Summer Vacay 2011

Saturday, July 9th, 8pm. I ask / tell my manager, I think I'm going to start my vacation now. And he replies, of course, have fun!
I am staying at Hotel Vancouver (one of the 3 Fairmonts downtown Vancouver) and I can't wait to run a hot bath, read, order in room dining and relax until Chris arrives the following day. Its been a long few weeks of work, with stress from daily operations, to never ending projects and coping with a long distanced relationship where we haven't seen each other for the past 2.5 months, aside from Skype, which is hit and miss with internet connections and time zones/ ever changing schedules. I nearly fall asleep in the hot bath, then climb into the fluffy white bathrobe, look over the menu and order a roma pizza and glass of Riesling from in room dining. About 10 minutes later, I receive a phone call from front desk stating that I need to come downstairs because my credit card didn't work. Strange I thought...I've made sure there was plenty of room on it, but I throw on some jeans and a tank and head down. As I step out of the elevator, I see this handsome guy staring at me, it takes me several seconds to process what I'm seeing, and when I finally figure it out I walk towards him, tears in my eyes and call him an asshole. There was Chris! He came a day early and totally surprised me -- he had planned it the whole time! I wrapped my arms around him, I can't actually look at him because I don't think its real yet, we manage to get up to the room and all I can do is laugh / cry happily / and smile and blurt out a few exasperated words of joy. I love this man like loco.
A few minutes later room service arrives so we have a drink and a bite to eat and catch up. We decided to talk a walk to calm the nerves and it was a beautiful night!

The next day we woke up early to a gorgeous day in Van and walk around the city, to Stanley Park, Granville Street to see some interesting street performers and people watch. Its so good to be together again finally. The next day we have a bit of travel ahead, we took the ferry over to Vancouver island to stay at the Fairmont Empress, we splurged and got a Fairmont Gold room and it was hilarious because we were easily the youngest couple staying on that floor and when you walk into the private lounge everyone stares and wonders how we got here. The hotel is so old and beautiful with heaps of history, the hallways are long and maze like and to get to a destination takes a bit of determination because there is no easy way. The furniture is a work of art and easily from a century or two ago. We take a walk down to Fishermans wharf, enjoy the famous fish and chips from Barbs and then head over to my Family's place on Willis Point to visit and see new baby Jasper. We wish we could stay longer but have to get to bed early (we play scrabble and backgammon over tea...we're so old, hah) and wake up early to drive to Tofino.

The drive there was beautiful! Winding mountain roads, old growth rainforests, goats on a roof in Coombs. Lots of markets, little gems of villages, interesting people. We arrive in Tofino and it's sunny! Everyone said it would rain, so we made sure to buy some proper raingear, however we set up camp, rainproofed everything and head down to the hot white sand beach to soak up the sun and explore the tide pools!

The highlight of the trip was definitely Hot Springs Cove, we had wanted to do a kayaking trip but unfortunately the weather was rainy after the first day there and I was fighting a cold coming on so we decided not to. But a trip to hot springs cove was too tempting not to, so we booked a water taxi over where we saw sea birds, bald eagles, seals, sea otters and of course Gray Whales! There were so many! Everywhere you looked you saw puffs of "whale breath" break the surface, it was amazing to see them breach and then dive deep with their tails in the air. Once we arrived at the cove we had about a 30 minute boardwalk hike through an old growth rainforest, you could purchase a plank of wood and get it custom engraved, it was really neat to see peoples stories and memories as you walked along. We finally arrived at the cove and there were heaps of people there, turns out a 1.5 hour boat trip isn't an issue for many! It starts with a waterfall and its as hot as I like my showers! Takes a bit to get used to, then it pools into 4 different area's, one slightly cooler than the last, with the last pool mixing with the cold waters of the ocean when there is a big wave. After a while you get really hot sitting in them so you go down to the ocean waters and wait for a big wave to cool you off. It would be unimaginable to do this if you haven't sat in hot waters for 20 minutes beforehand because the water here is freezing! But so refreshing and we feel amazing afterwards!

The boat ride back was calm and welcoming and a lot of us dozed off, we saw sea caves and handfuls of sea otters just floating on their backs looking at us curiously. Our last night in Tofino, we got calzones from the local pizza shop and it was so delish by our big crackling fire back at the campsite!

Our next set of holidays are in October and we're not sure what we'll do yet, but we both love adventure so its sure to be a good one.

Hard work now, benefits later

So as I continue my journey with a career driven path of life, doors are continuously opening; recently I got a promotion and today, just got accepted to a Leadership program, where I train on site for 18 months, being rotated throughout the hotel in different departments, until they re-locate me, and this can be down the street, california, saudi arabia, singapore....the list goes on. Basically wherever they need me, what 'fits' and of course where I want to go.
This week I am headed home for the first time, since I've left in May. I feel relaxed and I am able to enjoy this break, a month ago, I wouldn't have been ok with leaving work and going home, but now that I have made some progress and things are set in stone I can leave satisfied! And right about now I'm in a work-induced-coma which isn't a good place to be in physically /mentally, and I thought that I would need a tropical beach somewhere to bring me back to life; but what I realize is that all I need is family, friends and loved ones to light that spark that I have lost and all will be ok again. I am so excited to hear about married life and baby life with my dearest of friends, completely different paths than the one I am on but something I envy and want no detail spared on what its like! I am so proud of all my friends and what they have accomplished and I know I am going to be a bag of tears when I see them. I am also super excited to see my mom and dad, so much has changed since the last time I've seen them and Dad always writes and says "I can't wait to see my little girl all grown up" and that always tugs at my heart strings. He also wrote today "The kids are dying to know if you are staying over one night so we can make crepe's in the morning" and I replied "are the kids asking or are you?" haha so I know he's super excited that I'm coming home. I wish I could stay longer, but sometimes short and sweet visits are the best and you just have to cherish every moment. A big addition to solo-Ashley, is Chris. I've put this subject off for a bit because words cannot describe how incredible he is. Maybe this will sum things up... "you had me at bee hive" (inside joke) but basically we are meant to be, and its nice knowing "ah, so this is what its like". So he is meeting me in Toronto, flying 11,000kms, across the atlantic, 4 flights, 20 hours, from Queensland, Australia, kind of a big deal, but it isn't! It just is. So I'm super stoked for everyone to meet him, and even more excited to explore Toronto / Niagara / Vancouver together! yeay!

I am sort of weary of going home, I'm not too sure how I will react, will it be emotional? happy? sad to leave? A big reason I'm going home is to see my Gramma, she has had a rough last couple years, and has had a few close calls with serious illness. I am so proud of her and how strong she is and maintaining a positive mind at tough times as these, I can't wait to see her and I know she'll want to hear all about my adventures in the last year.

That's the deets on what is going on in my adventure!

xx A.

Dash

A few months ago Ryan brought home a 3 month old black lab we named Dash. Growing up as a kid, we only had a cat, so we didn't really know what to expect.

The first few weeks were both very difficult as well as amazing to have a little puppy to play with! The first bit of potty training took a bit; for those of you who have owned puppies will know that if you are able, try to take them out every hour or two and reward them when you see pee come out with a "good boy" and a pat on the head. It took a few weeks but he finally learned!

The next lesson; no biting!
This one was more difficult, I can't imagine what teething feels like (because its been about 26 years since I have teethed and have no recollection of it) and although I feel bad for the pup, my few possesions are important to me.
We found the trick is to have a bunch of different toys available in all shapes / sizes / textures and noises. And his attention span to each toy lasted nearly as long as the toy itself (if we got 10 mins out of some of them, consider it an accomplishment).
The next problem; leaving him at home while we were both at work. Not only do you feel horrible doing it -- you are equally terrified of what you may find (or what you may not find in existence any longer) once you get home.
This is when we were still living in our TINY basement apartment in Abbotsford, so we put baby gates up, and kept him in the kitchen, sometimes for 8 hours a day.
The first time, we learned that you can't leave the garbage out, even for 20 minutes, if we aren't in the room. The second time, we learned that all cupboards must be secured; only a few screwdrivers met their demise, along with some of my recipe books.
After this, I thought we had it figured out, until you're in a rush one morning and forget to put the garbage away (me) and Ryan came home to torn garbage everywhere, our newly bought large pack of toilet tissue, among other things. I can tell you Ryan was not happy with me and his revenge was to text me "At emergency with Dash; vet has to pump his stomache because he ate the garbage you left out and he was whining and moaning when I got home". I nearly was sick when I read that text, then he said "i'm joking, don't do it again though." Total asshole, that brother of mine.

So then you have a new routine set in place; check baby gates, check counters, check cupboards, check doors, check garbages (now you need an extra 15 minutes just to get out of the door in the mornings). Once I feel the place is in order, I leave and finally think I'm safe.
That night I get home, and instead of opening the door, I smartly peered through the window to see glass smashed EVERYWHERE and a brown liquid with dumbo staring at me wagging his stupid tail. Turns out he jumped up on the counter and tried to eat the coffee pot. So i'm in heels, panicking, and of course he is totally oblivious to the extremely thin and dangerous glass everywhere, and he's jumping up on and around me (while peeing) so I boot him outside and deal with the disaster zone.

After that, we don't have anymore issue's, but you have to be careful what you leave laying around (socks, gloves, pillows, etc).
Now we are living in Langley and we have crate trained him. I felt awful about this at first, but now its his "safe zone". He sleeps in it at night and day and he also has this super cute habit of putting himself in there if he gets yelled at, or when we return from the dog park and he's covered in mud, he has learned that he HATES baths so instead of taking a bath, he will go to his pen and dry off. Clever lad!

Every day he's growing and learning and its so adorable! He has recently learned what my different outfits mean. If I put on my jacket, its "Dash Time" and he gets super excited and jumps around because he knows we are going to the dog park. If I slip on my heels, he can be laying anywhere in the room and he knows i'm going to work so he just walks on into his pen and lays down. He's only 8 months and already so smart!

I am so happy Ryan brought him into the family, I honestly couldn't imagine my life without him. He takes away sadness, stress and anger (even when you're angry with him....you just can't stay angry, one look at his sorry face and he's forgiven instantly), and if I have had a long rough day at work all it takes is for him to greet me with his "night toy" when I walk in the door at 3am. He reserves his blue donut chew toy for his greetings, weird habit, but cute nonetheless!

A day in my life

I wake up. Lately its been between 11am and 12 noon. Bad. I know. But when you get home at 12:30am and usually can't fall asleep until 1:30am it happens.
I eat some breakfast (steal some cereal from Ryan, or if there's yoghurt in the house I'll have that with granola and a banana) I rotate coffee / tea. Shower, figure out an outfit, and everyday I wish I had more "work" clothes. I have a lot of black, and I want some more coloured shirts / blouses. Each pay cheque (or every other) I pick up one more piece for my collection, a long, slow process but its getting there.

I debate driving all the way into work, or taking the Skytrain. I loathe the skytrain, it has certainely lost its charm; Smelly people, loud, long....longer than driving (if there is no traffic) and there's no washrooms in any of the stations, so the extra 30 minutes with skytrain commute makes a huge difference (i've had to pee so bad at times, because traffic on the highway made my drive from 20 mins to the skytrain station to an hour.I had to go to an A&W and buy crappy fries I didn't eat, just to use their washroom). The skytrain is also not enjoyable because when I get there (btween 1:30 - 2pm) the 9-5ers have taken the best spots, so I'm left with a quarter mile walk....this SUCKS in the rain, and at night, I have to walk across an empty parking lot in the dark, in surrey. Its scary, trust me.

I save maybe $8 a day taking the train, but add on 2 hours to my commute total. And these days I'm finding it hard to justify spending extra time. At least before when I was in class I could study my notes, but now I just sit there playing solitaire on my iphone.
Parking in the city is bullshit. Its expensive and more than half of the lots are closed by 8pm. Parking on the street is free after 10pm, but I'm finished my shift at 11pm.
Parking in the hotel is not cheap, even with discounted fare its $16 per day. Plus the gas i'm using to get into the city. So as much as I loathe the skytrain, I find myself urging... myself, to take the train more often than not.
I need to find a place downtown. Bottom line. I have 2 more weeks until i've officially finished my 3 month probation and get a big fat $5 / hour raise! So maybe by the new year I can afford a place downtown?!
I digress.

So once I've decided if I drive or take the train, and i've arrived at work I punch in. Lately I have been working "for free" for an hour each day. They refuse to give anyone overtime as often as possible and my shift 3-11 gives me hardly anytime to do paperwork and computer stuff. So i've succumbed to coming in early ( i hope they notice and it will pay off).

I log in ( i don't have a desk yet, so i'm a "floater" hoping to find and secure a computer if someone is away from their desk) and I get to work. As each day passes I find myself creating more tasks. Right now, the major one, is the Wine Syllabus Binder. My idea, my creation. Currently, we have over 100 wines on our list. My position is a Sommelier, which means I am a glorified sales person. So my immediate goal is to sell wine. And they want me on the floor at all times during dinner service.What they fail to realize is that you can only bullshit customers so much,.Agood salesperson is a confident one and with knowledge comes confidence. So the binder is essential and this is why I come in early.

So i've taken it upon myself to create this syllabus. I have a page info of each wine: Producer, background, vineyard techniques, winemaking techniques, tasting notes and any other pertinent or interesting information I can discover. With each page of info, I then highlight "Selling Features" and make notes to elaborate some technical info (if necessary).

I came up with a selling tool that I dubbed "Selling Demographics" which i loosely learned in school but I tailored it to wine sales and came up with a few of my own categories.

Educated Buyer- This specimen knows their wine, and they will appreciate selling features that are tailored to technical information.
Status Buyer- This person usually has money, and when they see a very expensive wine they go for it, or for things that are self sellers like "Vouvray" or "Sancerre" or "Chateau Palmer". They also like it when you tell them how many awards a certain product has won or the celebrity proprietor who owns the winery...etc...
Trendy Buyer- This category likes to follow the trends. Right now "Organic" or "Biodynamic and Sustainable vineyards" are a huge trend and they will appreciate this info. Also things like "Wild yeast fermentation" are a big hit.
Special Occasion Buyer- This creature wants to spend money so take full advantage of it.

All of these categories can be figured out by asking questions, NEVER assume. I approach the table as such "Hello, blah blah blah.... What kind of wine are you looking for? Red? White? Light / full body? Dry / Sweet? Oak / Fruit? The more questions you ask, the better understanding of your guest. Finally, the very important question, what is your budget? This will give you an opportunity for upselling. If they say $60-70 push for $70-$80 but you HAVE to be able to justify the purchase. This is where the syllabus comes in.
I go to my baby (the wine room) and look in the category they want. I scope out the features they want and see which wines in their bracket fit the glove and then I look for a possible upsell. Usually I want to upsell, but I'm not a scheming jerk. Its all about the experience too, so sometimes I stay in their budget or maybe even go less, as long as it fits into their category and I think they will really enjoy it.
With this system, my success rates have been great. We are still fine tuning my approach, because my position was "created" and it wasn't in thier budget, so they didn't have a job outline for me, I just made it my own (which rocks) and the servers weren't used to having me there, so its been a bit of a challenge for them to have me interfere with "their tables". However, when I sell a $200 bottle of wine for them, they aren't complaining.

So far I would say the binder is 45% completed. There is still a lot of work to do on it, but if I'm lucky I get maybe 5 wines done a day, but there's days where I have no time to work on it.

I just submitted a large document that I've been working on for the past week. Our computer system, called MICROS, was designed super fast because the hotel was a rush open for the olympics. They had literally hours to have the place in operation. So the person who created "numbers" for each wine in the ordering system for the servers didn't forecast for the future. Big mistake. The entire system needs to be overhauled and re-entered. So I decided to take on this task since i'm the wine girl now. So i've taken "Our cost" prices, cross referenced it with what we are charging the guests (found inconceivable errors) as well as assigned each wine with new numbers with allocating enough room in between each category to accomodate expansion (sorry if this is really boring). I've just submitted it to my managers today....hopefully its well received!

I will say this. It sounds like a lot, and it is. I live, breath, love my work. There are a few things I wish I could have to make my life easier, but we all have to start somewhere. I miss having tips as a server and living close to work for costs of commute, but there's ups to this job and what I've come to realize is this :exposure. That is my tip. With this will come other opportunities monumental to this position....its all just a matter of time.

this is it...

I am reading a book called "Arctic Dreams" that I found in a local used book store. I almost didn't buy it because the word "dream" was in the title and it seemed that it would be a little too....romanced? And I know not to judge a book by its cover, but what about the title? But it was only $2.00 so what the hey.
Lately, I've been incredibly intrigued, borderline obsessed with the arctic. As I've done a few large-scale road trips, I find myself having unnatural urges to continue these explorations and they are getting more remote. I don't know what I'm searching for but this lparagraph in this book sort of sums it up.Its thought provoking and at the same time simplified, yet complex wisdom. It is sad to think that society has dulled this understanding. This book was a New York Times bestseller in 1986, Author Barry Lopez.
The next few paragraphs are as follows:

"For some reason I brooded often about animal behavior and the threads of evolution in the Arctic. I do not know whether it was the reserves of space, the simplicity of the region's biology, its short biological history, striking encounters with lone animals, or the realization of my own capacity to annihilate life here. I wondered where the animals had come from; and where we had come from; and where each of us was going. The Arctic ecosystem itself is only 10,000 years old, the time since the retreat of the Wisconsin ice. The fact that it is the youngest ecosystem on earth gives it a certain freshness and urgency. (Curiously, historians refer to these same ten millennia as the time of civilized man, from his humble beginnings in northern Mesopotamia to the present. Arctic ecosystems and civilized man belong, therefore, to the same, short epoch, the Holocene. Mankind is, in fact, even older than the ARctic, if you consider his history to have begun with the emergence of Cro-Magnon people in Europe 40,000 years ago.)
Human beings dwell in the same biological systems that contain the other creatures but, to put the thought bluntly, they are not governed by the same laws of evolution. With the development of various technologies - hunting weapons, protective clothing, and fire-making tools; and then agriculture and herding - mankind has not only been able to take over the specific niches of other animals but has been able to move into regions that were formerly unavailable to him. The animals he found already occupying niches in these other areas he, again, either displaced or eliminated. The other creatures have had no choice. They are confined to certain niches- places of food (stored solar energy), water, and shelter- which they cannot leave without either speciating or developing tools (evolution). To finish the thought, the same technological advances and the enormous increase in his food base have largely exempted man from the effect of natural controls on the size of his population. Outside of some virulent disease, another ice age, or his own weapons technology, the only thing that promises to stem the continued increase in his population and the expansion of his food base (which now includes oil, exotic minerals, fossil ground water, huge tracts of forests, and so on, and entails the continuing , concomitant, loss of species is human wisdom.
Because mankind can circumvent evolutionary law, it is incumbent upon him, say evolutionary biologists, to develop another law to abide by if he wishes to survive, to not outstrip his food base. He must learn restraint. He must derive some other, wiser way to behaving toward the land. He must be more attentive to the biological imperatives of the system of sun-driven protoplasm upon which he, too, is still dependant. Not because he must, because he lacks inventiveness, but because herein is the accomplishment of the wisdom that for centuries he has aspired to. Having taken on his own destiny, he must now think with critical intelligence about where to defer.
A Yup'ik hunter on Saint Lawrence Island once told me that what traditional Eskimos fear most about us is the extent of our power to alter the land, the scale of that power and the fact that we can easily effect some of these changes electronically, from a distant city. Eskimos, who sometimes see themselves as still not quite separate from the animal world, regard us as a kind of people whose separation may have become too complete. They call us, with a mixture of incredulity and apprehension, "the people who change nature".

The Wish Bone

As a young child, and even as I grew up, my family had this tradition where anytime we made a roast chicken or turkey we would save a bone (located by the neck that looks like a "Y"). I think my Gramma and Papa started it and it continued in my home growing up. I'm not sure if anyone else had this tradition, its kind of gross if you think about it; you let the bone dry for a day on the counter and then two people grab an end and pull it apart, whoever had the largest side got to make a wish.
Well, I made a roast chicken the other day and I saw this wish bone and vaguely thought of saving it, but decided not to. I guess my brother found it when he went to get some chicken from the fridge and this morning when I woke up I saw it on the counter and I actually started to tear up, and then start laughing because I cried over a chicken bone, but it flooded memories of my Papa (who passed away over 4 years ago) and it was a nice thing to see that my brother still held that memory as fondly as I do.

When risk meets opportunity

Well, it has taken 3 months since my move out here but I have landed my dream job. It is still sinking in at just how remarkable this opportunity is. I came out here, with no plan. Maybe a 5 year plan to work towards a dream job that would include wine education, sales or sommelier, and in just 3 short months I have obtained all of these in one. Unbelievable. So in my interview, I was asked "so tell us your 5 year plan" and I couldn't know, perhaps wine writing as a side venture for the future or independant consulting on the side, the avenues are limitless now. I am humbled by this.
Since making the decision to move here, life has made things very difficult, almost as if its testing my worthiness. First my car had cost me $1000 to fix before driving out here, that in itself could have prevented me, because my savings took a hard hit, but I prevailed and kept going (with the help of someone I am very thankful for). Secondly, when I arrived I thought I would get a serving job no problem. Little did I know that the town, no CITY, of Abbotsford is insufficient, borderline useless in its provision for fine dining restaurants. I spent 3 weeks looking for a job; many resume's, meetings with managers who promised to call me back but never did, and pretty much no one was hiring. Finally, and it was a chance happening, I had put my resume into a place called "Wings" the day before, and my bro and I went there for dinner the night after and I overheard a girl quitting, and I said to him "how much do you want to bet that I get hired tomorrow'. Sure enough, I got the phone call the next morning offering me a job. I was elated. SOOO relieved! This was a place I didn't want to apply to originally because its not fine dining, but I was beyond being able to pick and choose.

This place wasn't what you would call upscale. The thing that bothered me most was what we had to wear; a tight black tshirt and a short black skirt. Ugh. Combine that with muscle freaks dining at regular intervals for "cheap wings", a prominent church crowd every sunday wanting coffee and tea service ( I loathe tea service), and a certain ethnic group (Which I will call CEG) who is known for poor tipping, or complete lack thereof. My own personal nightmare.

To top it off, the only time we were really busy was after 8pm when the wings went cheap. So we would easily get double, and still easily triple amount of people, sometimes I had 7 tables on the go (completely insane when you don't have food runners, bussers and you have to do your own payments). All of this craziness and people are just gorging their face holes with a disgusting amount of chicken wings ( I saw a family of 4 consume 150 wings, and fries, and appetizers), AND we have free pop refills, (SHUT THE EFF UP!!!), so I am quite literally running around the restaurant trying to manage all of this, and their bill goes from $227 to $100, or $80 to $35. THEY DON'T TIP ON ALL THE WORK YOU"VE DONE, they only tip on the total of their new bill!! How ignorant of you!!

There were regulars too, that didn't leave a penny, CEG's and a few others, if I happened to get stuck with them, I certainly wouldn't give them attention to detail. If their pop was empty, tough shit, you shouldn't have drank it so fast, If they needed more napkins from their gorging, use your shirt. Of course at first I gave them the best service I could, until it was the 2nd time they came in and didn't tip at all, after that, I dont' care who you are, don't waste my time. I once did a $200 bill, complete with appetizers, wings, mains, drinks, shots (CEG's) and they didn't tip me a dime! How is that possible?? This is western culture! ADAPT and RESPECT it.

So after all of that, and It may sound like I am just ranting, which I totally am, but trust me, it was a bad place to work.... I think I deserve where I am now. My poor brother, I couldn't give him rent last month because I didn't make any money at Wings.
But he knows I will take care of him in the next few months, he has helped me out astronomically since I've moved here. If it wasn't for him I wouldn't have been able to take this risk and move out west. I also want to give a big huge shout out to MY KIA !!! I LOVE YOU! If it wasn't for this car, I wouldn't have gotten to where I am today, literally, because she made it here in one piece. I had a lot of haters back home and here, taking bets on whether it would make it or not, laughing at my possible misfortune of being stuck in the praries somewhere. But she did it!
Back to my new job.....

So basically, the restaurant is called OrU, which is Japanese for "to fold" we had a master "Origamist" fold a light fixture that is over 100 feet long. We are Pan-Asian cusine; Indian, Thai, Korean, Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, etc. which is fused into pacific fare, so internationally inspired but locally prepared. Somewhat of a challenging menu to pair with wines (we also have an extensive Sake list --- which I know next to nothing about, so another big challenge is to learn it and experiement with Sake/ food pairings--- probably one of the best parts of the job....trying AMAZING food and wine together and making note of what works and what doesn't).
It is everything I wanted; wine education ( I am responsible for training all of the staff. I am making a syllabus of all of our wines -- we have about 300-- and I am doing weekly and monthly tastings with them, and how wine and food pairings interact), Wine sales (I am also responisble to get our wine sales revenue up, by upselling to guests when they come into dine -- and let me tell you, the calibre of these people are like royalty -- literally, we had royalty in to dine the other night-- compared to the, ahem, others, at wings) .
They have told me quite a few times, and I am fully aware, just how amazing this opportunity is for me. My job, wasn't in their budget, but they needed someone to train the staff and ultimately create more revenue through wine sales. Everything I have done in the past 5 years, all my decisions I've made that has brought me to this moment, its almost as if this job was created specifically for me. Humbling.
The ONLY downside, is my commute. I drive 40 minutes (without traffic) to the Skytrain Station in Surrey. Then its a 40 minute Skytrain ride to Burrard station in Downtown Vancouver. But trust me, its worth it. However, it does make my days long, an 8 hour workday, becomes 12 hours with the commute, the other day I worked a 10 hour shift, so it was a 14 hour day. Exhausting? Yes. Will I continue to do it? Yes. Until I can afford to move and hopefully not much longer!


Learn it; Live it; Love it.