Project Kengikat

Back In The Saddle

// October 16th, 2010 // 1 Comment » // Animals, Cooking

This past week was my first week back to work in what feels like decades, but once I got into the kitchen my mojo kicked in and it was as if I had never been absent. I feels really awesome to be back at work.

The rough thing has been the fact that I am cooking menus set by the head chef, which I don’t like at all, but I have been able to turn around much of the poor planning of menus as well as the low morale of the people who eat the food, by simply doing what I have always done very well. COOK!!!! I have also been able to change the atmosphere in the kitchen from a place that was described as “grim” to a place filled with laughter, communication and respect.

I started work med week, so to be able to get all this accomplished feels really good for me and I am so looking forward to a week from Monday where breakfast and lunch menus will be planned and cooked by me while collaborating with the head chef on Monday night dinners to make them what they are supposed to be as well as helping to shape the rest of the weeks dinner menus as well.

The hardest thing for me this week has been the fact that I have to get up at 4:00AM in order to make it to work by 6:00AM. Now METRO or the MTA says I can catch the 5:20AM bus and make it to work by 5:47AM. I’ve done this twice now and each time I get to work after 6:00AM. For some reason I don’t think the people who plan the schedules or make the time tables have a real understanding on riding the bus. Furthermore I know METRO (MTA) could give a rats ass if people are late for work based on the information they provide.

Now I know you might be saying “just get an earlier bus” and this is what I would do if I were able to do this. The 5:20AM schedule is the first regular schedule bus. Prior to this the bus runs about once an hour. So even if I got the bus stop at 4:30AM, I could in fact still be waiting for the 5:20AM bus. I certainly am not going to be out there at 3:00AM to get to work a little of two hours early. I just wish METRO (MTA) would do a better job at planning and servicing their riders. Hopefully this will all change once I am able to save some money and buy a car. WOW, would that be nice or what?

So the first week was awesome, the meals were on time and enjoyed by everyone. My day goes by very fast too. Before I know it 12:30PM has arrived, I take my break and I only have an hour and half left before I clock out and head home. I love this schedule because it allows me to still do my community work, plus I have weekends off.

Today was a very relaxing day for me. For the most part I have been home just relaxing with Dodger. I did go out to purchase my uniform for Monday night. Oh yeah, Monday is a very long day for me. I start at 6:00AM and don’t finish until 7:00PM. I know Sleeping that night will be so important because Tuesday morning at 4:00AM will come rather quickly.

There has been one small draw back to working and that is I must leave Dodger in his crate while I am not here. If I leave him out he tears things up or he will pee in the house in many different places. I know he is just showing out, so he must remain in the crate. When I get home he is very excited and very vocal. So I sit with him for about an hour before I take him out so he won’t try to bite everyone we walk past.

Later this evening I will plan out my meals and relax. I might even treat myself to a dinner out.

Clean Up Friday

// June 18th, 2010 // 2 Comments » // Animals, Health and Fitness, Me Time

Today was a pretty quiet day for Dodger and I, just a few walks and a lazy day on the sofa. I took the day off from the gym because I am really sore from the past two days. No pain, no gain is just a bunch of BS. I am not trying to hurt myself to prove some silly point.

The one thing that I really wanted to get done today was doing a major clean to my apartment. My place isn’t that large, but there are 5 windows, 4 of which are large, plus my place sits over a fairly busy street, so there’s lots of dirt that gets in. I do my best to keep it pretty clean, but there are times when I need to do what I did today. What I like to call  ”deep cleaning”. During this cleaning I move all the furniture, sweep the baseboards and then I place some carpet fresh on the carpet. It takes about an hour to get it all done.

Before moving the furniture I make sure I have already done the dishes, cleaned thebathroom and the counter tops. Today I had to also clean off the table. The table tends to be a place where I place things that never seem to move. So there a great deal of time was spent getting things where they belong, most of which was the trash and a small amount needed to be filed away or put in areas where I could see them so I wont forget they are due.

Most times Dodger gets really nervous when I start to clean because he knows sooner or later I will be running the vacuum cleaner and he doesn’t care too much for that. However today meant that his favorite spot perched on the back of the sofa looking out the window would be a no go. He also doesn’t like when I move the sofa with him on it.

I also wanted to focus on recreating my “sacred space” as well as making space for my ceramics that I’ve been bringing home. This meant that I was going to have to move some things around in order to make space for all the new pieces. I have this really cool leather chest that I received from my friends Krystal and Patrick that use to sit near the sofa and arm chair, but today I moved it near the bog window so it could hold my plants and ceramics while creating a really cool space. There was a smaller table that I had in the entry hallway now located in living room that holds my FAITH cross, rocks and some really cool pieces I created.

I also needed to sort my laundry, change the sheets on my bed and sort my recycling. Dodger’s bowl needed to be cleaned, water bottle on his water station also needed to be changed as well. This meant I needed to clean the area where the bottle screws in to make sure no dust or dirt there that could get into his water. My little baby also needed a bath and then a good brushing after.

Once I finished all of this it was time for our afternoon walk. We usually go for a longer walk in the afternoon, but today Dodger seemed to be a bit tired. He wasn’t walking at his normal pace and when I turned at a corner where we never go to head back, he gave me nu fuss. In fact he seemed very happy. When we got back home, jumped up on the sofa for me to remove his collar and harness and went right over to his bed and curled up. However once I got settled and relaxed on the sofa, he ran over and jumped on me and we took our nap.

This evenings walk Dodger had his swagger back and was all over the place. Since he had somuch energy we went for a long walk and he seemed to like this just fine. On our way home we ran into Maggie and Sally. They live near us and Dodger is always on his best behavior whenever he sees Sally. This time he saw he before I noticed they were up ahead and he started pulling.

I gave my friend Audrey a call to see how she was doing and I am so glad I did that, because once again we had such a great conversation and I was able to learn more about her as well as discover that she is a pretty strong, brave amazing woman was has been through so much in her life. What is so inspiring to me is that she has this beautiful spirit and this energy that is so powerful. We spent over an hour talking and laughing.

I was feeling ok after talking to Audrey, so I thought I would head to the gym, but right as I started to walk to the door Dodger went crazy, as if he knew I was about to leave him and this was going against my plans. I walked out anyway, but he kept it up and did not stop. I was outside the building and walking towards the gym and I could still hear him. Dodger never does this, so I gave in and came back. When I sat down on the sofa, he ran to lick my face and then back to his favorite spot. I simply shook my head and said “Ok Dodger, you win” He turned and barked twice and went back to looking out the window.

Clean up Friday was awesome. I took it easy and spent the entire day with Dodger, talked with with two friends and returned some emails. I am ending my day by burning some sage, ringing my bell and lighting some candles….oh yeah a really hot bubble bath.