Never a Dull Day...

Over the past 17 months working at the museum, I have come the conclusion that everyday is unique and filled with its surprises. These surprises can be enjoyable, such as visitors from another country; hectic, such as 287 visitors and only 3 people working that day; or down right aggrivating, such as the electricity cutting off.

This past Friday turned out to be on the of the aggrivating days. It started out running smooth with one tour of 4th graders, lunch, and working on booking other tours. Then came my 3:00 tour. Things went fine on the first floor as they worked on their scavenger hunts. Upstairs I spend the whole 30 minutes talking to them about the exhibits and rely on the teacher and parents to help keep them in line. Well the teacher and the parents decided to go off and look at everything on their own leaving me with around 16 students. I kept them together as well as one person could. On the way back down the ramp I had one little boy who was pushing the other children in front of him. I have never had that happen before. I had to stop the line and sturnly command him to come to the front of the line. Once we were down the ramp the students took a restroom break. When the teacher was done she walked outside and sat on the bench--leaving the students inside the museum!! It was unbelievable.

Today I walked into the museum to find out we had partial power--a brown out. I had to call in the problem to the electric company who said it would be back on between 10:20 and 11:00. That meant we couldn't open until all power was restored. The power finally came on at 11:15; eveything worked except the elevator. The doors on the bottom floor didn't open at all and the doors on the top floor wouldn't shut. So I found some stantions and a rope to block off the open doors. And as of now the chiller on the air conditioning is not turning on which means it is beginning to be a little stuffy inside.

Never a dull moment here.

Blarney Good Day

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Even though it is not one of the most famous of holidays, I really enjoy St. Patrick's Day. Who doesn't like a holiday when it is ok to cause a little bit of bodily harm to those not adhering to the rules? Luckily this morning I remembered to don my green attire. There have been many years in the past when I have made the cardinal sin of forget my green, thus leaving myself wide open for pinch attacks all day. I have found through personal experience that green eyes do not count as your splash of green, nor does it count if you are Irish. There are no privileged people on this day...anyone is game!



Remember back when beanie babies were all the rage? For me it was during middle school. All of my girlfriends were collecting them--buying the new one of the week and making sure they had those plastic tag protectors. I didn't really get into it. I wasn't enthralled with any of the animals...until the Erin bear came out. And why wouldn't I want it? It's name is Erin (just like me) and it's Irish (just like me). Of course when it first came out it cost a pretty penny which I wasn't about to spend for something stuffed with beans. But perhaps now I could find for pretty cheap on the old Ebay and then one of my lifetime goals will be fulfilled (incredibly kidding).

Icey Memories

Yesterday evening I watched Unwrapped, the episode about Hawaian/tropical food. One of the items discussed was shaved ice aka snow cones. Watching the ice being shaved, the syrup being poured, and the happy consumers faces made me think back on all my fond memories working for 3 years at a snow cone stand. At times it could get hectic to the point that you wanted to throw the syrup bottles against the wall or shove your head in the ice machine, but once you got past those moments it was a really fun job. Over the course of the 3 years I had regular customers who I knew by flavor. As soon as I saw them walking up I would begin making their order. There was the family who wanted Strawberry Daiquiri with very little syrup, the lady who liked lots of cream on any flavor she ordered, and then there was the lady who ordered the largest size of just ice...then when she got to her car, would pour some alcoholic drink on top.

I would have to give the snow cone stand some credit in helping me out of my "bubble". The stand I started working at was in the parking lot of Big Lots which was the hang out for the Cooper High kids. And I met quite an interesting slue of people...quite different from the Highland C of C and ACU crowds I was use to. I honestly think it was a good experience for me to realize what people in the "real world" are like.

Sadly, since my last day at the snow cone stand (about 2 1/2 years ago) I have lost my appetite for the cold siren. But back in the day my favorite flavors included:

* Silver Fox
* Lucky Charms (tasted just like the marshmellows from the cereal)
* Banana Daiquiri
* Watermelon with margarita salt (tasted like real watermelon)
* Black Cherry Cola

Stuff

I don't feel like writing my experiences in paragraphs today (especially after having 150 kids come throught the museum). So here are some nuggets of fun to chew on:

* Next week I (and hopefully Travis) am taking a couple of days off and heading up to Abilene! I will get in late Monday and stay until Wednesday. Whoo-hoo!

* A little girl in one of my tours today said "You look like a Barbie doll." Nice self-esteem booster.

* Monday I watched the movie "Mommie Dearest" which is the story of the movie actress Joan Crawford. Wow--what a psycho. For some reason I am entranced by this movie and thoroughly enjoy watching it.

* Monday evening there was a show commeorating the life of Gene Kelly which made my heart smile--he dances, he sings...what more could you want?

* I have fallen in love with the old church songs. Growing up I always went to churches where the newest songs were sung over and over. Our group that sings at a nursing home on Monday nights has brought new appreciation for songs I either heard long ago or never even learned.

* In about a month I will receive my Christmas present--watching the musical Wicked performed with Travis. I'm so excited!

* Is anyone else ready for the new season of Project Runway to begin?

Another One Bites the Dust

(Wow it's been awhile since I posted!)

This past weekend was Texas Independence Day Celebration which means I had to work both Saturday and Sunday along with all of the other staff. Friday night we had a special reception which I bought a special new dress for. Travis came and met all of the people I work with. As soon as he walked in the door the ladies swarmed at him. My family came down for the festivities. Travis spent alot of time with them without me: he rode to the park with them and he took them to church since I had to work. He really gets along well with them!

Today I gave a tour to a wonderful group of 7th graders. Everything was going well until I lead them into the boat. I told the first two girls to spin the wheel. I thought it was weird that one of the girls was right next to the other one. Then all of a sudden she fell backwards, hit her head on the wall behind her, and laid on the floor. She was out for at least 30 seconds. I tried to keep the other kids back while the teachers came to help her. Thankfully she didn't start siezing. One little girl was crying because it was her cousin who passed out. It is unsure what made her faint; the teacher said she was sick last week. My guesses are: 1. she was still sick 2. she got clausterphobic or 3. she has low blood sugar.

The fact that this is my second student to faint on one of my tours is a little disheartening. Either I'm doing something wrong or these kids need to eat more protein.