working mother, my first 3 days!

The job at Elmo's is the fastest paced and most physically intense job I've ever had. I think the only thing more physically demanding would be farming or digging ditches. Most people there work an 8 hour shift with no breaks (no sitting down, no eating, just taking sips of water whenever you can steal half a second). But it seems to be a great place to work, most of the people who work there have either worked there for years, or they keep coming back to work there over the course of their lifetime.

That restaurant is an extremely well-run machine. Everyone has their job, and there is only one way to do it or the whole thing falls apart. Theres a huge staff, and everyone's really friendly and saying "thank you" to you just for doing your job (though I do love that there is very little time to socialize, I've never been good at watercooler chit chat). It's refreshing to be in a job where I know exactly what is expected of me. Team work plays a major role, so everyone is always helping each other out (bussers sometimes greet customers and take their drink orders for the servers, and the servers will "pre-bus" some of the dishes off the table as they are serving, and hosts will collect menus for the servers to bring back to their station or let a busser know if they didn't see someone get up from a table). On Saturday morning, there was a rush from 9am-2pm. Someone would finish eating and WHAM there I was cleaning it the second they got up, and then WHAM someone would come right behind me and sit down to eat. There are 55 tables. Weekdays see 600 people per day, weekends 1200 people per day. I also like that at this job, the managers are just as busy if not MORE busy than the staff. I'm used to working for managers who are way overpaid for what they do, lazy, and overly critical just to boost their own feeling of self-worth. There's no time for that yucky business at Elmos!

Right now, Ash is bringing Luca twice to nurse. I have only been able to pump about 2 ounces until this morning, when I got 4 ounces. I'm supposed to leave at least 1.5 ounces per hour I'm away, so I'd like to get up to 12 ounces per day. I started taking fenugreek to boost my supply. Online, it said keep taking it until you smell like maple syrup... but I've only taken 3 doses and I already smell like maple syrup!! Either that, or I'm covered in actual maple syrup from bussing tables.

Luca has slept a 4 hour stretch every night for about a week. It's amazing. Last night, he only woke up TWICE!! It has been so great (and well-timed). Today I felt a TOOTH cutting in on the bottom left. So excited about that!! He looks so long and lean, and he feels very skinny to me. He's definitely not a chubby baby anymore, he looks like a big boy. Working has been good for me... I'm physically exhausted but mentally a lot firmer. There's no time to think about anything but work, at work, so it gives me a break from all the obsessive anxious thought wheels spinning in my head.

STILL SICK. My mom is worried that it might have turned into bronchitis now... 3 days of non-improving cough and green mucus production. One thing that helps is adding eucalyptus oil to boiling water, and breathing in the steam. It's so soothing. It makes my nose stop running, and my lungs and throat don't feel like I have been coughing. This effect only lasts about half an hour, but any relief is welcome! I am still also having strong food aversions and sudden onsets of nausea.

I missed all last week of work, and this week I have requests to ADD hours, and I don't even know if I will make any of the original ones. But after a point, I swear parents would rather I come over sick than I miss work again. I feel bad, a lot of people rely on me, but all I feel like doing is sleeping.

Ash and I start homeschooling my 15 year old brother Quinten tomorrow! He didn't even wake up until 2pm today, but he swears he will wake up at 10am every morning to do school with us. Ash has picked out "Slaughterhouse Five" as his first reading assignment. Any recommendations any of you have for books that a lazy 15 year old would enjoy (and no, he isn't interested in Harry Potter), pass it on. I can't even tell you what his interests are, ever since he started public school all he does is work out and listen to really bad hip hop. I don't care what kind of book it is, I just want him to enjoy reading ANYTHING.

IT'S A GLORIOUS DAY, 60 DEGREES!!