so I ended up just working another reeally long day for pretty much no reason. The good news was that the day flew by, and my aunt came up to the hotel at about 5:30. I brought her into the office and introduced her to everyone, and then decided to ask my boss to let me leave. Who would've known! He said yes! I took my aunt up to the front porch and left her there while I went downtown to change, which i'm sure was absolutely horrible for her...came back up, and we went to Woods again for dinner! When I say that is my favorite place on the island, I'm not lying. I'm going there again next week for my birthday dinner.

So, we had dinner at woods. She had the pasta pomodoro, which looked awesome, and I had the duck. I don't know how I missed out on duck my whole life but it's got to be one of the most amazing foods in the world. Or maybe just the ones they give you here. Either way, yum.

After woods, we went downtown to a bar to hear the niece of one of my aunts friends play guitar. We sat and chatted for a bit over some waters, and then headed out around 10. She's leaving early in the morning, so we had to say goodbye tonight. I'm sad to see her leaving so soon, but it was nice remembering what it's like to have a weekend!! Hope you all enjoyed yours too! 

The Day Without Coffee

Hello all! This will probably short, seeing as I am absolutely exhausted, but I thought I'd check in while I have a moment. I worked a 12 and a half today, and a 14 and a half hour day yesterday...laying in bed with the heating pad is a welcome pleasure. So, yes! Lots of long hours this week, but don't get me wrong- this was my decision (mostly). My best friends birthday and my birthday both fall in the same pay-period so I decided to put in the extra hours so we could do something nice. My plan for my birthday (July 19th!) is to go up to the Woods restaurant and have dinner with everyone in my department. I figure since I spend most of my waking hours with these people, they're practically family anyway.
Unfortunately, that's as close as I'll get to it on my actual birthday. That's one of the things that makes living up here so difficult. Over the past few years going to school two states away, my family has become a lot more important to me. Being up here and not able to see them is extremely difficult,,,I truly don't understand how the people who have worked here for 20+ years manage to do it. Any place that I cannot see not only my family but my cute, happy puppy on a regular basis is not a place I could stay for very long. The good news is they're coming up two days after, and my aunt is coming up 5 days before! I can't wait!!
So, after what was perhaps my longest work day in recorded history yesterday, I stayed for two hours after the phones went off to catch up on some filing...what's funny is that after two hours of it, you could barely tell I had done anything at all, but I did I swear! My boss will probably come in tomorrow, see my time sheet, look at the stack of to-be-filed, and just look at me with the raised eyebrow. But hey, what can ya do!

Oh, and the day without coffee thing- yeah...for whatever reason I decided that the day after my crazy shift I would try going without coffee. Any coffee drinkers already know without me saying that that was a very stupid decision. I have no explanation. But I promise it won't happen again!


I had a restrospective moment when I got out of work. I realized yesterday, after going into work when the sun was rising (practically) and leaving work when it's pitch dark out that this is a really weird kind of job to get accustomed to. What's even weirder is that most of the time I enjoy it..
Anyway I hope you are all enjoying your summer! The weather here has been beautiful and I have made a point to take ten minutes out of my lunch break every day to go out and sit in the sunshine- so here's my parting tip- whether you love your job or hate your job, and whether it's a good day at work or a horrible one...if the sun is shining, go enjoy it. It will rejuvenate you. And thanking God for the opportunity to get to that point is always a good idea too.