tooting my own horn

today we made mini chicken pot pies.  i don't want to brag, but it's the truth.  hey a member told me the other day that another member told him that i was uneducated.  that i didn't go to university and probably didn't finish highschool. wuuuuuuuuuuuut.  i guess to some people it looks like i'm just a slave in the kitchen day in and day out.  i do work hard in the kitchen, but that's not my job.  my job is working with people who have mental illness, building relationships with them, inviting them to participate in the work, which for me happens to be food related, giving them opportunities to grow and shine, working with them if that's what they need, making sure that there always is an opportunity for them to work.  listening to their feedback.  treating them like equals.   because we treat people who have mental illness like our colleagues.  they are our colleagues.  we run the place together.  we make decisions together.  i have bottom line responsibility but i have so much work that neither i or my staff could do it all on our own.  and that's the way it's supposed to be because work is therapeutic.  being needed is therapeutic.  having a purpose is therapeutic.  i didn't choose to work at pathways in the kitchen for 14 years because i like cooking.  i do like cooking but i like this work a lot more.  it's the work of people.  i do cook good food and take pride in making awesome meals.  but that is just a side product of my real work.  so don't be surprised i went to university mr. gossip.  i'm smart.  and while we're at it,  no, when i get a lot of answers right in trivial pursuit i didn't read the answers before hand.  i'm smart!  i'm not a genius, that's for sure, but i have a good memory and a quick brain and you don't have to have already known something to get a question right in trivial pursuit.  you have to know some stuff and be good at deciphering the clues in the questions.  just because i'm silly and like to laugh doesn't mean i'm a dolt.

except in love.  i'm a big dolt in that regard.  

not that i'm not telling you guys things you already know. 

this is how my afternoon went today: 

1.i made puff pastry bites with pesto, havarti, and cherry toms from our garden for the board meeting which is held on the 4th tuesday evening of every month.  i was waiting for them to come out of the oven, watching them like a hawk because i wasn't sure how long to put them in for and i didn't want to burn them, but at the same time i had to pee so badly.  i was prancing back and forth in front of the oven which isn't that easy to do in #buckytheboot.  but last time i tried to go, earl was in the washroom mopping it.  earl likes to mop but he isn't the quickest mopper, and i had to get the puff bites into the oven so they would be done before i had to leave.  so i was dancing.  but mid peepee dance i was like, forget it!  i can pee in the time it takes for these to finish and so i took the chance....badadahdah badadadadah, honey i'm still free, take a chance on me...and when i got back they were perfect and i took them out and took off for my... 

2. physio appointment with jasub.  i met jasub at the physio photoshoot.  he was wearing the bow tie.  true to his word he was not wearing one today.  today he was all black and red polo shirt business.  jasub heard my story took some notes and asked to see the said foot.  "sorry about my feet," i apologized to jasub and i pulled of my grey socks with pink polka dots (generally amongst the first pair to be chosen after a load of laundry has been done) "they are preeeeeetty sweaty!" (bucky is a sauna closet for feet by the end of the day).  jasub just laughed and said people heat up in their feet.  you don't know the half of it  jasub.  after examining my two feet jasub remarked that my arches were very high and rigid.  astute observation.  he said the big toe of my right foot, the bad foot, is stiffer and doesn't move as far as the big toe on my left foot.  he said it's because my arch is so rigid and high that the rest of the foot has to do a lot more work...story of my foot life....that the it gets more rigid and tight in the big daddy toe.  he didn't say daddy toe but i'm imagining he did.  he then raised his eyebrows and looked pointedly at my calves.  "and those...those are suuuuuuuuuper tight!"  he all but whistled as he grabbed my tight gams and squeezed.  there was no give.  i have tight tight calves ok dude.  so jasub heated up my right calf and worked it big time.  like owwwwwwwwwwch.  he rubbed some hurties.  "now it's your job to say when it's too much because this isn't going to feel great." says jasub.  but when i'd say "ow!"  he'd say "mmhmm, that's tight."  or "yeah, that's tight, right?" and keep on going on with the his torturous ways.  "while i'm digging into your calf let's talk about your goals." says jasub.... which wasn't as bad as dr. howie asking about what i do for a living while his specula-jaws-of-life was cracking me wide open in the most uncomfy of manners...nothing has ever topped that.  i was all "well i want to be able to walk normally and work fully and go for walks outside and just generally be able to move freely...." blah blah blah...  after that i had to do some calf stretching exercises and then some foot exercises, ending with rolling a lacrosse ball around my arch which is not a good feeling but not the worst.  after that jasub lifted the foot of the bed up and i felt like a taco because i was leaning on a wedge thing at the top of the bed.  that made jasub laugh.  he put that electrocuting thing on my foot and ankle and left me for a while i was allowed to raise it or lower it.  i raised it...you raise me up, so i can stand on mountains....then he iced it.  then i was allowed to go.  i have to do the exercises 2x a day.  that's my deal with jasub.  i go back next week.

3.physio was 1.5 hours long!  i had to get back to richmond pronto to pick up winnie to get her to the church on time for the youth temple trip.  i decided not to go because what could i do but stand a lot and standing a lot is not good for badfoot (baddy for short).  but then sabrina texted me that she needed a ride to the church too, and josh too.  and i'm like yep and fo sho, because anytime sabrina wants to come, i want to make it possible for her.  only problem is my car is full of bedding and shelving and soft boxes and tripods... and only 2 passenger seats were accessible.  and i had to get through the traffic in the tunnel which at that time of day, rush hour, that blessed hour, has 4 lanes merging into one.  and so what i did was pick up sabrina and josh, take them to the church, rush back to almost the exact same area, pick up winnie and take her to the church.  she left the side back door ajar and at a light i jammed it into park undid my seatbelt, reached behind grabbed the handle and jerked it shut, put on my seatbelt and put it back into drive all before the light turned green.  i'm here to wow you folks.  so i dropped winnie off and then rushed back to the same area, which is where i work, parked hobbled out of the parking garage at high hobble, and made it to the board meeting just in time.  karim was there waiting for me, and we gave our report on our unit, answered their questions, stole a puff pastry bite or two, and we both left and parted ways.  

 4. i to my bed to read about alma and amulek. and then watch youtubes of seth meyers and his family thanksgiving games.

5. later i got up and watched an episode of 911 and ate chicken wings furtively.  archie was hunting me down.  i couldn't eat them on the couch.  i moved to the table.  he found me there.  finally i ate them standing up at the counter with him meowing at my feet.

6. stop numbering everything

7. you stop.

i've been contemplating a short curly do like in 2008-2009.  i won't look like i did 10 years ago but will i like it?  is it time for a change?  what do you think?