MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING

This past week has been a bit fun. I had a ticket to see the touring company from Second City Comedy Club in Chicago; they came to Dixon to perform at the community theater. So that was actually a packed crowd of about 1,000 people all conservative religious republican types. And Second City is notorious for creating a stir with its liberal viewpoints. They were making fun of racists, homophobes, and republicans. And the audience was laughing at the jokes about themselves! Then there were two guys who had a full on stage kiss, and I thought the guy who was in his 60's sitting next to me in the audience was going to have a heart attack (along with others in the audience who felt as strongly about man-on-man kissing)! The ultimate was when there was a comedy skit of a Border's Bookstore check-out line and there is this guy at a counter who was trying to buy a book. The lady behind the counter was telling the guy that the whole idea of sequels is stupid. And that this one was horribly bad. She told him she wouldn't even let him buy the thing, and told him to go find something else. When the next lady in line asked what book he was trying to buy, the response was "The New Testament." To which the audience actually "booed!" I was in heaven, I think!

I don't know about most political stances in this town, I try to remain neutral to religion here, and sports is another taboo subject. As a business owner in town, I have to maintain a low profile, which is becoming increasingly difficult to do because I was never one to hide my opinions.

On a lighter note, this weekend is going to be an amazing one! I get to officiate my first wedding! I get to join two people in wedded bliss! I get to pronounce two people as man and wife! And I get to hold the pen which signs the document which joins two souls legally and eternally! What an amazing thing. I finished my script today for the ceremony. I had a chance to sit down with the bride and groom for a few hours to go over the details of the ceremony and it was pretty cool. I pray for their future. I pray for their success. And I pray that on Saturday, the weather will actually be better than the weather man predicted. I went out and got some new clothes to wear, and I am just excited about it because it is my first one. I do hope they work out. When I was talking to the bride, and found out they had only met a few months ago, I asked her what she thought about that, and she said the right thing to me. It was exactly the same feeling I have about someone. And they are blessed to know each other. They gel. And so I am glad to do it.

Taxes are due this next couple weeks so please folks, if you are reading this, pray that we can get some extra revenues at the restaurant so that we can make it work for the next month. As it is, I am low for the ranch property and may have to ask mom for help with that this month. I hate asking her to help. I dread asking. Every month I am trying to cut here and there, but then I place my food orders and I can't get my food orders to come out to less than what it is. And my utilities and taxes just keep coming. Yeah, this has been my dream since I was a small child. And yeah, I just wish summer can come as quickly as possible so that my sales volume can increase. But in the meantime, I am relying on prayer and God's providence. Night for now. =)

TWITTER!

I do tweet. I admit it. I am not addicted, like some. I tweet now and then. I am amongst the very famous Oprah!, Ellen!, Martha Stewart!, Ashton Kutcher!, Demi Moore! and such, and of course, there are people all over the rest of the world who tweet! I have friends in New Zealand, Ireland, England, Canada, they run the gamut of the world. And they are all really cool people. A while ago, almost a year now (December 31st), I met this really cool person. And we talked for a wee bit, and I just thought so highly of this person. And we got into this fight, or it wasn't even a fight, per se. But we stopped talking. And I never let this person leave my thoughts. And we started talking again after some months, and then we just stopped. And despite my trying to make things comfortable when we talked again, we just didn't gel. So yeah, I have continued to follow on twitter or youtube, but the person hasn't really made any new videos in a while. And about 2 months ago, I decided to follow this person on twitter again. Well, the other night, they decided to follow me back. And I was petrified. I thought for sure they would block me, straight away. And I was pleased that when I sent a direct message, they responded that they wouldn't block me. :-) So today, I remember the person I met back in December and appreciate Twitter. It is yet another cool way to quietly remember, and perhaps someday reintroduce yourself to someone you care about. And the story continues... day to day... week to week... month to month, and ultimately, year to year... if I ever do decide to sell this place (which I hope to do in about 7-10 years), I will definitely be moving to New Zealand to retire, open a coffee house, and I dunno, maybe say hi to an old twitter friend. :-)

HUMPDAY

It's Wednesday, again. And with it, comes our hot dog special with fries and a drink for $2.85 which is a great price. But it comes with not much money at the end of the night in the register. Yesterday we lost phone service because some moron building a road dug into the fiber optic lines. We lost a lot of business because we had no phones all day. Today, we have HUMPDAY special and I soooo need to pay these damn taxes still. Every month I have over $1,000 in withholding taxes and another close to $1,000 in sales taxes due. I need to get through this winter. Please GOD! Help me get through this winter and into the summer. Then we can rock out all summer! God willing we will ROCK the bank next summer. God willing, the weather will be sunny and clear every day next summer! And God willing, we will come into the autumn months with a bit more padding for the next winter.

I love it, don't get me wrong. I love the people. I love the food compliments. I love the people who work with me. I love it all. But I could do without the taxes, and I could do without the kids who want a job but don't want to work when I need them to. It gets to be crazy when I have like a few employees and one of them has something come up and has to call off or something. Then it is like pulling eye teeth to get someone who wants to cover the shift. Or when someone try's to pull a "Ferris Bueller" and say their grandmother is dying. Having a friend call and pretend to be their mother. It is funny though, because I did the same thing when I was their age.

I love it all, just please God, help me out here. Put the customers in the building, the money I need in the register, and the bank balance in the black.

Love you all. <3